Adam - Friday

This trip only gets better and better! It seems like each day MUST BE the best of the entire trip, but I am constantly let down – each day is better than the last!
After our visit to the museum of scientology, we went ti Skid Row to pick up trash and pray. It really was a terrible place. The stench in the air, the trash on the road, the rampant poverty in the community...not a single part was pleasing. But, what WAS pleasing is that we have the power to pray for such a place. Although we picked up trash, more will come to take its place and our deeds will be quickly forgotten. The TRUE power in what we did there was in our prayer. Our prayer is permanent. It cannot be taken away. And, more importantly, it will never be forgotten. The Lord is at work in that place, and with every prayer, that place is changed. You, too, can help the community at Skid Row. All you have to do is pray.

Laura - Friday

Today was a real eye-opener. First we visited the Museum of Scientology. Though a psychological interest...I’m not interested in conversion. We ate lunch by the Metro seeing the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Soon, we headed to Skid Row...no words can describe it. But I will try. A rank odor of human waste, cigarette smoke, and decay hit us as we entered the 6 block radius. We saw graffiti, hundreds of people, and garbage strewn about. We picked up trash and heard conversations. There was such an overwhelming need, but some of the people were grateful for the trash pick-up. Others...not as enthusiastic. We headed to PATH, People Aiding the Homeless. We made dinner consisting of salad, chili, chips, lemonade and brownies. I bonded with Catherine, a 67-year old woman who worked for the state. She was getting out of the shelter soon, and was preparing to embark on her journey to become an ordained minister. On our evangelism mission, my group met Incredible, an up and coming hip-hop master. Then Jeff, a tour guide, prayed for gangs to stop fighting, the war to end, and world peace. God works in mysterious ways, but gets us home safe, especially when the trip home ends short due to being pulled over. But in the end, as I’m getting ready for a much-needed shower, I know God’s on our side. Love you! Laura

Justin - Friday

I’m a real simple person, which means it was perfect to wake up to a pure pop-tart filled breakfast. After the morning routine, we loaded up in the vans to head out to the “Museum of Scientology.” Apparently scientology is a new religion based off of science and reality seeking. Honestly, it was pretty cool and ritzy place. We were there until about noon, so when released we went to the courtyard of a hotel across the street to eat lunch. After lunch we took a trip to a place called Skid Row. Now, Skid Row is just 6 blocks of abandoned stores and warehouses of city that the city of LA just gave up to the homeless. There are an estimated 1,500 to 5,000 homeless people sleeping and living in those 6 blocks every night. So basically we went around and talked and picked up the trash lying all over the place. The funniest part of the day was when I came across a “women’s item” in the middle of the sidewalk. I just stared at it thinking, “I’m not gonna pick it up.” Then Ryan came up and with a disgusted look on his face, picked it up and threw it in the trash. But the best part was the fact that he had no clue what it really was. He said “I thought it was part of a diaper or something.”
After Skid Row, we went to a facility called PATH (People Assisting the Homeless). It gives people a place to stay and helps them to find a job and get back into the world again. It was cool and all, but we were all stuck in the kitchen making the chili dinner. Then came nighttime, where we took a trip to Hollywood Blvd to do some evangelism. LA’s got some interesting characters alright. But now I’m back at the church, and I’m tired because it’s 12:20 at night and I’m kinda tired. So...yeah...see ya.

Adam - Thursday

Today was an excellent day! It truly was amazing...we did so much great work! First, we had devotional time, and I thought God really spoke to me today. After that, we went to the Lighthouse Medical Center to visit some of the elderly people and others who can’t take care of themselves. At first, it was a bit intimidating, but once I jumped into it, it was really easy to talk to them. They were such nice people, and they had SO many great stories to tell! Next, we ate lunch at the Watts Tower. It was such a beautiful piece of art! It was so cool – so much beauty among all the poverty in the neighborhood really inspired me and showed me that, even in the darkness, the light of Jesus can shine so brightly! Afterwards, we headed to a Salvation Army after school sports center where we played with a lot of little children who are at risk to be recruited into gangs. I hope that they saw the light of Jesus in us and that they can see that the gang lifestyle is not a great lifestyle.

Joel - Thursday

Today was GREAT! We had lots of fun and saw amazing views. We started out the day at the Lighthouse Medical Center where we sat and talked to elderly people and kept them company. It was fun because it was interesting to see and talk to these people because they had so much to talk about and all their stories they told us were very touching. After a couple of hours we went to Watts where we had lunch and saw the Watts Towers. The towers were built from concrete and they reached up to 99.5 feet. It was really amazing! (You should google it to see what it really looks like.) After seeing the Watts Tower we went to the Salvation Army where we went and played with the kids. We played pool air hockey, basketball, soccer. It was alot of fun and I would love to do this with them again. After the Salvation Army we went to dinner and we ate Mexican burritos, tacos and horchata, Yum, yum. The food that they served at this place was soooooo spicy. AFter dinner we went to Griffith Park and saw the city. It was BEAUTIFUL! We spent like 2.5 hours there and we prayed for the city. Oh, and I finally saw Saturn through a telescope. It was amazing! Thank you to all who are supporting us on this adventure!
Psalm 77

Caitlin - Thursday

Today was great and touching. We went to the health center and I met a guy named Bruce. He was a great guy. We chatted for a long time. When we left it was hard because we were connected! After that we went to the Salvation Army and played with children. Afterwards we went to over look the city it was awesome because I got to see the “Hollywood” sign. :D

Seth - Thursday

The beginning of our first day at the church was interesting. We went to bed at 12 AM and got up at 7 AM. Only got 7 hours of sleep so I was tired. But we had a long day ahead of us. First we went to a home for retired people, ill people and the homeless. We also played cards with some of them. After that we went to Watt’s Towers and ate there. Watt’s towers was a very cool structure. Then we went to the Salvation Army and played with the kids. In the end, we ended our day at the observatory with a great view of the city.

Justin - Thursday

To start off the day, our first stop was The Lighthouse Medical Center for the mentally ill, retired, and homeless. Sure, it doesn’t sound like a very attractive place to hang out, but there were some pretty cool people there. The first guy Seth and I met was a guy named Bruce. He was a really cool guy who looked like he didn’t even need to be in there. His excuse was he lost his house while in the hospital for his diabetes. There were a lot more people but I don’t have much time to write this. We then went and ate lunch at Watt’s Park, which had only the coolest, biggest sculpture ever. After that, we went to teh Salvation Army to play with the little kids. I learned they are really competitive at basketball. The best part of the day was going to the Griffith Observatory up in the mountains above LA. It was pretty cool to see light and three downtown LA’s.

Emily - Thursday

Today we went to the medical center and I met a friend Tom. He was older and didn’t talk right away but after sitting with him for about an hour he started talking to me. We ended up teaching him how to play “Go Fish” and I think he really enjoyed that. I think he cared that someone would just sit with him. At one point he asked, “don’t you want to go play with someone else?” I had to tell him that I’m just going to sit with him. After that we went to play with the kids at the Salvation Army and they were all very cute. On our way back to the church we all started rubbing each others’ backs and Zach is good at that. It was really fun on our way back to the church.

Howard - Thursday

Today we visited a hospital called the Lighthouse Medical Center. We met and talked to a lot of people, some old and some young. They all had great stories and made us laugh. I could tell that they were really glad that the kids were there just listening to their stories.
We also visited the Watts Towers today. Before we got there I wasn’t sure what they were, but recognized them from TV when we arrived there. They are the largest sculputre made by one person, built between 1929 and 1959. No one is sure why the artist built them, but they are now a souce of artistic pride in the Watts neighborhood.
At the Salvation Army all of the kids jumped in and played with the neighborhood kids. I think it made a big impression on these kids that the older Velda Rose kids were spending time with them.
Tonight we went to the Griffith Observatory. This really showed us what a huge city Los Angeles is – lights as far as we could see. From a distance it is really beautiful, but up close we can tell that LA needs our prayers.