Laurie Ishii

Well, today I went to my friend Nico’s to get my haircut. I asked him if I could be his first client so I could get in and out as quickly as possible so I could get some other things done while I was out. (I don’t like to leave Pablo and Ziggy home for too long in case they have to go potty.)

I debated whether or not I should get an all day pass ($5.00) or just pay $1.25 every time I took the bus. I had a few places to go but some of them I could walk, but I liked having the option of taking the bus as many times I wanted if I had to, so I got an all day pass.

My appointment was at 10:30am but I wasn’t done until after two. (Haircut and color) By the time I got out of there I didn’t have much time to do what I wanted to do – and sometimes taking the bus takes longer than just walking would. So I walked to Target, got what I needed and walked down Santa Monica up La Brea to Sunset to the beauty supply. On the way there I stopped at the vet because yesterday Ziggy was throwing up and he got poison ivy two weeks ago when we went hiking – the doctor said it was probably still in his system and to bring him in. He was still scratching like crazy and keeping us up all hours of the night. I called Daryl because I wanted to see if he could pick the doggies up at home and then come to meet me at the vet or near the vet. He said he would, but probably wouldn’t be there for at least another hour. After getting off the phone, I was walking and talking to God. As I passed the bus stop I noticed, from the corner of my eye – a guy sitting on the ground behind the bus stop. He looked… “pained.” That’s the only way I know how to describe it.

I kept walking, went to the beauty supply and across the street to mail something. Now that Daryl was picking me up, I knew for sure that I wouldn’t need the all day bus pass. I wanted to give it to someone, maybe a homeless person or someone sitting at the bus stop. I had an hour to kill and thought that I’d go to Ross and shop until Daryl came and got me, but I really did NOT need to be spending any money so I asked the Lord if He wanted me to talk to someone about Him to tell me who. He brought to mind the guy I saw earlier by the bus stop. I said that I would talk to the guy if he was still there when I got across the street. He was. I’ve pretty much gotten to where if God tells me to go talk to someone – I just do it – I don’t really stop to think about what I’m gonna say – it just happens. So I just walked up to him and said, “Hi.” He looked like he had been crying. I asked him what was wrong – that he looked so bummed. He looked up at me with the most distraught look and with tears in his eyes and said, “Is everyone in this city so mean? I just got robbed, a homeless guy asked me for some money to eat and I opened up my wallet and he grabbed it and took off. I had $300 in my wallet and now I have nothing!!!”

He was obviously homosexual – his mannerisms, the way he talked, exaggerated femininity, more “female” than most females. As most of you know, I have such a heart for homosexuals – I knew that this was a divine appointment. He said his name was Shawn – he was very proper and polite. I asked him how long he’d been sitting there and he said since the night before! I asked him when the last time he’d eaten and he said the day before. I asked him if he wanted something to eat and he said, “Maam, I’m not trying to get money – I’m not a bad person – I’m so hungry but I’m not a bum, I’m not trying to beg for money.” I said, “I didn’t say you were – I just asked you if you were hungry. Let’s go across the street to Burger King.” He almost cried – he said he was starving – he’d be so happy just to have a soda.

As we walked across the street, he told me that everyone told him that he shouldn’t trust anyone because they’d just take advantage of him. He said that he was from San Fransisco and that he was supposed to sit in front of the Internet cafe and not move until his friend came and picked him up, so he wouldn’t get beat or robbed again (His friend was driving all the way from SF!) Then he looked at me and said, “Why are you being nice to me?” I told him that I had been on the street before and that I knew what it was like – but also because I was a Christian and I felt God wanted me to stop and talk to him. He said, “I’m GAY.” I said, “I know.” It just came out of my mouth – I mean, it was very obvious. He didn’t take offense.

When we got inside Burger King I told him to order whatever he wanted and he was so grateful. After he ordered he asked me if I would sit and eat with him and I said yes – then he said he didn’t know if I was just going to pay for his food and say “see ya” and leave. He kept thanking me and asked if he could pay me back somehow – give me a massage, pluck my eyebrows – he said something about working at MAC (Makeup Artist Cosmetics) and I told him that he didn’t have to pay me back. We sat and talked and he told me that he had been a Christian at one point in his life and even spoke in tongues. He asked me if I thought that God hated him. (I said No) He said that his parent’s disowned him because he was gay – and then he said that if God didn’t hate him then why’d He give him HIV?

I told him that God did NOT give him HIV – he got that because of his lifestyle choices. I told him how Daryl and I have HepC – we used to shoot drugs. I told him that having sex outside of marriage is a sin – homosexuality is a sin and there are consequences to sin. He didn’t argue that. We really had a great conversation. He told me that he was raped by numerous family members when he was 13 years old and how he’d had so many bad experiences with Christians and how God didn’t love him if he did this or didn’t do that etc. etc. – he became angry at the church and angry at God. I told him that he couldn’t use that as an excuse for why he turned his back on God. He is responsible for HIS actions, just as the people who hurt him will give God and account for their actions. We talked a lot more about a lot of stuff.

Long story short Daryl was coming to pick me up so we walked to the Internet cafe and I gave him some money for the night (I only had a 20, 5 and a couple of singles and I wanted to give him at least ten bucks, so I gave him the 20) and about $5-$10 of internet time on the computer so he could hang out in there (they kicked him out earlier.) He was again so so grateful and when Daryl pulled up I introduced him to Shawn. Shawn asked Daryl immediately, “Are you a Christian too?” Of course Daryl said yes and we asked him if we could pray for him. He asked if he could get in the car and do it, he was kind of embarrassed. So we sat in the car and prayed with him. He was so sweet, he said that he knew that God has a calling on his life – that he had been told that he was going to be a warrior. He said that he had been praying that God would talk to him – that before I walked up to him that he was suicidal and wanted to end his life. He asked God to just speak to him, say “Hi” – he wanted to audibly hear God say Hi to him. We todl him that although God sometimes chooses to speak audibly to people – most times he speaks through His word (bible) and through people. He smiled and said, “Maybe He was speaking to me through you.”

As we parted ways, Shawn asked, “When I come back down here again, can I go to church with you guys?” “Of course!” We answered. He said that he would call me for sure, I had given him my contact information. He promised that he would call me when he gets back to SF. Please pray for him!

I also got an email from a guy named Kevin, I had talked to him a few months ago in front of a pet store – he was pan handing money. He asked me for change and I said “No, sorry” and kept walking – then I got a check in my spirit to go back and talk with him. I asked him what he was asking money for – looking at him I could tell that he was a junkie. I asked him if he was dope sick – he was. Long story short, he said he couldn’t stand Christians and the reasons why. I told him that I was a Christian and gave him $5 which gave me an opportunity to tell him about the Dream Center – well in his email he said that he wanted me to give him the phone number to the Dream Center, that he needed help bad and was willing to try anything. I am a strong believer that “People don’t care what you know, until they know that you care.” I have grown to know and see that people are more open to hearing what we have to say when we are willing to open our wallets as well as our mouths when sharing Jesus with them. I’m not saying to give money to every homeless person or junkie I see – just be open and willing to do it when God tells us to. I haven’t heard back from Kevin yet – maybe he’s in discipleship at the Dream Center! That would be cool… God is so good and it is such a privilege to be used by Him. All we have to do is be willing and available. I’m so glad that He doesn’t require special talents or gifts – in that case, I’d never do anything for Him!

Sorry this is so long.