Give me Strength

I know not many people read this blog but I've decided to post a lot more. I want to make a difference with my life whether people tear me down or not. It's not for me to care about what others think of me helping the down and out, it's about the life I am impacting through the love of Christ.

This is my letter I wrote about my trip to Panama from June 15th to 30th this past summer. It was such a great trip and I loved being able to experience a new country. You may not read this whole thing and if you don't, just know that God's love was shown through me and has made me addicted to helping the people that I know Christ would have hung out with if he was here on earth today.

Our average day started out with waking up at 6:30 am and going to breakfast for 7:00 am. We stayed on the YWAM (Youth With a Mission) base located in Los Cumbres, Panama so they cooked meals for us every day. We then left around 8 o’clock to go out into the city and perform a drama called “Redemption” in parks, on main streets, and in elementary and high schools. The drama portrayed a girl who was strong in her faith and walk with Christ but became tainted when the world brought in new sins. She faces vanity, greed, false friends, lust, abuse, depression, and suicide, struggles that many people face in their lives. We then showed how when Christ enters into our lives he takes on the burdens of our sin and allows us to be free and walk along with him. It was a very effective way to witness without having to speak the language and I was able to see many children and adults give their lives to Christ.

After we performed the drama we went straight to local churches to do work projects to meet their needs. Some of the work projects included moving mounds of dirt, weeding, mowing the lawn, putting up a fence, hacking away at a hillside with machetes, mixing cement, moving roof shingles, and picking up trash. I was able to put my trust in God to give me the strength to keep moving when things got tough and we were able to lift a lot of burdens off of the local pastors. Even though the work projects wasn’t my favorite part I was able to see God active in people’s lives and be able to get a job done that would probably take them a month or two.

We then went to the YWAM base to eat lunch and then all split off to small cities around Panama City to put on Vacation Bible School for the local kids. Each group (there were four different groups of us) was able to put on VBS at two different locations while we were down there. It was such a blessing to just spend time with the kids there. They were so grateful for us to be spending time with them that they didn’t care what we did whether it be coloring, tossing a football, or even making bracelets. They were just so thankful to have a bunch of American Teenagers there to give them a hug and show them that God truly does love them. It broke my heart to have to say good-bye and receiving the knowledge that that brief hug I gave that little girl or boy would probably be the only hug they receive for a long time. They were so willing to learn about God and what he did for them that my eyes started filling with tears. Knowing that back home I would be sitting there in the luxury of my home when many of these kids don’t even have a home to go back to made me extremely thankful. I wish that I was able to take each one of them and offer them a place to stay and food to eat but all I could give them was my time and honestly I think that’s the only thing they wanted.

While being there, I was also given the opportunity to spend two days at a tribe that we traveled to by motorized canoes. The trip took two hours to get there but the minute we were on land, we were welcomed by 20 children who were jumping with excitement. We picked them up to introduce ourselves and I promise you they never wanted to be put down after that. We put on Vacation Bible School for the children and helped them build a water filtration system but the whole atmosphere was really relaxed. It was nice to escape the busy city lifestyle where it wasn’t normal to sit down and relax. We played “jungle ball” which was basketball with no rules and played soccer barefoot. It was such an incredible experience and I discovered that I could speak a full conversation in Spanish when the second in command chief came over to talk to me. God really showed his presence there and I was excited to be a part of it.

This whole trip impacted my life greatly. I came back thankful for everything God has blessed me with. I was able to come home and take a warm shower and sleep in a comfortable bed, something many children can’t do in Panama. I also saw Jesus the people I met which was such an incredible experience. This trip has changed my whole aspect on life and has allowed me to grow much closer to Christ. It has changed my whole decision about my future and I plan on majoring in nursing to then take that out onto the mission field. I’m excited to see what God has in store for me. Even though I look to the future I know that Panama will never slip my mind and will forever be in my prayers.

Wake up to Reality

The Myth:
LA consists of:
-Hollywood
-Malibu
-Expensive Cars
-Celebrities
-Great Life

The Reality:
-The average income is $20,000.
-There are 88,000 homeless people, but only 13,000 shelter beds.
-1 out of every 4 people will find themselves homeless every year.
-80% of women who are homeless are raped within the first two weeks.
-In east LA, (where we were) 40% of the people live below the poverty line.

I pray that those Americans who are oblivious to the real world will wake up and find that they aren't the center of the universe. There are those who have it way worse.

My Revived Heart.

This past weekend has changed my life.

I spent Friday night to Saturday afternoon up in Los Angeles but not where you would have expected me to be. I stayed within the darkest depths of the city that everyone neglects and disregards because it's the part that is 'embarrassing' or 'unnoticeable' and ignored.

My weekend began on Friday with a prayer walk after having ethnic Honduran food. We had walkie talkies and as we drove through inner city LA, our CSM (Center for Student Missions) guide would say some facts for us to pray about. This was our introduction to LA and the true hurt going on in this city that some people don't even notice. I realized that this was truly my first time being in LA because I've always driven right past all this hurt, crime, and poverty and never even thought twice to drive through areas such as Compton or Watts and my youth group even noticed that there isn't even an exit to get to these cities. You have to take an exit before these cities in order to get to them.

We drove through South LA where the murder rate actually has increased while everywhere else in LA has decreased. That hit home because I realized that these cities are filled with gangs such as the bloods and the crips and people here are constantly living in fear for their life. They aren't able to walk to the drugstore safely and I could never picture my own childhood growing up in a city where I constantly am living in fear.

We stopped right in front of a Jack in the Box in a city where there was no grocery stores and only fast food places because they were always quickest and no one has transportation to carry home their groceries. So many fast food restaurants have sought out areas like this to make an extra buck but recently the city of LA has made a law stating no more fast food restaurants can be located there so that they can improve the health of those in the city.

We read all of the graffiti on the walls which were gang signs claiming their territory and marking building that are 'safe' and 'protected' by a certain gang. I believe the CSM guide said that there are about 60,000 people involved in a gang in LA and some people don't even realize this is going on.

We drove through skid row where millions of homeless people live. There are only SRO's available to them on these streets and a SRO is a Single Room Occupancy room where it is literally just a room with no bathroom or kitchen and is usually pretty expensive. Many homeless people take advantage of them after pay day.

We then drove for not even a minute and ran into the Lakers game traffic where these people didn't even know the poverty and darkness people lived in about 100 feet away from them. It's just eye opening to how oblivious us Americans can be to the hurt and needs of those around us.

On Saturday, My youth group was split into two groups and my group was required to wake up at 5:50 am and go and serve breakfast at the Midnight Mission on Skid Row. I complained a bit because of us having to wake up so early but it was such a blessing. When we got to Midnight Mission we were required to wear hairnets, gloves, and a plastic apron. It was an interesting morning but we were able to serve breakfast to those way more needy of it than us. As I served each person that morning I gave a smile and said good morning. They were so thankful and were just ordinary people looking for a way to receive a meal for that day. It was such a great experience to know that I may have made a difference in someone's life by just serving them a scoop of mashed potatoes. I just pray that everyone there finds some hope in their life and know that one person does love them and reaches out to them every day.

We then moved on to Watts where we were able to help out at a church. They needed some people to hang out with the kids that were coming for the afternoon. It was filled with basketball, tag, slide races, duck duck goose, and building boxes out of paper to invite people to the easter service but it was such a blessing to hang out with kids who have a place to get away from all the hurt and crime. I was just able to show them that there are people who care about them by hanging out with them for a couple of hours. They were some of the happiest kids I've ever met and it's awesome seeing God work in their lives and keep them away from all the crime going on in either their family or schools.

After this we head over to the Nursing Home, this was something I wasn't looking forward to but was willing to go and hang out with some people who probably never get any visitors. I was able to sit next to a lady named Maryanne and play bingo with her. Even though neither of us won she was such a quiet and independent lady but asked me questions about my school and passions and I had a wonderful time being able to talk about the things I do and find joy in. All the people in this place were just living their last days without having family who came and visited them. I was so happy that I was able to spend time with some people who may never have visitors again.

We then walked across the street to MacArthur park. At this park there is a massive lake/pond and a few years ago they drained it and found many weaponry in it. It is a park that is full with dark things such as violence and drug dealing but many people call it their home. Here we split up in groups and walked around and prayed for all those around us. My heart broke as we walked by a playground because at this playground we saw children just playing as though they did not have a care in the world. I just prayed for them so that they would not become involved in the worldly doings happening all around them.

On Sunday, we went to West Angeles Church which was a rapidly growing African American church and it was such a great experience. They were christians who were willing to go all out for Christ and I was definitely touched by their faith and trust in him.

This experience has broken my heart for all these hurting people. Many people associate LA as 'Beverly Hills' or 'Hollywood' but I now associate it as a place where there are normal people trying to find a way to survive for the night and receive a single meal for the week. I know that my heart reaches out to all those people I was able to meet there and I believe that I have finally found God's calling in my life.