Hello SUMMER 08!!!
Well its been 2 days since i have been back from doing ministry in California! I have learned soooo much! God has changed my life completey!
As you know I went down to Sam Fransico and LA for 12 days. God kept us safe traveling down there. I have learned that God loves us no matter what. If you are rich, poor, fat, skinny, homeless, he still loves you. On the first day of ministry work I helped in the kitchen. I worked for 5-6 hours straight, We all had to make 600 meals. 100 meals were for the us (the choir). and the 500 were for the homeless or for the people living in the apartments. The people in the apartments were very poor. We were down in the Tenderloin District working at the rescue mission. There were other jobs that everybody else was working at. While working at some of the jobs it felt you werent doing much, but the people down there really appreciated it. While working down there God was using us. A guy from the choir said: It doesn't matter what your doing, but you are building treasures in heaven. While down there whatever God out us through easy or hard we were building out relationship with him. You HAD to step outta your comfort zone and go out there and pray for the homeless and talk to them. Another thing I had learned down there was my hearts motive: what is your hearts motive? to be like evertone else or to be different and to be yourself?
One of my problems was praying out loud. That is one of my fears. On this trip God gave me the courage to step outta my comfort zone and to pray outloud. So on the trip i prayed out loud for my first time. I was scared but now i am not as scared to pray outloud :)
On one of the days I got to down to South Centeral LA and played at the REC center with the kids. We went down to turn the enviroment around to a happy one. I played basketball with the kids in the gym. It was sooo much fun. I met a kid named Kevin he was 11 years old and he was extremely talented. The day after the REC some of went down to the park and played with the kids there. There was this little girl named Emily. I played with her. She was abour 2 or 3. She didnt know much English. but thats okay. She was Hispanic. She was the cutest little think lol. One of the people said that she rarley talks. But she talked to me alot and i was very happy that she did. She liked to dig and i remember when the ice cream truck she would point at it and say ice ceam in spanish. When we had to leave she gave me like 3 hugs and then she me a flower. I miss her sooo much and I pray that God will be with her and keeps her safe as she grows up. Being with the kids has taought me that they are like us. They grown up like us. They like to run around and be kids. The problem is the enviroment that they grown up in, the drugs the gangs... its not cool and we went down there to get their minds off that stuff.
This trip has so me what i have. and to be greatful for it. God has givin me so much strength on this trip. From the homeless at the rescue mission or the the poor people to the kids at the dream center it doesnt matter how much money you have or what you look like God loves them and you should too.
After being on this trip i would really like to do more ministry trips. All the stuff that God has put on my heart and what he has taught me i am not going to put that to waste or to set it aside, I am going to use it in my everyday life :) I am excited to see what God has for me for the rest of the Summer. UGEN SUMMER NIGHTS STARTS JULY 10! I will write and tell you what God has done more in my life this summer I am really excited ! :)
GOD BLESS,
EMMA <3
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