Bellflower Counts: We Count our Homeless Because our Homeless Count

As I think back on this past weekend, I’m not quite sure where to begin. How do I write just one little blog post that does justice to all of the incredible stories I was told these past couple days by our homeless neighbors? I got the privilege of being involved with Bellflower Counts this weekend, and I can’t think of many other times where I have felt more content than during this event. Bellflower Counts was what I was working towards all summer, as a Kingdom Causes intern. I think that, prior to the actual event, my thoughts were consumed by the logistics of making Bellflower Counts happen (Did we collect enough donations? Will we have enough volunteers? Are all of our volunteer packets put together?). However, once Bellflower Counts actually arrived, the only thing that was important was the people. Our homeless neighbors. I spent consecutive 4am mornings on the streets of Bellflower, interacting with homeless Bellflower residents and finding out what exactly their health and housing needs are. Although I had a survey full of questions to guide my conversation with the neighbors, we never entirely stuck to just the survey. Somehow, I always found myself engulfed by a life story that was being shared with me. Nearly every homeless neighbor that I interacted with was more than willing to stop what s/he was doing to talk to me about life. Conversation flowed so simply, and each time it happened, my heart would get a little sadder. My heart would get sadder because it’s always so evident to me, when involved with the homeless population, that this group is so heavily marginalized and not many people stop to talk to them. The minute someone takes a second to genuinely ask, “How is your day?” endless amounts of conversation come pouring out. Granted, not every person responds in the same way, but in my interactions, this so often seems to be the case. I feel so filled after this weekend because I got to spend time in good conversation with our homeless neighbors. I also leave feeling very hopeful that the Bellflower Counts survey results will put us onto a path of housing some of the most amazing individuals I’ve ever met, who truly are interested in being housed.

My prayer for the neighbors I got to spend time with this weekend…
"Blessed are you who are poor,
for yours is the kingdom of God.
Blessed are you who hunger now,
for you will be satisfied.
Blessed are you who weep now,
for you will laugh."

Luke 6:20-21

Although I am disappointed that Bella Art Fest had to be cancelled this year, I learned an important lesson about Christian Community Development through it. One of the main ideas in CCD is the importance of a program’s relevance to the community. The biggest carnival of an event can happen, but if it is irrelevant to what the community is concerned about or interested in, then it is useless. It is important to read the signs of what a community is saying that it needs support for at any given time. Members of the community will come out to support and be involved with an event they think is important to their community, but they will not be motivated to be involved with something that seems unimportant in the community.

Another thing I learned that just because something has been relevant in the past does not mean that it will always be relevant. The soul of a city is constantly changing and will not have the same support needs from one year to the next. This is why it is important for me, as a supporter of the community, to observe and inquire into the needs of the community. It is also important for those in the community to speak up and be heard! For the action of CCD to be effective, it must be a joint effort between the community and the supporters of the community. If a project is not a joint effort, then it probably is not relevant.

This is why I am happy to be working on another event for the city of Bellflower, The Bellflower Youth Art Gallery, featuring art from young artists at Bellflower High and Middle School. The art and artist for the Bellflower Blvd. mural will be selected from the art displayed at the Gallery. This event is definitely relevant because a lot of young citizens of Bellflower are involved with the Gallery. Many are excited about the repainting of the mural as well. See you there!
- Natalie

GSI elevator speech

The elevator speech: the daunting 30 second pitch for you or your product, told to anyone who makes semi-prolonged eye contact. While awkward, the “elevator speech” is an effective tool to explain what your product is and how it is value-adding. We’ll skip the stuffy elevator, but this is Good Soil Industries:

“Good Soil Industries (GSI) is a social enterprise that helps low-income individuals work their way out of poverty. Local residents receive job acquisition and retention training, goal setting and accountability, financial planning, and life coaching. GSI also employs hard-to-hire neighbors, in hopes of systematically reducing homelessness and dependency on financial assistance. The participants receive transitional job opportunities lasting between 3 and 6 months through GSI Landscape Services, which provides landscape maintenance for commercial and residential properties. As a result of the job training and current work history, 90% of program participants have graduated from the program and found steady, full-time employment.”

We encourage you to share our story, and we hope this elevator speech gives you words to share it clearly.

Can we end homelessness in Bellflower?

Have you ever seen a homeless neighbor on the side of the road and given a buck or two?  Or maybe you've gone so far as giving them some food but were left wondering if it really did any good? 

I have been working with our homeless neighbors for over a decade and I have had some of that same feeling.  I feel good about doing something, but I also feel a bit like the little good I've done is a "drop in the bucket", or worse that my well-intentioned help in someway contributed to the difficulties for these neighbors by enabling someone to stay in their current condition.

I have learned that any effort to end homelessness in Bellflower is going to be complex and must involve change and shalom at personal, legislative and systemic levels. 


That's why I am so excited about what God has been doing in our little corner of creation lately with regard to our homeless neighbors.  This month KCB is leading Bellflower Counts, a united effort involving the City, County, State and even National groups to end homelessness.  

This month we're working to organize over 50 volunteers to identify Bellflower’s most vulnerable chronic homeless individuals over the course of 3 days using something called the Vulnerability Index.  After we complete the surveys, we'll work hard to find supportive housing for the 12 neighbors we identify as most vulnerable, and most likely to die on the streets if not housed.


Our hope is that over the next year, we will be able to pair these 12 neighbors with local small groups or churches who will lovingly support them as they transition to being housed.  Some of the support could be helping to furnish their new places, including them in group outings or events, and generally praying for and checking in on these newly housed neighbors.

This effort fits with our ongoing goal of mobilizing the church to love our homeless neighbors together.  It's a part of a complex solution to complexities that homelessness brings in the lives of Bellflower neighbors living on the streets.  Contact Kim at kimb@kingdomcauses.org to find out how you can get involved!

"I just do what God tells me to do." --Timothy the street evangelist

When a couple of our case managers came in this morning and told me there was a "young guy on the corner with a sign" I immediately thought that he might be someone in need of housing or some sort of help.  So I headed out the door and casually approached the young man I assumed was in need of a good samaritan.  

As I approached I could see his sign wasn't an appeal for charity, but a hand written note on a piece of scratch paper encouraging people to seek Jesus as their Lord and Savior.  I found out that his name was Timothy and that he has some variety of intellectual disability.  He was standing there on the corner while his mom worked out at Curves, telling people that Jesus loved them.

I asked him why he decided to do this and he responded simply, "I just do what God tells me to do."

What a beautiful thing.  What a challenge to me. What is God telling me to do today?  Where and with whom does God want me to share the good news of Jesus today?  Oh that you and I would be more like Timothy today, and do what God tells us to do.

"As for everyone who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice, I will show you what they are like. They are like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete.”  Luke 6

Dear Bellflower

Dear Bellflower,

Before I started my internship at Kingdom Causes Bellflower, I wanted to understand the legal rights of undocumented immigrants in the community. I asked a lot of questions regarding what the organization could do to help address some of the struggles and needs of these individuals and their families. For my independent research, I contacted a professor by the name of Hiroshi Motomura who works as an immigration law professor at UCLA Law School. He suggested that I read his book Americans in Waiting: The Lost Story of Immigration and Citizenship in the United States and so the past month has been a really eye-opening experience to the historically varying ways that immigrants are viewed in the United States. The book did not digress into the topic of undocumented immigrants, but it helped me to understand that with the hardships that legal residents have in obtaining a citizenship, it is that much harder for an illegal resident to obtain rights by naturalizing as US citizens. Unfortunately there is nothing that can be done legally to help an undocumented immigrant, but it really challenged me to continue my future studies in order to bring about an awareness of the moral and ethical situations that revolve around the everyday life of illegal residents. Overall, my time at Kingdom Causes Bellflower has been a true blessing in that I have ultimately realized that it is through the guidance of the Word and of the Holy Spirit that will enable me to be effective in all my future undertakings. Thank you for having me on board and blessing me through this experience, Bellflower!

Love,

Eun

Community Walk

During my last community walk, I was able to sit and pray for the City of Bellflower and the works that God has been doing through the neighbors, volunteers, and leaders in this community. I felt really blessed thinking about how God provided Ryan with a vision of Kingdom Causes and how much this organization has progressed since the start of it. I also felt blessed to see the staff members sharing and committing towards the vision of transforming the community of Bellflower by connecting relationships, addressing the needs of the community, and utilizing the many assets that are found within it. I thought about how many of the staff members are living within the city and actively engaging in relationships with neighbors and churches all around. It's been a huge blessing for me to see them living in the kind of love that really reflects and glorifies God. It's so amazing to see God working through the homelessness prevention efforts, Good Soil Industries, Homework Club, Art Class, Soccer Class, and all the various programs that the organization continues to pursue. I will be praying that God can continually use the hearts and talents of KCB staff and volunteers so that He can move through the city of Bellflower!

-Eun Cho

A Different Outlook

The past three weeks, Eun and I have been putting together an art class every Tuesdays and Thursdays for some of our neighborhood children. As the last art class is rolling in, I have been reflecting about the passage in Mark 9: 35. When I was in India last summer at an HIV/AIDS orphanage doing VBS and other such activities with the children, one of the lessons God opened my eyes to was that very passage. It was so hard for me to accept some of the circumstances that those children came from but God stopped me and humbled me. He was noticing that I was beginning to serve these children out of love that derived from sympathy and pity rather than love that derived from the powerful and unconditional love of God. He reminded me of this passage as it says, "If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all." Also he brought me to this passage in Mark 9:14-15, which says, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." God was allowing me a chance to look at it in a different perspective. He showed me that I should also receive Christ like a child with desperation and in incompetence, clinging to the one who gives me the living water. Since then, I have looked at children in such a vastly different way. Instead of seeing them as dependent and having much to learn, I try to see them the way God sees them.

While reading "Compassion, Justice and the Christian Life" by Robert Lupton, he briefly goes over this same topic. However, he adds to this point an even more profound perspective. He says that many times we tend to get lost in this "servant" position and he "saw help becoming control or care become commercialized (p.66)." Lupton saw that over time people stopped seeing this servanthood as following as Christ did, but instead they started using this idea for their causes to "conquer, rule and dominate others in Christ's name (p.65)." But Lupton brings up John 15: 15, "No longer do I call you servant, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father, I have made known to you." Christ, as always, brings me back to His backward ministry. First, He shows that to be first I must be last of all. Then, He shows me that to serve, I must first be a friend. This shifted the core of even our art class. Instead of seeing this as an opportunity to give to these children an art lesson, or to serve them; I am called to simply be their friend - "free to give and receive help from each other (p.67)." These children are valuable and precious in God's eyes and I have so much to learn and receive from their incompetent, dependent, longing, and dependent spirits.

-Madison Hur

Certifications Build Resumes and Confidence

The job market is more competitive now than most of us have ever seen. I saw a job posting on craigslist the other day, here were the qualifications:

• Bi-lingual (Togalog and English)

• 8 years industry experience

• Excellent communication skills with management

• Lift 75 lbs.

• 3 industry specific certifications

Hourly pay for this job: $8.50

As California's rate of unemployment remains at levels not seen since 1940 (12%), the job market has become hyper-competitive. Employers are able to ask for extensive experience and pay entry-level wages.
But these are the times; and the times call for us to compete. The jobs are becoming more difficult to find, but there are still positions that employers need filled. If we can prove that we add value to a company, we can find work. Its time to add certifications, related volunteer experience, unpaid internships, and any other profession-building experience to our resume.

That's why Kingdom Causes Bellflower and Good Soil Industries are working with Long Beach City College to bring a forklift certification, supply-logistics and OSHA general safety certification to our office. We look forward to sharing more as details come together, but we are working hard to make sure our community is prepared to compete!

90706

As I sat in front of my laptop screen typing away the numbers "90706" over and over again, His spirit spoke gently to me a thought. "Oh how he must truly love his children in this city." An event called "Unite" was held at the Bellflower town center on Tuesday night for 5 weeks in the month of July. I was asked to gather volunteers to run the booths at the event for registration, food, and t-shirts, etc. After the 5 week event, the tall stack of registration cards told me that there was close to 500 people who had attended all throughout the weeks. As I transferred the registration information onto a database on my laptop, I noticed that I rarely found myself typing addresses that were from outside of Bellflower. I'm still not quite sure why that stood out to me, or why it even came as a shock because it was an event as a target mainly to our neighbors in Bellflower. But one thing I know is that it reminded me of a passage in the New Testament when Jesus fed the 5,000 on the mountainside...

Since interning at KCB, I have been privileged to be exposed to God's Kingdom that is powerfully moving in the city of Bellflower. And especially through Unite, I have seen God use several churches to put on an amazing night where neighbors can come hear God's words. Just as a crowd came toward Jesus on the mountainside, I believe that God has brought the hundreds of our Bellflower neighbors to call them to his feet. However, just like Philip's lack of faith as he asked Jesus, "Eight months' wages would not buy enough bread for each one to have a bite," I showed the same lack of faith when I ran into some difficulty of gathering volunteers. The first week, I was worried and stressed that I was not going to have enough help. But of course at the face of my weak faith, God provided just enough volunteers at just the right time. And as the weeks went by, he brought people on board that I didn't even know were coming to help! Even with the food on the first Tuesday of the guest speaker, I was worried the whole night that we might run out of it and we wouldn't be able to feed everyone. To my complete and utter amazement, the pizza ran out as the last couple people strolled past. It couldn't have been more perfect. God called his people, fed everyone, sat them all down in time for the pastor to speak. Talk about a miracle happening right here in the center of Bellflower.

Sitting here and reflecting on the past couple of weeks, I am simply in awe of Him. I am amazed at how powerfully God is moving and how desperately He is pursuing after his people in the 90706. I feel like Philip all the more as I reflect, mistakenly thinking that I must use my own efforts, planning, and coordinating to work for God's Kingdom. How easily I forget that God already has everything in control.

-Madison Hur

A prophetic moment... will the church respond?

Kingdom Causes and Our Place Housing Solutions have been working together for the past two years to administer a $3.1 million effort called the Homeless Prevention and Rapid Rehousing Program.  This program has allowed us to help our neighbors who are facing homelessness due to job loss or temporary crisis by providing coaching and care (a.k.a. case management), and just-in-time rental assistance so that families won't have to go homeless.

This effort has been extremely successful.

We've already helped over 200 families all while utilizing only 1/2 of the amount of funding (twice as many as the State and HUD were expecting for the whole 3 years). Not only have we helped hundreds of families, we have been able to leverage support from local Christians who have shared their home furnishings and their time and labor to move families into more stable and affordable living situations.

I truly believe God is honored by our co-laboring to care for the hurting in our community.

That said, we are facing an incredible challenge related to this program that I believe is an opportunity for God's people to step up and to fight injustice and lay down our lives for our hurting neighbors.  Let me explain.

Since 2009, we had been receiving quarterly advances for the program from the State of California allowing us to administer $1.2 million to serve these needy families.  In July, the State surprised us by changing the contract, informing us that it would be changing the way that the program is funded, changing its regulations effectively requiring us to identify a monthly “line of credit” of at least $150,000 in order to keep the program running and assisting families.

Without this line of credit, the program will end and 200 families will end up homeless and potentially on the doorsteps of our churches.  

This is a prophetic moment, a moment for the churches of God, some of whom have "surplus" funds,  to “invest the talents” he has entrusted us with for over 10-fold kingdom return on investment, loving our neighbors, the least amongst us by preventing them from reaching homelessness.  

Pray with me that God opens the hearts of his people and that we respond with a generosity that demonstrates our faith in God.

What Can the Church Body Do?

In the last few pages of Compassion, Justice, and the Christian Life by Robert D. Lupton, he talks about a "church-based community development" (131) that involves the importance of the role of the church body to get involved, take action, listen to and love the community. I started to think about how vital it is for the church body to have strong faith and connection to God because it is through our faith and trust in God's ability to move through a community that we will start seeing needs being met, broken spirits restored, and communities rejuvenated. I was reading a passage in scripture which reads:

"Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us"

-Ephesians 3:20

These words reflect the very idea that God works within us and because a church body is composed of individuals who have an identity in God, the church should embody such a large quantity of power and work that God can do through it. However I feel that in what I see, the church does not fully reflect the massive works that God can do but I do see the massive potential we have towards community development and rectifying social injustices.

This idea was confirmed when I visited MIKA in Costa Mesa a couple weeks ago and spoke to a woman who has submitted herself to the work that God has called her to do which happened to be the social issues that surround undocumented workers. She discussed how a couple churches in her community decided to take a stand on immigration reform (despite risking losing church members who may be against it) and how the involvement of the church as a strong moral voice was such an important move. After reflecting on these things, I see the church as a crucial moral impetus for all good changes not because the church itself has power to change situations but because of the work God can do through it.

As individuals, I challenge you to recognize that God's power works within us and within our churches! I challenge you to see that we are a powerful force for rectifying wrongs and calling for change! In addressing the needs of community development and social injustices that surround our modern world, I urge you to maintain strong faith through prayer, obedience to the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and trust in the work that God could do in us (as individuals and as a church body).

-Eun Cho

Learning the Hard Way

Well, I wanted to write a blog last week about some of the things I have been learning in my internship, but I couldn’t nail down one specific topic that I could focus on. To be honest, the event from the past week that kept popping up in my mind was one that wasn’t enjoyable. I kept thinking back to a difficult meeting I had with a community partner.

As I help plan the Bellflower Counts homeless registry week, part of my job is to connect with community partners, in order to gain support and recruit volunteers. Everything seemed to be going well with this particular community partner, prior to the actual meeting. I had spoken with the office multiple times, scheduled a meeting time, and was feeling confident that the outcome of this meeting would be a successful one.The point of the meeting was to tell the community partner about how we are taking part in the 100k Homes Campaign, which is aiming to house 100,000 of the most vulnerably homeless individuals in the nation. With our Bellflower Counts project, we are coming alongside this goal, beginning by identifying and housing 12 of the most vulnerably homeless within our city of Bellflower.

Going into this meeting, I assumed that the person on the receiving end would undoubtedly agree with our mission and think that we were conducting this project in the correct way. But, what I forgot, was that each person is entirely different from the next and possesses his/her own thoughts and methods. How narrow-minded was I to assume that everyone would possess my same way of thinking and approach to this issue? I got incredibly frustrated in the meeting, because the listener was not receptive like I had expected. I was caught off guard, and tried, with all my might, to make my message as clear and explanatory as possible, but it was of little use. I left feeling upset and disappointed, and my supervisor felt similarly. However, what she said to me was, “We should practice delivering our message to each other. We can ask each other the hard questions, and learn to answer them.” Although we were upset with how this meeting went, and I was stunned that someone would not agree with my way of helping the homeless, we learned a lot in this process.

I was reminded to take into consideration other people’s point-of-views and life paths. Just because I approach social justice from a certain way, doesn’t mean that my way is the only way. This trial reminded me of the book of James in the Bible. He begins chapter 1 by saying this:

² Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, ³ because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. ⁴ Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. (James 1:2-4)

James is someone who understood the value of trials. I’m reminded by him that it is within these trials that I learn most and develop perseverance. I won’t give up on helping the homeless, just because someone disagreed with me. At the same time, I’ll aim to consider other ways of approaching my cause. I’m still learning how to live life, how to be a good follower of Christ, how to be a good social worker, and how to be a good intern here at Kingdom Causes. I’ll take all the help I can get, even if it means learning the hard way.

-Bianca

Reconciliation

As I was walking in the park the other day, I came across two homeless men. I was taking surveys to figure out some of the health needs for people in the community. One of the men was very chatty and talked to us about all sorts of things, like politics, insurance, and the Bible. I was shocked about all of his knowledge about the history of the Bible; he was obviously intelligent, and it was disheartening to see that he was homeless. While on the subject of faith, I asked the other man if he was part of a church, or would be interested in attending one in the neighborhood. He responded with, “No, I don’t like churches around here…Sunday’s too much of a social event and not really about God.” I asked more questions to see why he felt that way. He said he had been to some churches and left them because people texted during the service, got up to make calls, or (by his interpretation) just came for the punch and cookies afterward.

His explanation left me with a mixture of emotions and questions for myself. I never find myself too upset when I hear a phone go off in church. They forgot to put it on vibrate or silent; it happens. But after hearing what he said, I asked, “Should I be more upset when that happens?” and “Why is it that I’m not that upset?” Perhaps I am not because I am one those people. Perhaps God led me to this particular man so that he could bring about this realization. His statement put things into perspective. Sunday services being a social event is not the way we want to promote our church, or ourselves. It is not the type of church fellowship where those in the community can be discipled in their faith. If he feels this way, and others in the community agree with him, it is not possible for us to reconcile people to God in that environment. We are being our own worst enemy. I (and the church) need to be more aware of my actions and the image I am portraying. I think that instead of me reconciling this homeless man to God, he reconciled me.

- Kara Zondervan

Reconciliation

My mind has been flooded with new ideas this past week that I have
never before explored. I began my first couple units of CASA (court
appointed special advocates) on Tuesday and through the training
process, my heart for at-risk children and youths has been even more
inspired. Before this experience I never once gave enough thought to
foster care, the child welfare system, or anything else of that sort.
Learning about the dire needs of these foster children, I felt God
guiding me to have a closer look into their hearts. Although they may
have been abused and neglected by their parents, they still long for a
relationship with them. That reminded me of how we were created and
meant for relationships. But being in an institution all their lives,
many suffer the loss of meaningful relationships. Judges, social
workers, therapists, foster parents, and teachers - these are all
people that care for them, but unfortunately they do not remain as
consistent relationships.

The important thing for me to realize is that even though I am not a
foster child, neither abandoned nor deeply hurt by my family, I am a
human being and I have a deep emptiness as long as God is not present
in my life. As a part of training, a teen who had been through the
foster care system shared her experience of having been assigned a
CASA volunteer the past two years of her life. She explained how just
by having someone there that she was able to learn to grow to trust
and love made the biggest difference in her life. Although life was
constantly changing and moving, she felt that her relationship with
her CASA was and will remain unchanging. Those last few words trails
my thoughts to the unconditional and unchanging love that God has for
us, and the reconciliation and intimacy that He desires for us with
him and with one another.

-Madison Hur

Community Walk Down Eucalyptus Street

This week, I had been really blessed during my community walk down Eucalyptus Street with the other interns. We were conducting surveys in order to try and understand the opinions, desires, strengths, and issues that the neighbors voice about their neighborhood. In order to hear the opinions of the neighbors, we walked through different apartment complexes, houses, and condos for the first hour and 15 minutes with only 4 neighbors interested in answering questions on the survey. As one intern returned back to the office for a meeting, the other two interns and I stayed behind to see what other opportunities we could have in our encounters with neighbors. We walked into an apartment complex right across the street that seemed quiet on the outside but was (to my surprise) lively in the inside. It was filled with kids running around, a young couple talking outside, mothers walking in and out of their homes, and the smell of lunch still present in the air.

As two of the interns were conducting a survey on the second floor of the complex, I sat with a group of about eight boys who were playing Mario Kart on their Nintendo DS. One of the interns brought his baby toy Chihuahua who grabbed the attention of the boys who were waiting their turn on the Nintendo DS. We laughed when the Chihuahua licked one of the boys on the nose, had a conversation about the status of who was winning the race on Mario Kart, and talked about how long they had been living on Eucalyptus. During our conversation, I asked them whether they came out to the homework club at the Kingdom Causes office and they had never heard of it and they did not know where the office was. I told them about some activities that we had there such as the soccer event, movie night for UNITE!, and the summer art classes which I am currently planning with another intern. They seemed really interested in showing up to the art classes so one of the boys offered me his e-mail so that I could e-mail him about the class days and times. I couldn't believe that these boys did not know that minutes down the street, there is an office and an amazing staff who were running events and activities that were planned and readily available for these kids to participate in. From this experience, I was blessed that God allowed me to encounter these wonderful boys, I felt blessed in our conversation, and I felt blessed to connect to a portion of the neighborhood kids that I can now recognize by face and will hopefully soon recognize by name!

-Eun McFun

Excuses

A few days ago I accompanied Adam and two other volunteers down to Harvard St. to pick up some Neighborhood Block party questionnaires. About 75 questionnaires had been delivered to each household on that street the previous day. Adam, the neighborhood volunteers, and I eagerly looked forward to what we hoped would be an overwhelming response from the people. 

Our first encounter was with a middle aged man who was not excited by our presence. He repeatedly referred to Adam as “homes”. Adam kept his composure the whole time. We encountered two other men who conveyed a genuine interest in having a block party on their street. We finally neared the end of the street, when I spotted two hispanic ladies barbecuing with their children. I was already bummed we hadn't had much luck because out of the 75 questionnaires we had only retrieved 4.

I hesitantly asked Adam If I should walk over to the ladies and , hoping he'd say “no lets go back”, but he fortunately encouraged me to go ahead and talk to the ladies. So I hesitantly approached their front yard and asked them, in spanish, if they had received and filled out the Neighborhood block party questionnaire. One of the ladies kindly replied “Yes I got it, what is that all about?” I answered her question and she replied “I don't have much money but I'd like to contribute a 'sopita' (soup) and a salad.” 

I left thinking this lady has very little yet she's willing to give. It reminded me of when God commanded Moses to go before Pharaoh and demand that he let the Israelites go. “Who am I to appear before Pharaoh? Who am I to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt?” Exodus 3:11 Moses' response to God is typical of how I tend to respond to God. “I don't have much money” or “I don't have time”; any excuse to make me feel good about recusing myself from God's plan I've already used. But this lady being able to excuse herself, as the other 71 people did, committed to give from what little she had. God uses ordinary people like you and me, only when the excuses cease.

God's response to Moses was “I will be with you.” A promise He has promised to each and every single believer. 

-Edgar Guzman

Matching Grant Opportunity

Thanks to our amazing supporters on Facebook, we have an opportunity for a matching grant for the next 48 hours. In order to take full advantage of the grant, we need 50 people to donate $50 each-and the Vivint company will match it dollar for dollar!

Would you consider helping us reach our goal?

All the money that we raise will go toward housing 12 of Bellflower's most vulnerable homeless neighbors. To learn more, check out this video.

If you would like to give, click here. You will have to log-in to a valid Facebook account. If you don't have Facebook but would like to give, please contact our office ASAP.

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Getting to Know People Right Where They Are

The words from Matthew 22:37-40 that stood out to me as I read it was this is the great and first commandment. Without loving God with all of our heart and all of our soul and with all of our mind, there is no way that we could love our neighbors (or in some cases, ourselves). I can try to with all my human abilities, but without God working through me, there is nothing I can do in my own power. With this in mind, I read this piece on Reconciliation where the writer proposed an interesting question: "Can a gospel that reconciles to God without reconciling people to people be the true gospel of Jesus Christ?" Of course the answer is no, and then he provided practical methods to reconciling people to people.

One method that I thought would be useful during my time at KCB is the felt-need concept. This concept is about "getting to know people right where they are at." This means hearing their story as they tell it and seeing what their concerns, hopes, hurts, and longings are. By doing this, there is a deeper sense of connection that we can make with that person and most importantly it shows our love. It shows that we care about the things that they are concerned about, we care about the things they hope for, we care about the things that are hurting them, and that we care about the things that they long for. I think that as the weeks progress and I spend my time doing community walks, I want to be able to walk down Eucalyptus St. and get to know the neighbors by name and by their stories. I hope to be able to hear their struggles as undocumented workers and see what their greatest fears, hopes, needs, and concerns are. I want to be able to work from the ground up as I eventually become a lawyer or professor so that in my work with helping other undocumented immigrants, there will be a common hurt and a common hope that I could work for. Most importantly, I want to work on my growth with God so that God can do great works in me by His power and not in my own doing because I know that His power will yield far greater effects. 

-Eun

Reconciliation at Breakfast

How often do we become so concerned with our own needs and wants that we forget about the needs and wants of others? How about the needs and wants of our homeless neighbors? I know that, personally, I am incredibly guilty of this. Although I am passionate about caring for the homeless, there are STILL times that I simply say “no” and give a passing glance when I am asked by someone if I have any change to spare. I don’t always have the courtesy to look the person in the eye, smile, and acknowledge their existence. How does this make me seem, as a Christian, and how many bridges have I burned with my lack of consideration? This is why Reconciliation is one of the core aspects of Christian Community Development. It’s a needed basis for all other progress to be built upon.

This last Saturday, I was able to attend my first Saturday morning breakfast with some of the homeless neighbors of Bellflower. It was here that I was reminded what reconciliation among groups of people can look like and how powerful that relationship can truly be. I was so impressed by the Kingdom Causes employee that I was shadowing on that first day, because she was such a great example of person-to-person reconciliation. She brought her entire family every single week – all four children and her husband – to be involved with the breakfast and cultivate relationships with the homeless individuals in our community. To her family, this is a norm. Somebody at the breakfast remarked how the one-year-old daughter had likely been held by every person who was in the room that morning. Their lives are so naturally integrated with one another’s – how many of us can say the same? Because of reconciliation, there were no “us” and “them” groups at the breakfast. I heard this family say to the homeless neighbors, “If you need a ride later, call me, you have my number” and “I’ll call you later to check on you and see if you’re still feeling sick.” At one point in the breakfast, a woman was telling a story about how her bike had been stolen that week for the second time. As soon as they heard this, I saw the volunteering couple consult each other for less than one minute, and then say to the woman that they had a bike that she could have. In fact, the husband went and retrieved the bike from their home almost immediately, for her to take. This breakfast reminded me of the life that I want to live – a life of reconciliation, generosity, and genuine care for everyone.

-Bianca