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| It's Sunday morning, my son and I are walking. our senses are stimulated by pure nature. We stopped by a tree to enjoy a couple of blue jays. A Beautiful pair dancing around each other from one branch to another. Meanwhile we were filling our lungs with the purest fresh air combined with the aroma of pine trees. Minutes later Van was trying to capture the beauty of some hills with his camera. Later "look dad", "where?" , I turned and he was pointing to a tiny spiderweb under a rock. Sometimes looking around us we see only the big stuff and we pass by and miss the tiny ones. Passing by other hikers a good morning with a smile were spreading around us. Some passing and others turning back. In the end we were standing in front of a tall waterfall. It's the end of summer and the waterfall is not at full capacity, but its there. When a breeze passed by , the mist caresses our faces and arms as if to tell us "welcome and enjoy the view" . It's high. We tried to fit me and the waterfall in one shot, but it was bigger than we thought. The babbling of the stream accompanied us back to our car. What a joyful for me. To be with my son for a couple of hours doing something that we both enjoy. We passed by the blue jays, but with unpleasant cries this time. Perhaps defending their territories. Yes it was Sunday and I missed Fr. Vazkens sermon and the c.d. of the "next step" podcast that I was waiting for. But sometimes not everything has to be like 1,2,3,. sometimes 2,1,3, has its own rhythm. We reached home and there were still a handful of friends were standing in front of the church. And I was thrilled to see them and to hear that there were some "next step" cds left over. But......
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| Today let us enter downtown through the ear-gate. Clothes. hot soup, water, cookies, and we hear "please, thank you, gracias, God bless you, some water please, do you have blankets?, camisa, a nice T-shirt, can I have a second cup of soup for my friend?, I did not eat since this morning can I have more soup?, 1 cup coming up, these pants will fit you well, I need a jacket, do you have jeans?, let me try to find one for you, can I have a dry soup for tomorrow?, sorry we are out of blankets today, sorry we are out of water today, sorry no more soup today." generally we hear these last sentences on our last station. All the other words and sentences we hear all along our visit to skid-row this last monday night. 11 people in 4 cars. Some of these words were said by the homeless and some by us. At our first stop, almost half of our food stock was served. I was surprised. Some fear and some doubt got me. How do we continue?But suddenly I realized that Nancy and her sister Benny (whose name means blessing in french), were with us tonight. Perhaps by mistake she blessed and multiplied the number of the homeless rather than multiplying our food stock. But I was wrong because we continued to serve until the end. Please continue to supply us with your support in any shape or form. But on one condition that it should be done joyfully. and now as a treat let me tell you what happened on this trip. -Generally they express their gratitude and appreciation by some words such as "thank you, gracias, God bless you", a look, or some body language. But tonight someone wanted to express warmer emotion. He kissed her shoulder over her jacket. When feelings take over, all borders collapse. -Last visit, if you remember, i told you about a couple trying to beat the cold weather by hugging and kissing. This time it was warmer weather so they sat side by side and were talking. -At our last station, a car pulled over behind our cars and gave us a big box of donuts to distribute. God works by many channels, perhaps you will be one of them that God works through you. -Three young people holding a bible distributing some literature. Once everything was gone we left too, but our fun did not finish there. On our way back to church we tried to form an international quartet. With an instrumental orchestra. Imagine the sounds. Sometimes 1+1 is not equal to 2 and thats the food of the heart.
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| It's August 19,2008 around 7:00 PM. A small group of young people sitting,but not quite sitting. Some of them half sitting and others sitting on one leg , while others kneeling or standing. But all of them are around a couple of boxes of grapes. filling small baggies with blessed grapes from the church. Of these including a mom with her daughter and her son. sometimes the dad was there too. What a good example to be in this mission. To train our children to walk in his shoes by being live examples ourselves. This scene took place at the steps of the church. I called them the seatless people. preparing to take some goodies to homeless people on skid row. Everyone of them was coming from their daily job. Full stomach or half full stomach. like me. Or even empty stomachs as she said to feel what they're feeling. Call this group whatever you want. I call them love spreaders to the unfortunate. Thank you guys. As usual we were at our first stop at the beginning of the night.We met al kinds of people. color-wise, gender-wise,and age-wise. We are there to help everybody. A middle-aged man well dressed passed by and we offered a cup of hot soup and he refused. A couple of minutes later he came back holding a bag of grapes and a blanket. and asked for a cup of soup. He was an armenian. It was somehow puzzling to me . He had a nice car and said he was waiting for relatives. If this was so, then why did he take one of our blankets? Because it was free? We are always short on blankets and we give it to individuals who only really need it. After half an hour we saw two young men armenian looking on another street. I wonder if they were related to that guy. -We met someone looking like an oriental guru. with a long robe. long beard and he asked us which church we belonged too. He had nothing in his hands. -a very young Mexican guy was telling us about the olympics. and how many medals mexico got. -Waiting in line for the hot soup, a guy said: "God is Good". The person next to him completed the sentence and said "He is always good" , If we don't show his goodness around us, then how can they see and feel it and praise him? -These days at night, the weather is on the cool side . So everybody tries to warm up a little bit. Some by dressing heavily and some by covering themselves. Some by eating a cup of soup. For example, a lady said that she was hesitant to leave her warm spot for a cup of soup. But her hunger took over and came to have the soup. And a couple were trying to warm up inside out by hugging and kissing. and kissing and hugging. As long as we were there. Who said that there is no romance on skid row at night? -I noticed that the population decreased somewhat. I don't know if their condition improved or they were dislocated. In the end we had some leftover that night. It's a good sign -Love is like rope. If we wrap the whole rope around ourselves only, there is no more to circle others around us. The more we unwind it from ourselves, we can circle other people around us. and thats real love.
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| _ A middle aged pretty lady, dressed as if she is coming to a party or going to one. without any makeup. (do not look at her shoes), but hungry. -A guy standing by a cart where his belongings are in a black plastic bag. and his dog is on top of it. And hungry. -A young lady sitting alone by herself on a blanket wearing very light clothes. thirty minutes later, she was sleeping as is. without any cover or extra clothes and perhaps hungry or thirsty. -A middle aged guy after receiving his bottle of water and some new socks. sitting on a corner washing his feet with some of the water in the bottle. to put on his new socks. -Three young guys(new comers) with only a backpack sitting on the concrete. Got a hot cup of soup and a dry one for the next day. some cookies, bottles of water, and some clothes. -A young happy guy said that he was working in the morning. another one said he collects recyclables. -A guy remembered one of us. and even remembered her size and said you lost wight. some individuals become familiar to us and ask about our well being. -As if night comes early there. They sleep early. some even don't wake up to receive anything. These and many many others have been served monday night on our visit to skid row. 4 cars. full of stuff. and 13 people. 12 apostles and one of their sons. All in high spirits and ready to serve cheerfully. We spent a couple of hours, BUT this time it seemed to be much longer because something was missing. We were showered by blessings and good wishes as if we had blessing butterflies all over. We were trying to walk in his shoes. trying to fill his shoes with our feet. to walk his walk. wherever he goes we go. (Matt. 25 (35-40))
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| Last night we left skid row as a mobile mini mall . 4 cars full of goodies and all young hearts behind it ready to do their duty in the kingdom of God. A car of food (soup, cookies, water) , a car full of clothes, a car filled with more clothes, juice,blankets and socks. And I brought some cherries for a change. A big crew with a lot of stuff to distribute, the light of a full moon and cool temperature. It was the first time for 5 of the people with us. It was nice meeting them and a pleasure working with them. We distributed everything we had and returned with empty boxes and containers. Now imagine, put everything in a pot. our act of distribution, them as the receivers, all of the food and items, and a lot of love from both sides. Stir it up and you will have a live love dish. A dish that fills our stomachs and our spirits. Who does not need this meal? taste it by being a part of it. It's sharing the love of God with others. Many times I watched the faces of the people while giving them something. Both are full of joy. The donors faces were even more joyful than the receiver. To give is more pleasant than receiving. I witnessed that many times last night. I wait for this event every month but I don't want to hold anybody back from it. Generally we serve around 200-250 people. It was a successful trip. Our fun did not stop there. Even in Suzan's car they gave me seniority by letting me sit in the front seat. Thanks guys. If you join the group next time you will discover the mystery person who works behind the scenes and all throughout. Don't think about competing with this person, you will have to discover this person yourself. I want to leave you with a riddle about what happened to us. You are in a moving car with 5 other people. what makes your stomach hurt? Don't look at the answer before guessing. ... Laughter. A good laugh for a minute not only cramps your stomach, but elongates your life too. Note: the mystery person in the car with you: if you are too serious or allergic to laughter take some precautions because her laughter is contagious .
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