Emily - Wednesday

Listen to God and Follow Through
Today I had a great day. Today I did a lot of new things. Today I prayed out loud several times and this is a new thing for me. I have been challenging myself for the past year to start praying more, but this week I needed to become more confident. I’m doing more to try to show the kids that they can do something if I can do it. Also I talked to a bunch of new people. I don’t remember most of their names but I had a good talk with one person :D. In the past couple of days I have been able to start opening up to people which is also a new thing. Today before we left the YWAM base, Megan came up to me and told me that God was telling her that God was working in my heart and life. She told me that there are great plans for me. Hearing that made me feel so special. She asked me to tell her how the rest o tf the trip goes and I’m going to make sure I do. I hope she becomes another person that I can tell all my God things to. I know that God is telling me to start opening up more and I have done that a lot more. I told the kids last night that once I know someone for a while I start to show the real crazy me...they saw that last night! After I told them I had several girls come up to me and tell me that they are glad that I’m getting to know them and starting to come out of my box. And that I came on the trip. Taht made me feel so good but I know all that happened becuase I listened to God who told me to start showing the real me. Coming out of my box and praying and talking with people is really helping me see who God really is.
Also, before I came on the trip I was worrying a lot and now I have not really thought about andy of it. I gave my worries up to God and that has made my heart feel much lighter.
PS God has given me the bible verses that I need. Luke 11:28 and Luke 12:22
“Then Jesus said to his disciples, Therefore I tell you do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or about your body or what you will wear.”

Adam - Wednesday

Today was really great! We did some real, awesome, really awesome mission work! We had a comissionary service this morning that was really inspiring. They prayed for us as we grouped up, and it was really great to know that we were being supported and that they would take the time to pray for us. Then we went to the church we will be staying at for the rest of the week. Next we went to a skate park and prayed for the youth in the city, many of which had been leading unhealthy lives. Then we got to meet a lot of them and we served burgers and hot dogs to them. We served allot to the homeless, too. Next we went to a church and worshipped with another youth group. It was really great. They prayed for our success, too! And it was so powerful, like the last time. I feel truly blessed!

Love,
Adam Orr

Sepa - Wednesday

My day was honestly the most interesting ever. Never been opened up about god & Christ with anybody/ everybody different. It was an amazing inspiration/experience to me. I couldn’t imagine how better this could get. Because I love how each day is such a surprise to me. Challenge, I love how I have to challenge myself to speak the word of god to others. I love the risks I take every second with these new and beautiful people. I want to grow up and become one of these missionaries. Serving other people gave me so much strength because I know the way I helped these people, lovely people, made me feel so great my heart dropped. Then youth group was a great feeling I felt so pure and spirited about the video i watched. I cried…weird. And interviewing Caleb was an amazing person…Jimmy is so powerful, passionate. But the video was an awesome message to me that God’s powers of creating this galaxy is extraordinary and it’s so touching because I got to see what an amazing world God the Father has created to us and what Jesus has sacrificed for us, his brothers and sisters. Each day I am just digging more deeply into my heart to understand much better and see and understand the world of God clearly and I do feel like I have to try to stay on the path or find the right comfortable path. I want to go home and show my friends how I see God and spread the word gratefully.

Laura - Wednesday, Part 2

Hey there! I made it through my testimony, but first...I am compelled to share my experience at Sunland Park. Sunland is a skate park where the YWAM staff has a BBQ with the homeless and local youth. As well as hotdogs and lemonade, they...we, served our faith. I bonded with three of the homeless. JoLynne, David (Slinky) and most of all Timothy. JoLynne was raised on the streets, 26 years old with a 7 year old daughter who was the reason she didn’t commit suicide. David was a 32 year old ex-drug addict who lived with JoLynne and Timothy. Timothy was 49, and had the insight of a preacher. Between telling me of equality, quoting Bible passages, and talking of his past...he told me of his sister, also named Laura. When he finally met my gaze, he got tears in his eyes. I put a hand on his shoulder and asked why he was crying. I look just like his sister, from my eyes to my laugh, and she committed suicide. I prayed with him then reassured him that she and God were looking down, proud of him even though he’s messed up. I told him my favorite passage from Corinthians: Love never fails and love never dies. I felt I made an impact on the community here.
For my testimony tonight at the youth service, I used Matthew 28: Go and make disciples of all nations...and I mentioned how the youth group, my church, is my family. God has truly touched my life on this trip for good. I love you church family!

Kim - Wednesday

Today we moved out of YWAM and it was so sad :( We had an awesome breakfast, and yes I get excited over muffins, one last worship with the staff blessing our trip and us, then we headed out. Thirty minutes later we were in the “ghetto” at the First Evangelical Free Church. I walked in being such a germaphobe and seeing the room in the basement. Old, dusty, and dead cockroaches lying around. The walls are so dirty and the carpet is stained everywhere. I refused to sit on the ground at first. Later, we headed to Sunland Park where Shawn (staff member) and Jimmy (independent skating evangelist) hold BBQ’s each week to invite people to talk...mostly homeless people. Everyone had a bunch of fun. But seeing all the people living in the park made me realize that it is worse than where we are staying. It reminded myself to stay positive and be thankful for what I have. I was able to see an immediate answer of prayer when we prayed for an argument to end at the BBQ. Afterwards, we grabbed a quick beverage and saw this many playing guitar. Then we headed to a youth service. Most of the people there I had recognized from the skate park, including the worship band. On the way back home we had almost forgot Meredith and had some awesome ice cream. Today was such an awesome and influential day.

Justin - Wednesday

Well, I really didn’t want to get up this morning. I was pretty tired and dragging, regardless of the fact I got a decent night’s sleep. Not the best way to start the day, huh...But oh well, a good shower 5 minutes later woke me up. By the time I got out of the shower there was about 15 minutes left to pack up and load the vans to get rolling to the church in the city where we are going to stay for the next few days. So we had one last worship service and all said our goodbyes to the staff. I got all my goodbyes out of the way, especially to my friend Urs (it’s pronounce Ooors). Yeah, it’s a funky name, but he’s from Switzerland, so he can pull it off. After all that, we, the two vans with all of us, had to try and follow one of the staff members in her own car through the California freeway to the church that will be our temporary home. And if you’ve ever seen California drivers, they are pretty dang crazy. We got caught in traffic (shocker) and fell behind the lead vehicle at one point. So, as an obligation of sitting shotgun in the van, I had to constantly keep an eye out for the Mitsubishi Montero we were supposed to be following. It kind of felt like a game of “I Spy”, except the Mitsubishi was black, and so were almost half the other cars on the freeway it seemed. Oh, but hold up a second, that’s not even the best news. The best news came when we got to the church and unloaded our junk. The news came in three parts: 1) the neighborhood we are in is consistently fought over by two opposing gangs; 2)The only two showers in the entire building are in the men’s bathroom. This means that some nights we can take showers and some nights we can’t, due to the fact that our leaders constantly change which bathrooms the guys and girls are allowed to us. And finally, we come to number 3) The room we are sleeping in is in use during the day. So every morning we all have to re-pack our stuff and carry it up two flights of stairs to a storage room. Then, once the day is over, we can go upstairs and carry all our stuff back down again. At least I’ll get some decent exercise from all that...
After our debriefing, we spent the rest of the day at a park/skate park barbequing for the teens and homeless there. With all the skaters there, I tried to skate a little bit, and a guy brought his $2000 acoustic guitar that I played on. Oh, also, it’s one of my life goals to do a back flip, so when I saw our leader Sean do one, it was a little kick in my pride. We spent the rest of the night at a church youth group where a lot of the skate park kids go. It was a fun day.

Howard - Wednesday

Today we went to Sunland Park to meet and have a barbeque with the people who live and hang out there. There were a few homeless people and kids who come to the park to skateboard, bike, or just visit with others. These kids are very vulnerable to drugs and gangs. We prayed that they would not fall into these bad things.
Later we attended a youth service at a local church, some of the kids from the park were there. We prayed for Chapel of the Hill’s youth group that they can help the kids (and others) from the park.

Joel - Wednesday

The day started out sad because we had to leave the YWAM base. We had such an interesting time there and learned so much! We went to Sunland today to barbeque with the kids and homeless at the skatepark. I enjoyed talking to them and grilling for them. I brought me a lot closer to these people and God. After our awesome BBQ we went to a youth group at the church on the hill and had worship and watched a movie about how God’s Indescribable. It was such an awesome message and it touched everyone’s hearts in some way. Thank you so much to our church family for supporting us on this mission =)
Psalm 9:1-2
I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart
I will tell of all thy wonderful deeds
I will be glad and exalt in thee
I will sing praise to thy name, O Most High

Zach - Wednesday

Today we left the YWAM base to go to the First Evangelical Free Church which will be a home for us for the next five days. After our lunch of cold cut sandwiches, we set out to the Sunland Park to pray for the area and to have a BBQ for the people of the area. But for me, the prayer time was awesome. Walking through the park and having some real legit prayer that moved how I felt about that place and it really impacted my spiritual life. After the BBQ we went to a youth group at a nearby church where we hung out with some of the kids we met at the park and there were some new faces also. I was a little nervous to go though because I was giving my testimony to the whole group but it went great. The message at the youth service was awesome. It was a video by Louie Giglio about God’s indescribable love for us. Some of the pictures they showed were just completely breathtaking. After the video their youth group prayed for our youth group and it was great. After we went to Baskin Robbins for a little ice cream treat then headed back to our home church to debrief and get some sleep after a long eventful day.
Love, Zach

Laura - Wednesday

We’re leaving our YWAM base, heading to our church base in downtown. I’m writing in the van, and I’m SO excited about getting into our work.
Tonight I’m giving a testimony and I’ll admit, I have NO CLUE what in the world I’m going to say. I suppose I’ll say something along the lines of how much all of you back home support me and my fellow youth...That’s a good idea now that I think of it.
California’s beautiful and green, but the roads make it hard to write. Tonight and today we’re visiting a local youth group and skate park for a community BBQ. I’ll tell you about it later, but I’m gonna quit after that last pothole! Love ya!

Andrea - Wednesday

This morning we left YWAM, but before we left we had a worship service where we listened to music and kinda meditated. Then we went to Sunland Skate Park and had a barbeque. We gave hamburgers and hot dogs to people there. Then we went to a local church’s youth service. There were some really neat people there, including Hannah, the pastor’s daughter, and Jessica, the youth leader. It was really fun.

Adam - Tuesday

Today was such a great day! I really love this place...I bet heaven is a lot like here! But, we have to go out into the world tomorrow and bring some heaven to earth. Anyway, the training for our outreach is going great! I’m really being filled up, so I can pour out into the world. I could write so much about being here, but I’ll focus on one thing that was really cool: The strength finder. We all got books that had explanations of various strengths, then took an online test that told us our top 5 strengths. After that, we learned how to develop these strengths to be as strong as we could be. Next, we did exercises to help us determine how our individual strengths could compliment each other’s to minister better to people. It was really great, and I think it will help us so much!
Love you all! Adam

Aspin - Tuesday

So! Today was so BOMB! I mean, everyday you get pancakes for breakfast it’s a bomb day! :) Well we did some strength exercises and test to tell us what our strengths are. Mine is strategic. It means that I’m excellent at finding the fastest, safest path out of anything. Then we had lunch. I must say, the food was AMAZING! The watermelon in Cali is to die for! Then, wow I say then a lot! Anyway, then we made a web of pink yarn showing how all of our strengths work together. Afterwards, we ate dinner. I had an amazing, fantabulous idea and we made thank you cards for all the staff and I had everyone sign them! :) It was cool. So we went and worshipped and we saw a video on human trafficking. Ugh. Way to kill the mood! People who support human trafficking are sick minded people!!!! After we did that we presented the awards and lightened the mood. After that we went and had a bonfire. The fire wasn’t ready so we had a dance party game going on. We roasted marshmallows and told scary stories. I told a story that had Seth ready to lose it! Everyone was freaked. Then we went to bed, but not before we jumped out of closets to scare everyone! It was an amazing day!

Ashleigh - Tuesday

Whew! Our last full day of mission training was packed full of awesomeness and fun experiences. After waking up and eating breakfast, we had “quiet time” where everyone took a time out to read their Bibles, pray, do devotions, or just spend any time they wanted with God in general. It’s just a really nice time. Later, everyone met up and got to take this really cool test that helps you find your strengths and use them to cultivate them to help people for God. It was really interesting. At night we all gathered again and watched a video on human trafficking – which was really disturbing. Anywho, one of my favorite parts of the day was at the very end before bed, when we had a bonfire. Everyone had a dance-freeze-off while we were wafting for the fire to be lit and then we all made s’mores once it was going. As s’mores always are, they were delicious and one of the leaders, Urs (he’s Swiss) tried a s’more for the first time. Overall, this trip has just been full of fun and new things.

Andrea - Tuesday

Today we found out what our strengths are. We took an online test. My strengths were input, intelligence, ideation, learner and achiever. Then we did an activity where we showed how our strengths worked together well and how they cannot work together. Then after dinner we roasted marshmallows around a bonfire. It was really fun.

Joel - Tuesday

California is absolutely beautiful!!! Waking up in the morning and the fresh air just makes my day. Today’s breakfast was soooooo good. Fatty pancakes and bacon, what a way to kick off the day. Oh, and also, Spain beat Portugal (1-0) =) We also did a strength workshop where we found out what our major strengths were. My strongest strength is Woo, Winning Others Over. I never knew that wooing was my strongest strength. But lately I’ve been trying to do stuff to WOO people. The night ended with all of us sitting around a beautiful fire telling scary stories, making s’mores and having crazy marshmallow fights. Thank you so much to all those that have done so much for our youth group. It means a lot to all of us. We will slowly but surely change the world. =) Psalm 18:1-3 I love you Lord. You are my strength. The Lord is my rock, my protector, my savior. My God is my rock. I can run to him for safety. He is my shield and my saving strength, my defender.

Zach - Tuesday

Today we did this strength workshop that was awesome. We took this test online to determine which five strengths are our top ones. After we all finished the tests we did some exercises to see how our strengths helped and hurt other peoples strengths. It was a great team building exercise. The sessions and Megan’s talks were completely amazing and she is awesome. One thing that shocked me was all the information that they shared about human trafficking. I never knew it was such a large issue. The food here is awesome and delicious. I am sad to leave the YWAM base but I’m excited to go into the mission field. At our bonfire tonight, Sepa and I got in a marshmallow fight and I won.

Gillian - Tuesday

Today we did a strengths workshop. First, we took an online test that told us our top 5 strengths. Mine are restorative, includer, adapter, competition and woo. After we took the test, we went outside and did an activity together. We had to throw a ball of yarn across the circle and say an example of how the 2 people can use their strengths together. This evening we made a fire and roasted marshmallow and got to bond with each other and the staff.

Caitlin - Wednesday

Today we went to the skate park and we did a bbq and fed people like homeless and stuff. We also connected with them and prayed if they wanted us to pray for something specific. Then we went to a youth club and we were all to meet a friend and learn about them.

Emily - Tuesday

Today we learned about our strengths. My top strength is context which means I learn from the past. Every time I do something I think about how I can do it better next time. I think this is a great skill because some people go through life making the same mistakes and I can help people with that. We love the staff at YWAM and we showed that when we gave them all a piece of paper with why we love them. I think they really enjoyed that. It was a very fun day. I love the YWAM camp.
PS both desserts at lunch and dinner and after dinner snack were soooo good!

Seth - Monday

The first day was interesting. We had a quiet time in the morning which was different. We were able to have 30 minutes to one hour to devote our time to God. Then we had a guest speaker that came and she talked about alot of things (which is too much to put down here). Then later on in the afternoon we went on an Urban Plunge into the city.

Kim - Monday

Today was a blast! We had an awesome hot breakfast. Some quiet time and a speaker during worship sessions. We also did an Urban Plunge location scavenger hunt. It involved using teamwork to complete challenges representing the spheres of society. I can now proudly say I have walked the streets of LA barefoot and blindfolded. Tonight we also had a commitment time . It made me wonder how much effort I was putting in with my relationship with God, and allowed me to just relax and think about listening for God and what he was calling me to do.

Aspin - Monday

Wow! What a first day! Alaska wouldn’t have been fun unless the whole youth could go. LA is WAY better anyway! The first thing we did was have quiet time. I enjoyed it. I was asking God to talk to me and this little tabby cat trotted up to me. It probably came to me because it wanted food but i thought it was because I asked God! We ate this huge lunch that was delish! And went on an urban plunge! We were blindfolded and taken to a secret place downtown. Then we rode the subway. It was like a scavenger hunt-type-thing. We had to find places like a bank, library, church, and a park, then they, our leaders, would read facts about the city and we would pray. The funky part of this was on the way to these places One: We took off our shoes, tied them together and walked in downtown LA to a church. Talk about weird. Two: Everyone but one person was blindfolded and the leader had to guide the blind 2 blocks to the library. Well, that took a lot of trust. Three: Hold hands a couple of blocks to a park. That one was easiest. Then we came back to the base and ate dinner. PB&J. my favorite :) We wonderfully had one singing session. Then, Megan, our speaker for the week joined us. She made me laugh tonight! Lastly, we had a prayer hour. This was so God could talk to us. Well, now apparently I’m starting a flower garden when I get home! Cool!!! Well now I’m pressured to turn off the lights and sleep! It’s 11 PM. UGH!!! Goodnight Arizona!
Love, Aspin

Zach - Monday

Today we did this thing called an Urban Plunge. We went blindfolded into the city where we had to do all these crazy tasks like tying our shoes together and walking through the city in a conga line. I even walked through the city barefoot. After doing our challenges, we would pray for different spheres of society like economy, religion and family.
We have also had some great worship times where we can praise the Lord with some awesome music. The speaker Meagan is great. She really likes to relate to and with us and her message is amazing. After our evening message we had a great two hours of worship, prayer and reading time with ourselves that was completely amazing!

Laura - Monday

We’re loving being at YWAM and without our church family, I wouldn’t have the chance for this amazing experience, so...THANK YOU!
We embarked on an Urban Plunge. It’s a scavenger hunt, where you figure out where you go. “Pink Balls and Purple Squares” took us to Pershing Park. A conga line style of travel took us to the library. Then we went to the Wells Fargo Center and taking one shoe off, tying them together, we went to an inspiring Cathedral. People gave us some funny looks, but we had a blast bonding with our friends and exploring LA and Hollywood. We even went on the red line subway and I loved it.
I should explain WHY we visited those places. To start, we learned about certain spheres of influence like education, religion and family. Pershing Park represented family and we got statistics of broken families...as well as the hope to make things right. The library represented knowledge, the many people without proper education. Wells Fargo represented the economy and all of us know those statistics. The Lady of Angels Cathedral represented religion, and how LA is SO diverse. That was just one part of our day. The YWAM base is beautiful, we all have bunks of our own. Well, sort of. I’m on top sharing with Cindy and Andrea’s on top sharing with Emily. The food is great too. Pancakes with Nutella this morning...But what spoke to me was the night service. During the Commitment Service, I heard God call me to the mission field. So, I’m now in the midst of a decision. Will I get my degree first? Or will I go to a Discipleship Training School first? Whether it takes me to Africa, India, or Timbuktu...where God calls, I’ll go forward. FWD...our theme for this trip. Going forward in God. What I know for sure, I will go on another Mission Adventure. God’s calling and I will follow. To my church family Velda Rose, I send nothing but love. Thank you for sending me into the world!

Emily - Monday

Here at YWAM there is a really good speaker Megan. She is really funny and she loves God. The music in our sessions are very good. Everyone here at YWAM is nice and want to show God to everyone. We also went to downtown LA and it was fun seeing everyone doing the different tasks.

Caitlin - Monday

Today was the best! We had breakfast then at like 1:30 we took the subway from North Hollywood to the Civic Center and tied our shoes together and carried them to the church. We left the church to find the nearest Wells Fargo ATM. Then went to the library. It was fun because I led the way when everyone was blindfolded except me! Then we went to a park. Next we took the subway back to North Hollywood and drove back to our base.

Andrea - Monday

We did an Urban Plunge today. We got into the van and drove blindfolded to the Metro station. We took the blindfolds off, but the other team didn’t. It was hilarious to see them walk into cars! We went to Pershing Square holding hands. There we prayed for family. We were supposed to walk blindfolded to the library, but we forgot the blindfolds. At the library we prayed for education. Then we went to the Wells Fargo Center where we prayed for the economy. Then we walked with only one shoe on to a Cathedral where we prayed for religion. After dinner we had a commitment service. We sat and listened to music while God talked to us. It was amazing!

Gillian - Monday

Today was amazing. We went on an Urban Plunge around LA. We walked around the city and had to find different places using clues. When we found it, we learned some facts about the different parts of society and prayed for them. But my favorite part was the commitment service. We all sat around the room and listened to music. The leaders and staff were praying for us and talking to us about what God was saying to us. Two of the staff really inspired me. It felt like God was speaking to me through them.

Adam - Monday

This trip is amazing! Today, after waking up bright and early (7 AM!) I took a freezing cold shower and ate lots of eggs for breakfast! Despite the early-ness and the cold shower, I was still really excited to build my relationship with God and open up to the possibilities that He has in store for me! I am positive that this week is going to be 100% great! After eating, we had “quiet time” which was really great. It’s a time for us to brow closer to God and listen for what he has to say to us. I did a lot of Bible reading during that time. I think once I get home I’m going to start having quiet time every day. We got together as a team to make bags for “care cards!” So exciting! We are going to write tones of nice messages to each other. After that , we all gathered to listen to the speaker Megan. She’s really good at speaking with us and preaching and teaching. After a man-n-cheese lunch, we helped wash dishes. It was actually really fun! Next, we went on an Urban Plunge into the depths of Los Angeles. It was similar to a scavenger hunt, but we had to complete team building challenges along the way. We even had to all blindfold ourselves except for one person who led us as we walked across the city. Then we prayed for each of the places we stopped. It was a really great experience . Then, we ate dinner and talked more with Megan. After that, we had a great prayer time called a commitment service. It was a really inspirational time and we had the opportunity to truly commit to God and have good prayer time. And that was only the beginning of this fabulous journey! I can’t wait to see what’s in store for us the rest of the week!
With love,
Adam Orr

Ashleigh - Monday

This trip so far has been absolutely amazing and such an experience. We kicked off our arrival to LA last night with a dinner with the staff of our camp, and then went to a service with a youth band that pretty much rocked my socks off. At that service, we listened to a speaker named Megan who let us know that the first few days of YWAM (Youth With A Mission) would be like a big training session in mission work, Then today we went on an Urban Plunge where we went downtown and saw examples of the spheres of society and prayed for the areas of the city. It was really amazing to see how parts of society differed from each other. I can’t wait to see what happens next!

Sepa - Monday

My day was absolutely LEGIT! I never thought I would do something, anything like this every. Walking down the city street barefoot was a risk and blindfolded was embarrassing. But I did it. Bonding and trusting people you don’t even know is risk taking but is was a choice that I made. The commitment time was the most breath taking time of my life with God. I saw myself having an amazing relationship with Him when Megan talked to me. She is such a BIG inspiration to me, honestly I knew right there that It was a sign to me that I had to listen to her preach. I opened up to here about you God like nobody else. I know that I still have to look into my IDENTITY. I saw you God when Megan spoke to me that way. I was thrilled and will like to continue believing g in the world of God.

Joel - Monday

Today was an interesting day. We had amazing food and we all experienced God in different ways. We went on an Urban Plunge to LA where we prayed for the different spears of society. As we went to these places we had to walk blindfolded, walk in a conga line, and walk with only one shoe on. It was interesting to learn about what LA is truly like and have the people experience it themselves. After the Urban Plunge , we had a Commitment Service where we committed ourselves to God. Thank you to everyone for all of your support that you have provided us.
Love Always, Joel

Howard - Monday

We were all introduced to the city of Los Angeles during the Urban Plunge event. We rode the subway and went on a scavenger hunt in downtown LA. This was to get us familiarized with the city and let the kids work on leadership skills since they took turns leading the group to the next site. Our last stop was at Pershing Square Park where we started seeing some homeless people. This reminded us that even though this is a beautiful city, there are a lot of people here who need help.

YWAM - LA

We are at the ministry base for Youth With a Mission in Los Angeles. It is phenomenal. About 50 staff and families are here during the summer...many of them leading and training our team to prepare us for our outreach in the city! We are nesteled in the mountains and surrounded by horse farms. It is such an international and diverse ministry base...truly the family of God!!! We are soooooo blessed! WOW!!!

We have arrived!

The Youth of Velda Rose UMC head out today for our ministry in Los Angeles for our Summer of Love Tour! An incredible group of youth and adults...please pray for us...for safe travels, changed lives in ourselves, for God to give us a ministry each and everyday to change God's kingdom here on earth!!!

Aspin - Wednesday

Today was an eventful day! We packed up from YWAM and set on our way to the church we would be staying at for the remainder of the week. On the way, Cindy purchased some window makers and I personally decorated one of the vans. I’ll do the next one when I have time later. When we arrived at the church we unloaded and got ready to leave for the skate park.
When we got there I started playing basketball with Kitty, Andreas, and some other kid I didn’t know. I think they accepted me because I was the first white girl they met who could make my shots. Andreas and the other kid went ot go get food so I chatted with Kitty. She has two brothers and a 3-month old pit bull. Also, her mother is a single parent and from the sound of it, I assumed she wasn’t home a whole lot. Her phone kept ringing and I realized how much I don’t miss mine! One of her brothers showed up with her boyfriend and they were...shocking. Her brother couldn’t be more than 11-yearls old and he had two tatoos on both calves, and he was smoking. That was so crazy, I couldn’t even wrap my head around it. Then her boyfriend asked kitty why here were so many people there and she explained the church BBQ. Then he said, “if those church nerds look at me for too long, I’m gonna beat them up.” Well, I was positive he didn’t know who I was so I said, “I’m going to go hang out with my youth group friends. Bye Kitty.” His mouth was wide open. So I left and hung out with other people. I did a cartwheel with this one guy Derek and he was trying to show me how to do a round-off. Well, apparently, I suck because I couldn’t do it to save my life! Next thing I know Shaun is over with us doing backflips and twist things. Shaun is the one who started the ministry at the skate park and now there is a decrease in fights, gangs, and an increase in church attendance. Then Justin and this guiy were playing guitar so I watched them. There are so many talented people in LA! After the park we walked to the church for youth service. I saw a lot of the skater kids join us there. We watched a DVD of this guiy Louis Gurgle, Gaddel, Grupple, something. He was talking about how big God is. He used astronomy to get his point across. Let me tell you, it was SO cool! I felt so small! Like tiny-winy! After we chatted with everyone and talked, their youth prayed for us. It was cool. And apparently they love Avatar: The Last Airbender because they painted blue arrows on their head (it came out in theaters today and I want to see it!) Then we all went to Baskin Robbins for ice cream. I must say, ice cream is delish! Alright, I will keep you all updated, but for now, GOODNIGHT!