Once sacred ground... St. Vibiana's, former arch-bishop seat for the Roman Catholic church in Los Angeles and one of the oldest churches in the city is now privately owned. Over the last 20 years Jackets for Jesus has watched the church host the pope, presidents and Mother Theresa among many others... last night a celebrity magazine had the place decked out for a Halloween bash. "Beautiful" people wandered skid row, laughing, dressed like pandas, ice queens, Braveheart characters... you name it... they wandered past the line last night. These men, no clue what any of their roles are in the entertainment industry, were nice enough to stop at our corner and pose for a photo with our own costumed crusader, Phil. The spectacle goes mostly unnoticed on the streets. People dressed in funny clothes is hardly cause to lift your eyes away from the routine in the heart of L.A. But one has to wonder about so many sacred family memories slipping into the quickly moving stream of here today, gone today celebrity... at halloween no less. In our line, most of them wouldn't even have garnered a second look... well maybe the panda... but most would have been given a plate with a smile. God is good. The sacred memories of Jackets for Jesus aren't confined by four walls. One of my favorite sayings to live by: "Good things happen when you leave the office." We were a long way from the office last night. Part of the time it felt like we were a long way from reality.

This is a good friend- a regular in our line -who lives out of a wheel chair he keeps crammed with all his worldly possessions. The cool wool cap is one of dozens we handed out last week. He pointed out his wheelchair- now filled with bags of plastic trash, aluminum and glass scavenged from the streets of the inner city. Talking with enthusiasm, he began to tell me that he's recently taken up recycling. He's always in the middle of a legal fight, or at least a good argument, he wants to tell me about. His dreams are of school, a journeyman's union job, the opportunity to give back... last night he was proud to show me a wheelchair filled with junk. He saw a treasure in each piece. Before we left, he asked me to pray for him- laying hands on his head and shoulders I prayed that God would protect him, guide him in his new work, help him discover and live out his purpose... when I was done, without opening his eyes, he reached his hands out and prayed for me... asking for God's protection on my family, our work together on the streets and finally that God would replace our trailer... that He would give us two trailers. We hugged. Our Sunday nights are filled with little moments like that, diamonds, catching The Light in the darkness. When I got home early Monday morning, I looked at the trash cans up and down our street, each house with three cans- one for recycling - each probably filled with more than a wheelchairs worth of wealth. There's no excuse for one man, woman or child to be living on the streets of America today. No excuse... and so many solutions. Until then, we work and pray.

Old friend to Jackets for Jesus, David Urkle, stopped in for a visit last night. David worked with us for years, caught the name the "Jesus Man" because he started our line off each week playing his guitar and singing "Jesus, Jesus!" He later became famous for being faithful to serving chicken on Sunday afternoons- and his street name quickly became "The chicken man." I'm pretty certain he might have preferred "The Jesus Man." Sunday he confessed to not liking being called "chicken man." It's called out in thanksgiving for the thousands of pieces of chicken he's cooked and served on the streets... it's a good name and guys were happy to see him... we were glad to see him. Life's going well and he's on his way back to China where he's been serving The Lord in Beijing as often as his visa and money will allow. The inroads he's helped established in the growing home church and open church in China will never be closed. He'll be seeing our old friend Jahli, an evangelist from China, so we all sent our best, it's been too long since she's been here in the states and apparently she's very sick. Please keep her and the continuing work in China in your prayers. God's good beyond measure and allowed us to share a window on worlds we would have never explored had we not slipped out on Sunday nights to serve on skid row. Eight weeks from now we'll wrap up Christmas on the streets- backpacks need to be purchased -holding off, until we have money to replace the trailer. Thanksgiving falls quickly in the middle of it all... the year is quickly coming to a close. Your love, prayers and financial support have kept us going all year long- from each of us- thanks so much. Please keep California in your prayers,,, don't forget the homeless... chronic and living in poverty, or newly homeless by the fires... the need is great, we're going this Sunday night, you're invited, you're needed, now, more than ever.

for changing lives,

Eric

email: eric@centralcommunity.com

phone: 1-714-907-4263

web: http://www.centralcommunity.com