Meet Our Summer Interns: Jocelyn

                         

I started my internship a 2 weeks ago and I was given a position where I'll work with Sarah Leck at the Bellflower Friendship Manor planning events and providing encouragement to the residents. I had anticipated hearing back from Sarah and I was given the chance to met her in person and found out that she is such an amazing person who truly loves her job. It will be a privilege to shadow her and take some leadership roles in event planning and putting my planning into practice. I want to think outside the box and bring new and creative ideas to the residents in the Bellflower Manor. Currently I have met with Sarah and I am in the process of transitioning my way to working with the residents. Thursday, Sarah will be introducing me to the residents at their dinner time. I am looking forward to presenting my face to the residents and hopefully becoming friends with the residents. I look forward to managing school, my job and most importantly the internship. I am truly blessed for having the opportunity to intern at Kingdom Causes and I plan on taking advantage of this experience.

Meet Our Summer Interns: Betsy

Hello! My name is Betsy and I am excited to be a summer intern this year! I am 21 years old and currently am a student at Cerritos College. I have been a native of Bellflower since 2010 and a member of Rosewood Church in Bellflower almost my whole life. I used to live in Paramount where I grew up an only child. A few things that I enjoy are; running, shopping, reading books and being with my friends and family. I love being active and out of the house a lot, you can probably find me at Starbucks with my friends almost every end of the week.

I have participated in many of my church’s activities including a youth group called “Serve,” that I was in for 5 years straight every summer. Serve in a nutshell is a type of ministry that brings together youth from all over the U.S including Canada in one church for a week and serve the community in a way that gives you the opportunity to get closer to God through worshipping, Bible studies, to fun day outs in groups with people that love Jesus. Anyways, ever since the first serve trip 5 years ago which took place in Ensenada Mexico, given I didn’t know anyone, I was extremely out of my comfort zone, but ever since that time I’ve been inspired to help people and join activities for a cause. “Whatever you do, whether in word or in deed do it for God.” Colossians 3:17

All in all this year will be a different type of summer, I am going to be coordinating and teaching a summer art class – for which I am so excited! I am happy I got this opportunity I will try my best, I know it will be a summer of learning and growing and I am ready for it!

Meet Our Summer Interns: Isaac

Who am I?

A poem by Isaac Taylor

Who am I?

I’m not a poet so I’ll keep this short,

I am a new summer intern, or something of that sort.

My new place is with outreach, I’ll give it a try.

Who am I?

Its a struggle to describe, which is why

I decided to write a poem. Easy as pie.

I’m 18, and then 19 in July.

Who am I?

Now you’re probably wondering why

I chose to spend my summer doing this

(my rhyming is terribly remiss).

That is something I can’t easily tell:

It seems that the pieces sort of just fell

into place. Despite that, here am I.

Don’t hesitate or be shy,

I’d love for you to come by

and ask me: what? why?

and of course:

Who am I?

Meet Our Summer Interns: Crystal

Introduction: 

Life is full of character transformations, both for the better and for the worse. When I was in preschool, my teachers asked me to use my inside voice and  keep calm while indoors. This led me to keep to myself and engage in a lot of quiet reflection. This quiet reflection, however, helped me realize that I was wrong to ever shy away from my social personality. Now, I am encouraged to be outgoing and make contributions to my community, creating something much larger than myself. I am currently undergoing a positive transformation, embracing who I am as an individual through positive connections and experiences. My internship at Kingdom Causes is one of these experiences. 

Me as an Individual: 

Hello, my name is Crystal Vega and I am an incoming senior at Troy High School in Fullerton. Although I go to school in Fullerton, I have been a resident of Bellflower since elementary school. I have come to love this city and express my love through volunteer work. I started off as a reserved sixth grader whose sister dragged her to the C.M. Brakensiek Library for volunteering. I went from a fumbling sixth grader to a young adult who loves public speaking, writing, and meeting new people. I was able to put my strengths to the test when I joined clubs at my middle school and then at my high school. I am now involved in a club dedicated to spreading awareness about autism and reaching out to families in need. I also plan on starting a Ted Talks Club this coming school year that provides students with a platform for self-expression. It is such a gratifying experience to help a fellow student discover their passions. 

Me as an Intern: 

I feel especially blessed to call myself a summer intern, as this will be my second year working with Kingdom Causes. I started off working as a city volunteer who helped out wherever I was needed. Now, I am so grateful for the opportunity to work behind the scenes and breath life into the summer programs that I previously enjoyed. On my first day as an intern, I was so excited and overwhelmed that I started trembling as I began typing this blog post. I was motivated, however, by how confident the staff was that I would create an amazing summer program. It was this trust and respect that marked the beginning of my journey. I cannot wait to further develop my projects, and I look forward to every step of the way.

About my Picture:

Earlier in the summer, my family and I made a visit to the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles. I was so entranced by this glimpse into such a mysterious universe that I knew so little about. This visit made me realize that while the unknown can seem daunting at first, it can also present you with so much beauty and wonder. This summer I will not be an astronaut exploring space but an intern making the best of the responsibility I have been given.

KCB's Family Fun Day

On Monday all of our staff got together for fun and food! We had such a great time talking and laughing, competing and cheering. It was a time for us to grow and just be together. We had our first ever staff Olympics and I think they went quite well!

Normally, staff is "stationed" at two different branches. Some of us are in the KCB office while others are at Little House. Others are out loving our homeless neighbors or mowing lawns while mentoring the guys they are working with. While it might feel at times that we're scattered and away from each other, our meetings together remind us that we are one. We have one purpose. To love others in a way that no church or individual can do alone. We have one Boss. We are held accountable to God for what we're doing with the resources and the families and individuals He is bringing to us. We are one team. We give props and we high five. We celebrate at success stories and encourage each other when the day has been hard.

We have one heart. We love because He first loved us. (1 John 4:19)

Overdrive Movie Night

This past Saturday the very first Overdrive movie night took place at Kingdom Causes. Pizza, popcorn and plenty of candy, plus friends and Despicable Me 2 combined to provide a fun event for all the kids. At the end of the night one of the kids came up to me and asked me if we could do another movie night next Saturday! While the event was somewhat spontaneous it, at the end of the day, was such a hit with the kids and is definitely an event I hope to see become a more regular occurrence, maybe even monthly event, in the future.

Looking back on my time with KCB over the past three months the one regret I have is that I haven’t been able to invest more time in these kids. These kids are the future of Bellflower, full of energy and potential, and they are such a joy to be around! While my internship is coming to a close in a few short weeks, I hope that I will be able to continue to be involved in the awesome things Kingdom Causes is doing in the city of Bellflower. It has been an absolute blessing to meet the people I have met and join alongside the work God is doing through KCB in the city of Bellflower.

-Miranda Starbeck, Spring Intern

Easter Egg Hunt 2014

It was amazing to see so many kids participate in the Easter Egg Hunt last Saturday, April 19th at Simms Park. The changes made this year turned out to be very well received by all. We changed the starting time from 10am to after 11am to give the opportunity for all kids to arrive on time, and so they could enjoy all the activities prepared for them! The Shows, Cupcake Decoration and Arts & Crafts areas are always a hit and were very pleased to see the Easter Bunny make an appearance in one of the shows to help share the TRUE meaning of Easter with parents and kids. All of this could not have been possible without the help of all the volunteers that helped on the day of and during the weeks leading up to the Easter Egg Hunt. We had about 150 volunteers and about 1,500 kids participate in the event. It fills us with joy to see the Bellflower Churches and community come together to bless our families by not only proving a fun event with toy prizes and candy but also with the amazing news of the resurrection.

by April Mardueño

A letter from Ryan

                                                                                                                        April 23, 2014

“a woman came to him with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, which she poured on his head as he was reclining at the table.” Matthew 26:7

Dear Friends, 

It seems like God uses the season of Lent consistently to grow our faith.  Last year, God moved during this season to call KCB to the faith-growing step of buying Margaret’s House and turning it into a family shelter.  This year there’s been another faith stretching call. 

In late February a friend and former Bellflower Pastor, Moses Chung, who is now the director of a church-planting and renewal agency based out of Michigan, called Home Missions, called me out of the blue.  Since November he had been looking for a team member that could help him with the skills and gifts needed to help with the implementation of some significant organizational culture and strategy changes within this agency.  He could not find the right fit from among the applicants for the position, and he said the Spirit had led him to ask me, “Is there any chance you would consider taking on a role like this?”  I had a quick response.  “No.”  He said he thought I would be “a good candidate for the role” and asked if I would just look at the position description over the weekend and call him if anything changed in my openness to the idea.   I told him politely that I was “about 3%” interested and so while I was honored to be considered he better continue his search elsewhere.  “We are living the dream here in Bellflower and it’s not likely that God would change that.”

I was NOT looking,  nor could I imagine applying for, any other role or assignment than the one that God has had me on.  It would be too costly for us… We’ve lived our entire married lives here in Bellflower, our family enjoys a depth of community with you, the KCB board members, our co-workers, neighbors, and church, that not many get to experience.  We do “live the dream”.  Our daily lives are so FULL and BLESSED with a wholistic experience of what it means to live as Kingdom people with other followers of Jesus, beyond what we imagined or envisioned when we started out our lives here.  We are proud and honored to be a part of a “tribe” of Jesus followers who consistently lay down their agendas and priorities for the sake of God’s Kingdom priorities.  We couldn’t imagine that God would want or ask us to give this up.

You have to be careful when you assume that God will not change His assignments.  Since that “out of the blue” phone call, God has been making it overwhelmingly (and at times painfully) clear to Rachel and I through a series of “coincidental” dreams, conversations, “divine” appointments, other circumstances, and prayerful discernment that He is calling me to take this position that will require us to give up the “dream” and resign from my role as Executive Director of KCB/OPHS/LH.

The story in Matthew 26 of Mary anointing Jesus has been particularly poignant for Rachel and I in this season of discernment.  In the story, Mary, out of her love for Jesus, extravagantly anoints Him with an alabaster jar of perfume.  This perfume was extremely costly and valuable, a family heirloom, a source of comfort and security, and she takes it and pours it all out in an expression of her love for Jesus.  The disciples can’t understand this “wasteful” expense.  They have better ideas for how this precious resource should have been used.  At a conference I attended in March, as we were just starting to discern this call, one of the speakers taught on this text and asked pointedly, “What is your alabaster jar of perfume?  What is it that you cling to for security and comfort?  What do you tie your identity to?  Would you pour even that out in an expression of love for Jesus?  Is Jesus better to you than all of this?

Many secret tears have flowed in these weeks as it became clear that God was in fact asking us to pour out this offering of love and surrender our ideal life, community, church, home, job, connections and influence in what feels at times like blind obedience, trusting that he will provide for our family and for you all. 

God used our 10 year celebration to remind us of all that God has done, and will continue to do amazing things through the ministry of KCB (OPHS and Little House) to advance His kingdom in Bellflower.  From our beginning we have professed that Jesus is the leader of this organization and I am sure that He has the right person to fill the leadership role for KCB.  KCB has worked because this organization is HIS and because He uses you on a daily basis.  Home Missions has said that it wants to embrace missional approaches similar to the one that God has been doing in our midst, to help new and struggling churches and communities engage in similar work.

It has been an honor and privilege to serve alongside you brothers and sisters who are radically committed to this work and I am confident that “He who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it.”  The leadership at Home Missions has given a generous period of time (start date of June 1) to ensure that we can carefully plan for my transition from the role as Executive Director and I am committed to finishing well.  I remain committed to KCB’s mission and vision and want to help as much as you see fit during this season.   Please feel free to contact me with any questions as they come up.

Thank you for all of your servant leadership and for allowing me the great privilege of serving as the Executive Director over the last ten years.  I am confident our success has been due to our God’s great love for our city and because KCB/OPHS/LH are HIS and He will continue to bless the work on into the future. 

To God be the Glory,

Ryan

KCB Celebrates 10 Years!

This past Thurrsday, KCB celebrated 10 years of service in Bellflower! We had a wonderful celebration with over 300 KCB volunteers, donors, and friends! It was incredible to be recognized by the City of Bellflower and partner organizations for our work, and to be able to thank the HUNDREDS of people who have worked together to do some pretty incredible stuff in our city. 

Most importantly, it was a time to give credit and thanks to God for His faithfulness in using His people to bless His city. We are excited to see all that He has in store for the next ten years!

If you were unable to make it to the celebration. Check out the video that we shared here. It does a great job telling our story of working together to love our city.

If you want to celebrate with us... here are three easy options!

1. Commit to praying for KCB 10 minutes each week (email us at admin@kcbellflower.org if you would like to receive a weekly prayer request email)

2. Invite 10 friends to like us on on Facebook. Check out our page here.

3. Partner with us by becoming a monthly donor of $10/month! Click here to give online, or call our office at 562-804-2189 to sign up.

We're thankful for the part that YOU have played in these past 10 years!

By: Abbey Nishimoto

Reflection From Teaching an ESL Class

Over the past month at KCB I have been given the opportunity to begin an English conversation class for primarily the women with young children of Bellflower. At first this venture was frustrating, facing the great challenge of learning how to best help these women learn and practice English, oftentimes with few to no women attending the class. After the second week, in which no one showed up, I was ready to give up. I began to really doubt my abilities and my purpose in teaching this class. But God had a purpose for this class far better than my purpose and in the weeks that followed He began to reveal to me the importance of this class.

Many of the women who began to attend in the weeks that followed and still continue to attend are eager to improve their English. Some desire to be able to communicate with their children’s teachers, to find jobs, or just to be able to interact with people they encounter around the city. The interesting thing I’ve learned is that while many of these women understand and speak a lot of English, they struggle to have confidence in their abilities. Several of the women shared with me that they feel self-conscious about their accent and are worried that people won’t understand them or may make fun of them. As an English-speaking student learning Spanish, I can completely relate as I struggle with the same insecurities and anxieties!

God truly equipped me not only with the technical ability to teach but also with the understanding and relatability necessary to allow these women to feel comfortable practicing their English and asking questions when something may be unclear. I am reminded of 1 Corinthians 9:8, which says “God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.” In prayerfully dedicating time to do the work of the Lord, He takes our feelings of inadequacy and equips us to accomplish His purposes.


Miranda Starbeck, Spring Intern

Why I Keep Working With Kids

This week I was hanging out with some Washington kids, we were just talking about life. Out of no where one student turns to me and asks when our tutoring program would be over. I hadn't planned that far ahead so I didn't have an immediate answer. I would characterize this particular student as an "at risk" youth; he has so much potential but needs a little encouragement and positive reinforcement.

Thinking he was asking me when it was to end because he wasn't enjoying our program I responded with, "I don't know. Why? Do you not want to come anymore?" To my amazement he replied, "No! I want to come! If it wasn't for this tutoring program I wouldn't be able to get help at home, because my mom doesn't know how to do my homework, neither does my dad."

Every time I start questioning my time and effort at Washington Elementary, I am reminded, by the kids themselves, that God is using our volunteers in ways that surpass our imagination. So when I stop to think that so far we're impacting a small percentage of students at one of the eleven elementary schools I get saddened for the other elementary schools who have "at risk" kids waiting for a volunteer, a friend, to inspire them to be who God created them to be!


By Edgar Guzman

A Second Chance At Work

Forty three individuals last year found a second chance at work here at Good Soil Industries. Whether it is a visible tattoo, a criminal past, a long battle with addiction, or a gap in their work history, Good Soil provides an a place for dignity to be restored through work. As many can attest, it is easier to find a job when you have a job. We give a foot in the door for individuals who continually find themselves shut out.

But Good Soil is not just work; it is relationships. And on this day there are 18 new employees excited to complete an I-9 and W4 for the first time in years. They are eager to show that they are ready and worthy of work.

They are a reminder to me to always be grateful for the work I have, and I hope it does the same for you today.
By Joel Holwerda

Thoughts From The Riverbed

Over the past year, I’ve started running for exercise. Usually I go on my runs on the riverbed that goes through Bellflower. Fellow runners have tried to persuade me that there are better options, and I understand their point. The “riverbed” is basically a flat, cement path without tons of scenic views, and with the occasional shady character making crude remarks.

However, one of the reasons that I continue to run along this path is because of the opportunity that it gives me to pray for my homeless neighbors. At several locations along my route, there are homeless “encampments” under overpasses and roads. When I see these folks, I’m reminded to pray for transformation in their lives, and for strength for my coworkers at KCB who work with them on a daily basis.

It was immediately apparent on my run this weekend that something was up. There were lots of trucks, city workers, and trashcans filling up my normal route. When I asked one of the men what was going on, he informed me that they were clearing out one of the main encampments and putting up stronger fences to prevent the homeless from coming back.

Now, I completely understand the perspective of these workers (and the city). The encampments are filled with trash, reek of urine, and are the locations of illicit activities in various forms. It’s probably healthier for the city, and for our homeless neighbors, to clear them.

However, I can’t help but think about where the folks who called this underpass home. I wondered where they would sleep now. I wondered if they knew that all their possessions were being loaded into trash trucks.

 The worker who told me the news probably assumed that I was happy about the news. I believe he said something along the lines of “you won’t have to worry about those people on your runs anymore!” What saddens me most about his statement is that before I worked for Kingdom Causes and began interacting with “those people” on a near-daily basis in our office… I probably would have been happy. Even as a Christian. Because until we make space in our lives for “those people” to become simply people, they will continue to just be nuisances to be moved from place to place.

I’m really not sure what is best for my neighbors without addresses.  Should they be forced out of encampments? Should they have a right to their stuff that we call junk? I’m not sure. I’ll leave that to our homeless outreach team to figure out.

What I do know, is that I want to do a better job at recognizing what is the same between me and my homeless neighbors, instead of focusing on what’s different. This is the idea of “kinship” that Father Greg Boyle of Homeboy Industries discusses so often. “Seek,” he says,  “to build a sense of kinship in a community where there is no 'them' - there is just 'us.' Stand against forgetting we belong to each other.”

Jesus had something similar to say in Luke 14, while addressing His dinner host, “When you put on a luncheon or a banquet,” he said, “don’t invite your friends, brothers, relatives, and rich neighbors. For they will invite you back, and that will be your only reward. Instead, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. Then at the resurrection of the righteous, God will reward you for inviting those who could not repay you.”

My friends on the riverbed were created in God’s image just like me and my family. I wonder if they feel the dignity that truth should bring? I wonder how even I could show them that dignity this week?

Welcoming Our New Staff Member!

We are so excited to welcome Becky to our KCB Family! She graduated from Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan in 2004 with a Bachelors degree in Social Work, and then from California State University, Long Beach with a Masters in Social Work in 2008. During her time as a graduate student, Becky moved to Bellflower from Chino, California where she was raised. She has spent the last 6.5 years working with people living with HIV all over Los Angeles County. She became a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in April 2012. Her work with KCB and OPHS started in 2011 when she began her service as a member of the Board of Directors. Now, she leaves her position as a board member to join the OPHS staff. Becky is excited to be working to help her neighbors within the community of people who love the Lord and are passionate about seeing His love tangibly spread throughout the community.

Spring Intern... Miranda Starbeck!

Hello! My name is Miranda Starbeck and I am an intern this spring for Kingdom Causes Bellflower. I am a first semester senior at Biola University where I am studying Sociology with an emphasis in Social Work. At this point I feel confident that I am called to do social work of some kind although I am open to God’s direction as I am drawn to multiple different communities of people and different areas of social work.

So, why am I interning at Kingdom Causes? One of my classes at Biola requires an internship for this semester and I initially found Kingdom Causes through a google search for Christian non-profit organizations that have Social Work related internships. There were many places I considered interning but after coming in for an interview and learning more about Kingdom Causes I was very excited about the possibility of interning here. From past life experiences I have learned that sometimes God closes every door except the one you least expect, and that door turns out to be much more than you could ever hope for. I am so excited to see how God is going to stretch me and use me as I love and serve the people in the community of Bellflower. I’m also looking forward to the opportunity to practice my Spanish with the individuals I encounter, and continue to establish deeper relationships with people. I don’t know what all this internship will hold but I am eager to see what opportunities God places before me.

The picture above is of my siblings and I at our church’s Christmas Eve service this past December. (from left to right: my sister Mikayla, my brother Skyler, and me)

The Gift of Giving

The Bellflower Christmas Toy Store is just one way we are able to love our Bellflower neighbors. Toys are donated and low income families are able to purchase them as Christmas presents for their children. We were able to help bless approximately 200 families this year at our Christmas Toy Store. We thank everyone that donated gifts, gave a monetary donation, and donated their time to serve their Bellflower neighbors. I’m impressed on how much more organized it gets, we receive bigger and better donations, and that more people are interested in volunteering each year. Bellflower residents are great at loving their neighbors in need. I am thankful to be a part of this event and I always look forward to the next one.

By April Mardueño

Dominic and Desarie

It would be easy to write off Dominic and Desarie. Former drug users, unemployed, kids in the system, etc. It would be easy to access their problems, do our best to help, and then send them on their way. It would be easy to look at them as projects, instead of people.

It would be easy… but it would be wrong.

Dominic and Desarie are not simply the sum of their life choices. They are not statistics. They are people created in God’s image, and thus they are endowed with gifts and abilities that we don’t always acknowledge.

It’s been so fun to watch them grow in the past few months. They have jumped in wherever they can, and have quickly become our most consistent volunteers. Desarie answers the phones when April has to run errands, they do chores around our office, bring tamales for our staff, and even act as informal case managers for their friends in need.

Last week I overheard a desperate sounding women come to the front desk looking for food. Before she had even finishing speaking, Dominic quickly came to her side and said, “I know where you can get food. I’ll take you there myself.”  He then walked her down to his church to see about getting her some food.

When I thanked him later for his act of kindness, he replied that because he knows what it’s like to feel desperate, and he just wants to give back and help others in the same situation.

Dominic and Desarie have taught me that if we wait to solve our own brokenness before reaching out to others, we’ll be waiting forever. God calls us to give in spite of our own weakness and poverty. In fact, he often USES our own brokenness to meet others in their time of need.

I’m glad we didn’t write off Dominic and Desarie, and I’m excited to see how God continues to use them in Bellflower.