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LAUP 2004
We have sites in Chinatown, South Los Angeles, Compton, Lincoln Heights, Pasadena,
Santa Ana, Skid Row, and Mid-Wilshire serving a variety of ethnic communities. Interns work with sites serving the homeless,
the elderly, children and youth, women coming out of prostitution, single mothers, and recent immigrants. The agencies we
work with provide basic things such as food, clothing and shelter. But they also do work toward long-term ends in such areas
as skills training for jobs, housing advocacy, community organizing, and ecologically sound living. As a program we have made a conscious decision to work with established
churches, ministries and non-profit agencies who are working in these areas year-round. It is not our intent to lead out
or truly create something new, but rather to become aware of what God is already doing through these organizations and in
these neighborhoods and participate in that work. We intentionally submit ourselves to the leadership of those already working
in these areas and our hope is that, as we learn about God’s work here, we might be of service to those we work with
and help serve those in need. We have three directives that are entwined throughout the teaching in the
program. The first is love for the poor. The scripture is replete with commands and examples of God’s concern
and provision for those in need. We focus on understanding God’s heart in this way as we seek to practically serve in
poorer communities. The second is racial reconciliation. As we learn more who we are culturally and who our neighbor
is, we work hard at understanding and learning to work with people across ethnic barriers in an effort to display the unity
that the gospel calls us to. We examine the scriptures for ways that God views cultures and how He prescribes that we work
out various conflicts. In addition to interpersonal relationships, we work to understand systemic injustice in this area.
Lastly, we labor in the area of prayer and spiritual warfare. Despite a plethora of Biblical testimony, as people we
are tempted to do a lot, but pray very little. Our desire is to help students know that it is the Spirit of God who really
changes situations for people. There are well-documented revivals around the world which have changed entire cities that have
begun and continued simply through intercession. The people involved in these great works of God certainly did more than pray,
but they began by praying and saw God work powerfully. Hoping to see such in L.A. again and around the world, we focus on
the practice and theology of prayer. Our context is the city and, since the populations of cities are exploding
around the world, we believe that it is a fitting ministry arena for today’s Christians to be mentored in the faith.
The mission field is no longer predominantly in rural areas in the world, but due to economic and political realities, the
poor and those who don’t know Christ are flocking to the cities. It is therefore important for believers to understand
the dynamics that the poor face in urban situations and how to minister to the practical and spiritual needs of the people
they encounter. Many cities are becoming increasingly diverse in their ethnic mixtures. LA
is unique in that, in terms of diversity, it already is what many cities are becoming. Interns face the realities of living
with and dealing with poverty and significant ethnic diversity in their work. On the practical side, interns serve within a team of others
at a common ministry site. We are committed to each team living in the neighborhood of their site(s) and together in a
community living situation. Though genders will be separated, one facet of the program that is unique is its emphasis
on interns learning to live together. Teams will generally cook their own meals and work out their living situation. This
provides ample opportunity for humility, flexibility, love and overall Christian character to be established in each person
that is necessary to any enduring work of ministry. We believe that Christian charity begins, as it were, at home. Interns also practice a modest or simple lifestyle, learning
to live on a weekly allowance for food and a willing abstinence from various luxuries. This helps them focus for their summer
(since the things we have always require our attention and maintenance) and it allows them to identify with the more modest
lives of some of those they serve. Given the relative transience of urban environments, we also have interns
focus on remaining within the general area of their site during the program. They learn to live and be involved locally,
getting to know families in the area. This is a very practical focus on learning what it means to be a neighbor in a world
of strangers. These various steps give practical _expression to the theme of incarnation
in the scripture. God is very committed to being with and living among his people and he calls us as disciples to follow in
his footsteps. The living among and identifying with the people that we are serving gives a real basis for the _expression
of love, which is the root of the gospel."
I
love stories. =) Experiencing Community (7/12)
I shared this story in my third LAUP letter, but I will tell it again with more details and for the benefit of those who didn't
received my letter. After the second week, our team was struggling to be community for each other. We worked
different shifts and so every weekday, I never saw my team from the time I woke up until after I was done for the day at 5:30
PM. We had activities scheduled in the evenings - Bible studies, talks, large group gatherings and such - and on
the evenings we had free, most of my teammates were working on their lesson plans. The only times I had with my team
were dinner and team debriefing times, and the debriefing times got progressively briefer. They didn't even happen
anymore by the end of the second week since we needed the rest.
I desired to experience close community at LAUP, partly as redemption for previously failed attempts at it in college but
mostly because it's suppose to be a good thing that God wants for us to have. I've read about it, in the Bible
and other books, and I've heard people share their experiences, and I wanted that. And LAUP was suppose to be ideal
setting and circumstances for community to happen. But it wasn't happening.
Then God gave me this experience not too much later: I was preparing some material for my art class in the supply room, when the school secretary,
Ilene, came in to use the phone in the room. I overheard the situation. Samuel, the son of the directors of Harambee (Rudy and Kafi Carrasco), had been severely
sick for over a week and was taken to the hospital. The doctors suspected he
had leukemia, and he had to undergo testing to confirm. Ilene called
Kafi to give her encouragement and let her know that people are praying for them and to tell her not to worry about Harambee,
that everything was being taken care of. She made Kafi promise to take care of herself, especially since Kafi
was pregnant at that time. Ilene then proceeded to make a dozen more phone
calls to ask people to pray for the Carrascos. In my mind I was thinking, such
love. When I finished work and got
back to the corner house, Greg told me that there was going to be a prayer meeting in the family room. I immediately knew what it was for. I went back to the center
and saw a number of people there already and more that kept coming. I think there
were about thirty of us, maybe more. We prayed and cried and sang and praised
God together for the next hour and fifteen minutes. I witnessed an amazing
coming together of community that day and the days after – people coming together to pray for the Carrascos, people
stepping up to keep Harambee running, people offering to help anyway they can.
And it was a blessing for me to be a part of it all. God restored my hope
in community. He showed me how beautiful community can be and encouraged me to
continue to pray for it and to strive for it.
Looking back, my teammates where present from the start to be community for each other, but I was closed off to
it. I had different expectations for how it would be and what it would look like. I know that if there was
something I was struggling with and needed someone to talk to and to pray for me, all I had to do was ask and any one
of my teammates would have dropped what they were doing in a second. And not just that but so many things more.
The community was there..if only I was willing to enter in. I don't regret not taking the opportunity to experience
more deeply a close community. I'm just glad that God has opened my eyes and my heart to this so that I am more cautious
not to let it slip from me again the next chance that comes along. Racial Reconciliation on the Playground (7/14) There were two boys in the second grade, Juan and Michael. Juan is Latino. Michael is Korean. From what I’ve observed, they don’t get along very well, especially when things are competitive.
So one afternoon, Michael came up to me and complained that Juan had pushed him
while they were playing basketball. He showed me a scratch to prove it. I walked up to Juan and asked if he had pushed Michael. He denied it. Juan then said some unfriendly things to Michael,
and Rodrigo, a sixth grader who was playing with them, who is also Latino, joined in.
Meanwhile, Michael just sat there on the ground and complained. I tried
to console him, telling him that sometimes it can get rough when playing basketball.
I offered to take him to the office to get a bandage for his scratch, but he refused and continued trying to get me
to punish Juan. I was getting fed up with Rodrigo's taunts and said to him,
“You know, you’re much older. You need to act more responsible than
that.” I couldn’t believe how those words affected him. His character completely transformed. He stopped his taunts
and helped Michael up and offered to take him to the office to get a band aid. Michael
followed willingly. I just watched in awe. A few seconds later, a basketball hit Juan in the head (hmm). Kahlil, an African American, was the one who shot the ball that bounced off the rim and hit Juan. Juan got upset, and I went over to try comfort him, but he pushed me away. I saw Ken, a sixth grader, walking by, and I told him to go console Juan, who was now sulking on the bench. He went over to talk to Juan (and I’m standing on the side watching all
of this), then calls Kahlil over, gets them to reconcile, and they all went off to play more basketball. Amazing.
The
story doesn’t end there. The tension continues between Michael and Juan. In my art class, I often get complaints from both that I help one and not the other
(it's kind of hard to help both simultaneously). But there have been numerous
victories, times when I see one encourage the other when the other is frustrated. Once
when I was playing knock out (it's a game involving basketball and not one's fist, if you're unfamiliar with it) with
several of the kids, I got Michael out in the first round in one of the games. He
became really upset and was in tears. When I went over to him, Juan was already
there, and he was offering for Michael to take his spot in the game. That was so awesome. Reconciliation
is such a beautiful thing.
Nothing particularly deep about this story, but I thought I'd throw it
in to give you an idea about some of the kids we worked with. So I managed to skin my knee and acquire a few scrapes.
People would ask what happened when they saw my knee, and I would give a thorough explanation that goes something like this..."One
of the kids, Matthew, darted into the pathway of the vans that were driving out to take the kids swimming. So I ran after him but my foot got caught between the lunch benches, and I tripped and fell." A couple
of my teammates joked that it would be sufficient for me to say, "I was chasing Matthew," and people who knew Matthew
would get it. Yay for Matthew being Matthew. =) Day Laborers (8/3)
On Krislin's birthday, we went to feed the homeless in the parks. We packed a bunch of sack lunches and took it down
to the park to give them out and to hang out with the homeless people we find. We only encountered one, so we took the
rest of the lunches and drink to Villa St., where we remembered seeing a bunch of day laborers on the sidewalks during our
tour of Pasadena. Sure enough there were a number of them there, waiting for work. When they saw one of our cars
pull up on the side of the street and us looking back at them, they rushed over thinking that we had work for them.
Sadly, we misled them, but I think they appreciated the drinks (since it was a hot day) and the food. We stayed and
talked with them for the next hour and a half. They only spoke Spanish, and Diana was the only one on our team who could
speak Spanish fluently. Greg knew some. Krislin and Beth knew a little bit. I knew zip and I think Phillip
as well (except for maybe a few words like si and gracias and amigo, but not much more).
We still somehow managed to communicated with them, them with us. We found out that one guy, Jose, was from Honduras
and he walked 5 months to get to the United States. He lives in an apartment on Washington St. with 5 other
guys, paying ~$150 for rent each months. He never received any formal education, but he did learn to read in Spanish
from reading the Bible. Another guy, whom Beth and I talked with, but mostly Beth, was 19 and came from Guatemala.
I don't know how to spell his name, but using English phonetics, its Po-la-yo (all long vowels). Our interactions with
him were mostly exchanging Spanish/English words for things like hair, pants, shoes, shirt, grass, sit, stand, etc.
It was fun. They really want to learn English it seemed. It would
be such a help to them. It was a good time. I don't know
if we did much for them. I mean, I'm sure they appreciated the food and drinks and being able to share their story with
someone, but what they really wanted was work and that we couldn't really give to them. But then, I guess, little
acts of hospitality can go a long way. God's powerful like that. And then, for me, being not as far
removed from the life of a day laborer. Being among them and hearing their stories from their lips is a whole lot
different than reading about their lives and watching documentaries. It wasn't life changing; it didn't give me
a whole new perspective. But then, those little mustard seeds, they can be pretty amazing things.
.....On day 2 of the project,
we toured the streets of .....Another issue we discussed
is “white flight,” white families moving out of their neighborhoods when black families move in. Prejudice and fear based on stereotypes of blacks play a minor role in motivating this occurrence. It is largely a result of realtors seeking to capitalize on an opportunity to profit,
thus instigating a situation where white families are encouraged to sell and move out for economic reasons. Realtors use various tactics, such as pointing out the trend and predicting depreciating values of the homes
the longer they wait. They will even go as far as to incorrectly correlate increasing
crime rates with the changing demographics, instilling a sense of insecurity among white homeowners in the neighborhood. In the end, the white families sell and move out.
Those that do not buy into the lies eventually sell rather than lose more on their investment, as property values go
down due to the increased supply of homes available on the market. The situation
is a self-fulfilling prophecy that is perpetuated by greed, and the black families are left to suffer the consequences. .....I learned about sex-trafficking from this book I read titled,
Disposable people: New Slavery in the Global Economy by Kevin Bales. In Chapter 2 of the book, Bales describes sex
slavery in Thailand. Most of the enslaved are young girls that come from impoverished, rural areas in the country.
Their labors are sold by their families to pay off debt. Or the girls are taken from their homes, and their families
are promised that their daughters will be taken care of, educated and given work to be a source of income for the family.
The girls are then brought to the city, beaten to hopelessness and put to work in brothels. They grow up into a life
of prostitution. Many beome infected with AIDS and are sent back home to die. Sex trafficking isn't unique to
Thailand. It is a common occurrence
in many countries, mostly in .....We watched a video
one night about bonded child labor in Fustration, outrage, mourning.
And then, how do we respond past the emotions? I guess that is the challenge we have been given, that
is, to determine how we want to respond to being enlightened of these realities, and then to act. I don't yet know how
that will be for myself, like what concrete things I will do. I guess in my mind, I'm thinking about the long
term, what-I-am-going-to-devote-my-life-to-doing kind of stuff. Go abroad and live and serve among the extreme poor?
Or maybe Urban ministry? But before I go too far with that, I am reminded that it's the daily things that we
deal with now and how we respond to those things that are going to make the difference. I guess for me right
now, it's focusing on such things as growing in deeper relationship with God through prayer and through
being more deeply founded in His word, in working to refine my character, in choosing a life without certain luxuries, in
generosity and humility and selflessness, in loving the people I see each day, and in doing everything with love. Just
in these things there's a lot of struggle, but I know that God will take me far if I just keep at it and
follow through. I'm certainly not yet in a place where I can be used by God to do His kingdom work. No, God has
revealed to me in the 6 weeks at LAUP how spiritually immature I am. But God has also shown me ways that He has gifted
me, gifts of the Holy Spirit that He has bestowed upon and wants to hone in me. And He has given me visions of how He
wants to work through me. But first the basics, just to keep at these basics to build a foundation strongly rooted in
Him. “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them
into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew
and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these
words of mine and not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams
rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.” --Matthew 7:24-27 Mother Teresa emphasized
that the suffering and brokeness in the world comes from lack of love in homes and in family life. She says, "Everybody
today seems to be in such a terrible rush, anxious for greater developments and greater riches and so on, so that children
have very little time for their parents. Parents have very little time for each other, and in the home begins the disruption
of the peace in the world." Isn't it true? Love is learned in the home, as is hatred and violence.
What happens at home, we carry out with us into the world. If there is love and compassion and forgiveness in our homes,
what would it be like in the world? Love and joy and peace would abound. It all starts in the home. How
fitting for me is this message, as I am returning and am going to be with my family for a while. I'm not going to forget all the
sufferring in the world. I pray God won't let me forget all the images we saw and all the things we read
about and the teachings that we received and the things we experienced. I pray that He will constantly
remind me of these things so that I may not fall into being a contributor to the pain and suffering in this world. I
know that there are some things that I cannot avoid, but as much as possible I want to not to perpetuate injustice by
my actions. It pains me to know that I am the cause of another's anguish. Love and faith. Love
conquers evil. Faith gives life. These are gifts from God. With love and faith we can counteract the
evils of this world. Most importantly, we are to love. "If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels,
but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries
and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess
to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing. Love never fails. But where there
are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.
For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. When I was a child, I talked
like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. Now we
see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even
as I am fully known. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love." --1 Corinthians 13:1-3, 8-13
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