we the people

if you're worried by the title, i'm not going to talk about the election or politics:)

just the people.

so last sunday night, i went to Mosaic, this trendy church in downtown. it was different than any service i've ever been to, but the message spoke to my heart. the sermon was about taking chances and following the dreams the Lord has given us. so i felt very affirmed in that the Lord gave me this intense desire to come and love his people here.....and even though it's so hard to be away from the people that i love, i still want to be here. anyway, i was also inspired because since i've been here, i haven't really done much....i mean, i've been hosting which is incredible. but other than that, i've not really done a lot to get to know the city and the people.

so this week, i've just been trying to love on some people. my new friend alex needed help moving, so i went to Rosemead to help him. i met his cousins Jeremy and Christian, his mom Martha and his aunt Belinda. Christian's 6. not exactly an angel, but he's the cutest thing i've seen in awhile ;)

Vales and I went to see Rachel -the city director who's having a baby soooon, and i got to play with her beautiful daughter Jane. she was perfectly content to twirl around her bedroom and jingle my necklace.

I met some of the people at Project Angel Food, Kris and Vesna. They work every day, supporting the people that make and deliver meals to people suffering from HIV and AIDS.

Today, I got to meet Lauren, who heads up Adventures Ahead, an after school tutoring program that caters to students in the Pico Union area. A little background on Pico....the Pico Union neighborhood is home to more than 120,000 people in a two mile area. That basically breaks down to 550 people per block. If you've seen the area, you know that the area isn't exactly residential....lots of shops, tiny restaurants and tinier houses. The average person in PU makes $4,800/year compared to $16,150 avg. for the rest of LA county. But it's not about stats. :)

so i'm finally meeting people and finally learning what else i can do here....other than hosting on the weekends. even though that's incredible.

i know this post is getting kinda lengthy so i'll try to finish.....with this. my group last weekend was one of my favorite groups ever. we talked a lot about being the body of Christ to our immediate community, then to our neighboring community and eventually the world. they had an opportunity at the end of the weekend to put those ideas into action. one of the guys met this man outside Walgreens and just randomly wanted to buy him some socks and a sweatshirt. which was amazing. he wanted to know the dude's name and then he just bought him stuff that he needed. but the really amazing display of the body was when the students found out that their youth pastor was having an affair. they wanted more than anything to be at home in church when the announcement was made -so that they could support their church family, but especially support him. i wish that we all got life like that.....that we could forgive each other and just love. i know that was an awful, terrible thing to happen and i'm not condoning it at all. but we have to learn to get past that....somehow to get past it and forgive each other. and we just gotta love a little more.

persperation station

it's another scorcher in south central....:) i'm INSIDE the air conditioned warehouse and sweating. a lot.

so we're preparing for our next weekend of groupssss!!! i'm hosting a group of 18 high schoolers which is awesome. love high schoolers. ;)

so yesterday, my cousin Jaime and i, and a friend of his named Chris went to Santa Barbara. i have to say, it was a beautiful little drive down the coast. and it's a super cute little place. very quaint. and the viewwwwww oh man the view.

annnnyway, that's all for now, because our little groupies should be here soon :) but the purpose of saying anything was just to ask for prayer. i'm a little tired, and not really feeling well....so i just need energy and enthusiasm....and if not that, transparency that the Lord could speak through me and use me anyway, despite the way i feel. thanks, and much love :)
Grace and Peace!

wishing well

10.22.08



sorry it's been so long :) i was writing more when i didn't have the internet....haha. so, this past weekend, i hosted my first group! they were from the LA area, and a college group, so that was fantastic. hopefully i've made some friends :) my first prayer tour went well...for me, it's the most intense 2 hours of the weekend, but i love it. i've already said before, that the Lord shows me something new each time i go on it/give it. this time, we were driving through skid row and on the street corner, there were 5 men all gathered around djembe drums, and a couple trash cans just jammin. i think in that moment, the Lord really spoke to me through those men about making the best....and that joy is not about your position i.e. what you do, where you are, the outside things that are effecting you...but about the condition of your heart; who you are, and the way that you react to those outside sources.

so often, we as humans place our worth and our source of happiness on what we're doing and the success that we're having or not having. but what's it really about? maybe if we come to know who we are and are allowing the Lord and his people to change our hearts, then naturally what we do will be an outpouring of our hearts. a couple months before i left my job at Friends, i was basically miserable. really confused as to what my purpose was, because i knew that my heart was longing for something more. but one of my mentors told me that he thought i might need to try to start asking the Lord for ways to have purpose at work. to share my heart for loving people in that place. so that's what i did....i just kept asking God to give me a reason to go to work....and ya know, when this opportunity in LA presented itself, though i didn't really hesitate to say yes, it was still really hard to leave. because the Lord had shown me how to make the best of it. i tried really hard to pour into my co-workers and especially my student workers. though some days were better than others, i tried....and He has made me better for it. i mean, not for the things that i've done, but for the way that He changed my heart, changed my outlook and ultimately the condition of my heart.

anyway....we went hiking this weekend too. this lovely little trail that led to a uhhh "waterfall" that's mostly dried up at this point in the season. but a few of the guys and i went up a little further on the trail and saw the most spectacular view! all around us were green, lush mountains...to the left we could see Los Angeles and to the right was the ocean...big and blue and full of God...and through the clouds was Catalina Island. way cool.


sooooooooo all this rambling to say, be encouraged my sweet brothers and sisters :) find a way to live out something that you're passionate about wherever you are. check out the view and take a djembe to work :)

minty green tea

20 minutes later….
Note to self: Please Please PLEASE never again drink Green Tea…much less with mint…right before bed. Or even two hours before. Or at this point three hours before…I’m pretty sure. No wait, I KNOW that I didn’t have that tea before 9:00. And it’s nearly midnight. Can’t sleep. Not even tired really. And of course no internet so I can’t even waste my time on facebook. Lameeeeeeeee. Well I’m going to read. Yep. K. maybe sleep will find me sometime before 1:00. Please God.

opportunities

10.15.08
I was introduced to another organization that may be good to volunteer with this fall. It’ll take some effort on my part to get there because they’re located in Hollywood…but hopefully it’ll work out. They’re called Project Angel Food and they’re non-faith based which I actually think is a really cool opportunity for me as a follower of Jesus to minister to them with who I am versus what my labels are. Or rather who Jesus is in me. Anyway, I guess they cook food and stuff all day for people who are suffering from HIV/AIDS. But it's just another option....hopefully I'll find something SOON. I need human contact :) I love my warehouse but really....i need people :)

Man my keyboard is being ridiculous. Ok so lets see… anyway, Project Angel Food. The Lord has been really challenging me since I got here to not only love the poor but also the wealthy because there seems to be such a huge gap between rich and poor here. And also because it’s uncomfortable for me. I’m learning that it’s difficult for me to interact with people who believe differently from me and I wanna be stretched and grown as much as possible so maybe it’ll be good to be around someone else. I think I’ve already said that but it’s so true. I could talk about how we need to love the homeless and not ignore them all day long but when you put me in a room with a rich girl, I’ll turn the other way and judge her for being rich or pretty. And that’s not what I want to be about…I don’t want be that kind of person. Anyway.

Oh yea. Yesterday, my cousin Jaime and I were driving through Beverly Hills and saw Fabio ;) haha…so funny and kinda cool. He was driving a black Lamborghini with his long flowy hair sailing behind him. Yea he checked us out ;) Also, I went on this urban plunge thing all by myself! Yes sir. I think I could navigate alright through the metro system. It’s really fairly small compared to other cities. But it’ll do. Definitely needs work tho. Ummm….man I have to do the laundry tomorrow. So I’m going to walk a mile or so to this Laundromat here in SC on Compton…maybe I’ll sit at Starbucks for a while and actually post this sucker. Sorry it’s been so long, we’ve been w/o internet for several days. I’ve resorted to playing soccer by myself in the commons room. Hahah. True. Equally sad ;) I’m really excited for my group this weekend…they’re a college group!!! Hopefully they’re like upper classman so they’ll be close to my age. No, I shouldn’t have expectations. But they’ll be 20!!! Yesssssssssss Mkay. Enough for now. Much Love, Grace and Peace.

questions and answers and questions

10.13.08
Relief.
I wonder how a person ever has relief when living in the midst of homelessness. I try to imagine those first few days on the street…cold, damp, lonely. I like to think I would still pray; more like cry out and beg the Lord for rescue. Maybe then, once the night is over and the dangers of the dark are gone, relief comes with the morning. Hope wakes up with dawn.
Fred was his name. We met my first Saturday morning at Faith in Christ ministries. The Santa Ana’s had blown in over the night, so that particular morning was cool and crisp. Smiling at each other, we shook hands. He wore a thick black coat, a black and red knit beanie with blue jeans and dirty shoes. He wore deep blue colored contacts; I wondered where he got them from. He has a daughter; she just graduated from nursing school. Such a proud daddy. His warm voice echoed his surprisingly confident demeanor. Fred was glad that I had followed the Lord to L.A. How did he end up homeless? How does he keep going? Deep in his eyes was real Joy. That’s all there is I guess…it’s all about perspective.

I hope we make a difference. That the Lord uses my hands for good…that deliverance can come for one person. But I’m starting to wonder if that matters at all. It’s beginning to seem that all there truly is….all there ever has been, is Christ. The condition of our souls is more important….I want to know what is more important; basic needs, or being treated like a human. If I was homeless; ignored, putrid smelling, knotted, trampled on and starving, what would I care about more? Being looked in the face, or having a drink of clean water….? Or should I have to choose…shouldn’t both those things be in the same basic needs category? Food, water, shelter, humanness. That’s what I’m doing here. I’m here to treat people like people, and then to meet their needs. I’m here to inspire youth to learn how to really live the message of Jesus. To love God and love our neighbors as ourselves. My prayer is that it would stick. People would start GETTING IT. I will spread that message until I’m blue in the face; I will never tire of trying my damnedest to treat people well and encourage others to do the same. And if one person smiles at someone who is homeless because of something I did or said or tried…well then my job is complete. My next prayer is that they would go on and spread the goodness. Maybe we can start to live like Christ…and maybe it’s really easier than we make it out to be. It’s possible that it begins with something simple like a smile. And then that smile builds into a “Hello”. Piled on top of that word is maybe a free lunch and listening ears. Maybe we can start to collectively get it. And Christ can reclaim the “Christian” label and we won’t be ashamed to say that’s what we are.
I usually hate saying that I’m a Christian. Only because I know that the stereotype is negative and usually it’s something I’m not associated with. Or at least I try not to be. Yea I should say that now…I DON’T HAVE ALL THE ANSWERS. Usually, I’m wrong actually. But I really think that about this….I might be closer to the better end of right. Man wouldn’t it be a beautiful day if the Church welcomed and loved alcoholics and crack addicts? Then maybe Jesus can be the healer of those addictions and the Church can be the encouraging body behind the recovery. And maybe God’s timing is perfect and He will heal his children when the time is right. ????
And you know….for that matter. We should probably learn to embrace people of all (ALL ALL ALL) socio-economic backgrounds. That means rich and poor. Black, White, Latino,Asian….everyone. Rich people have broken pieces too. Afterall, we were ALL created in God’s image. Each of his children. Instead of treating wealthy or famous people like they’re a commodity, maybe we should treat them like people too. Smile at them on the street, and leave it be. You wouldn’t walk up to a complete (non-famous) stranger and take pictures of them would you? Yea Ok that’s good for now.

George

“I never won at Bingo,” an old black man with gold rimmed glasses droned to me one October afternoon. We came to the Grandview Retirement Hotel to play games with elderly people; many with no family, most suffering some kind of mental disease or cancer. Walking up to the old Southern style front porch, a breeze of marijuana wafted my way…. “Oh you’ve never won at Bingo?” I sympathetically asked. “Well maybe today’ll be your lucky day.” Sure enough, that gold rimmed glasses wearing man with the black paisley shirt sitting in a wheelchair won Bingo five times that crisp October day. When we left, my bingo partner was relaxing on the front porch, drinking a Sprite and smoking a joint. It seemed, however, that the marijuana wasn’t the only pain reliever in his day.

shopping carts

10.12.08
Shopping Carts.
Red silver and gray,
Colors of distress, ownership, pain, and hope.
Colors of a loner.
Parked outside.
Overflowing with possessions. All he owns. All he has.
Dreadlocks and curls. Green shirt and the shakes.

On The Way

well folks,

i promised a blog :) here it is.
i'm on the way to Los Angeles...to serve this fall with CSM (Center for Student Missions). the next week or so will just be training/getting to know L.A. and then the following couple months i'll be hosting groups on the weekends. we'll be serving at all kinds of different inner city organizations and eating at cool ethnic restaurants. basically can't wait.

this is a beautiful testament to the faithfulness of God and His provision and perfect timing. :) more to come....i'm tired if sitting still ;)