One Week Later

Hi again! We've had a very full week of training, so I definitely won't be able to write everything I've experienced, but this week has been amazing! We've started every day of this training week with a time of praying, singing, and reading Scripture together, and almost every night we have dinner together as a full group. The unity and community among all of the students and staff has just been fantastic!

Tuesday: We split into two groups, and took an "urban hike" through many parts of Los Angeles, including: Chinatown, Little Mexico, Little Tokyo, Skid Row (the area into which most of the homeless people in L.A. are pretty much herded; out-of-sight, out-of-mind), the downtown business district (just up the hill from Skid Row). Finally, we took the subway back to where we started. Learned a lot about the different areas of the city, about the different cultures that make it up, and about the rainbow of people here too. The hike really helped me understand the hard circumstances many people in the city are in, and it gave me a heart for the people here in all their diversity. After dinner, we played soccer in the back parking lot with a few of the children of staff members, which was a lot of fun. I sprained my ankle in the process, but that has healed fully over the last few days.

Wednesday: In the morning, we spent time learning about the way God asks us to treat the poor in our land, looking in particular at Deuteronomy 15:1-11. After lunch, we split into 3 groups to go into 3 neighborhoods in Los Angeles: Koreatown (which is where we are living), an African-American neighborhood, and a Hispanic neighborhood. My group went to a particular plaza in Koreatown, and we took the bus there. We had a couple staff members along, but they weren't allowed to give us any help. So we used the map we had, and asked people we passed on the street for help. And we got there! We at in a Korean food court, and tried several different Korean foods, of which some were delicious. Some of them, I was glad I tried them once, but I wouldn't again. But it was fun and educational. I talked to a man I met there, and he told me about some Korean traditions and holidays, and he told me that older people in Koreatown often feel stuck there, because they don't know enough English to get by in other parts of the city. Once all 3 groups were back home, we talked about our experiences in all 3 cultures during the afternoon.

Thursday: We made two lunches each, and took them to a nearby park to share with someone there. Our goal was to share lunch, share our faith, and learn from them about whatever they would want to talk to us about. At the last minute, we changed parks, so we drove a different route to another park. On the way, we passed a woman whose car was stopped in the middle of an intersection with a dead battery. God had her there at just the time that we drove by with a van full of energetic and willing college students. So we pulled over and 5 of us pushed her car out of the road and to a gas station to jump her car. What a blessing to be able to help her out, especially since she had 3 little kids in the back seat! At the park, we split up into pairs (I went with Hannah, a fellow student from Minnesota). We stopped to talk to a man named Louis, who was very glad to share lunch with us and eager to talk. As we talked about our faith with him, he agreed with a few things we said, but he fiercely defended some really strange beliefs. He was a very smart man (UCLA engineering graduate) and I think he was very eager to debate with us. We definitely learned from the experience, and it shattered many of the expectations I had as we walked up to this man sleeping under a tree. I was reminded that I can't always see how God is at work, and, even though I couldn't see any change in Louis's heart, God is still working in his heart.

Friday: Beach day! We talked in the morning about teamwork through Christ, and how each person has a valuable role in the the body of Christ, whether or not he is a leader. In fact, Christ has called leaders to serve the people they lead. The staff had been praying and Friday morning. I am the team leader for Team B, along with my associate team leader Hannah. Our other group members are Luke (from Wisconsin), Sam (a girl from Kansas), Lauren (from Nebraska), and Bea (from Spain, yeah the country). We swam for a bit in the ocean, but after lunch we did several team-building activities that the staff had planned in order to challenge us and get us to work together as a team. In the evening, the 6 of us sat down to share with each other about our lives. It is amazing to see the amazing variety of ways God has brought us here to Los Angeles and here to this point in our lives.

Saturday: The men and women in our project house split up, and spent time talking with just the students and staff of the same sex. We got to know each other more closely, and spent time just bonding (for the guys, that meant playing Nintendo Wii together and going to get burgers). We went the the famous Southern California landmark: In-N-Out Burger. It was definitely an above average cheeseburger, but it just wasn't ridiculously amazing, and it was very crowded. But I'm glad I was able to try it!

Sunday: This morning Team B went to Faith Inspirational church, an African-American church in Compton. It was phenomenal! So enthusiastic, so vibrant, so welcoming. I also noticed how the church focuses on community and creating supportive families, particularly through Godly, responsible men (which are so often lacking in the inner city). This particular church was very dressy, and the music was so lively! We were all clapping as we sang and sweating by the time we were done! After a lunch of leftovers, we learned about spending time with children, which is what we'll be doing during some of these weeks.

Each team will be working at a different ministry site in the city (partnering with a local church ministry) every week. I'm excited to see our team get to work together and make a difference in the community tomorrow. But it's dinnertime now, so I've gotta go!