This week we have had the opportunity to feed the homeless four times. For those of you who have never packed and served meals to the homeless with Sus Hijos, this is how it works… First, the team makes and bags the food. We made meat and cheese sandwiches with thousand island sauce, then added juice and an apple, then chips and cookies. Second we load the food onto the truck. Then we pile into the back (with a few in the cab) and drive off.
We yell "comida!" (which means "food" in Spanish) and the people come running to the truck. Everyone expects to see a bunch of full grown men out on the streets, but there are also babies, little kids, moms, disabled people, and elderly people. There are always two team members who run and give food to people who are sleeping, can't get up, don't get up, or are too slow. The people are always smiling and are super grateful and happy. The food we give them could be the only food they have all day, so this is why they are so grateful. When we are handing out the food we often see people who are drunk, high on drugs, high on glue, male and female prostitutes. When we see these people it saddens us and we pray for them. For those of you who didn't know, if you sniff glue it numbs your brain and makes you feel good and also kind of funny. It takes away your hunger and is really bad for your brain cells.
An awesome thing that Sus Hijos does is to serve the food that we pack for the homeless for dinner one night to the teams. It's a surprise to the teams. We all came home that day tired, dirty, and hungry, and smelled something really good cooking in the kitchen. Some people thought it was chili, but when they went in the kitchen, they saw chicken on the stove. They were disappointed and a few started to complain. When the dinner bell rang, the table was empty, and everyone was confused. John, one of the missionaries who runs the mission house, explained that we were eating "The King's Mea,l" which is what they call the meal that we feed the homeless. When I figured out that it was "The King's Meal" for dinner, I smiled, because I love to see people's reactions when they hear what's for dinner. It turns out that the chicken was for the next night. This is a great lesson to teach the team appreciation and to allow us to eat what the homeless eat as well.
When we fed the homeless, we saw a teen mom with a little baby, and some of our team started to cry. We weren't sure if we could help them by taking them to an orphanage or something like that but there was nothing we could do. We also saw a boy who used to live at the transition home on the streets. He kept making trouble and sneaking out at night. One night he ran away for good. There were some people who would receive a bag of food, switch shirts, and walk around to the other side of the truck and try to sneak another bag. This made me very mad because there were many people who didn't get any food at all that night because others snuck two. Some people ran after the truck yelling "comida!" when we ran out of food, but there was nothing we could do but drive away. This also made some people cry.
Feeding the homeless is a very awesome and humbling experience. It is one of my favorite parts of the trip. I strongly encourage all of you to feed the homeless. If you live in Orange County, there are plenty of homeless people in front of the Santa Ana Courthouse. Just get some people from your church or your friends and family and bag food. Then drive down there, park, and hand out the food. It's really good to do, but the situation is more desperate in El Salvador. In the U.S., there are food stamps, homeless shelters, and many organizations that provide food and supplies for the homeless. The only people who help the homeless of El Salvador are people like Sus Hijos. Coming to El Salvador is a humbling experience which helps to strengthen your relationship with God, and helps the people who live here a lot. So I suggest that you all come down here on a missions trip. Talk to my mom!
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