He Touched Me

I was a guest on a radio show to discuss the needs of the poor on Skid Row, and the interviewer said, "I know you have a religious commitment to preach the Bible at the Mission, but after that, what do you consider to be the most important thing you do at the Mission?"

I thought for a moment of all the things the Mission has been doing for the poor since 1944. What is most important - - Is it the new school clothes and shoes we give to thousands of children each year; the hot meals we serve; the baby diapers and formula we give to desperate mothers; the food bags we distribute; the warm blankets we give to the homeless; the free job training we provide for former drug addicts and ex-cons; the Mission’s holiday events in the streets that are legendary in Los Angeles, when we celebrate Easter and Mother’s Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas with tens of thousands of homeless, hungry Americans who have no family except the Mission - - and the list goes on.

I had to admit to the radio interviewer that even though all of these things are spectacular, perhaps the most important thing we do for our precious homeless friends is even more basic: we reach out and touch them, just as Jesus did in His earthly ministry. We shake their hands, we put an arm around their shoulders, and we hug them. The human touch has wide-ranging physical and emotional benefits for people of all age groups.

Most of the people here on the streets haven’t been touched in years, except in anger. There is power in the loving human touch. Jesus touched the sick, the children, and the needy in His earthly ministry, and because He touched our hearts and lives, we seek to be His hands and feet here on Skid Row.

Blessings,

Willie Jordan