Wednesday night, our team was reminded in a blatant way of the similarities between us and the people we served. One might wonder how we came to such a profound conclusion regarding the similarities among all the people we had met and ourselves. The people we interacted with and encountered on Wednesday night blessed us, encouraged us, included us and flat-out entertained us! We spent Wednesday night at Central City Community Church's weekly Karaoke night. While we don't have any video of the performances by others outside of our group, let it be known that Robert knows how to work a room and Sidewalk Slim knows how to leave an impression. The videos below give you an idea of the fun we had WITH the people we came to do things FOR. It was incredible to simply be with and have fun with the people who make their home in Skid Row.

Robie danced with his new friend Gina, who God gave him the opportunity to pray with and for.


We all attempted the electric slide, while I kind of destroyed it.


Robie got the crowd excited with his rendition of Born to Be Wild.


The final act before we called it a night, featured Vanessa & Keisha (our host from CSM) performing a duet of Foolish.


This experience was one where God reminded us of some simple truths about who we all are and how much all of us have in common. It was a privilege to be in the audience cheering on people with amazing gifts and charisma, noticing God's gifts in all of them. One additional highlight was when one of the women sang, "I Could Only Imagine" and many in the audience sang along. The song ends with the words, "I can only imagine, when all I will do is forever, forever worship you." Through this we got an idea of who we will be forever worshipping Jesus with and based on our karaoke experience, I CAN'T WAIT!

Click on the video to see a photo review of our time and experiences in Los Angeles. There are more videos to come throughout the weekend. Your love, prayers and encouragement made a difference. Your support has been evident in many ways. May you be encouraged by the ways that our church was extended this week and may God always be glorified through the love and actions of the church.

Our active service among the people of Los Angeles ended today. From the moment we woke up we were among the people of Los Angeles. As a team we served breakfast and connected with people 1 mile from Skid Row with a markedly different crowd. Whether behind the counter serving or at the tables connecting, the team truly chose to ENGAGE. It was also encouraging to learn from the volunteer coordinator of her choice to serve for a year after graduating college which has both influenced and been influenced by her career path.

We broke into teams later and went on a scavenger hunt near Pershing Square in downtown LA. We grew through the interactions we had. We were also able to be an encouragement to the people we met, including the people we took to lunch.

We said goodbye to Alexander and went for our final day serving in the after+school program. Our role today was greatly expanded as we shared VBS songs with the children, including the sweet dance moves. The energy level appreciation and encouragement were different as we worked as a team to give the children there a fun afternoon that was focused on Jesus. It was cool to hear from the staff how much they valued our presence and support this week.

We ended by cleaning up from dinner at the Fred Jordan mission and interqacting with the men who were trying to get their life together and stay clean. We ended with one final goodbye and headed to an evening of affirming one another.

Today was a day of further answered prayer with increased boldness, additional interactions and team cooperation. What a blessing to be serving among and with the people of Los Angeles. God through the strength of our Lord Jesus Christ and to his glory alone.

Pray for our safe return tomorrow and that God would begin preparing us for our transition back to our families and homes. Finally pray that God protect us from forgetting or losing what God has done this past five days.

The simple highlight of today was that God gave us the strength and energy we needed for a day full of powerful interactions. Today was spent ministering to and among some amazing people in Los Angeles. From breakfast to karaoke it was one filled day. I overheard someone in our group as they were describing today to some new friends say, "Today was by far the best day!"



Thanks for your continued prayers and encouragement. Tomorrow we begin to say goodbye to the people we've met and the city we've come to serve. Pray for our lunch excursion that God would guide us to the right person to take to lunch with us. Pray also for our goodbyes, as we send Alexander on a train and say goodbye to the children we've gotten to know this week.

Check the video below to find out about Tuesday's experiences.



Wednesday is a LONG day that begins at 5:30 am with serving breakfast at the Midnight Mission and ends at 9 pm with Homeless Karaoke. Please pray for strength and energy.

We came to serve but today we were surprised by the lack of relational serving that happened. We headed to our first site, The Los Angeles Mission, expecting to serve in various capacities, including serving lunch. We soon discovered that we would be served lunch and not serving. Allowing the people in the mission to serve us was a good lesson. We also learned that at times there is an expectation (especially of a group of nine suburban people walking in Skid Row) that we serve and bring things to give.

Skid Row became even more real as we experienced the smells and life of Skid Row on our way to serve in an after-school program in Skid Row. We saw people sitting in the same place when we walked from the car and when we returned to the car. People noticed us and expected us to have brought something for them. There were others sitting on the sidewalk playing chess. As we were about to enter the after-school program in Skid Row, one man point-blank asked us, “What are we here for?” in response to us not having anything on us to give him.

We began to feel like we were supposed to bring things to give, but we came to give more than a quick handout. We came to give of ourselves and our time more than we came to give people stuff. Today we gave of ourselves and our time in many ways, choosing to serve and allowing others to serve us.

The difficult moments for today included feeling rejected by people we walked by and by the people we were serving. Please continue to pray that God would protect us from those difficult and discouraging moments. Praise God for the growth of our team, that we are enjoying serving others and that God is opening our hearts to the people we meet.

Stay tuned for a video update tomorrow (and maybe a few pictures). Thanks for your thoughts and prayers.

Safe in Los Angeles. Ready to ENGAGE.

Dinner was at a restaurant called, Honduras Kitchen, which served delicious Honduran food. We sat in a room that on other nights was clearly a club. As we left a man named Enrique asked for some cash.One of the rules is do not hand out cash.. We happen to have a van full of snacks, though. On the way to the van, Enrique shared that he had had a few drinks already and that he had previously held jobs in the food industry, including bartender. There was something awesome about knowing we had something better to give Enrique than just a few dollars. We gave him some breakfast bars, conversation and encouragement.

From dinner, we began to get a glimpse of LA through what CSM refers to as the Prayer Tour. It is a combination of history, statistics, observations and connections that are intended to combine into prayer points. The subjects ranged from racial tension in Los Angeles to sweatshops to homelessness to education to gentrification to systems of separation. The places ranged from South LA (formerly known as South Central) to the Flower District to LA Live to Skid Row to the Financial District to City Hall.

The responses at the end of the day, especially to Skid Row becoming reality and no longer myth, reflected a strong sense of being overwhelmed. That many people on the street in a designated section of the city is overwhelming, especially knowing that there are 13,000 beds in Los Angeles for the homeless. That many people crossing the street at LA Live just a few blocks from Skid Row following the Lakers game oblivious of the plight of those just a short walk away is overwhelming. To enter a place that feels like it belongs in a third world country is overwhelming.

Please pray that overwhelmed doesn't lead to disabled. Pray that we give of ourselves and are able to look beyond ourselves to encourage others.