The topic of homosexuality is a topic, I assume, most of us have a difficult time addressing within our youth groups. There are so many perspectives to balance and deal with that we just assume not address the issue, or we address it on an individual, “as needed” basis. This way we can avoid the minefields and pitfalls that surround this “hot button” issue.

Living in Los Angeles, this topic is one that we cannot ignore, but one that I have not really had to deal with. It has been on a periphery level, and a subject that I want to learn more about.

I recently heard about a guy living among the GLBT (Gay/Lesbian/Bisexual/Transgender) community called Boystown Chicago. His name is Andrew Marin. His story is fascinating at how he came to work with and build the Marin Foundation dedicated to “building bridges” and elevating the conversation with the gay community. He has written a book called Love Is An Orientation that has really been a great tool and reference in practically dealing with the GLBT issues. Being immersed into the Boystown community as a married, evangelical, heterosexual male, Marin has gone in with and open ear, mind, and heart.

One of the eye-opening realities that people (both Christian and non-Christian) who are GLBT or not sure if they are GLBT face from the church is marginalization:

“Put yourself in their shoes for a moment and honestly try to imagine the feeling of what it’s like to first realize you have a same-sex attraction: the thoughts, questions and issues that all quickly arise without being able to find any definitive answers. Then try to imagine the realization that immediately follows; whether or not that person ever acts out on their same-sex attraction they are inherently cast as deviant to mainline Christianity.” (p. 33)

In a recent seminar at Youth Specialties, Marin shared research being done at his foundation. The findings showed the average age of the first same-sex attraction feelings show up around age 11. By the age of 15, a person has decided on their sexual orientation. If this research is even slightly accurate, I can’t help but think of: A) how many of the students in our middle school and high school program are struggling with their sexual orientation; and B) if they think they might be gay/lesbian are wondering if they are a deviant and “unlovable” in the eyes of God and the church?

It is that reality that is both unsettling to my soul and a burden on my heart. I think one of the reason’s this is unsettling and a burden is because I wonder how this reality would be experienced within our youth and church community? Is there a safe place for adolescents to share these thoughts, feelings, or questions with somebody in our youth community? And would they find someone willing to walk with them through the journey?

As we enter the dialogue regarding this new aspect of our ministry, I’m sure I’ll have more thoughts on Marin’s book as well as others who are respectfully and rightfully entering the discussion. My hope is that our church-wide and youth community can become a place in which all students can come with their all of their brokenness, struggles, questions, and issues, and walk away knowing that they are absolutely, positively “lovable” AND loved by God!

1. What are some practical ways that you are creating a place where kids know without a shadow of a doubt that no matter what they share or say, they know they are loved by God?
2. When it comes to “hot button” issues that have different perspectives within the group, what are some ways to address the issues constructively especially with adolescents and all their developmental issues?

Our mission at Bel Air Presbyterian Church is “Making LA the Greatest City for Christ”.  Part of the reason we took the Embrace LA trip was to start to figure out how we can accomplish this mission.  Here are thoughts from the students on how we can accomplish our mission:

• Everyone at our church should go on this trip to see LA, to see what you need to do for yourself to come to certain understandings.  Maybe we can make a weekend Embrace LA trip part of the requirements for membership.  Then in 20 years, most of our members would have an idea of what LA is really like.
• LA needs better public transportation.  Our city is so spread out that people don’t leave their bubbles.  Better public transportation would enable better community throughout the city.
• Investing in one another and investing in other churches and organizations.
  
• Our church members need tangible ways to make LA the greatest city for Christ – maybe at the end of every sermon Pastor Mark could give a different task each week to encourage the congregation with something specific.
• Make LA affordable so that people can live and have a decent income.  Make the economy more viable so that people do not have to live with the stress.
• We need to look at micro-economics.  If the rich and the powerful in our city spent as much on the city as they do on themselves, I’m pretty sure we’d see a major change relatively quickly.
• God is rising up people to serve – it has been put on their hearts to serve.  We need to listen and see and find out where our talents and what we have can make a difference.
• If people spent more time loving each other and building relationships it would be so much better.  We need to talk to one another and open ourselves up.  We need to be able to walk in different neighborhoods and relate to people, instead of feeling anxious or uncomfortable.
• We need to get out of Santa Monica and Beverly Hills, etc.  We need to get into these other communities and spend time with others.  Everyday is a mission – get out of your neighborhood.
• Make a bigger effort to reach out to the people who are homeless.  Break away from the Pleastanville-ness of our lives.  Openness, happiness and respectfulness.
• Loving people and feel like you can go into a neighborhood and not be scared.
• When we raise millions for a new building project, how about we build it downtown or somewhere else?  Or have a one-for-one model where we raise enough to build something here and in another part of the city.
• We think of church as one place, but its not.  Church is a community.  We don’t need all these things – we need community.

The Embrace LA team will revisit these ideas in our final team meeting at the end of August.  Look for an update on our Pay it Forward project then.

July 31, 2009, 10 PM

After cleaning Mulholland and grabbing lunch, the team sat down to continue the debrief process.  It was difficult as the exhaustion of the week set in, but we forged ahead and had some really good discussion about our experiences.  Since everyone was so tired, we decided to give the team a break and went to the Student Center to watch a movie.  All we could find in the office was Finding Nemo, but it was great to relax for a while.

After “nap time” we went to the grocery store to get food for the banquet.  We broke into three teams and each team had to cook dinner for 20 people on a budget of $40.  One team chose tacos, another got hamburgers and the third did breakfast for dinner.  When we got back to the church it was a preparation frenzy as we set up decorations for the tables (newspaper used as tablecloths and cardboard for the place settings), and began cooking three different meals in the kitchen – craziness!  Everything turned out great for the dinner and after everyone ate, the team had the chance to share stories from our trip.  It was great to hear them describe their experiences and what they hope to take away.

At the end of the night, we challenged the students with one final project: Pay it Forward.  Basically we gave each student $100 cash, with the idea that they will invest it into something to make more money that the student will donate to one of the organizations we visited.  For example, the student could spend the money on supplies to make necklaces, then sell the necklaces to friends and family for a profit.  The students will bring their strategies and the money they make to our last team meeting in August.

Overall, we had a great experience!  I hope the things we learned will translate into our everyday lives.

July 31, 2009, 10 AM

We arrived at our final stop of the trip yesterday afternoon at Cloud & Fire Ministries in North Hills.  We had the opportunity to spend the afternoon with kids from the neighborhood as they came for tutoring.  Some kids are in school right now, so they needed help with homework and the others played board games with our team.  Courtney, one of the staff members who used to work at Bel Air, hosted us and told us about the area.  There is substantial gang activity in this neighborhood with two local rival gangs always at odds with each other.  Cloud and Fire exists to help at-risk kids in the area.

After tutoring we went to dinner at a local Mexican restaurant and celebrated Carrie’s birthday!  Knowing first hand the joy it is of having several birthdays on youth trips, and even more special on mission trips, we tried to honor the amazing person that Carrie is.  Not sure if we succeeded, but I really think its great that she chose to help lead this trip knowing it would be on her birthday.

That night we went to the Sepulveda Rec Center where the city hosts Summer Night Lights, a program that targets parks in the City’s Gang Reduction and Youth Development (GRYD) zones and expands programming, after-school activities, athletic leagues, art initiatives and family programs.  The anti-gang initiative keeps City parks open after dark with organized activities for at-risk youth, therefore providing a safe place to spend the summer.

After going to the park we took some time as a team to start the process of integrating our experiences this week with what God thinks about the issues we have faced.  Each team member chose a story from the gospels of Jesus interacting with those who were poor or oppressed.  Then we discussed preparing ourselves to go “home” (I put that in quotations marks since we are home in LA and we want to embrace the whole city as our home, but in this sense I mean home as in our lives and how we are used to living).

On a personal note, I am amazed at how much this feels like we’ve been really far away for a week.  Even though we have been in the same city, we have been so many places and done so much, that this mission trip feels like any other international trip I have been on when coming home – exhausted, inspired, having difficulty explaining what happened, unsure of how to assimilate back into my life, etc.  In some ways it is more intense than an international trip because we are not really leaving this place, so it is going to be difficult to reconcile our lives with this week’s experiences.

Overnight we slept in the tutoring center, sharing one toilet and shower (yay for community!).  This morning we had breakfast and packed up.  We had planned to do a service project at Hope Gardens, but due to an outbreak of chicken pox, they are not allowing volunteer groups for a few days.  So instead, we have come back to Bel Air earlier than expected and are taking a couple of hours to clean the streets around the church as part of the Adopt-A-Highway program.  Later this afternoon we will have some time to continue the debriefing process and prepare for the banquet tonight.

Here are some thoughts from students on our time at Cloud and Fire:

“Cloud and Fire tutors kids at rick from gang activity, centered between two rival gangs.  They also play with kids to help them live lives away from gangs.”  -Austin

“Cloud and Fire was really awesome.  I was unsure at first because we had no idea what we were going to do.  Once the kids started coming we began playing with them and just talking to them.  In the neighborhood there is a lot of gang activity but the organization is working to give the children another option.”  -Cloe

“Cloud and Fire is a great place and safe environment for kids to escape the distractions of their home life and come and get help.  A quiet area for them to learn in and a place for them to let loose and just focus on being kids.”  -Casey

“Playing with the kids at Cloud and Fire was so much fun!  The kids were all so sweet and down to earth.  I am so glad that Cloud and Fire is always a safe haven for the kids that come there because they deserve it!”  -Tori

July 30, 2009, 1 PM

Before leaving Beverly Hills, we took back the students’ bathing suits and nice clothes.  We also asked them to choose one of the three items they kept from their luggage on the first day to give back to us (so basically everyone is on day 2 or more of wearing something).  After we packed up, we drove to the mid-city area of Los Angeles (sort of near USC) to the World Impact Headquarters.  Here we met with Selvin, one of the staff and he split us into two groups and sent us on a City Life experience.  Basically each group had four hours to visit Watts and McArthur Park and eat lunch before meeting back in mid-city.  The catch was that we couldn’t drive, so we had to figure out the bus and metro systems to get us around the city.

It was a really great experience to ride both the bus and the metro.  We really got a sense of how much longer it takes to use these methods of transportation as opposed to driving (even with traffic), as there is a lot of waiting involved.  However, it was very empowering to get around without relying on a car in Los Angeles.  And we discovered that the Metro (an underground train system like the subways in NYC) is really great – fast and clean.  Too bad we don’t have a Metro under the 405!  We realized how important transportation is in the infrastructure of the city.

While in McArthur Park and Watts, we had a chance to walk around and observe these neighborhoods.  One of the groups ate lunch at a local Mexican shop in McArthur Park, while the other group ate at a restaurant in Watts where they had the chance to chat with the owner about the history of the area.  Unfortunately, both groups had very limited time in Watts, as we ended up staying the night at the mid-city location of World Impact.  Perhaps we will be able to visit again as a team and spend more time there.

That night we spent time with Selvin and screened portions of a movie about gang life and inner city culture.  We learned that there are approximately 27 active gangs in LA and that the area where we were staying is considered a territory by the MS13 gang.  We also learned that many families that are involved in gangs recruit younger siblings as young as 8 years old.  The information about gang life was difficult to hear because the situation seems so overwhelming and hopeless.

We stayed overnight in apartments where World Impact houses missionaries and church groups.  The apartments were pretty run down and the rooms for church groups have not been renovated, so the housing situation was extremely different than that of the night before.  In fact, Beverly Hills felt a lot further than just a few miles away.

We also decided to push the students a little bit further in the experience when we asked for their toiletries.  We had a few items from the 99 cent store for them to use, and then each person could choose one item from their toiletries to contribute to the communal toiletry bag for the rest of the trip (one for guys and one for girls).  The guys chose their items pretty quick while the girls spent well over 20 minutes debating whether or not black eyeliner should be an item we kept.  In the end the black eyeliner didn’t make the cut, but luckily deodorant and toothpaste did!

This morning we got up and had breakfast at a convenience store.  Since many kids in the area do not eat breakfast at home, they end up grabbing something on the way to school, which is what we were mimicking here.  Our total bill for breakfast at the convenience store was $25 (about the same or less than it cost one of us to eat breakfast in bed the day before).

After breakfast we worked for a few hours in the thrift store that World Impact runs, sorting clothes, putting together furniture and cleaning.  Some of the students bought items for a dollar each out of their $10 allowance to support the store.  Then we grabbed a quick lunch and were off to our final stop of the trip.

Thoughts from students on this part of the trip:

“Visiting World Impact really did have an impact on me.  Selvin showed us all a movie about the tragedies and severeness of gang life.”  -Tori

“The World Impact building is placed directly in MS13 territory.  MS13 has over 100,000 members and holds land in 6 countries and 33 states in the US.  To become a part of a gang you are ‘jumped in’ which for men includes a vicious beating and for women far worse treatments are given.  Gangs guard their territory with an iron grip.  Any rival in the wrong turf is shot and most likely will not live.”  -Austin

“We did not really experience Watts because we were only there for a short time.  Riding the subway to get there was an intense experience.  All these people with different stories and lives brought together because they need to get somewhere.  It was a great time to just pray for people around us.”  -Cloe

“Watts was amazing, not like I had pictured it.  We learned about the gang MS13 – super intense.”  -Kate

“Taking a whirlwind tour of Watts and Westlake through World Impact was exhilarating.  Jordan’s Cafe, our lunch stop in the former location, was undoubtedly a highlight: the friendliest people and time-tested cuisine!”  -Justin

“Even though I have lived in LA my whole life, I have never been to areas like Watts and McArthur Park.  Even though these places had bad reputations, it does not mean that the majority of the people are not respectable.  Like Oscar said from Jordan’s Cafe in Watts – it does not matter where you live, people want the same things – they are trying to live the best quality of life and raise their children to be self sufficient and respectable human beings. “  -Casey

July 29, 2009, 10 AM

We left East LA and headed to our next destination.  First stop: Rodeo Drive.  When we arrived in Beverly Hills, a couple of the students felt extremely uncomfortable because of the way we were dressed (we were in casual clothes that we had been wearing for the last couple of days, and not feeling as cleaned up as usual).  We spent some time walking around and observing the area.  Some of the students needed to use the restroom, so we went into a Starbucks.  So far on the trip, we as leaders have been very strict and calculated about spending and there have been essentially no extras (like candy, sodas, etc., unless the students decide to spend some of their $10 allowance, which no one has so far).  Now being in Beverly Hills, we have changed our demeanor and the leaders got in line at Starbucks.  The students began to question if they could get a drink, assuming they would need to spend part of their allowance.  But we acted surprised that they would think we wouldn’t automatically provide for their every wish and desire.  Of course, they thought we were tricking them, but we weren’t, so those that wanted a drink got one and we went on our way.

After walking around for a little while longer, we went to Beverly Hills Presbyterian Church, which is located on Rodeo Drive, just north of the shopping district.  Every Tuesday the church serves a meal for people who are homeless at 3 PM.  We had the opportunity to serve the food and spend time with the people who came to eat.  Some people were without a place to call home, while others were members of the community who had lost jobs and were grateful for a free meal.  While people were eating, there happened to be a piano in the room, so after some encouragement, we had the pleasure of hearing the musical talents of both Justin and Julius.  The people really enjoyed the music while they dined.

After we finished serving the meal, we went to check into the hotel.  The students had convinced themselves that we were going to “trick” them by bringing them to Beverly Hills and making them sleep on the streets (or something along those lines).  But since this trip is about embracing the city, we decided to showcase what life is like in this neighborhood, as we have in the other places we have been, so that we can compare and contrast the life experiences of Angelenos from many different perspectives.  So when we drove up to the valet at the SLS Hotel in Beverly Hills (a five star hotel close to the Beverly Center), the students started freaking out with excitement and surprise.  We went to our rooms which were opulently designed in modern decor, including large bathrooms with showers that you could actually control the water temperature and a bed for everyone.  We had time to enjoy the rooftop pool before getting ready for dinner (in which we gave the students their swimsuits and nice clothes they had previously packed).  Then we went to dinner at Lawry’s where the students could order whatever they wanted.  After our night out, we went back to the hotel and had a team meeting to debrief the day.

Here are some of the reactions to our experiences in Beverly Hills:

“While the luxury of a night in Beverly Hills makes a stark contrast with Skid Row, I actually preferred the Salvation Army in East LA.  Paula, our guide, had an enthusiastic and heartfelt personality.”  -Justin

“This hotel… Oh my gosh!  It is beautiful, clean and has all this extra stuff.  It is super different from what we ahve experienced previously on this trip.”  -Tori

“It costs hundreds of dollars to stay at the SLS Hotel for one night and I can’t help but feeling guilty knowing that 90,000 people just miles away live in poverty while we are staying in a five star hotel.  It puts things in perspective.  It shows you how many people live with complete excess.  This hotel is ridiculously expensive and I am thinking about all the meals and relief you can provide with the money spent staying one night here.  The contrast between the hotel and Skid Row is mind-blowing.”  -Casey

“At Food 4 Less we shopped for weekly groceries with a $40 budget.  The dinner we had tonight felt pretty wasteful.  Each individual meal was around the cost of our previous weekly grocery budget.  There was so much food left over; it is pretty strange to think that a family of four could have been fed for seven days for the same price as one prime rib dinner.”  -Carrie

“This hotel is too over the top and unnecessary.  So was the food.”  -Kate

“It is really neat to experience the city in new ways and see how the kids are growing and challenging different views of the city.  I’m really inspired by the people and places we’ve met and seen.  Salvation Army Shelter, Help the Children.  It makes you proud to be a Los Angelino!  There’s still so much need too.  Overwhelming.”  -Ryan

“Earlier today we bought food for a week with $40.  The thought of one room for one night costing ten times more is ridiculous.  LA is so diverse.”  -Austin

“I don’t feel comfortable here.  I don’t like the contrast and it makes me really sad to see this room and that meal is difficult to swallow when you were on Skid Row the day before.”  -Kyle

We got a good night’s sleep and the next morning ordered breakfast to the room.  Then we packed up at headed to our next destination.

July 28, 2009, 2 PM

After our packed day of tours in Downtown, we headed to East LA and went straight to our one star motel.  We had two rooms – one for the guys and one for the girls, each with one king-sized bed.  Many families in LA live in very small spaces and have to negotiate who gets to sleep where, as well as share a small bathroom.  (We of course paid for the correct amount of beds, we just didn’t tell the students we had those extras right next door.)

Since the earlier part of the day was so demanding, we ordered pizza and had a team meeting to debrief our experiences in Downtown.  Many of the students were very talkative and had a lot to process.

Later, we viewed the film Crash, in which the storyline is set in LA and depicts very intense illustrations of racism and stereotypes that still strongly exist in our city.  Although this film is rated R, the parents felt the content was relevant and important enough to allow us to view it as a group.  After the film we had a discussion about the themes in the movie, and we will be referring to these issues throughout the week.

This morning we got up and went to breakfast at McDonalds where each person was allowed to spend $5, making our total bill $60 or less.  After some trouble shooting, we ended up spending $59 and change, thanks to some ingenuity – like Chase and Kyle sharing an orange juice.

After breakfast we visited an organization called Help the Children and took a tour of their massive warehouse where literally millions of pounds of food are donated, boxed and shipped to churches locally and around the world.  We also heard about their plans to build a hospital in Guatemala for an area that severely lacks medical treatments.  It was interesting to see the impact of a LA-based non-profit on other parts of the world.

Just down the road from the warehouse was a facility for people who are homeless run by the Salvation Army.  Since we had some extra time, the staff at Help the Children called and set up an impromptu visit.  We were given a tour by Paula, an amazingly spunky woman who spent 21 years without a place to call home.  Paula quickly became one of our favorite people that we have met this week and it was interesting to see the differences between how shelters function Downtown and in this area.

After visiting the Salvation Army, we stopped by a local grocery store, Food 4 Less.  We split into 3 teams and were given the task of making a list of items to purchase if we were a family of four (two adults and two kids under the age of 5) on a budget of $40 for the week.  The students did a great job of taking this task seriously and really wrestled with what to buy based on limited resources but still wanting to provide some sort of nutrition for the family, especially the kids.  It was an eye-opening exercise.

Then we went to lunch at a local Mexican restaurant specializing in seafood (fish tacos, shrimp quesadillas, etc.)  Here are some of the student reactions to our time in East LA:

“I must admit that the past two days have been very tiring, but equally as enjoyable.”  -Justin

“Six people, one king bed, one shower.  How people live their lives in such confined conditions is incredible.  The floor was less than comfortable.”  -Austin

“Crash was really good, but the sad part of the movie was that everyone was right, but the way they acted was wrong and ended up hurting people in the end.”  -Kyle

July 27, 2009, 10 PM

After serving breakfast this morning at the Union Rescue Mission, we took a tour of the facility with the volunteer coordinator which was very informative of the programs and services offered.  We learned that describing a group as “homeless people” can be insensitive and that it is better to say “people who are homeless” so that it is understood that they are people first and being without a place to call home is their current situation, not their identity.  We also learned that it is estimated that about 90,000 people are homeless in Los Angeles County.

After touring the URM we went to the Anne Douglas Center and spent time with a staff member who showed us the Center.  Then we had lunch with some of the ladies.  It was great to see how this organization is helping women, and this visit was especially impacful for Kate, as she resonated with the work that they are doing.

Next, we met up with a professional tour guide and took a walking tour of Downtown LA, complete with headsets (of course, the students were not exactly thrilled to look like tourists).  Nonetheless, the tour was excellent!  Our tour guide, Tony, was really great and took us in and out of the many public spaces in the Downtown area, giving us the history of many of the buildings as well as details on several of the future plans for renovation.  We learned that the population of people living in downtown has gone from around 4,000 ten years ago to over 40,000 today.  Much of this growth is a result of a change in the city building codes that now allow residential and commercial spaces to be integrated (for example, a building with the ground level floor of restaurants and shops and the other stories for living units).  Therefore many old industrial buildings are now being converted to lofts, essentially pushing the Skid Row area into a smaller pocket of Downtown.

Our time in Downtown was intense and felt much longer than the 24 hours we spent there.  Here are some student reactions to our visit:

“Today was difficult because we were faced with reality.  We can’t be ignorant in order to grow and learn from this trip.  It was tragic to see the mass of people on Skid Row – even children.  And shocking to practically walk down a few blocks from a fancy hotel into a rough and poor area of Downtown LA.  It doesn’t seem fair at all, and still we question how we can make LA the greatest city for God.”  -Cloe

“The reality of seeing people sleeping in boxes a half hour away from where we live is shocking.  Meeting the people going through the rehab programs at URM and LA Mission made me think about what if I was in the same position.  I felt fear and I sympathized with them.  They have to go through so much to get a job and become healthy.  But spiritually many are filled.”  -Casey

“The thing about downtown is that you can feel completely safe on one street and then be shaking in your shoes the next.  This quick change in comfort level is quite stressful because it exaggerates the feeling of discomfort.  Me, personally, I prefer to feel safe, so certain parts of downtown I enjoyed more than others.”  -Tori

“I really liked downtown because it showed me a side of the area I had never seen before, and the community is growing so rapidly.  Skid Row was nothing new, but it was great to actually talk to the people on the street as we walked through.”  -Kyle

“I hate looking like a tourist but I did enjoy seeing downtown.  I had NO IDEA it looked like that.  It reminds me of New York.  I also liked walking down Skid Row and saying hello to the people that are homeless – they are so friendly.  The Anne Douglas Center was wonderful.  I think one day I’d like to work at a place like that.”  -Kate

July 27, 2009, 8 AM

Yesterday afternoon we broke into three groups to pass out postcards and invite people to the church service.  There was a lot of apprehension among the students as they didn’t want to come across as pushy.  But once we got on the streets most of the nervousness went away as all they had to do was hand out postcards around Little Tokyo.  Most people would either take the postcard, say no thank you, or occasionally curse at the students (throwing the postcard back our way was also apparently an option).

We attended the church service at 6 PM, which was great to experience what Bel Air is doing in downtown.  There were about 40-50 people in attendance and the music was great.  Some of the students would have preferred a live speaker (as the current situation is showing a video of Mark Brewer’s sermon from this morning), but it was really nice to be there.  After the service we went to dinner at Johnny Rockets with some members of the congregation.

The guys stayed at Union Church overnight and the girls went to the Anne Douglas Center.  Even though the Anne Douglas Center is only a few blocks away from the church, we drove since it was dark and we had all of our stuff.  On our drive over we saw dozens of people setting up for the night, either in a makeshift cardboard box, the occasional tent or just on the sidewalk with a blanket.  It was very humbling to face this reality.

When the girls arrived at the Anne Douglas Center, the guard had not been informed of our stay, so after a few phone calls we figured it out.  But we weren’t sure what the accommodations would be like, since I overheard some talk about an outdoor patio.  However, we were given a beautiful room to stay in with a bathroom and a shower (!) and later we found out that this room is called the Family Room, where moms can reunite with their kids for visits.  It was really nice and comfortable, aside from the tiny detail that a number of the fluorescent lights always stayed on for security reasons, so it felt like sleeping with a spotlight on.  But somehow the girls endured it!

This morning we were out the door by 5:30 AM to serve breakfast at the Union Rescue Mission.  We have a pretty packed morning and afternoon, which I am looking forward to.

Sunday, July 26, 2009, 4 PM

So far, we have been to church and had a team meeting.  During the team meeting we discussed what we are looking forward to and what we are nervous about, and reviewed some of our previous training to prep us for the adventure we are about to take.

Something that we reviewed was a chapter from the book Theirs is the Kingdom by Robert Lupton.  An excerpt that we will most likely reference is this paragraph on page 26:

Ancient Hebrew wisdom describes four levels of charity.  The highest level is to provide a job for one in need without his or her knowledge you provided it.  The next, lower level is to provide work that the needy one knows you provided.  The third level is to give an anonymous gift to meet an immediate need.  The lowest level of charity, to be avoided if at all possible, is to give a poor person a gift with his or her full knowledge that you are the donor.

At the end of the meeting, we asked the students to get all of the things they brought on the trip (we asked them to pack lightly!)  Then we asked them to take everything out of their bags, so they dumped everything out.  We allowed them to keep underwear and toiletries (hygiene is next to godliness, especially on this kind of trip).  Then they were allowed to choose 3 items to bring from the rest of their stuff.  It was a painful and interesting experience as they began to sort out what was really valuable from the things they thought they couldn’t live without.  Then we put the rest of the stuff in trash bags and left it at the church.  Our load is much lighter!

(As leaders, we knew this was part of the trip, so we only packed three items to begin with).

Then we headed downtown.  When we got here and parked we went for a walk.  We took the students to Goodwill and chatted about the business model of Goodwill and how it works.  Then we told the students that during the week they will have $10 each to spend at their own discretion on anything they want (anything that is legal that they want…we had to clarify that!)  As leaders we assumed that everyone would load up on extra t-shirts and shorts for the week ahead, but when it was time to check out at Goodwill none of the students purchased a thing!  In fact the only two people who got a couple of extra shirts were Carrie and myself (so we have each spent $4 of our $10 for the week).  Somehow in less than an hour the students went from materialists to minimalists!  They all decided to save their money to see what was in stock for the week (plus some of them think we are somehow tricking them).

After the Goodwill excursion, we went to Union Church where Bel Air is partnering to host a 6 PM service called The Bridge.  We were about to canvas the area with postcards of information about the service when we checked in with everyone.  Here’s some of the responses:

“Our car doesn’t have air conditioning so it’s really hot.”  -Carrie

“It’s hot and I’m worried people will be scared off by our matching shirts when we try to tell them about the church…and I think Mindy is tricking us.”  -Kate

“Not a fan of patronizing people on the street, less so of trying to bring them to church.  Great.”  -Kyle

“Goodwill was an amazing experience.  It is such a great cause to give so that others can receive.  Downtown is awesome but it is hard to be in an unknown environment.”  -Austin

“Already the trip has been filled with surprises, but fun at the same time.  We explored the city a little bit and now we are chillin at The Bridge.  In a unique way downtown is beautiful and it was interesting to see the city in a new way.”  -Cloe

“Really proud of the team.  None of the kids bought clothes at Goodwill.  A few mentioned saving their money to use on people we’ll meet this week.”  -Ryan

“At the start of this trip, before embarking, I had 9 shirts and 7 pairs of pants for 5 days… yes, I am bad at packing light.  Now my backpack only carries 2 shirts and 1 pair of shorts.  I am WAY out of my comfort zone and honestly, I don’t like it, but I’m gonna try to make it through without being obnoxious.”  -Tori