The Homeless in San Diego

San Diego is the 8th largest city in the US, which I did not realize until a few days ago. It has a small city feel in most places, but the amount of homeless people I have seen has been astounding. Obviously the weather is a reason many of them are here but I am surprised by the number I have seen compared to the other cities I have visited. From talking to them, I have discovered a large majority of them either have current drug problems or have had them in the past. The second day I was here my Bible study group was meeting in a park just a few blocks from our motel and one interrupted telling us to hold him back because he was going to kill his friend. I was a little nervous but we quickly realized they were too high to do anything serious and we bought them food and just talked to them about their life and even though they said they were "Christians" we shared the Gospel with them. It has also been evident that many of them ride the metro system here, which is a good system by the way, to pass their time. Yesterday I sat down in front of a man who looked somewhat clean-cut and was around age 50. Even though I wanted to put my ipod on and take a nap, God has been showing me how I need to spread his Word all of the time so my friend from New Hampshire, Josh, and I began just asking the man about his life. His name was Larry and he was brand new to being homeless. He was on his way to give plasma to make some more money. I couldn't smell any alcohol and drugs so he appeared to be fairly normal. He started crying though when I asked him about being able to find a shelter, food, jobs, and motivation to keep pressing on. I have met hundreds of homeless people and all of their stories have influenced me but this one made me breakdown with him. I couldn't imagine having to attempt sleeping through the night on a street where you could easily be attacked. He did hint to me that he was in jail recently and when he got out his wife sold all of his belongings and filed for divorce. He also hadn't talked to his kids in years now and was alone and felt helpless. I assumed someone like this would be bitter towards God but as Josh and I proceeded into sharing with him the Good News and the hope that Jesus is, he was very receptive and really seemed to understand God's goodness in all situations. Please keep Larry in your prayers that he grows deeper in his faith, that he finds a job, and pray for the rest of the homeless in San Diego. There is a large lack of shelters around here because of the perception that with the beautiful weather everyone is fine. However, these people need places to shower, feed them, provide them medical care, and counseling and support. I can tell that Larry will be one of dozens of homeless people I will be able to minister to this summer and it is just another reason God has me here right now.