Two Homeless Guys enter rehab

This past tuesday, one of our dedicated Volunteers Corwin took two guys to interview for spots at Teen Challenge. They got accepted! Teen Challenge has been providing Christian based recovery to addicts for over 50 Years (www.teenchallenge.com). The title could be confusing- it serves anyone who is 18 or older.

The day was an answer to our prayers. We've been buildin trusting relationships with these guys for over a year now so for them to make a decision to get sober, was an encouragement to us. Both have been in programs before- a common fact with many of the Homeless we interact with. It was very comforting to hear from the guy who runs the house they will be staying in. He was 54 by the time he was ready to quite his past- running with Hell's Angels and using Heroin. I could sense that his words were assuring for the two guys we brought there. The idea that it's never too late.

Part of our Model is to not only connect homeless to resources but to stay connected once they are in a program.
Our team will write to the guys, visit them on family days and give them calls.

Since we are Christians dealing with individuals who enter rehab, it's important for us to understand the principles of the Twelve Steps. We find them to be very applicable to our daily walk with the Lord. I wanted to share a twelve step principle and it's Biblical comparison with you:

Step #1 We admitted we were powerless over our addictions and compulsive behaviors, that our lives had become unmanageable.

I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it our. (Romans 7:18)

The first ten days are a real test for these guys as they Detox and regain thier faculties. We pray that as they enter into working on thier 1st step, they will be strengthened.

Double The Fun

This week Chrissy and I were able to hang out with the teen girls we’ve been connecting with twice. Usually on Tuesday afternoons we take the girls swimming, but this week they had 8th grade graduation. Chrissy and I didn’t want to scrap the ‘hang-out’ time completely so instead we went to a little graduation party for them. I don’t think the girls were expecting to see us because they seemed surprised when we showed up. It was so fun to hang out with them and see them all dressed up. Before Chrissy and I left the party the girls asked if we could still do a swim day sometime during the week. It was exciting to see them initiate a swim/ hang-out day with us. This was a huge step in our relationships! So, today we were able to swim with the girls and eat lots of fruit with lemon and chill powder. It is so awesome getting to know these girls and I can’t wait to see how these relationships develop.

The Plunge

Seeing God work is such an amazing sight. I got a glimpse of that last Tuesday as I met with the Oak Street Pastors. Before I returned from school the pastors had met and brainstormed ideas on ways to impact the Oak Street Community. From that came an idea of a service retreat that would unify the churches and build up the community. From those ideas came The Plunge. This is a 2 day retreat for all youth groups in the area to come and serve the community that I have the opportunity to coordinate. Seeing the cooperation of all the churches and their leaders was an amazing sight and I am so excited to see how God will use this retreat as a tool to spread His Kingdom to everyone in Bellflower.

Community Development via Foosball

Our storefront neighbors are playing foosball in the front of the community center right now. It's great! We already have plans to battle it out on the ping pong table as soon as that arrives.

On Tuesday a neighbor-boy that stops in almost everyday brought his mom and siblings over to play. What a good ice breaker! The Foosball Table has only been here for a week and it's already doing a good job in connecting neighbors. Thanks Katie!! Great idea!!

Pastors BBQ at my place

A few weeks ago Rachel and I hosted a barbeque at our home for the pastors of the churches in the Oak Street neighborhood. We had just invited Andrew to join the team to do some of the initial community development ground work and we wanted to get together to celebrate. We had a great time of fellowship. At one point I just sat back and thanked God for the answer to prayer that I was witnessing. Brothers and sisters, pastors from different churches all gathered in a spirit of unity. What a blessing! God is on the move.

Shrieks of Excitement

Yesterday I went into the neighborhood with Nicole McGahey to hand out flyers about Bethel day camp and the soccer program that will be starting within the next couple of weeks. Many of the kids’ voices shrieked with excitement as they heard about the various opportunities available to them this summer. As I handed out the soccer flyers I would ask the kids if they liked soccer, one little boy in particular screamed out, “SOCCER? I love soccer!” The excitement in his voice, along with all the other shrieks of excitement, makes all the planning that goes into starting up a program worth every second. Working on Eucalyptus Street and with Kingdom Causes has been an ongoing blessing. Everyday I am just amazed by what God is doing in this neighborhood and how He is a constant provider.

A picture of involvement

So not everyone is called to build a relationship with or minister to Homeless people.

A friend and brother at a Church in Bellflower has found a way to be involved with the Homeless and those transitioning out of Homelessness. God has gifted him with the abilities to run a successful business. He provides water to all his employees and puts out recycle bins for the bottles. He donated about 6 bags of recyclables for our Homeless Task Force team. We decided to give the bags to two of the individuals in transitional housing. A little extra money after they pay off thier monthly bills is a real blessing. The cool thing about the Recyclables is that they have to do a little work for the money and it's not just free cash. I took Patrick and the son of another tenant to Ralphs where they recycled about $25 worth of bottles. The "little guy" who is about 4 got some early work experience which him and his mom were grateful for. By the way, his mother sacrifices her small pay check once a month to cook food for the homeless on Tuesdays. Sometimes i want to tell her to keep her money but she insists that God wants her to bless others.

Thank you to our friends at Sparkle Water Management for your kind donations. It's pretty simple but impactful.

Mentor Outing

We provide incentives for the individuals in trailers who are working on goals such as budgeting or life skills. We ask them what kind of activity they would like to do. This past month, we took our friend Elane to Redondo for Fish and Chips. She is part of The Lords Church in Bellflower and is connected with a Mentor from that Church. She has memories of going to Redondo with her friends so we wanted to create more memories. We ate, played with birds, watched the ocean, laughed and admired God's creation as we drove the coast. Great Job Dena and Elane! (Dena we'll make sure you can make the next outing and thank you for all your hard work!)

Project Turned To BBQ

Students from Valley Christians Missions class got an assignment to take $1.00 and see how far it could go towards helping someone. Four girls from the class combined thier dollars and bought window washing supplies. They washed enough windows to make $70. After going down to Harbor Light Mission in LA and seeing Karaoke in the Park with the Homeless they wanted to do something similar. At the same time that the students contacted me, our Homeless friends were talking about getting together in the Park. We combined the ideas and had a BBQ in the Park. We laid out mats and chairs for people to relax in while eating and having conversation. People cooked and ate side by side. We had a water balloon toss game and a Pinata. About 25 volunteers and homeless people gathered together to build Christ centered relationships.
Every Tuesday and Saturday we interact with the Homeless and so this has been a fun memory that many still reflect upon.

Thank you Valley Christian for inspiring students to be creative with Mission. It's amazing what combining resources can accomplish. Thank you Justine and Shiloh for throwing the party!

noticing beauty in the neighborhood

"There are beautiful dynamics to urban life that most rural and suburban folks can’t understand. There is variety in its ethnic mixes and this often produces a sense of neighborhood or face-to-face community not known in the suburbs. Suburban residents sometimes don’t know neighbors who live only a few doors a way. When inner city kids visit the suburbs, they often think it looks like a ghost town: all those empty lawns, swimming pools with no one swimming, decks but no one sitting on them, sidewalks and no one walking." (Dean Borgman cCYS http://www.centerforyouth.org/Encyclopedia.aspx?id=47613)

Growing up in a suburb with tons of track homes and corner parks, it took me a long time to appreciate the beauty of inner-city neighborhoods. I was born & raised in Corona... land of new housing developments and cookie cutter corner shopping centers. Corona is pretty... on a clear day. Corona is clean. The grass is green & landscaped. The buildings all look the same... stucco and plain. Bellflower has a different beauty. The beauty isn't based on its cleanliness or buildings... although I do prefer older houses with character compared to track homes with no yards. Bellflower's beauty, specifically my neighborhood, is somewhat hidden. You have to really pay attention to notice it. But once you do, you realize it's all around.

On Eucalyptus there is always someone walking by... even late at night. There are people talking. Mamacitas chatting to one another as they walk their kids to school. Men carrying water bottles up the street to get water for their family. Kids playing games that they made up.

There's an old man that walks around Bellflower all day. He wears a gray sweater, blue polyester pants and walks with a forward slant. I see him everyday! He just walks. Sometimes he has a bag from the grocery store, but mostly he's just walking. He speaks Spanish, so I have yet to converse with him. But he is part of what makes my neighborhood beautiful.

The other night I ate dinner outside on the porch because my house was warm and a little messy. There were two little boys (maybe 7 or 8) across the street giggling. As soon as the street was clear of traffic, they would run out to the middle and each put a plastic bottle where they thought a car would hit it. Then, sure enough, a car would come by and run over one of the bottles... and the kids would laugh and do it again. They found joy with a piece of trash and a busy street. Beautiful.

Lemon, Chili & Salt

Today Katie and I spent time with three junior high girls that hang out on Cornuta. I'd met them before, but barely got a word out of all three of them combined. We're having them help us create a program or "hang out" time with girls their age. I'd love to see this turn into a mentoring relationship. Today we went swimming for a couple of hours and they opened up a little more. We bonded over eating lemons with chili & salt. SICK! Gooo! They were all eating it so they made Katie and I try it. I don't like sour or salty... so a combination of both is not appealing whatsoever. But we tried it. They kept on pouring more salt on after each bite. My lips were stinging and they thought it was hilarious. We actually went through an entire salt shaker!

So Katie and I decided that our goal is to enjoy the whole fruit & salt & chili thing before the end of the summer.

I will say... orange with salt & chili isn't too bad. I might actually like that.

Starting Out

A Post by Katie Zondervan

Last week I started my first day as an intern with Kingdom Causes, working specifically on Eucalyptus Street with Chrissy. Coming in I had a general idea of what my summer would consist of, but my first days at Kingdom Causes were a little different from what I was expecting. The first day we had orientation and then went out in the neighborhood to get a feel for where I would be spending a lot of my time. We spent most of the afternoon building relationships with kids in the neighborhood. It was awesome! I was amazed to see all the relationships Chrissy has already made and was excited to start forming my own.

Since I have started I have experienced so many great things. I got to ride the Bethel blue bus, which drives down Eucalyptus street to pick up kids for youth group at Bethel Church. I saw the photo exhibit and the wonderful talent these kids have. I have been able to brainstorm ideas with the team, and hear stories of transformation, specifically that of Laticia, a lady who lives in the neighborhood and has been very involved with Kingdom Causes. She wants to see the neighborhood transform and is always willing to lend a hand.

If there is one thing I have learned or had reinforced since starting last week it would be to not place judgment too quickly. Growing up around Bellflower I had heard stories about Eucalyptus Street and its reputation, and automatically I had a pre-conception about it. Knowing that I would be working specifically on the street I was a little nervous, but now realize I had no need to be. I agree that there are defiantly bad parts on Eucalyptus Street, but there are also a lot of good things that go unrecognized. There are so many good people, families, relationships, and resources throughout the street. It is amazing see God at work in those good areas! I am excited to see what the summer will bring.

Peace

“Be still, and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10). That's a hard one to follow this week. I felt like there was a target on my back for attack by means of discouragement. In the back of my mind I could recognize that it was spiritual attack, but it didn't make it any easier. At the beginning of the week it was hard for me to focus on the things that needed to be done for this weekend's Advancement Dinner. But God is faithful. I asked... begged for peace and strength and He gave it.

So today is the big day. Our Second Annual Advancement Dinner is in a few hours. You would think we all would be running around going crazy with last minute tasks, but the mood in this office is peace. This morning Pat Holwerda led us in a time of prayer and I walked away from that feeling a sense of awe for God's faithfulness. I'm excited for those of you who come tonight to see and hear what the Lord is doing in Bellflower. It's good stuff.