Town of Many Tongues

Here is a great link that I found about the diversity of Artesia and this area:

http://www.voanews.com/mediastore/04-08-19town-of-many-tongues.mp3

Check it out!

Dynamic Church

This dynamic church must enlighten, but first it is.
Philosophy says one must be before one can act.
Before all else, the church has this task;
To be, to build itself up.
I continuously invite you, dear friends,
To view this purpose above all in my poor words.
They do not try to confront anyone;
I am not fighting with anyone.
I am helping Christ to build his church and calling on all of you who are baptized,
Who are the church,
To make yourselves aware,
To work together,
So that we may make of this pilgrim people
Truly a torch to enlighten the world.
So, let no one hear my words with a polemic spirit.
I do not want to be an opposition,
As was said of me this week.
I want to be simply an affirmation.
When one says yes to one’s own conviction,
One is not confronting,
One is simply affirming oneself.
Naturally, some others don’t think the same way
And thus confrontation arises, but not because one means to seek it.

Oscar Romero – 08/20/78

Walking through the valley of the shadow of death with Jason

The valley of the shadow of death…

It was the day before Christmas Eve and I was feeling pretty good because I was able to help "Jay" and "Pete" check into the Long Beach Rescue Mission, an overnight shelter that does admitting from three to six and takes anyone up to 30 days. It seemed like things were going well when I left them there at 3 o’clock. "Jay" seemed ready for this decision because of his recurring back pain that lands him in the hospital every two months or so. “Thank you Lord, things are going to work out.” I prayed as I drove off. I had no idea how much things would change over the next few days.

I met "Jay" on the river bed just over a year ago. "Jay" is a stocky 25 year old who was raised in Lakewood by his alcoholic mom and an abusive father. Since high school he’s been in and out of trouble, always struggling with authority, thanks mostly I think to his abusive past. Through the past twelve months I have truly come to love "Jay". He is a person of peace, a man who can make anyone feel welcome. He is a quick learner, remembering concepts that I have briefly mentioned to him along the way, even when he wasn’t sober. I’ve had the joy of seeing him make some really good choices, first to check himself into a 10 day detoxification program, and movingly accept Christ’s sacrifice for his sins. I’ve seen him make some bad choices too. Choosing not to stay in the rehabilitation program that he was blessed to get into (they only reserve a few beds for guys with no ability to pay) and choosing to go back to the streets rather than give sobriety another hack.

After his latest three day stay in the hospital two weeks ago "Jay" made a commitment that he would not go back to the riverbed. Seeing this commitment to a positive change I got him a hotel room for a few nights with the understanding that he would go down to the Rescue Mission on Friday when he could more independently walk. He and "Pete" missed the bus and didn’t end up getting down there last Friday. Instead he ended up back behind the Liquor Store owned by Rodney the Armenian. The following Tuesday when we brought lunches out to the homeless neighbors we ran into him back in his usual location in front of Michael’s Pizza and encouraged him to come to the Christmas dinner a small group from the local church was hosting at the Kiwanis Club. He was cordial and even saying, “You’re my best friend!” and “These guys are the best.” He was a great help in getting 25-30 homeless folks out to the Christmas dinner. I told him that I would be out of town on Thursday but that I would come by on Friday and take him to the shelter. “Okay, I’ll be ready.” "Jay" replied as my bus pulled away.

Friday afternoon he was there sleeping behind the liquor store when I showed up to give him a ride. He threw some stuff together and hopped in my orange ’79 Volkswagen bus heading for Long Beach. He talked a mile-a-minute, definitely in a good mood. We met Patrick at the shelter, he had taken the bus from his Methadone clinic directly to the shelter with his weekend’s worth of dosages. They checked in and I rolled off, feeling good about the whole thing, like maybe God had delayed the arrival of my son so that I could do this with the guys.

Christmas Eve I received a phone call from a number I didn’t recognize… sure enough it was Jason saying he couldn’t take the way that they treated him there and he was back in town by the liquor store. I tried in vain to talk him into giving the shelter another go round and suck it up, to tough it out. There was no convincing him though. “I’m done with the shelters. They treat you too much like an animal or a convict.”

I was frustrated… to say the least. Why won’t he just stick it out? Is it really the systems fault that this guy is on the streets? The amount of time that I have put into helping Jason is not making any difference. Have I just “passed the buck” by bringing "Jay" to the shelter? Are the shelters around here really as oppressive as he makes them out to be? There are 89,999 other people like "Jay" in Los Angeles County, helping one person at a time like this cannot be a sustainable way to solve the problem of homelessness.

First thing that comes to my mind is that I should go out and find him.
“Save him again. No, that wouldn’t be right, that would only serve to demonstrate to "Jay" that no matter what choices he makes, I will be there to pick him up right away. Leave some distance, give him a few days to hit bottom.” I think to myself. “I’ll go check on him next week sometime.”

Yesterday was the day to check in on him. He might be uncomfortable enough to get some help. So after hitting a few golf balls with my brother-in-law we cruised over to Rodney’s Liquor Store to find "Jay" and give him his musty sleeping bag and blankets that he left in my bus when he checked into the shelter four days earlier. "Jay" was there, this time when we pulled in though he was not his usually friendly self. (even when he is drunk he’s usually pretty cordial) This time we found him cussing at Rodney and daring him to call the cops. He was fumbling with his zipper and the puddle on the sidewalk looked to be fresh. I got out of the bus and approached "Jay". He was more drunk that usual. His eyes were dark and tired. An empty vodka bottle and a can of malt liquor were over in the corner by the cane the doctor had prescribed for his back pain, pain he was apparently trying to medicate with alcohol.

Rodney was behind the counter and seemed to be on the phone with the police. When "Jay" saw this became more and more agitated and began to talk about hurting himself. “Let the cops come. I’ll kill myself right here.”
He brandished a box cutter and quickly shoved it back in his pocket.
“ "Jay", don’t do anything stupid. Let’s go talk someplace.” I tried to reason.
He turned and threatened Rodney again. Rodney’s threat to call the police must have been convincing enough to scare "Jay". He turned to me and ordered, “Take me to Lakewood or I’ll kill myself right here.”
“I’ll make a deal with you. You give me the razor blade and I’ll give you a ride.” I offered instinctively.
"Jay" turned his back to me and then turned to hand me the box cutter. I opened it to find that the blade had been removed.
“ "Jay" give me the razor blade.” I demanded.
He opened his mouth to reveal the hidden blade and then threw it on the ground at my feet.
I closed the door of the bus with a prayer, “Lord, help me to know what to do here.”
As we pulled out of the drive way "Jay" fumbled with his bag to remove a bottle of Boone’s, a cheap fruit wine that he had doubtless purchased from Rodney earlier in the day. In between deep droughts from the bottle "Jay" began to talk about how he was tired of life. “I’m done. No more shelters.” Recounting again how they had mistreated him. Paranoia began to set in. He began to curse and threaten my brother-in-law and me with death if the cops were to show up.
Another prayer, “Lord, I don’t know what to do!”
We pulled to a stop on Palo Verde just north of South Street, and I turned to see "Jay" in tears. He was incredibly agitated and talked about how he wanted to end it. In my Social Work classes along the way we learned that people usually just want someone to listen to them, and that unless they have actually thought it through they’re likely just trying to get attention. “Have you thought about how you would hurt yourself "Jay"?” I asked. He had four different ways that he could do it and I began to get scared. I have never seen him like this before.
“Lord, I ask you in Jesus name to protect "Jay" from any demonic influence.” I prayed aloud.
“That doesn’t work” "Jay" replied, “I spent nine hours last night in Bible study and nothing happened.” “Some people just get f----- in life. Your friends did when you were a kid, and me.” Jason was referring to the story I had told him about my friends who died in a fire when I was a teen. He could remember things I had told him months ago, but he was clearly in a bad place mentally.
“What do I do Lord? I can’t just leave him. He’ll hurt himself. I can’t call the police because he’s threatened to pretend he has a weapon so he’ll get shot.”
I remembered that LA County has a number that you can call from any payphone so I decided to pull into the Sav-On Drugstore parking lot and try the number. It doesn’t work. “What next?” I try a few friends, Eric, Aaron… no one’s within reach. I try DW and he is there I briefly let him know what’s happening and he gives me the Suicide Prevention line and says he’ll be right over, we’re right in his neighborhood.
"Jay" in the mean time is starting on his next malt liquor and continuing to threaten my brother-in-law if we were to call the cops.
He showed me his arms and said, “I’ve messed up again.” You could see where he had injected something into his arms recently.
When DW showed up "Jay" again got agitated and tore the beer can apart with his hands threatening to hurt himself with it. Still on the phone, I was trying to communicate with the counselor on the other end of the line while I tried to contain "Jay". When "Jay" headed into the drug store I passed the phone off to DW who continued the conversation with the counselor and I followed "Jay" inside.
He was at the liquor cabinet eyeing the beer and hard liquor. My imagination was running wild as he made threats to the store clerks and other customers. Would he go off inside, would he hurt himself with something in the store?
Finally after talking him out of stealing a bottle of vodka we went back outside and after only a few minutes trying to keep "Jay" calm the sirens began to wail. He gave me a look that said, “You’ve betrayed me.”
He stormed off to cross the street but stopped to turn and curse me.
I slumped down at the curb watching "Jay" attempt to hitch a ride from passing traffic and then continue on across the street, helpless.
As I watched the police, firemen and paramedics pull up I watched helplessly, feeling as though I had indeed betrayed a friend yet weary from fear and anxiety. DW, Jeff and I circled to pray. “I don’t know what to pray God. "Jay" is yours. Take care of him.”
The police officer came over to tell us that "Jay" would be admitted to Lakewood Regional Hospital, but it didn’t seem like he was suicidal to them.
There was nothing else we could do, so we drove away, confused, tired, and wrestling with hopelessness.
At the dinner table my cell phone rang. It was a local number that I did not recognize, it was Jason. He was calling from the hospital to tell me how mad he was that I had betrayed him and that he would not be talking to me ever again.
“ "Jay" is yours God. Take care of him.”
A day later and "Jay" is back on the streets and surviving and I am healing from his verbal punches. I know that I did the right thing, calling for help. I know that "Jay" doesn’t really mean all of the things that he said and that he was dealing with demonic oppression brought about by heavy drinking and drugs. Now I have to remember the grace that God has shown me. I have my own habits and sins that I continue to go back to. I have my own frustrations, perceiving inactivity from God when my own disobedience has gotten me where I am. Lord help me to forgive and to demonstrate your grace to "Jay".

Eucalyptus Prayer Walking

I spent a few hours walking through the Eucalyptus Ave. neighborhood this afternoon. As I walked I came across several groups of young people just hanging out, some even up to no good. It seems there is a great opportunity before us to bless these teens and young kids with some positive outlets for thier energy. I believe these teens could change thier neighborhood for the better!

Relational Gathering of Food Ministries

OOPS! We had a bit of a mix up last week. I had tried to reschedule a meeting of the local food ministries in Bellflower and not everyone got the information about the change. It worked out okay though because a few of the ministries showed up anyway and had a great dialogue resulting in some collaboration! Praise God that he doesn't need me to do his work of connecting his people in Bellflower!

We are going to meet with the rest of the food ministries on Tuesday of this week and perhaps we can at least consolidate the contact and other pertinent information about the various ministries here in town that serve food.

Another Breakfast with the Baptists

This morning was the third Saturday that Calvary Baptist’s mens breakfast hosted some of our homeless neighbors in Bellflower for breakfast and showers. It was a blessing to hear that despite their tradition of taking a break during November and December they will continue to host the breakfast just for these neighbors. Another thing that blessed me was the fact that one of their small groups has taken on the task of putting together a men’s clothing closet. Chrissy, one of our new board members was there at the breakfast and we found out that her church the Lord’s Church has a clothing closet for women. It is pretty encouraging to see how the various congregations in Bellflower might be able to collaborate and serve our neighbors in conjunction rather than isolation.

Affordable Housing for Miguel

Affordable Housing in Bellflower

God has been really good in helping the Homeless Task Force to find housing for Miguel really quickly. I had a meeting this week with a local Christian businessman who owns several trailer parks in Bellflower and he was very gracious in offering to finance a trailer in one of his parks! Miguel was able to move in today and is settling in nicely. The Homeless Task Force is being very supportive, offering rides and immediate support during this time. Praise God for his provision.

Miguel's Graduation

Miguel’s Graduation!

Miguel, a friend who has previously been homeless in Bellflower graduated tonight from the Salvation Army Bell Shelter’s 90 day Wellness program. He toughed it out even when he felt like leaving and the Homeless Task Force in Bellflower has been very supportive of him throughout the last three months. Let’s pray that we can help him find a place to live!

Relational Networking: Food Ministries

Relational Networking: Food Ministries

As Amy and I interviewed Father Myke at St. Bernard’s Catholic Church today for the DVD Amy is working on, he mentioned the need for the church to collaborate. Specifically he suggested that the 5-6 various food ministries in town ought to at least get together and share ideas and best practices. I was excited to hear of this opportunity for unity in the church of Bellflower. Stay tuned for updates on this emerging relational network.

New Intern Amy Vreeman

New Intern: Amy Vreeman

I am excited to report that Kingdom Causes Bellflower is getting a new team member. Amy Vreeman is a student at Azusa Pacific University who will be helping Kingdom Causes Bellflower with a DVD that will help to tell the story of what we’re all about. She brings a lot of life experience to our team. She will be working 10 hours a week with us through the fall semester. Her position is funded by the Lilly Foundation. We’re glad to have your help Amy.

Soil Analysis in Downey -- Fertile for Collaboration

We had a great meeting in Downey this morning! Several people participated in a soil analysis activity designed to identify some of the key impact areas in the city. The three areas the group identified included:

• The Working Poor/Unemployment/Homelessness
• Intercultural Understanding
• Youth

Once again special thanks to Bob Varden for his work in organizing this event and to the participants who added thier input and have committed to being a part of strategic task forces that will address these areas of impact and coordinate the efforts to serve the city of Downey!

Soil Analysis in Downey

This morning I will be gathering with some of the leaders in the city of Downey to get an idea of the areas of greatest need and opportunities for the church to impact the community. I pray that we will sense God's leading and a clear vision will emerge for the church of Downey!

I am especially thankful for Bob Varden, a Kingdom Causes City Liason, who has been really instrumental in bringing the leaders to the table.

May all glory go to God.

Successful Homeless Outreach in Bellflower

I just wanted to share a short praise report with those of you who were unable to participate in the Breakfast and Showers hosted by Calvary Baptist just over a week ago. Eric and I went out and did some promotion on Friday night (August 25) and talked with several people who said they would be interested in showing up, at one point I was worried that we might have too many people show up. That concern dissipated the next morning when no one met us at our planned meeting spots. Eventually we ended up crossing paths with a few guys who were interested. Five guys showed up (Nick, Rudy, Homer, Marty and Mike).

Allan and the other men at Calvary did a great job of hosting this group and making them feel welcome. The guys really appreciated the showers and we learned that it might be helpful to have some extra T-shirts and pants available for the guys to change into. (No one likes to put dirty clothes on after cleaning up…) After cleaning up the church guys had a great breakfast planned and it went really well.

Special thanks to Eric, DW, Keith, Allan and John who came out to help make these guys feel welcome too. I think we learned a good deal from this event and I hope we will be able to do it again.

Thanks to Allan for getting the church to open its doors to these guys.

I believe God is honored by our commitment to serving these our neighbors.

Phone call of hope

I just received a phone call from Michael, one of the guys who has been living on the streets in Bellflower for some time. We first met about two months ago when he had just lost his place. He is a great guy, a connector.

He called me to tell me that he is now on general relief and in a hotel while he looks for some work. He asked for prayers. So, church of Bellflower please be in prayer for this friend!

Jeff and Doreen's New Place

Jeff and Doreen, members of the local homeless task force moved into their new place today! It took some time and patience but it paid off as they have moved from homelessness to home-ownership.

If you are interested in helping with this exciting work click here and check out the information on the Homelessness Strategic task force working in Bellflower.

Grateful Hearts -- Los Alamitos Food and Service Provider

My friends Bob and Ron and I went for a visit to Grateful Hearts warehouse today. We toured this extensive warehouse and service facility in Los Alamitos with Darlene one of the faithful volunteers at the site. I was impressed by the openness of this organization to serve people who are in economic hard times from any community in Southern California. I am excited to build a partnership with this organization. Click on the header above for their website. You will find out more about their food distribution times and location. Please help this organization in anyway that you can.

Bellflower Pray-ers Update

Here are a few things that we prayed about this morning at the Bellflower Pray-ers Meeting:

• That God would help his servants in our community to perservere even when it takes some time to see the fruit of our labor. Hebrews 12
• For the Saturday Good News Club that is put on each Saturday at the Child Evangelism Fellowship Office from 11-12 for kids in the area. God please bring more kids!
• Prayer for the homeless in Bellflower. Particularly for "Pat" who the homeless outreach team met last night. He recently lost his mother. Pray for his protection.
• Prayer for more prayer warriors in the Bellflower area.
• Praise for new Homeless outreach parnter Sherri who is a HUGE asset to the team as she has a real heart for connecting with people who are down and out.

If you have a heart for prayer and for our city please join us at the Child Evangelism Fellowship office on Bellflower Blvd just south of Flower St. We pray each Wednesday Morning from 7:30-8:15 am. Contact Teri Larsen at tlarsen@property-taxes.com for more information.

Connecting in Downey -- The Master's Hand

I had a great time of connecting today with Bob Varden a HIGHLY active volunteer from the Masters Hand in Downey. The Masters Hand is a food and clothing bank started by Dave and Kathleen Chappell and supported by several churches in Downey:

• First Baptist Downey
• First Presbyterian Church of Downey
• Downey First Christian Church
• Abundant Hope Church

Wednesday through Friday of each week a team of volunteers provides food and clothing to folks who are in crisis or in financially challenging times. They also work closely with the Southern California Rehabilitation Services an agency that serves the elderly and disabled in the community surrounding Downey with food services, peer counseling, housing coordination, assistive technology and paperwork for government benefits.

I am excited to connect more with this dynamic ministry and see how Kingdom Causes can help support the great work that they are doing!

Homeless Task Force Gets Organized

We had a great meeting this morning with the Homelessness Task Force for the area. This ecumenical team decided to organize the task force into three areas of focus:

1. Mobile Drop-In Center -- This committee is organizing and planning for the creation of a mobile drop in center (RV or Fifth-Wheel Trailer) that could be located at different churches or locations throughout the area. Churches could staff the center when it is at or near thier churches location. Our target start date for use of a trailer is July 12. Keep checking here for updates, or email Aaron Nevarez at artroperiii@hotmail.com for more information.
2. Transitional Housing -- This committe is organizing and planning for the creation of a transitional housing program that would pair up churches with families who are moving from homelessness into trailer homes. Since December of 2004 three churches have helped or are currently helping individuals or families to move into trailers. If you are interested in helping with this program please contact DW Nesper at nesper@primeadvan.com.
3. Central Database -- This emerging committee is working to create an on-line database that will help churches to serve people in chronic need by tracking relational connections, providing contact information for resources that are available, and providing access to a simple tutorial for dealing with people in need with respect and dignity. For information on this committee please email Ryan VerWys at rverwys@kingdomcauses.org

Kingdom Minded Students

I just had a great meeting with some students from Valley Christian School. They are a part of Jeff Westrup's Missions class. Aparently they were given the responsibility to write proposals for missional work locally or elsewhere. Two of the students proposed purchasing a bus and converting it to a Mobile Homeless Center with showers, computers, class rooms etc. What is really amazing about it is that the Homeless task force has been working on a similar idea! What a confirmation that this idea is of God! Let's pray that God continues to move this idea from concept to reality.

New Neighbors Plus Group on the south side of Bellflower

We had a great first meeting tonight with six Christians in the Canehill neighborhood on the south side of Bellflower. The Neighbors Plus idea is a simple grass roots effort to mobilize Christians to serve in thier neighborhoods. During our first meeting with this group we came up with some really good ideas for serving in neighborhood. I am excited to see how God will use this group of servants to transform thier neighborhoods!