Friday Evening on Eucalyptus

There's a group of neighbor boys that have been skating in my front yard off and on for the last couple of months. In the beginning there were two of them and I thought it was cool... but then two turned into 10 plus and some older guys started hanging out and smoking with the younger ones. I don't mind the skateboarding, but the trash they left behind, the smoking and the rudeness I'd get sometimes when I'd ask them to move, got on my nerves a little. Also, my neighbors behind me didn't like all the noise and they also have felt a little disrespected by these boys. But no matter what we'd say or ask... they'd always be back the minute we turned our backs. So lately I've just ignored it and don't say anything unless there's a lot of trash or stuff on my porch moved around. Maybe not the best thing, but I was out of ideas.

Tonight when I got home, it was so hot in my house that I decided to just sit outside. I usually sit outside during the day, but I rarely hang out and night, mostly because I'm busy. The boys were outside skateboarding. I saw the opportunity to try a different approach with them. I thought for sure when I brought my chair out they would leave because in their mind, I'm "the man" (the authority figure). To my surprise they immediately started talking with me and showing their tricks. I ended up sitting out there for 2 hours until it was dark. The boy that in the past was the hardest to deal with ended up being the one talking my ear off. It was amazing. Also while I was outside I got to talk to 5 different moms about our meeting on Monday and practiced my Spanish a little too.

All in all... a very productive night of hanging out in the neighborhood.

Last Minute RSVPs?

Are there any last minute RSVPs for our Advancement Dinner next Thursday?  Call us at 562-804-2189 or email us at christinap@kingdomcauses.org.  We want to see you on Thursday!

A new way to love our neighbors!

Many of our homeless neighbors have plenty of money... That's right, some of our homeless neighbors receive anywhere from $500-1200 per month, yet they remain on the streets because they are unsupported in their use of that money. Their addictions and "friends" demand so much, the money is gone with in one or two weeks.

Recently Kingdom Causes Bellflower started a new Representative Payee Program that will help the church of the city to love these neighbors in a new way. Aura Gonzalez, a long-time volunteer, and member of Calvary Chapel Downey, has come on board to help get this program started that will help manage their money and ensure they are housed, fed and safe for the entire month and their money wont get wasted.

This program has been generously funded and supported by Bridge Builders, a faith based representative payee program that has been operating in Bakersfield for 11 years. They are providing the technical support, equipment and staffing that will help make this a great success and help the church to love some of our most vulnerable neighbors.

Update on Kelty

Kelty's "After" Picture

A few weeks ago we had a visit from our old friend Kelty. Last summer we helped him get into a rehab in San Pedro. (You can read that blog article by clicking here.) When he walked in the doors of our office, I almost didn't recognize him.  He looks great!  He's sober and has decided to move back home with his wife and kids.  We're so proud of Kelty and pray that God continues to bring restoration and sobriety to his life. 

Kelty's "Before" Picture

A Neighborhood Church

I was encouraged last week by Bethel Reformed Church's willingness to open their property for their neighbors to use. Bellflower parks do not have space for our soccer teams to practice. In the past our neighborhood teams had been practicing on any open green space within the parks, but they didn't have a permit to practice and would frequently get kicked off the fields. When we looked into getting permits we found out that even if they did have a one, the official space used for soccer practice was all taken up by existing sports leagues... mainly baseball. We were all a little frustrated with the situation. We need more parks in Bellflower!

On to the good part...

Nichole, the children's pastor at Bethel, offered the field next to their sanctuary for the boys to practice on. Last Wednesday was their first day. I showed up half way through to see how things were going. When I pulled on to their campus I was struck by the beauty of a church property buzzing with life. Their new basketball courts in the parking lot were filled with neighbors from Ramona and their field was filled with neighbors from Eucalyptus. They are shouting the love of God just by offering their resources to their neighbors. What a testimony!

If your church property is empty more than it is full, I encourage you to think of ways that your surrounding neighborhood can benefit from your space. We need to move past the fear of lawsuits and open our doors and resources to become a community-friendly church. Be creative! Ask the neighbors what they want. Our church buildings should BLESS the neighborhood that they are in. Can you imagine if all 52 churches in Bellflower took an active interest in their neighbors. Beautiful!

Skid Row in our backyard

During the summer of 2006 a youth pastor friend from Chino was hosting a group of 45 high school kids from the midwest for a week long mission trip. He had heard that Kingdom Causes did work with the homeless and asked if I would be willing to figure out some activity that would help the teens to learn about homelessness.

I decided an urban hike through skid row would introduce them to the harsh realities of homelessness. It was incredible. Even though I had lots of experience with homeless folks, I was taken aback at how many people lined the streets between Pershing Square and San Julian. Tents and boxes all over the sidewalk housed veterans, drug addicts, mentally ill moms, and even kids. Needless to say we all walked away at the end of the day with a new understanding of the realities of homelessness in LA.

Last fall things began to change in Skid Row. The city officials put pressure on the local law enforcement to put more pressure on the residents of Skid Row through the Safer City Initiative. The hope was that with more pressure from police the homeless population would not be as concentrated, and the properties in the area (mostly empty factory buildings now converting to trendy loft apartments) would increase in value and popularity with hip young couples.

Almost a year later, it seems that the initiative was successful. While 10 homeless shelters remain in the area, the "permanent" residents have moved out to the surrounding cities including Bellflower.

On Good Friday, the director of the Savlation Army Harbor Light Center was the speaker at the Kiwanis prayer breakfast. He shared about his ministry and as he closed he told us about the fact that Skid Row is coming to our backyard and he challenged the church and community to be prepared to help.

I have seen God at work in the church of Bellflower over the last few years preparing us to care for these our these our vulnerable neighbors. He's using the Christians involved with the Homeless Task Force to create support structures and to build relational bridges that help people who are on the streets.

God and Ordinary People

I have been reading through the Old Testament this year and my reading for this morning was really profound. Exodus, the story of God delivering his people from slavery in Egypt, starts with a couple of ordinary women honoring God with their obedience.

Shiphirah and Puah were the midwives for the people of Israel. Pharaoh, in an attempt to control the growing Israelite slave population, commanded the women to kill any boy babies that were born. In courageous civil disobedience, and radical obedience to God, these ordinary women defied the orders of an extraordinary world ruler and let the boys live, telling the pharaoh that Hebrew women gave birth to quickly for them to follow his orders.

The obedience of these ordinary women resulted in the birth and survival of Aaron and Moses, two boy babies who God eventually used to free his people from Egypt. As Eugene Peterson notes, "World leaders are minor players in the biblical way of writing and participating in history. People like Shiprah and Puah played decisive roles."

Everyday working with Kingdom Causes, I get to witness this. I get to work with ordinary people of God, like Sam (pictured below) one of our volunteers who helps make breakfast for our homeless neighbors. Ordinary people playing decisive roles in transforming lives and neighborhoods in Bellflower. God is using ordinary people working together to proclaim freedom to our neighbors who are enslaved to the "Egypts" of homelessness, poverty, hopelessness, and isolation.

We Appreciate You!

We love our volunteers! Please come to our Volunteer Appreciation Barbecue at 4pm on Saturday, March 29th at the VerWys' house. Call Chrissy to RSVP at 562-804-2189 or on my cell.

Eucalyptus Garden - Second Try

If any of you visited my home last summer, you learned that I am not a good gardener. I try very hard to be, but I can't seem to keep things alive and looking healthy. Last year I planted 15 tomato plants in a space where only 2 should've been planted. The garden turned into an unmanageable mess and I was scared of what could be living inside of it!

So this year I got some help. Over the last few weeks a team of helpers (made up of neighbors and friends) have been weeding, digging out old dead plants and watering to prepare the soil for the new garden. Some of the kids that helped with last year's garden (wilderness, is more like it) have been stopping by after school to water and dig. Alicia, a mom that lives in the neighborhood, came by a few days last week to help me plant the flowers. Alicia's kids along with some of my other neighbor kids helped too. Here are some pictures from the day:

New uniforms for Barcelona

I took some pictures of the boys when they received their new uniforms. They won the game that day.

Shaun and Jonah

Shaun and Jonah met over a year ago. Shaun, a member of the Bellflower House Church, had been volunteering for several months with the Homeless Task Force and wanted to take the next step and commit to praying for one homeless neighbor in particular and establish a relationship with him. Jonah has been on the streets since his grandmother passed away three years ago. His kind spirit and outgoing personality was endearing to whomever he encountered. One Tuesday night when we hit the streets for our relational outreach, Shaun and I found Jonah lying on his back unconscious from an overdose of medication that wasn’t his. Shaun and I loaded him in our vehicle and took him to the nearest hospital, fearing that he wasn’t going to make it.
Shaun went back to visit him later that week and formed a friendship. A year later, after hundreds of encounters with Shaun, and much prayer on Shaun’s part, Jonah had hit bottom. He and some friends had been drinking behind the liquor store when they began to argue. Before Jonah knew it he was on the ground, pummeled by two of his “friends”. He woke up the next day at the local hospital. Upon discharge the social workers asked where he wanted to be dropped off and he indicated he wanted to come to the Community Center. Shaun was there and we were able to pray with him and he agreed that he needed long term help. That night we had a party celebrating his decision. Pizza, pasta, salad and soda flowed. Jonah had turned and wanted help! He stayed that night at Shaun’s home and the next day we brought him to a mission to get help with rehabilitation. He’s been there now over 30 days, beating his previous sobriety streak by 10 days. Shaun continues to go visit him on a weekly basis providing him with support and prayer. This is our ideal. Connect people with supportive relationships via the body of Christ.

We need a place to practice!!!

In the next two weeks both of the neighborhood teams that we've been working with will lose access to their practice field. We're in desperate need of some green space. The city of Bellflower only has 3 parks with fields and they're booked up all year with city leagues (mostly football & baseball). Our boys need a place to practice on Mondays and Wednesdays from 6-8pm.

I write this blog for two reasons: 1) To put the need out there in case any of you have access to a school field, a large church property or something creative and 2) So that when we figure this out we can give God the glory.

Please respond with any input or connections you have. Thanks!

Progress with Neighborhood Soccer Teams

We were able to purchase the uniforms & practice balls/equipment for Team Barcelona (15-18) today. The boys have worked hard to raise money and are now able to look like an official team, thanks to the donation from Kiwanis last Friday. Here's what their uniforms will look like:




This week we will focus on helping the younger Barcelona team... I call them Barcelona Juniors because I get them mixed up.

If you are interested in coming out to support the boys on either team, please give me a call at our office number (562.804.2189) and I'll set you up with the upcoming schedule. Games are usually on Saturday mornings. Please come out and cheer on the teams. It means a lot to them.

Also, I just heard of a girls team that is starting up in our neighborhood.

We DEFINITELY need a park!!

Proud of our young men...

I am so proud of Sabino & Fernando. We just got back from a Kiwanis service club meeting where they did a presentation on their neighborhood soccer team, Barcelona. Their team has raised over $1,000 on their own, but they needed $1,444 more to finish buying uniforms and paying registration/insurance. They did such a good job that the group pledged $1,000 from thier children's foundation. In addition to that, individuals were so impressed by Sabino & Fernando's efforts and gave an additional $455 out of their own pockets to support the team.

Praise God for his faithfulness & provisions.

It is an honor to work with these talented neighbors. I am full of hope and excitement for our community.

This is the flyer that we passed out at the meeting today:

Good Neighbors with Creative Ideas

On Monday, 14 neighbors attended our first Eucalyptus/Cornuta neighborhood meeting of the year. Each person had so many thoughts and ideas to share. We ended up focusing on two ideas: 1)supporting the local soccer teams by fundraising, encouraging neighbors to help with rides & attend their games and 2) promoting the neighborhood clean-up day hosted by the city this weekend. The next day I received calls from a few of the neighbors who had already begun working on some of the projects discussed at the meeting. There is so much excitement! Neighbors are pooling together their resources and using creativity to help one another. What a glimpse of the Kingdom.

Today a few of us neighbors helped with rides for Barcelona (Soccer Team 16-18yrs). We stayed for the game to support our boys. They played well, but ended up losing to the oposing team (who is in 2nd place). When we got home we went out to the neighborhood clean-up day. The city blocked off a small portion of our street to set up BRIM (Bellflower Recreation in Motion) for the kids and had a spot for snacks, arts & crafts.

I'd love to see something like this happen again during the summer. The kids need space to play. The parks are too far. I did find out that construction, where the existing railroad tracks are, is going to start in the next two months for a walk/bike path. It's still not enough space to play, but I'm hoping it's a start.

Support Team Barcelona

The young men who are a part of EUCY (Eucalyptus Urban Council of Youth) play on a soccer team mostly made up of neighborhood kids from our street. The team was started a few months ago when a neighbor noticed a large group of talented boys playing pick-up games at the park. He found out that most of these boys were not on any official team and decided to help organize and join a league with thier team, Barcelona.

I met with the coach's wife and son this morning to hear more about their story. She shared about how she went to each of their homes to meet their families and check-out their situation before the season started. She found that many of the kids live in single-parent homes or with an aunt or a grandma, making it difficult for them to afford the equipment & uniforms and get rides to practices & games.

During the next week we will be going to several meetings with the parents and local service organizations to figure out a way to help raise money and find support for this team. We see Team Barcelona as an asset to our neighborhood as it provides a healthy alternative to gang and drug involvement and gives the boys something to take pride in.

Please pray for us as we work together to advance this cause.

Thanks to Bethany CRC Servants

Bethany CRC conducted a congregation wide service day in Bellflower today. 150 of their members were out volunteering today picking up trash, cleaning, and serving in other ways.



A team of 8 came to the community center to help us bless our neighboring business neighbors by washing windows, pressure washing the parking lot, and weeding the flower bed in front. The place looks great!


Before we cleaned the windows, I went to the neighboring businesses to make sure it was okay with them that we do that. The new owners of Liquor Land, the tiny store on the corner, were very reluctant to let us wash their windows at first.


"What do you expect from me?"asked the owner, a middle aged man immigrant from India or Pakistan. "I do not want to pay!"
"No sir, no payment is necessary. We simply want to help." I replied. "These folks are here just because they want to serve."
"I need to talk with the property manager, is he paying them?"
"No sir, we're just helping out."
"You expect nothing?" he asked yet again incredulously.
"Nothing. We're just trying to be good neighbors that's all."


Finally assured that we weren't selling our services and a little confused about our motives, he consented to let us wash his windows.


What a great first impression for our new neighbors down the way.


Lord your kingdom come and your will be done in the life of that liquor store owner as it is in heaven.

Prayer Walk

I was eating lunch with one of our Volunteers the other day and we were talking about a Church nearby a park just down the street here in Bellflower. He told me a short story about how when he used to live in that neighborhood, he and a group would prayer walk the neighborhood. Every time they would go by this Church, named 1st Baptist, they would pray that it would be a "Neighborhood Church". Here is where it all comes together; within the past year, this Church has taken a much more "Neighborhood" approach and even re-named it's building to "Neighborhood Fellowship". I went by yesterday and spoke with the pastor and told him the story. He was pretty encouraged!

God is active and shows up in his timing!

Local Business Highlight: Adelita's Mexican Restaurant

We're working on a neighborhood newsletter for Eucalyptus & Cornuta. It will be published in English & Spanish. The stories will be about things happening in our neighborhood and each issue will contain a neighbor of the month and a business of the month. We'll also include a section for a community calendar & announcements.

The first business we're highlighting is Adelita's Mexican Restaurant on Artesia & Clark. The owners, Elida & Lugo, lived in our neighborhood for many years. Elida was famous for her tamales. They moved a few years ago, but are talking about moving back into the neighborhood. We met with Elida on Wednesday to share our idea. She teared up and expressed her gratitude for the support of their business.

So... if you're looking for a place to eat, I recommend stopping by Adelita's. Their chilaquiles breakfast is wonderful!