Next Friday will be my last day as a part of the Marketing Department at the Dream Center. When I leave I will have been here for almost 2.5 years.
It seems unreal that so much time has passed since I first walked off that plane at LAX in October in my thick black pea coat and realized quickly that I had overdressed for the season, as the sun was pouring down from the blue sky.
I remember walking into my room for the first time.
I didn’t have a roommate yet because she didn’t arrive for a couple days and my room was very little. There were two closets, one long antique looking dresser, a little tiny window and a bunk bed. The bathroom was between two rooms and there was a sink in my room. I set out my stuff carefully making sure to leave room for the girl that would come in and I made my bed. I was so nervous and excited and scared and anxious. I couldn’t believe I was 18 years old and I had just flown one way to LA for an entire year. What was God thinking?
The truth is- I didn’t make the best of the beginning of my time at the Dream Center. Instead of coming with a servants heart, I came with a selfish heart. I thought I knew what God wanted me to do here, but the truth is, I wasn’t really asking Him what He wanted. I was telling Him what I wanted. It took me awhile to adapt because I wasn’t serving with the kind of attitude I should have been.
After some time, as I was trying to figure out plans, it was as if God hit me upside the head with a brick and everything I had spent so much time fighting suddenly made complete sense. It was after that, that I began to take on more leadership responsibilities and became a marketing manager helping to over see all of our graphics and web design. It was through that, that we finally developed this blog (an overdue project my boss had wanted for years).
This little blog became my outlet. I wanted people to truly know the struggles and truth and excitement of being a volunteer. That it isn’t easy but it IS worth it. I have had hard times here. Times where I had no one to lean on except God and times where I wanted to go home. But I have also grown more here than any other time in my life. I know, that had I left, I would not be striving to reach the great potential that I know God has put inside of me.
I am leaving next week only because it is time for me to move on.
The Dream Center is an amazing jumping off point for so many people. For some, it is a lifetime commitment. And for others it is just a glimpse of the great and impossible things they will help accomplish for God.
These last couple years have been so “the right thing” for me. They were so “Only God” and so exactly where I needed to be. If God is calling you here, you need to come. It may be hard but it will also be the times you laugh the most, make the greatest friends and learn things you didn’t know you could ever learn.
I look back on my time here and I am grateful for the wonderful experience and opportunities God has given me. I hope that those same things can be there for you to experience when you come, whoever you are. Because I know you’re reading this.
Know that there is a place for you here and great opportunities waiting, that one day you will look back on and think, “Wow, how did I deserve to be so blessed?”
And truly, the only answer is because God loves us and wants the best for us.
I hope your time at the Dream Center can be as impacting on your life as mine has been for me.
Shannon
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Homelessness: Los Angeles’ Tourist Attraction
Whether walking through downtown Los Angeles, or shopping on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, it is nearly impossible to travel more than five blocks without seeing a homeless individual, lying in front of a “For Lease” storefront or holding up a cardboard sign with a plea for money or food written on it in permanent marker. Even if we wanted to ignore these individuals, their shabby clothing and exhausted eyes beg to be noticed. Society has affectionately referred to them as “the homeless” as opposed to bums or hobos, which is, if we are honest, how our eyes see them.
I have crossed over to the other side of the street so that I will not have to deal with them. I see that they are having a nice conversation by themselves, with themselves, so they do not need me to interrupt their schizophrenia. Or demon possession. In addition, they smell like urine and unwashed linens, and I just took a shower last night, and do not want to catch their germs. I’d rather watch them from a distance and pity them from a distance and love them from a distance if that were even possible.
But God says in 1 Samuel 16:7, “The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” I am not only called to get a little closer to these broken and hurting people, but God has created each and every one of them in His holy image, which makes them beautiful and worthy of love, no matter how ugly they look through my fleeting, earthly eyes. Each of them has a name and a story of why they became homeless in the first place. Perhaps it was an addiction to drugs because they could no longer cope with life. Maybe they worked hard on their jobs, became unemployed because of layoffs, and had nowhere to turn but to the streets.
On Tuesdays, weather permitting, there is a team from the Dream Center’s Hope For Homeless Youth ministry that goes down to Venice Beach each week, which is a tourist attraction for thousands of people. The sand is ripe for sunbathing and castle-building and the Pacific Ocean for getting cool and surfboarding. But the Hope for Homeless Youth team does not go down to the beach to catch the waves, but to catch souls for Jesus Christ. With cardboard boxes loaded with bags of sandwiches, snacks, and water; this team looks for “the homeless” who are being walked passed by the tourists… and they love them up close. They listen to their stories and feed them. They pray for them. Some have even come back to the Dream Center to get cleaned up and get another chance at life off of the streets.
As Christians, we are called to love like that. Maybe your city or town does not have an overwhelming homeless population the way that Los Angeles does. Maybe it is easier to avoid them, but why don’t we be like God’s children and look for that homeless man or woman or teenager who just might need a cookie and a conversation. If you’re like me, maybe the thought of it makes you a little uncomfortable, but these people are in need and our little smile or sacked lunch for them can make a huge difference. They are not hobos. They are human beings loved by God.
-Shimmy
I have crossed over to the other side of the street so that I will not have to deal with them. I see that they are having a nice conversation by themselves, with themselves, so they do not need me to interrupt their schizophrenia. Or demon possession. In addition, they smell like urine and unwashed linens, and I just took a shower last night, and do not want to catch their germs. I’d rather watch them from a distance and pity them from a distance and love them from a distance if that were even possible.
But God says in 1 Samuel 16:7, “The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” I am not only called to get a little closer to these broken and hurting people, but God has created each and every one of them in His holy image, which makes them beautiful and worthy of love, no matter how ugly they look through my fleeting, earthly eyes. Each of them has a name and a story of why they became homeless in the first place. Perhaps it was an addiction to drugs because they could no longer cope with life. Maybe they worked hard on their jobs, became unemployed because of layoffs, and had nowhere to turn but to the streets.
On Tuesdays, weather permitting, there is a team from the Dream Center’s Hope For Homeless Youth ministry that goes down to Venice Beach each week, which is a tourist attraction for thousands of people. The sand is ripe for sunbathing and castle-building and the Pacific Ocean for getting cool and surfboarding. But the Hope for Homeless Youth team does not go down to the beach to catch the waves, but to catch souls for Jesus Christ. With cardboard boxes loaded with bags of sandwiches, snacks, and water; this team looks for “the homeless” who are being walked passed by the tourists… and they love them up close. They listen to their stories and feed them. They pray for them. Some have even come back to the Dream Center to get cleaned up and get another chance at life off of the streets.
As Christians, we are called to love like that. Maybe your city or town does not have an overwhelming homeless population the way that Los Angeles does. Maybe it is easier to avoid them, but why don’t we be like God’s children and look for that homeless man or woman or teenager who just might need a cookie and a conversation. If you’re like me, maybe the thought of it makes you a little uncomfortable, but these people are in need and our little smile or sacked lunch for them can make a huge difference. They are not hobos. They are human beings loved by God.
-Shimmy
Monday, February 15, 2010
Never a Language Barrier
The food truck here at the Dream Center visits many, many neighborhoods weekly. Many of those areas are predominately Spanish speaking. So, even though the smiles are evident of their gratitude, it’s difficult at times to communicate. At first this was frustrating to me. I wanted to talk with them and have deep conversations about God and what He can do in their life. But after awhile I began to see the beauty in it all. The genuine smiles represented much more than a couple sentences of "How’re you doing?" –"I’m fine, thanks."
More than most things in this world, I love children. I feel as if this language barrier encourages me to play and giggle with them more. A toddler’s vocabulary is limited anyway; so playing tag, giving piggyback rides, or pushing them on a swing is a wonderful way of showing love. A way that they think is fun and their parents and neighbors see as actual caring.
A couple days ago, as I visited the Pueblos food truck site, I met a little Hispanic boy named Andrew. He had lots of energy and grinned from ear to ear the entire time we played. Jumping from one playground structure to the next, he motioned me to follow every step. I could tell he was just happy someone was taking the time to actually play with him. This same little boy, I had seen earlier run away from his mother’s instruction, who seemed frustrated and tired. The mother now looked towards us with a relieved smile on her face.
I hope that evening she left thanking God for the bags of food we handed her, and along with that recognized that the love I showed towards her son was brought by the very same God. The more I know about Him, the more I realize that any outreach I go on, anything good or loving in me, comes solely from Him. And in order for more abundant love to flow out of us, for Andrew’s sake, we must remember just that.
-Courtnay, Ohio
Pastor’s & Leader’s School
Being a volunteer at the Dream Center stretches you, makes you grow in ways you thought you never could, and is continuously developing you into a leader. A leader in the sense of taking responsibility for the purpose God has placed on your life, and leading yourself and the others around you in that right direction.
Every year here at the Dream Center, the volunteers attend Pastor’s and Leader’s School at a church in Phoenix. My fellow volunteer friends who had already attended this conference were excited for the week, and reassured me I should be too. Sure enough, it was fun, relaxing and just the spiritual boost I needed. I’m sure everyone left feeling that same difference made in their spirit. It was refreshing for everyone.
Going into the conference I thought about the concept of being a leader. My personality isn’t much of a take-over and lead type. Actually, the word ‘leader’ used to scare me. But I’ve gradually been coming out of that mindset. Pastor’s School encouraged me even more to take ownership of the leader inside me, the leader that’s inside every Christ follower. If we’ve decided to accept Jesus Christ as our savior we are acknowledging that we represent Him, we are the physical beings of Christ here on earth. And with accepting the responsibility of that, we become leaders towards Him. Unfortunately, at times we are more like ‘distracters’, leading people away from Christ. With our words, our demeanor and hypocrisy. And what an eternally horrible thing that is. May we constantly remember the level of influence we have on others, may we always remember our calling to lead others to a life lived for Christ.
-Courtnay, Ohio
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Hope is needed…and beds please
It is the second time that I have been out with Project Prevention and have had the privilege to meet Eva 38 and Peter 41 at their place in the Rampart neighborhood. The first time I met them I was just standing quietly in the background helping bring the food into their apartment and talking a little bit with their youngest son. They speak very little English and so most of our conversations were stilted and had to be repeated through a translator.
This time I was left alone with Eva, while Becky and Rosa from Project Prevention had to return to the truck to get more diapers and food for the family. It was very awkward at first, we stared at the floor and intermittently looked at each other and smiled shyly hello. I finally asked her in really broken Spanish about her children and she gestured for me to follow her through the apartment. It was then that I really started to see how much they truly needed the Dream Center’s help. Her youngest daughter at two years old was curled up on the floor under a make shift blanket of coats.
Rita let me see the all of the other rooms, all which were almost empty and had no beds. There were only piles of clothes on the floor where a chest of drawers or a wardrobe should have been standing in their place. She told me that she had five children in total ranging from 2-17 years old. This information hit me more powerfully this time round, maybe it was because I was focused more on Rita rather than Rosa who was acting as my interpreter. It’s really hard to look into a proud mothers eye and not want to be a part of the solution to her family’s problems when you can see how hard they are working at just surviving.
Maybe it’s a good idea for all of us to stop looking at people in need from the comfort of our television sets, camera lenses or our even our friend’s experiences and spend time one on one to truly empathize and want to be a part of the positive change in these precious peoples lives. I don’t think that God ever called us just to be comfortable…
-Chaka
This time I was left alone with Eva, while Becky and Rosa from Project Prevention had to return to the truck to get more diapers and food for the family. It was very awkward at first, we stared at the floor and intermittently looked at each other and smiled shyly hello. I finally asked her in really broken Spanish about her children and she gestured for me to follow her through the apartment. It was then that I really started to see how much they truly needed the Dream Center’s help. Her youngest daughter at two years old was curled up on the floor under a make shift blanket of coats.
Rita let me see the all of the other rooms, all which were almost empty and had no beds. There were only piles of clothes on the floor where a chest of drawers or a wardrobe should have been standing in their place. She told me that she had five children in total ranging from 2-17 years old. This information hit me more powerfully this time round, maybe it was because I was focused more on Rita rather than Rosa who was acting as my interpreter. It’s really hard to look into a proud mothers eye and not want to be a part of the solution to her family’s problems when you can see how hard they are working at just surviving.
Maybe it’s a good idea for all of us to stop looking at people in need from the comfort of our television sets, camera lenses or our even our friend’s experiences and spend time one on one to truly empathize and want to be a part of the positive change in these precious peoples lives. I don’t think that God ever called us just to be comfortable…
-Chaka
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