Did the Good Samaritan ever come back?

My mom always asks me what I do and so mom if you read this you'll understand a little more.

About 7 churches in and around Bellflower participate in some type of food ministry to the "poor", or homeless. Oftentimes, it is merely an exchange of foods and services. I have connected with a couple of Churches and offered myself as a resource to assist people who come through the lines and are asking for more than food.

Yesterday is a good story.

"Ray" ended up limping into our office pretty beat up. Sick, fatigued, tired, dirty and looking for help, he told me that he had just come from a food pantry and talked with a lady for about an hour who referred him over to us. I assessed the situation. 54 years old. Alcoholic. Divorced. Recently Homeless. The main cause of Homelessness is a lack of supportive relationships. Mostly because "they" burn bridges. Addicts create a confusing environment in a relationship. It's like dealing with two people- the sober one and the intoxicated one. Confusing!
He went to the Church to get help. He had no place to go. He was pretty rock bottom.
He is thankful for the lady who ministered to him.

I ended up driving him to a detox in Orange County. They looked at him and requested that he fix his broken foot. I took him to the Emergency room and left him there with the number to get back to the detox.
He called me this morning. He'll spend 10 days there and then make a decision to enter more intensive rehab(which is what i suggest)

There is a little complexity that underlies all of this. A Good Samaritan ministers for an hour and then referrs him to me who referred him somewhere. He will then be referred to another place who will referr him to a job and then to a house. When does it end?

I feel like the story of the Good Samaritan leaves us hanging a litle bit. We know that the Samaritan stops, assesses and then referrs the person to an inn. They are then on their way. Does the Samaritan ever come back to see the person that was helped? Maybe the Samaritan wanted to come back but had some really important business to take care of? Who knows?

What is our responsibility as a Church for those who come to us in need? How much of our time and lives are we required to give?

I called the Church and tried to speak to the "Good Samaritan" who ministered to "Ray". The secretary said the lady wasn't a member and seemed shocked that I would call back to get her involved. I wanted to give her the opportunity to stay involved in "ray's" rehabilitation process if she would like. He needs to rebuild his supportive network!

I hope she calls and we can speak.

Oak Street: The Trials in the “Real World”

May 25, 2007
Blogged by: Andrew Nishimoto

So I was walking down Oak Street the other day to just pray and better acquaint myself with the neighborhood and what it has to offer when I walked through a group of late teen early twenty year olds. One of them reminded me of someone I knew in high school so I asked him where he went to school and once it was realized we didn’t go to the same school I attempted to make some small talk with them. I quickly realized they did not want, or trust this “white boy” in their neighborhood. I then left and was quickly disheartened about my mission this summer.

I was driving home, trying to collect my thoughts and figure out my emotions. I had been on a “spiritual high” since beginning this work a couple weeks ago and this was my first real down to earth experience. Cloud nine was pulled away and I felt like I was falling. This is when I realized that God is there to catch me and that this is His work and it is not going to be easy. All this to say that, those who think everything can be fixed with some formulated plan, as I once did, have never worked these neighborhoods. This work is hard, time consuming, and takes ones whole being. Please continue to pray for me, and all of us here at Kingdom Causes and other organizations with the same mission.

Meet our new interns!

Katie Zondervan (Eucalyptus Intern)

When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?
A veterinarian
What is your best childhood memory?
Playing hot lava around the house
How did you get involved with Kingdom Causes?
I didn't want another filing job this summer. I wanted to do something with more meaning. So my dad talked with Ryan... and now I'm here.
What's your most embarrassing moment?
I got de-pantsed in the middle of lunch my sophomore year in high school. I still cry myself to sleep at night.

Andrew Nishimoto (Oak Street Intern)

When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?
Professional Wrestler
What is your best childhood memory?
Going to Disneyland with my Grandma
How did you get involved with Kingdom Causes?
Pastor Tom (Brethren Church) hooked it up.
What's your most embarrassing moment?
When I was 12 I went to a park with the spinny thing. I was dizzy and needed to go potty, so I went into the bathroom. When I walked out, I realized I had been in the girls restroom.

post exhibit bliss

What an amazing experience! The expressions on the kids faces when they walked in to see their work displayed was worth all the hours of prep. Oscar brought his entire family... and then some. They stayed the entire 2 hours that the exhibit was open. The night before we found out that one of the largest soccer games would be on during the same hours that our exhibit was open. I was worried that nobody would show up because of the game, but we ended up with well over 100 guests, including the mayor, Scott Larsen. If you missed the opportunity to visit the exhibit on Sunday, we'll keep the pictures up until next week. Stop by & see for yourself! Here are some pictures from the night:

Oscar's brother and nephew enjoying their time

Thank you Andrew & Eric for making the ladder idea work

Jaclyn & her mom pose next to her exhibit

Yeah... that's our Mayor with Kevin

Story Telling w/ Pictures

The theme of last week's photography classes was "story telling with pictures." On Thursday we took the class to the Eucalyptus & Cornuta neighborhood, where many of them live. Below are some of my favorite shots from the day. Can you guess the story behind each photo?

Oak Street: The fruit of united prayer

I am excited to see what God is doing throughout our city. During the 40 days of prayer leading up to Palm Sunday a group of pastors gathered weekly to pray for the city of Bellflower and seek his blessing of our community.

During the last few months Pastor Tom from Bellflower Brethren Church, Pastor Dennie from the Neighborhood Christian Fellowship and Pastor Mosheh from By the Book Church have been meeting to brainstorm how these churches that share a common neighborhood, Oak Street, can work together to bless it.

This summer these churches will be working together through an intern who will be leading an effort of getting to know and organize neighborhood leaders for community transformation. We're seeing God expand the work of his people into another neighborhood! Praise him!