Tuesday, February 27, 2007

August 5, 2006



August 5th, 2006

Yesterday was probably the most exhausting day I have experienced this week, we spent almost the entire day on Skid Row, we got there around 9 a.m. and walked about four blocks and told the people who are living there about the hot meal that we would be serving there later. We invited them all to join us (Skid Row looks a little different during the day, because the tents are all down, but there are still people everwhere, I don’t think I mentioned this before but there are 10,000 people who live on Skid Row). Whild on this walk we once again encountered people smoking crack pipes right in front of us, on one block the weed was so thick I am pretty sure most of us had contact high, a man chased me down a block telling me I had nice child bearing hips and did I want to come back to his box, when I kindly declined he told me that when I came back that afternoon he would have a wedding gown, flowers and a ring waiting for me, I guess you’ve not lived until you’ve been chased down Skid Row J! It’s been a long time since I have been truly scared doing what I do, but this day I encountered a man who scared me, one was the man who really was so strung out he had a demonic look on his face, like he was going to come at me at anytime, it kind of freaked me out a little.

*I haven’t mentioned this yet, but 85% of the people who live on Skid Row suffer from some form of mental disorder this day there were several people that yelled and screamed at us, there was a man who was threatening to kill the next person who crossed his path and a woman who was throwing pieces of glass at us as we walked by. Something else that is distinct about Skid Row are the smells, the first time we went to Skid Row it made me nauseous, the mixture of the scent of people who’ve not bathed in a while, sex, drugs, alcohol and the scent of rotten things, make the air smell horrible, by the third or fourth time you go there you’ve pretty much become accustomed too it.

When we went back in the afternoon some of the people we’d seen earlier were there, but there was an entirely different spirit among the people for the most part, people were more friendly. There was a little tension, but it’s because the Wed. prior someone was stabbed in the food line they were arguing over a glass of water. The men and women who came through the line that day were for the most part thankful.

I had the opportunity to speak and pray with two women the first if Rosemary, she’s from Trinidad and has been on and off Skid Row for the past 10 years. She’s here illegally as she can’t get her papers, she told me that lots of people get there papers illegally, but she didn’t want to do that! I asked her if I could pray with her (she was a little reluctant at first because she said people have been praying about this for 10 years), but she let me and then she asked me if she could pray for me, it’s such a beautiful thing when people who are struggling and hurting want to pray for you, and their prayers are so sincere. The second woman I met was Wanda, she gave up everything she had and moved on to Skid Row after her husband died so that she could put her son through school. She told us that she trusted that God had her there for a reason and that she hoped she could be a testimony for someone. She had an amazing spirit about her. I truly believe that woman will bring a calm spirit among those on Skid Row. We prayed with her and as we were preparing to leave she asked me if I would write her name down some where and continue to pray for her, I most certainly did.

As we were leaving the VOA, this guy Eric came up and started talking to us and asked us if we wouldn’t mind praying for him and as we were people just gathered around and joined in it was so beautiful, (Chris and Lydia, told us that this was the first time anything like that had ever happened and they’ve both been leading this ministry for over six months). The ministry they run there is called Under the Bridge until about 4 months ago, they would go under the bridges in L.A. and feed the homeless, however not many stay under the bridges during the day anymore, so they moved to the Volunteers of America shelter on Skid Row. Through this ministry 3,000 people get fed over two days.

When we got back to the dorms it was naptime for the majority of my team as we were on the 11p.m.-5:45 a.m. outreach. At 11p.m. we met in the parking lot of Hope for Homeless Youth and prepared for the nightclub outreach, we went to the nice strip of Sunset Blvd. that leads in Hollywood Blvd. with all the hot hangouts, including the Body Shop a 100% nude dance club, one group (my group went there) and the other group walked up and down Sunset Blvd. and just told people to have a safe night. It was there I met Victoria, she’s 24 and is originally from Kenya, she lives and works as a nurse in Minnesota now, she was visiting Los Angeles with some friends. However, this night she was lost on Sunset Blvd., she couldn’t find her friends and once we started talking she really opened up to me and told me that she’s in an abusive relationship, she told me how unhappy her mother would be because she was raised in a Christian family and that she knows that she’s not doing the right thing. She begged for prayer, begged for deliverance and eventually begged for me to take her phone number and hold her accountable for her actions. I did take her number and I called her on Saturday, she told me she couldn’t believe that I would actually call her. She was crying out so much for God it hurt, it broke my heart, made me want to cry with her, she was so lost but wanted so bad to find her way.
*While outside the Body Shop we also met one of the strippers, she told us that since she’s been interacting with the STM’S and the outreach directors that come down in the evenings she’s been convicted and is planning to leave the business and could we please continue to pray for her. She told me specifically that she would be leaving the business sooner than later, but she just wasn’t quite ready yet.

While on this trip I have been taken out of my comfort zone many times, but I have learned so much about who I am and who God made me, it’s been amazing.

We came back to the Dream Center in just enough time to leave for the prostitute outreach, it broke my heart to hear about the life of a prostitute. I never imagined that it would be such a hard life, so hard to get out of. There weren’t many girls out that night, but there were a few, basically what out goal was, was to make them realize that they are special, we hand them a rose and tell them that we and God think they are so beautiful. The saddest part was to watch them get in a vehicle and drive away. We later found out that there weren’t many girls out that night because they were new, the circuit just changed and usually they take a few days to get to know the area, before they are out full force. I learned through this outreach that the pimps have a huge network, there is usually one head pimp in every state and every major city and they are all connected, every three weeks or so they rotate the girls, sometimes state to state.

On our way back to the dorms the guy who leads the outreach shared his testimony, he told us that he and his wife were both prostitutes at one time and very familiar with the street life, and God placed it on their heart to start this ministry. His testimony was awesome.

*We learned through this outreach that girls are afraid to leave the life because of the horror the pimps put them through when they leave, some of them get chased whether it be state to state, a lot of them get abused, we heard an awful story of a girl who tried to leave the life and her pimp, killed her baby and then abused her with a curling iron so that she could never have kids again, she asked the Dream Center to help her escape the life and they came one night put her in a Dream Center van and her pimp chased them, eventually she went through the program at the Dream Center and got her life together, but unfortunately for her, her life will never be the same.

Back at the Dream Center on the blacktop before we left, while we were praying for outreach a helicopter kept flying over head, it was low and was shining its spotlights down on us, as we were leaving for outreach we saw why, there were tons of police cars and ambulances outside this club about a block away from the Dream Center, so we knew something had happened there, as we were coming back from outreach several hours later, there were two dead bodies laying where ambulances were blocking them earlier. We were told that it’s not that unusual were told but it still broke my heart and made me once again question whether or not I am fully prepared for the things I am witnessing here.

God I ask you to protect the people of this city, Lord we are at war with another country but it’s like the people of this city are at war with each other, it’s a very sad state of affairs.

August 5th, 2006 1 p.m.

I feel so bad for sleeping through my alarm which in turn made me miss adopt-a-block, obviously I needed the rest, when I woke up I realized several others from my team had also overslept, so we went down to the coffee shop and prayed for our team and the work they were doing. When they returned we all went out for a team lunch, it was nice to be able to unwind from our week off campus together and really talk about the things that are happening in this city, it was also nice to have time to bond with them.

That evening was SNR (Saturday Night Redefined) at the church, it’s basically youth night, they host it every Saturday, the message was powerful, the worship and the people were amazing the place was packed. It was so exciting to see so many youth packed into one place and so on Fire for God. There were kids that we had met through out the week, from Metro Kidz, Adopt-a-Block and all the other many outreaches we were on throughout the week,that had come to church that evening. There was once again several kids who accepted Christ that night, which once again was such a beautiful thing.

Four of us from my team, were on outreach from 10:45 p.m.- 3:00 a.m. that night, the Boyztown outreach, it’s the Gay outreach, we went into West Hollywood and hung out with the people there, we basically were to try and start conversations with them, and let them know that while we didn’t agree with their lifestyle, we loved them and so does God. I had the opportunity to have several amazing conversations, the one that touched my heart the most was one I had was with this guy Robert, he said he hated being gay, but he didn’t think he could change, I had the opportunity to pray with him, I prayed that God would work in him, and heal his heart, make him realize if he just put his faith in Him (God) he could have a new amazing life. Another guy I met was Damian, it was unclear whether or not he was gay or if he just worked the door at this club, he was a quiet soul, he was very interested in my life and really what the point of this outreach was and what I was doing in L.A., and honestly the whole point of that night was to just have conversations with people, whether or not they were about God, that’s exactly what I did and I had so many amazing conversations that night, and met so many amazing guys, lost or not each of them had a special testimony and each of them was willing to share it once you got them to open up.

One of the most amazing men I met that night was Fairie, he’s a dancer and Rage one of the hottest clubs in Hollywood, Gay or not, apparently all the stars hang out there, and I would believe it the line to get in that place at one point in the night was a couple of blocks long. Anyway, his story goes a little something like this, he was in the youth group at his church, he grew up in a fairly stable Christian home, when he was 12 he told the pastor’s daughter he was sexy, so he was kicked out of youth group, thinking he’d never be right with God again he decided to rebel, he became Gay, now he loves it so much he’s just not quite sure he’s ready to give that lifestyle up yet. The good news he’s promised one of the girls who runs the outreach that he would go to church with her.

On the way back from outreach that night God really laid it on my heart to pray for these men, so I asked if I could lead a prayer, (which for those of you who know me well, praying out loud in a group of people is not my strong point, God really broke me out of that this week as I was asked to lead prayer in front of a large group SEVERAL times). So we prayed almost the entire way back from outreach. Once we got back around 3:45ish I just laid in bed, and prayed some more, it was amazing how many nights I found myself just laying in bed crying and praying.
Notes: Photo is a prostitute on Skid Row getting ready to shoot up.
*All things in bold/italicized were added from memory later.

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