7/9/09
"I'm at Project Timothy right now. Getting here was actually kind of fun. There was like that moment when we merged from the 101 to the I-10 where I realized that the next couple of weeks would be drastically different from anything else. A kind of excitement began to build up ... Like, "This is really happening!" So much of our trip is completely ambiguous to me right now, so it's kind of crazy. I read Hebrews 11 today, which kind of talked about that. Basically, it gave examples of people from the old testament and how faith in God gives us the courage to do His work, even when we might never see the results. It helped me remember that things could get pretty crazy on this trip, but we shouldn't even stop to worry because there is like a 100% chance that God is faithful, and we never should even doubt the fact that anything that happens is His plan. Crazy amazing! I have such a feeling of purpose right now. I think this is because I am praying for confirmation of my future. This is HUGE because my future is also kind of ambiguous at this point. What does God have for me?"
"It is not what [Abel] brought, but rather what he believed." [...] Each one of these people of faith died not having in hand what was promised, but still believing. How did they do it? They saw it way off in the distance, waved their greeting, and accepted the fact that they were transients in this world!" Hebrews 11:4, 11:13-14
7/10/09
"Today was amazing. I've got to admit that I was a little skeptical of this orientation thing, but right now I'm feeling so fed! That can only mean one thing: we're going to be doing a lot of feeding! We did a lot of team building type stuff today. Some quite serious and some silly. One activity that we did was called Life Line. For it, we picked 5 major events in our lives and shared them with our group. It was the first time that I had ever shared some of the events in my life with anyone not immediately connected to them. It was so crazy. I ended my life line with February 14, 2009, the day that I felt more loved by God than I could ever possibly describe. I came to tears as I finished my list. Not because I was feeling hurt or embarrassed, but because I was feeling so humbled by the recurrence of God's faithfulness in my life. [...] And then tonight happened. During worship (Unchanging, Desert Song, Hosanna, and The Stand) I felt like I was truly on fire with the Holy Spirit - like in Acts 2. Like I can't describe it, I just felt hot but the air around felt cool. I felt so humbled, I just fell to my knees. Most amazing worship experience ever. [...] I think I'm unearthing a huge store of His fruits that I never knew was there. I don't know if I can even describe it in human terms."
7/12/09
"My mind is truly buzzing right now. Part of our week on site is going to be spent with DOOR (Discovering Opportunities for Outreach and Reflection). They are an organization that partners with non-profits in LA. Could that be any more perfect? I don't think so. I'm definitely feeling the strength of God's calling on my life right now."
7/13/09
"Today, we hung out with kids at a day camp. We spent time in a computer lab, game room, and at the pool. I don't know that this was really much of a significant experience for me or my group. What I did get out of it was that the kids we hung out with today had so much joy, even in the midst of less than ideal circumstances. I was really impressed that the Red Cross and Salvation Army could do so much. [...] Tonight, the director of DOOR brought two homeless people to our evening session. We just got to sit and talk with them and listen to their stories. It was amazing! I don't think I'll ever look at homeless people the same way again."
7/14/09
"Today we are going to Union Rescue Mission, on Skid Row. My only idea of what skid row is like comes from a movie called 'The Soloist'. It's about a cello player who ends up on the streets, and much of it takes place in this area of LA. I saw this movie a couple of weeks ago, and it really challenged me. i should have been scared to go to this part of LA, but I'm not. [...] I feel like I'm living so 'in the moment' during this trip. I kind of love it. I'm working in the field of my passion. I really can see myself working at DOOR someday, or some place a lot like it. My calling feels really intense in a lot of ways right now. I'm so stoked! [...] Skid Row was really like I imagined it would be. We had to park kind of far away from the shelter, so we had to walk. The cement wreaked of urine, and we were surrounded by old, dilapidated buildings. I probably saw at least 50 homeless people as we walked from the parking lot to the shelter. While we were there, we helped serve and prepare meals. We worked so hard! It was exhausting.
Tonight, instead of preparing dinner, we were each given a dollar and told to find food. Our team combined our 8 dollars and bought a box of cheerios, bread, peanut butter, and jelly. To even get to that point was so crazy. I definitely saw the crazy side of my team! It was cool, though, because we pulled it together at the end by doing a little panhandling. I can't imagine what it would be like to be homeless and to have to struggle to find food. We ended up eating our dinner on the street with two homeless guys. It was totally a blessing to get to eat with them. This day was so tiring."
7/15/09
"We went to do some tutoring at a charter school. Serena and I worked in an 8th grade math classroom. It was so hard because I don't even remember 8th grade math! It was also difficult because a lot of the kids didn't even want to try. They seemed really discouraged. I got to help another kid write an essay, which was actually right up my alley. We started off slow, but he started to get really excited about it towards the end. It was cool.
We also got to go sight seeing tonight. We walked down Hollywood Boulevard, past the Kodak Theatre, and took the subway to Olvera Street, which is a little mexican marketplace. It seriously reminded me of Mexico. Anyways, we took some awesome pictures and I bought a really cool bag. Pretty darn fantastic."
7/16/09
"This day was nothing like planned. First of all, our car wouldn't even start. So, basically, we were late to our site. We cleaned up the outside of Door of Hope, which is transitional housing for families. Though our morning was extremely productive, I felt like our afternoon was purposeless. I hope we made a difference. When it was time to leave, our car wouldn't start again. The battery was completely dead! We had to wait for a really long time to even get help. It was totally frustrating. On the flip side, God totally provided us with the little things we needed to make it through the afternoon. Amazing. I think that was my biggest God sighting of the day. we also got to worship with the other youth group that is working at DOOR with us. That was incredible as well. I think that I'm encountering God the most in the Body of Christ this week."
7/17/09
"I'm sitting on the roof of The Union Rescue Mission right now. I'm sleeping here tonight. We left DOOR and went on a hike to the Griffith Observatory. It was totally rad! We also said good-bye to the other youth group we'd worked with. It was so totally cool to work with another part of The Body. I mean, we'll probably never see them again, but we can keep in touch. After leaving, we went back to Union, which is where I am right now. That was an experience in itself. When we got there, there was no room in the parking garage, and we were told to go around the back of the building to the parking lot. Well, that lot wasn't open. So we must have circled the same street about five times. We we were so conspicuous. It started to get really crazy. Once we got to the lot and were walking in, things didn't get any better. People yelled at us and looked us up and down. It was obvious that we didn't belong. I got to thinking that this is how the homeless must feel all the time. It was humiliating and humbling at the same time. Our first task was to hand out water to people on the streets. It was so hands on. I think that was my favorite part. It's hard to think that people stay out on the streets all day and might not have water. We saw so many people. We also got to serve dinner tonight. That was so gratifying, especially when people would take the time to thank us. Several of the people seemed almost ungrateful, but there was one lady that went out of her way to show she was thankful. That was such a blessing! I think that made my whole night."
7/18/09
"Last night, we slept on the roof of Union Rescue Mission. It was so cold! I expected to hear a lot of noise on the street from where we slept, but it was surprisingly quiet. During the night, tons of rats flood the street there. That was probably the craziest thing that happened. That and the fireworks that randomly went off. We got up at about 5 a.m. this morning - the sun wasn't even up yet! We served breakfast and helped prepare lunch. That was the end of our work. Serving meals is always really fulfilling because you get to see the immediate result of handing someone a plate of food. I was surprised by how much energy God gave me.
We went sightseeing for the rest of today. We went to the Venice Boardwalk and to Robertson St., which is like a swanky shopping district. We went on a "scavenger hunt" and got so much free stuff!"
7/19/09
"We went to PR's old church today. The service seemed so short compared to ours! After that we went to the beach. It felt so good to just sit and be still. I had a lot of fun and we took a lot of cool pictures. Tomorrow, we head back to Ontario for debrief. I can't believe that this week is already over. I can't wait to hear everyone else's stories."
7/20/09
"It's so weird being back at debrief. I kind of feel like I forgot everyone else in the world existed. Like I'm Truman in The Truman Show. Even still, it's really empowering to hear everyone's stories."
7/21/09
"Today was my last day at Project Timothy. We shared our funny stories during a game of Catastrophe this morning. It was fun to hear all of the stories from the different sites. We also put together our video presentation. It went so smoothly! Like, smoother than it should have. It was awesome. Tonight was like totally amazing. We all shared the stories that impacted our hearts the most. God definitely moved in and through us at our sites this week. There was a real sense of God at work in the room. Project Timothy has been so amazing, and I'm so glad that I went. I can't wait to tell everyone everything that happened to me in the last two weeks."
So there you have it, PT was definitely a life altering experience. Through it, God spoke into my life and showed me more of His passion and His vision. Thanks be to God!
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