Sorry it's been so long!

I know it's been about 2 weeks since my last blog post, but there's a couple of reasons for that: 1) we're doing things as a group all the time here in Los Angeles, and 2) we had our computer and cell phone access taken away from us for a couple days last week (more about that to come in the next post).

Last week (the 18th through the 2nd), my team worked with Child Evangelism Fellowship in Redondo Beach to put on a 4-day Bible club at a local park. Monday was strictly for training, and the club was Tuesday-Friday. Between 5 and 8 kids showed up every day, and we really got to know several of them well by the end of the week. We led them in songs, games, memorizing Bible verses, and a main lesson from the Bible every day. All of these things were already organized for us, so we simply divided the responsibilities and prepared beforehand each day. At least 2 of the children prayed to receive Jesus during the week. We were able to give Bibles to several of the kids, and little Jaron in particular was very excited about that! His eyes lit up and he said, "For my very own?"

We take the bus to and from our ministry sites every week, and this first week in Redondo Beach was a long way away from our house in Koreatown. We rode the bus for 2 hours each way every day, so I estimate we spent about 20 hours on the bus that week. We spent most of that time preparing for the Bible club, sleeping, and getting to know each other better.

Back at our house, we split up for Bible studies on Tuesday night. Our study was with just the men in the group, and it was great to be able to hear about each others' experiences and also hear each others' insights into the passages we were discussing from the Bible. Thursday night we had a panel discussion with 4 Christians who have chosen to live and work in the inner city of Los Angeles. They gave us such insights into their struggles, joys, and motivations in living and working full time with the people here in the city. I felt like I was writing down memorable quotes and tidbits all night long. Friday night was a social night for our group, and we all watched the original Karate Kid movie from the '80s. Saturday, the boys had to make breakfast for the girls because they had a cleaner room than we did. Afterwards I met up with my cousin Jacob who goes to USC and is staying there for the summer. We had a good time catching up and touring campus. When the snow is falling back at Ball State, I'll think of this campus where palm trees abound and sweatshirts are considered heavy coats. The weather here has been gorgeous, but according to Jacob this is terrible weather compared to the usual. We actually saw rain for the first time this afternoon; until now we've just seen a little mist during a few mornings.

I'll write more about this past week soon. I know I have some catching up to do, and I don't want to leave you in the dark. This past week was great, and I look forward to telling you about it! But right now I'm heading to bed.