Saturday and Sunday

Hello!
It's Sunday night. Late Sunday night. It's been a great two days since the rest of the group joined us. Everyone got in yesterday at about 9:30. By the time we got vans and got situated, it was time to enjoy some grub. We grabbed food and headed to the Orange County Rescue Mission. It's an incredible new facility that is housed on an old military base. The barracks have been converted to house homeless and recovering addicts. It will be a place for single men and women, single men and women with children, and families to begin learning how to support themselves. The cafeteria was brand new and was built by donations and designs from the Cheesecake factory. The new chapel will seat 300, and we listened as an employee shared his heart about all of the people that will hear the message of Jesus Christ in that facility ... so cool!

After leaving the Rescue Mission, we ventured up the Pacific Coast Highway and enjoyed a little scenery on our way back up to LA. A quick stop to In n Out, and then we arrived at our housing facility with CSM.

This morning we got up early, and headed back to the big OC. We joined in for the high school service at Saddleback, and then big church. Tiffany K., Kevin B., and Mrs. B. joined us for the service and lunch.

After lunch, we had just enough time to get back to the CSM housing and catch our breath before we began our orientation. Our hosts, Jannelle and Lisa, gave us the run down, and then took us out on the town. After a dinner of Thai at Mae Ploy, we went on a prayer tour of the city. The first stop was a park in the neighborhood of Pico Union where CSM is located. This neighborhood is almost all populated by immigrants. We prayed at the edge of the park, a location populated by the poorest of poor, while looking across to a very wealthy hotel that is still the location of movies, commercials, and gatherings of the elite. Right next to that is the welfare building.

Next was city hall. We prayed over the brokenness of the people of the city, and for God to tender our own hearts.

Our next stop took us into the heart of Skid Row. Our team was really broken to see the reality of people living in tents and under tarps on the street. Sarrah and Mandy were particularly broken to see strollers outside of some of those tents.

Our last stop was an elementary school in Skid Row. This school was built as a temporary location with portable buildings. It's now been in service for almost 25 years. Most of these kids don't have two parents, and the parent they have is possibly involved in prostitution or drugs, or working in one of the many sweat shops in the city. They are all living on the streets and trying to survive. School isn't a very high priority.

Our team ended the night with some sharing at a spot downtown. I think this was a great way to start the week.

Please pray for:
Unity with the team
Energy
Broken hearts
Final preparation for VBS

We've got an early morning tomorrow. I'll try and write more tomorrow night. Thanks for all of your prayers.

Michael