Snapshots from the ministry in which we help send University of Texas / San Antonio students to Skid Row in Los Angeles to work with homeless kids |
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06.14.10 Dear Foundation Members, I want to thank you for your investment in our students’ mission trip to Los Angeles. The work on Skid Row and in South Central was an incredible experience. I have been going on mission trips for some twenty four years, and this trip, by far, was the most amazing and transformative experience for our group, and for me on a personal level. We were given the privilege of seeing God work in powerful ways during our time in Los Angeles. Our students were stretched profoundly and we were able to see lives changed and God’s Name glorified. The experience will stay with us forever. I want to thank you for investing in our community. The lessons learned by our students will be implemented here in San Antonio. Your investment in us was in fact an investment in hundreds of lives in Los Angeles and hundreds more in San Antonio in the weeks, months and years ahead. We are humbled and grateful that you would come alongside us and be a part of what God did and is doing in the lives of so many people. Thank you again for your graciousness and support. You have truly been a part of advancing the Kingdom, both here in San Antonio and in Los Angeles. Only eternity will reveal how profound this investment was and is. May He richly bless you as you have blessed us. In Christ’s Love, Kevin Prather BSM Director, UTSA
From: Karla XXXXXX [mailto:karlag21@yahoo.com]
Hi Mr. Bell sorry I am writing so late to you :'(! I hope I have not come across as rude or anything. As you know the trip was a complete success and a total break through for me :) It is something that most definitely had to be achieved because it created a stepping stone for me to access greater mission trips in the future (hopefully Africa or the Phillipines) I am willing to go :). Summer has kept me extremely busy, summer school plus working various different hours at H-E-B has just become quite a stress and it has me missing my bsm family in San Antonio. I am however still involved in Church of course! and possibly monday bible studies if i'm not scheduled to work :/. I wanted to you to know that I will have photos sent to you as quick as I can, my laptop where the pictures are kept has been sent in to HP's service becasue the driver was not working, I should have it back within this week or the next im sorry for the dealy :(. Is there anything else though that you might need from me in the mean time? I will do my best. Also sir i wanted to thank you again for the contribution to help us go to California. I've learned so much...and God had answered well a wish of mine while i was there. I always wanted to meet a holocost survivor, just because that time in history was just whats the word...horrific and meeting someone from that moment in time would b so honoring. Turns out at a diner we ate at in Beverly Hills, that wish was answered and I met a holocost survivor whose story left me bewildered in relation to God. God is not shaken, there is a purpose for all that happens in our lives, the good and even the bad. God will always use it for use if you let him :) -Karla
BSM Mission Trip Los Angeles, 2010—Skid Row, South Central and Surprises
It has been said “If you want to make God laugh, tell Him your plans.” We found this to be very true this year for our mission trip to Los Angeles. We started with a solid schedule, and we kept to that schedule, but God had something for us in terms of changes and surprises and assignments, almost daily, that taught us more of being flexible and above all, open to His Spirit’s leading. Along the way, we encountered followers of Christ, Crips, the lost, a Holocaust survivor, the broken and the redeemed. God’s glory was on display daily. Day One: Arrival in Los Angeles We arrived at LAX around 12:30 p.m. and by the time we secured our luggage and boarded the Enterprise bus to get our vehicles, be processed at Enterprise, load and board our vehicles and drive through Los Angeles traffic, it was approximately 4:00 p.m. We made a brief stop at In and Out Burger at LAX for some much needed food and headed to our dorms in Pasadena. Our first day was largely about orientation form the Mosaic staff. Eric Bryant, Lead Navigator at Mosaic spoke to us for an hour on Mosaic’s missiology and what we would be doing during the week as we connected with School on Wheels, MetroKidz and the Dream Center and Hope Gardens. Mosaic’s missiology is based heavily on key principles: 1) Loving relationships are supreme. Los Angeles is a large city with thousands of lonely people. Being shaped much by Hollywood and the ‘Industry’ many in Los Angeles see relationships in terms of currency. Eric stressed that the key to sharing Christ with people in Los Angeles was to be authentic, be relational and to listen to people’s stories. We found this to be true. Many in LA are quite lonely inside and eager for someone to show an authentic interest in their lives. 2) Mosaic’s Biblical model for evangelism is based in large part on Acts 17 and Paul’s interaction with the Greek philosophers. Paul demonstrates respecting the dignity of the lost philosophers, even commending them for their pursuit of religious truth, all the while sharing Christ, using bridges in their own poetry and philosophy to share the Gospel. He told us it was important to look for bridges to the Gospel and to interact with people in such a way that honored their dignity and recognized their inner longing for the Transcendent. 3) Be open to the movement of the Holy Spirit. He talked to us about our schedule and reminded us of the importance of living life with our eyes wide open to see what God was doing in Los Angeles and to be ready and available to Him no matter where or when. We ate dinner and after dinner, Adrian Koehler, the Serve LA Pastor for Mosaic met with us for two hours to talk about what Serve LA is and does. Mosaic seeks to develop relationships with and influence the lost by finding secular agencies that are doing good work and joining them in that work-serving them and serving the city. Through these relationships many have come to Christ. He said “In Los Angeles everyone believes in something. Everybody has some kind of spirituality, but most are not receptive to Christians because of false stereotypes. They have found that in serving the lost, the lost are open to discussing Christ. Serve LA is Mosaic’s expression of God’s love (and their love) for the city. Adrian challenged us to remember that while “LA has many, many problems, and there is much darkness, God is at work and He has plans for the city. “ He encouraged us to focus during the week on demonstrating and declaring God’s love to those we would work with. He spoke of Matt (director, School on Wheels) who is lost, living with his girlfriend, and how hundreds of Mosaic members had taken time to volunteer at School on Wheels during the year, and how he (Adrian) had recently experienced a breakthrough with Matt in that Matt and his girlfriend invited Adrian and his wife over to their apartment for dinner. Adrian said “Matt is starting to ask a lot of questions-this relationship is important to me and I am entrusting that relationship to you for the week.” He also said something very important that would come into play later in the week: “When a lost person invites you into their space….it is a profound sign that God is working in their lives and they are becoming more open to Christ. Look for the lost person who begins to open his life to you-who allows you or invites you into his space. It is a big deal here in LA for someone to do that.” He went on to tell us that we would be in a sacred place of sorts with Matt and School on Wheels-how God was working in the lives of Matt and his staff-and we needed to see that time as an honor and an opportunity. We recognized that we had a sacred trust with God, Adrian, Mosaic and Matt and his staff to serve wholeheartedly and let God use that time with them to speak into Matt’s life. We had a significant time of prayer to prepare for the next day, and went to bed. Day Two: Cultural Influences, Homeless Children , Christian Astrophysicists and Hope Every trip to Los Angeles includes a “spiritual tour” day in which we examine the spiritual and cultural influencers that shape Los Angeles. This year, I felt compelled to go into a context to learn more of the film industry and discover, along with the students, how film shapes worldview and spirituality not only in LA, but in America. We left Pasadena at 7:45 a.m. to go to MPower Films for a conference time with Steve McEveety and John Shephard. Both spent years working with Icon Films and started MPower Films to make meaningful movies that spoke to the human condition. How we connected with them is another story (later in the document) altogether. Steve is an accomplished producer, having produces Braveheart, When we Were Soldiers, The Passion of the Christ among many other films. John and Steve are Christians (we did not know this when the appointment was set), and John walked us through the story of MPower as well as shared an incredible testimony of how he became a follower of Christ, what they are trying to accomplish in the industry, what the industry is like, what it is like being a follower of Christ in Hollywood and the power of film to affect change in people’s lives. It was a fascinating look on the inside and our students were excited to hear such a passionate testimony (John both shared his passion for film and more importantly his passion for Christ). We left MPower at 10:00 and headed for our first day of work with School on Wheels. Driving to School on Wheels it is impossible to not notice the ‘descent’ from downtown Los Angeles and the business district into Skid Row. Gradually the buildings start to change. People in suits and expensive dresses disappear, and soon you find yourself in a run- down section of town and you notice the homeless. Unlike San Antonio, where you might find a few homeless here and there down town, and perhaps a larger concentration in Travis Park and under a few bridges, no matter where you look as you drive through Skid Row there are homeless. Not hundreds, but thousands. It was a sensory overload experience for some of our students as we drove through several blocks of Skid Row and then turned into an alley to park behind School on Wheels and go in for our orientation and first day of work. Matt and his staff welcomed us. There were four other workers, in addition to Matt, present that first day. They were all overwhelmed somewhat by the prospect of moving all of their equipment and supplies (and throwing out things they could no longer use) to prepare for the move. The students and I quickly rolled up our sleeves and worked for three hours-sifting through folders and files and cabinets, taking apart shelves and moving furniture and making runs to Good Will. Many things donated to School on Wheels by well meaning organizations or individuals are not usable. Over time, many of those things stacked up and due to a lack of time and manpower, one of the storage rooms was rather unmanageable for the staff. There was a constant influx of students and often a parent (usually a mother) who would come in to check on their child’s progress, or to talk about arrangements for further tutoring. Some just come in to escape being outside alone with their child. Matt and his staff, though not followers of Christ, were unbelievable loving and compassionate towards the parents and children. We left School on Wheels for the second part of our equipping time-to meet with Dr. Hugh Ross and his Reason to Believe staff. Dr. Ross is a strong, evangelical Christian (as are all his staff) and a renowned astrophysicist and Christian apologist. Dr. Ross and his staff travel the country speaking at universities and often debating (dialoguing is a better word) atheists and skeptics on the academic level. Dr. Ross and his staff spent two hours with us-discussing faith and science and answering many questions from the students. Our students are bombarded at UTSA by the New Atheists-aggressive atheists who seek to ‘evangelize’ Christians by positing that the faith is irrational. Much of their attacks come in the area of science. Dr. Ross and his staff travel around North America and in their dialogues with professors (atheists and skeptics) they present their scientific models for examination and in effect say, “This is our theory and model-we certainly believe it to be true and we welcome any scrutiny or questions.” The dialogues are amazing. There is not a combative nature-rather, all too often the skeptic or atheist and atheist students meet (often for the first time) a follower of Christ who is not only a scientific genius, but humble and able to answer their objections and questions. Dr.Ross and his staff gave us all copies of his latest work “More than a Theory” before we left and we are working on bringing Dr. Ross to San Antonio. It was a great equipping time. We left RTB and drove to Hope Gardens. Hope Gardens is a transitional housing area in the mountains north of Los Angeles. The women and the children who stay there have successfully completed a course at Union Rescue Mission and stay at Hope Gardens anywhere from 9 months to 18 months while the parent saves money (they have jobs now) and the children go to school. For many of the children, this is their first time to have a roof over their heads and a place they can call home. It was ‘game night’ and our responsibility was to play with the children and to develop relationships with them. The staff at Hope Gardens is amazing. They love the children and the mothers who live there and the children are ecstatic about having a place to call home, a semblance of structured life and stability. We stayed with the children until 9:00 p.m., laughing, playing, praying and sharing with them. Their stories are remarkable. The children have seen more than a child should see and experienced many things you would never wish a child to experience. Many of the children carry scars from the past. I spoke with a 15 year old boy named Jonathan. Jonathan is going to be a sophomore next year. He plays basketball at his school. He told me about his relationship with Christ and how God had blessed him and his mother and his three sisters with a ‘home’ and how happy he was to be able to sleep at night without being afraid and how happy he was to have friends and how nice it was to not always be moving around from one shelter to the next or being on the streets and worrying about dangerous men who were ‘mean’ to people like his mom and children. I just listened. I asked him how I could pray for him. He said “Please pray that my mom always has a job and that we are never homeless again please.” He had been on the streets since he was 10. He had an ‘old soul’ in many ways-tired. Jonathan wants to be a school teacher when he grows up. I prayed with him and as we said goodbye to the children, I wondered what God had in store for them, for their families and wondered about the choices the mothers would make as they attempted to re-enter society. Day Three: School on Wheels, Gang Land and an Invitation from Matt We left for School on Wheels at 7:50 a.m. and arrived a little before 9:00. Today we would continue sorting through countless backpacks (making sure each was filled with school supplies) and we would continue to serve Matt and his staff by doing the grunt work of tearing down and moving things. At one point in the morning, around 11:00, Matt pulled me over and asked “Why again would you guys come down here to work with us like this? Your students are amazing and we’ve not seen anything like this before.” I smiled and told Matt that we wanted him to know God loved him and his staff and the children at School on Wheels and we were just honored to be with them. He didn’t know what to do with that. He said, “We’re just all really blown away that you guys would come all the way here to do this.” God was using the service to speak into Matt’s life-and our students were just amazing as they interacted with Matt and his staff. It was quite obvious that the staff was taking note. At various points we saw his staff stop their work and watch in amazement as our students gladly served with a joyful heart and did some pretty tough work. Before lunch, Matt pulled me over again and said: “Kevin…School on Wheels is being honored tonight at Dodgers Stadium…they gave us tickets and we have tickets to give out to volunteers (you must know that thousands volunteer there each year-only one that we are aware of is a volunteer base from a church)…would you guys like to come to the game with us tonight-we’re bringing several of our kids and we could spend time together and you could celebrate with us.” I was blown away. That night we were scheduled to go to Hope Gardens again and to lead a Bible study for 8 high school students. All the students were believers. For the record-I do not like baseball and going to a game is almost excruciatingly boring for me. Hope Gardens has a full-time youth minister and youth staff. I told Matt I needed a few moments to give him a decision, thanked him profusely for the invitation, and went out back to pray and make two phone calls. First I prayed. I remembered Adrian’s words about the lost inviting us into their spaces. Matt could have called any number of organizations, individuals or simply called the first 40 people on their volunteer list. Instead, he invited us. He said, “We just really want to say thank you and get to know you all better. This week is already so significant for us…” I sensed in my spirit that it was the greater thing to spend time with the lost than to spend time with the saved who already had shepherds leading them. I wanted to share the story with Adrian and get his opinion. I called him at work and told him what had just transpired. He said ‘Kevin…this is amazing! It took me a long time to get invited into his world and he’s inviting you and your students to spend time with him and his staff-all of who are lost-and with their kids? Bro-you need to go do that!” I called Susannah at Hope Gardens and asked her what we’d be doing that night with the kids and how crucial our time was from her perspective. She said they were going through a DVD series and we would just be available to talk with kids after the DVD. She said the youth minister would be there along with two helpers and they would show us what to do. I realized that there would then be 3 adult followers of Christ working with 8 followers of Christ and 20 of us to boot if we went. I told Susannah about what had just happened and told her that I really was not a baseball fan and wanted to honor our time with her, but was indeed struggling. Her response sealed it for me. She said, “Dude-if you have a bunch of lost people who have asked you to spend time with them-you go with the lost people. We have it covered here tonight. Call me and let me know how it goes-we’ll be praying for you all tonight, that God opens doors and that Christ is made known.” I came back inside and told Matt we would be honored to go . We left School on Wheels at noon to meet Pastor Julian from MetroKidz at a restaurant in China Town that was 10 minutes away from where we would be working in South Central. This was going to be our foray into “GangLand” and pastor Julian had been working in that area for some 20 years, preaching Christ and working with children and their families. Pastor Julian is a vibrant and passionate man in his mid 50’s. He grew up in South central and has a heart for that part of Los Angeles that so many have avoided or neglected. During our one hour lunch, he spoke of South Central with a pastor’s heart-his love for the people was quite obvious. As he told us the theme for the day “Worshipping God and Following Jesus even if it costs us” and how we would be going over the story of Daniel and the Lions Den-he gave out assignments to various students: Recreation, drama, memory verse, told us the songs we would be singing and the responsibilities we would have in the park and how things would go. He said something that caught many of our attention: “The park isn’t ‘hot’ this week. There hasn’t been a shooting there in over 2 weeks.” I asked him what he meant. He described how a 13 year old boy was shot, caught in the crossfire of one gang shooting at a rival gang member in the park, missing and killing the 13 year old. He said the park would be ‘hot’ if it had been a week earlier. He said “retribution is a big deal. It’s already taken place and the police are around now to make sure nothing else happens.” I asked if they went to the park when it was ‘hot.’ He said, “of course. We never miss a day. We’re there every Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday and we bus people in to church on Sundays. If we didn’t show up when things were ‘hot’ it would tell the people that we don’t believe our God is Great enough to protect us. We’ve never had an incident.” The students soaked all of this in. I could see some anxiety on the faces of some of our girls and guys. I had been to this park twice before, and for whatever the reason, I felt quite at peace. Well-Jesus is the reason for that. We left the restaurant and followed Pastor into the valley known as South Central. Our first assignment was to divide up into groups of 4 and go around the neighborhood to pass out flyers inviting kids and parents to MetroKidz. Pastor prayed with us and sent us on our way. Some of the students were a bit scared. Each of us had about 6 blocks to cover. I was put in with 2 girls and my smallest male student. The journey began. Many of the places we visited (many small apartment complexes with dark stairwells and narrow corridors) looked like the kind of places you see in movies and on television-places where cops are shot or bad things happen. I prayed as we walked and trusted God for protection and favor. We knocked on many doors. Many of the people answering spoke little English. One of our students is Cuban and often helped translate. I have a background in Spanish but only enough to get myself in trouble. I have tried since returning to San Antonio to converse in Spanish and I’ve forgotten most of it-this is important to remember. It is important because on one particular stop, a young mother with several children opened the door and I was inviting her and her children to MetroKidz and she said she spoke no English. Again, only explainable by God-I started talking in Spanish. I not only invited her and her children to MetroKidz, I told her the time and place and asked how her family was doing. I even told her Jesus loved her and her family. My Spanish speaking student looked at me after the exchange with wide eyes. I was surprised. He said, “brother-where did THAT come from?” I had to admit I had no idea other than the Spirit gave me words. I could not say any of that right now if you paid me. While making our way down the street and turning a corner, I noticed out of the corner of my eyes 6 young men, all between 18-mid 20’s exit a house. All were wearing various blue items. Crips. They pointed in our direction, the students did not see this, and started moving in our direction. I quietly whispered to the students, “you need to move on toward the main intersection and just be calm.” One of them turned around (despite that warning) and said, “Kevin…those are Crips. They are following us!” I told him it appeared that way and to simply pray and to keep walking. We kept knocking on doors, approaching the main intersection, and as we turned, I noticed they were still coming our way and were about a block away from us. The students and I turned off that street and to our left was another of those small apartment units with only one way in and one way out. One of my students had already (she didn’t know we were being followed) walked into that area so I told the other students to go on ahead and I held up the rear to watch out. I figured if something bad were to happen, perhaps I could buy them time. I wasn’t sure what was going on –but I was praying. I had one eye on the students and one eye on the street, waiting for the 6 to round the corner at any moment and have this confrontation. I waited. The students were knocking on doors and inviting people to MetroKidz. It was about the time I thought they should appear when I noticed that they walked nearby, and then decided to cross the street to go into a convenience store. One of them gave me a pretty hard stare as he walked across the street. I thanked God for that we were protected. We finished our rounds and went to the park.
We had an incredible time of worship and the Bible story was so poignant as Pastor Julian exhorted the children and their parents to remember God was present, that He is worthy alone of worship and that even if life is very, very hard, He is faithful and worthy of our worship. That message spoken in that context took on a different meaning for me. While we were there, a man in his 30’s fairly muscular and fairly high took off his shirt and started boxing the air and shouting profanities. He made some threatening gestures to some men in the park and was shouting profanities at anyone and everyone. Not many people paid much attention-it must be somewhat ‘normal’ in that park for such things to happen. It wasn’t long before two police officers on bicycles arrived and pulled him out of the park and were questioning him. The park police officer had radio’d them in. I walked toward the officers and after they searched the man and told him to leave the park, I started talking with them. I wanted to know a few things: 1) What was their perspective on MetroKidz-was Pastor Julian making a difference that they could see? 2) How could I pray for them-and what was their life like? I trusted that if they would talk, I could share Christ. I spoke with officer Vargas the most. The other officer (Ortiz) was not very talkative. Officer Vargas said that pastor Julian was doing great work. He said, “When he and the MetroKidz people are here…it’s a different time for these kids and their families. It’s like a little normalcy for awhile. For a lot of these kids it’s the closest thing to safety they have and for their parents the closest they get to any control over the kids.” I asked him if South Central was as rough as TV made it out to be-or if it was a stereotype. He said, “It’s bad out here. It’s really bad at night. These gangs have military grade weapons now. Someone is always shot. There are always drive by’s. There are always fights. Something is always going on. We have to watch everything from cars driving by to the rooftops. Sometimes gangs have snipers out at night.” I asked him what he thought of MetroKidz and he said, “You can’t save everyone. But we know that there are kids who get out of or avoid that lifestyle because this guy comes down here all the time. The people in the community respect him, even the gang bangers. No…we respect what he does. It’s good work. We need more things like this down here. “ I thanked them for the job they were doing and asked officer Vargas if I could pray for them about anything in particular. Both were rather silent. I think the ‘rough cop’ exterior was perhaps assaulted by that question. But after an awkward moment, he said, “Yeah…you could pray for our wives. This initiative where they have us out here on bikes is supposed to make us more accessible and put a face on the police department, but it’s not safe. Both of our wives are always worried something is going to happen to us. You could pray for our wives and pray for our safety. “ I got to do that. I wanted to share more but the other officer said “We have to get going…thanks you…” I trust God used that conversation. I know they both grew rather reflective and quiet. You can pray for them. We finished our time at MetroKidz and served food and spent time praying and talking with parents and children. Three elementary school age children gave their lives to Christ that day. It was an incredible experience and we left South Central to clean up and hurry up to meet Matt and his co workers at Dodgers Stadium
That night-we spent 3 hours with Matt and his staff and about 10 other volunteers and 20 plus kids laughing, talking about life, God and we even had opportunity to share Christ with two of his staff members. I don’t know if many of us actually watched the game-we sat back and got to know each other and in the process had the most meaningful conversation about Christ and life that Matt and his staff had probably ever had. No one prayed a sinner’s prayer that night-but Matt and his staff were now connecting the dots between the joy and service of the students and our relationship with Christ. He said, “You guys are amazing and I can’t wait to spend time with Adrian to tell him ‘thank you’ and talk to him some more.” It was an amazing day and an amazing night and God had shown us many, many things over the course of that day. He was working everywhere-from Skid Row to South central to Dodger’s stadium. We got home rather late-and we discussed what had happened. We discussed how Jesus left the 99 sheep to find the one, and we discussed what it meant for us to be open to changes in plans and how God sometimes opens doors we never anticipated. We talked about how God had used Adrian and Serve LA to sow many seeds in Matt’s life and how we were just a part of the ongoing process of what God is doing in his life. We prayed for Matt and his staff and for the next day and hit the rack. Day Four: School on Wheels, a Surprise Dinner, Conversations with Artisans in Silverlake |
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