Entertaining Angels

Another great week finished up here in LA.  Just one story i want to share about the work of God this past week:

On Tuesday my group and i were eating dinner at one of our restaurant and a man that was highly intoxicated and physically injured was walking along the outside of the restaurant.  He was leaning against the building for balance as he walked by and looked like a man in severe need.  As we were loading into our vans to leave the man was walking down the sidewalk.  As the kids were loading i was asking the parking attendant at the restaurant if he knew what was wrong with that man because he was talking to him early and the attendant said the man was very drunk and hostile so i thought it was probably best not to approach the man and my group drove away without saying anything.  That night when i was debriefing with my kids they all kept bringing up this man and how they wish we could have helped him and wish we could have done something.  I then started to realize that we missed an opportunity to minister to someone in great need.  Because i was uncomfortable in the situation i chose not to approach this man and we did not have an opportunity to share the love of God with this person.  We prayed for the man that night and then prayed that we would not pass up others opportunities presented to us to serve God's people.

So...

The next day my group was serving at an after school program and I after they were all settled in and working hard I stepped outside to go get some lunch because i didnt have an opportunity to eat earlier.  I was talking on the phone to David while i was walking down the street and a woman approached me and asked for money.  I said i was sorry, that i didnt have any money and then walked away..like i do often..but then i stopped.  I said to David i would have to call him back later and i turned around to talk to this woman.  I asked her what she needed and she said she wanted some shampoo.  So we went in the store up the street..got some shampoo, conditioner and a toothbrush  (i asked if she needed toothpaste too but all the tubes were too big and she didnt want to carry it).  As we were in the store i learned that her name was Karla and she had been living in the street in LA for 8 years..before that she had been all over the United States...but never to South Dakota.. :)  I told her she wasnt missing out on too much..hehe We chatted a little more and then purchased the items and walked out the door.  I asked her if she had eaten and if she wanted to join me for lunch.  She said she would love to so she showed me a really cheap place to eat with good food.  We went to eat together..she got milk and pastries...i just got some Snapple.  She shared some of here pastry with me and we talked and talked.  I was with her for about 45 minutes.  She told me about life on the streets..we talked about God and the Bible...she told me about her family...we talked about how she didnt like the mission and homeless shelters in LA..she told me there was a really nice bathroom at the police station down the street that let her wash her hair in the sink...she told me that she hasnt left this 6 to 8 block radius since coming to LA...she lives on 7th street...between Maple and the 7-11..i learned alot.  I told her about South Dakota...I told her about college...i told her about what i am doing this summer...i talked about my family.  We shared about our lives.  She wanted me to come with her to the police station but i told her i had to get back to my group.  I told her though if God wanted us to, we would meet again.  I am in her area quite a bit and i said i would watch for her between Maple St. and the 7-11...and then we walked down the street.  We got to the corner that we had to seperate...she shook my hand..i asked her if she needed a hug...and she was thrilled to have a hug...so we hugged..  :)  I walked away and then turned back to look and she said.. "Hebrews 13, entertaining angels." and she walked away.

Hebrew 13:2 reads.. "Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unaware."

All the praise to God..who gives us second chances..who gives us chances to bless and be blessed by others.

I love my job!

The Word of God

What a day!  God was really at work today and is at work this week.  We have a group of about 85 students here this week so a total of about 100 people including leaders from Las Vegas.  They are from a large church and brought a big group of kids with a large variety of spiritual maturity.  I was a little bit discouraged by this group and kind of had a bad attitude earlier this week about this group..mostly because my group last week was so amazing!  Anyways today God made some breakthrough and I am going to share on story...

There is a young girl in my group that is going into her Sophomore year in high school and she came on this trip not really knowing anyone because her family hasn't really been involved and are new to this church.  She doesn't really have much of a spiritual background but came on the trip anyways.  This afternoon during devotion time i gave the kids several verses to look up in the Bible and journal about and just really pray.  So they all spread out across the park we were at and had time with God.  After all the kids spread out this particular girl in my group came up to me and asked if i could help her.  She didn't know how to look up verses in the Bible.  So she spent devotion time with me looking up verses together and talking about what they mean.  It was such a powerful experience for me to see her really light up when reading the Word of God out loud.  In her life she had never really spent any significant amount of time on her own reading the Bible and now for the first time she was reading and understanding right before my own eyes.  It was a true blessing to see God revealing himself to this girl as she read His word. We went through the rest of the day serving and then tonight had a large group session with all 100 people.  After the session she was crying so i pulled her aside and asked her what was wrong and she said she just had this feeling inside of her that she didn't understand....like someone was talking to her but she didnt really know who.  And i said..."Sweetie..that's God!"  What a joy to see a young girl in one day go from never spending much time in the Word of God in her life to hearing his voice in her heart for the first time.  God is so powerful and is moving in miraculous way.  All the glory and praise to Him!

Rich vs. Poor

Each week the last thing that our group is required to do before they leave is to fill out an evaluation of their experience with CSM and then also evaluate their host, so evaluate me.  I had an interesting evaluation last week...to say the least...and it has lead me to quite of bit of reflection this week.  The man in charge of my group last week approached myself and the other hosts i was working with last week to explain what he had written down on his evaluation.  He pointed to me and said that he did not like how i spoke about the rich and the poor.  He believed that i had almost "demonized" the rich and "glorified" the poor.  He felt i didn't accurately represent the rich in this world and point out the many things that rich people have done for the poor or point out how a rich person could use their vast sums of money to give to the poor.  He thought that all i did was point out the negatives and the things that the rich had not done for the poor.  He said that many people have worked very hard for their money and achieved "the American Dream" and should not be made less because they have worked so hard.  I was sad to hear that that is what he heard me saying all week.  I have taken some time to reflect on how i talk about the rich and poor and also thought about where he may have been coming from:

The man himself is rather wealthy and the kids that he brought on this trip all have quite a bit of money and i think some of the things he was saying about my explanations about the rich and poor might have been because at the end of the week he himself felt rather convicted that he was not using his riches in a better way to serve the poor.

Then i began to turn to what the Bible says about the relationship between the rich and the poor:

1 John 3:17-18 "But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him?  Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth."

James 2:5 "Listen, by beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him?"

Proverbs 13:8 "A man's riches may ransom his life, but a poor man hears no threat."

Matthew 19:21-24 "Jesus answered, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."  When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.  Then Jesus said to his disciples, "I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.   Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."

As the rich in this world, we are literally called to sell all we have and give it to the poor.  We are not told to give our leftovers, or just give a little bit, or just give what is comfortable.  We aren't call to work really hard and achieve "the American Dream" and then be proud of ourselves for our own accomplishments.  We are told as the rich to take care of the poor, to love the poor.  I know that that can be a tough commandment to follow and a very hard thing to swallow.  God says that it is hard for the rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.  Of course it is hard, when you are rich you can take care of all your own needs and don't depend on others for any help and therefore do not depend on God.  The poor must depend on others for help and must depend on God.  We are blessed to have abundant riches and be able to live a comfortable life but i believe only truly blessed when we turn around and give back to those in need, to use our riches to positively influence others.

I will continue to expose the injustices in our world and in LA even though its not comfortable for everyone to hear.  I will continue to speak the truth in love as it is revealed in the Word of God.

2 Groups

So its been quite awhile since i have posted anything..but now i have been through two week of having groups.  My first group was a group of high school students from Northern California and my second group was a group of high school students from Idaho (the Boise area).  These two groups were extremely different but a lot of fun in their own ways.  My first group was a quite group of Asian students.  They were really chill and went along with what we were doing fairly well but were a little stressed out by not knowing the schedule and were taken out of their comfort zones over and over again.  The whole experience was rather stretching for them.  Now my second group from Idaho was just an overall great group to host.  This group of kids and there interactions with each other and their leaders reminded me so much of my youth group growing up.  They were just a fun group of kids to be around and they were devoted to living their lives for Christ.  From the beginning they were asking how this experience in LA could be taken home with them to bring change to Boise.  This is what we try to stress all the time for our groups but this group came in knowing the importance of making this week impact their whole life and not just for this one week. I was impressed with their spiritual maturity and i was excited to challenge them spiritually.  

As i was leading this group this week i couldn't help but reflect back to my summers in high school and realize how blessed i was to get to experience the opportunities that were placed before me.  I know that my summers in youth group and the mission trips to Canada, to Mexico, to Indian Reservations, to New Orleans, to Romania, to Colorado, each of these trips had a significant impact on my life.  I know that i would not be who i am today without these trips.  There is something amazing that goes on in the life of a teenager when they are taken out of their own selfish living, for even just a week, and go and serve other people.  There is personal growth, spiritual growth, and just an overall understanding that the world is bigger than the place that they have grown up in.  I was blessed to begin to understand others outside of my world at a young age.  I believe God's voice can be heard more clearly when you take a break out of your daily life and don't have all the distractions of cell phones, and TV, and whatever else distracts and can really just pause and think about Him.  I think it was in those summers with my youth group that i really started to understand God's calling on my life and see that he has much more in store for me than i could imagine.  I am excited to follow His calling wherever that may be.

Education

I have surprised myself this week with how much i have enjoyed being a teacher and an educator.  It has really been a joy for me to teach these kids all that i know about LA so far...all the issues, all the injustices, all the wealth, all the poverty, etc.  I get really fired up and passionate as I am sharing the facts, the information, and how this all effects people's lives.  I get most passionate as i move on to the application and the "What now?" for the kids and the adult leaders.  Now that we know about the sweatshops in LA and the vast number of homeless people..."what do we do now??  How should this effect my life?"  I like talking to the kids about how they can be apart of the change that can take place in our world..and how they SHOULD be apart of the change.  

I feel like when i am educating other people about the issues here and showing them how things like this go on all over the world this allows them to then also educate other people.  We have just become blind to injustice across the world.  I feel like when i am educating them i am opening their eyes to the truth and hopefully this truth can bring change....change for the people that are stuck living in poverty working in inhumane conditions, change for the broken, change for the needy, change for those who have no voice unless we give them a voice.

I still am not convinced that i want to be a teacher...sorry mom...but i see the power of education everyday that i am working here.  It is only through education and people being aware of the problems in this world that any change is going to come.  

I thank God that he has given me the ability to articulate my thoughts and emotions clearly to other people and that i can see them become passionate about issues as i am passionate about them as i speak about them.  And i thank God that he has brought me here this summer to educate!  All the praise to Him!

Day at the Beach

These are the wonderful girls that I live with this summer.  I know you cant see them very well right here but from left to right it is Courtney, Alyssa, Me, Jonalisa, McKenzie, and Nikki.  Yesterday we had a pretty easy training day in the morning and then we had a good relaxing evening.  We pick up pizza at then went to the beach!!  Yeah for beautiful beach.  We just hung out and obviously took some pictures...lots of fun jumping pictures and then hung out..played football in the sand and then had a bonfire on the beach!  It was beautiful to be on the beach and having a bonfire.  We hung out had a good time and relaxed before the craziness of having groups here all the time starts.  We will be getting our first groups on Sunday night!  So now we are off to practice our prayer tour tonight...one of the most important things we do with our groups on our first night together...taking them through the city and teaching them all about LA and South LA and praying for the city! 

Sorry i havent written for awhile...been kinda busy..but i will add more about my reflections on life here and what ive been learning hopefully tonight or tomorrow!....and maybe more pictures!