New Experiences

Moving to Los Angeles from England is the biggest thing I’ve done so far. Yet despite being as prepared as I could be practically, I totally underestimated the scale of the changes I’ve had to make to live here.

Reading about the experiences of the other interns when they were new, it seems everyone goes through similar experiences. At first I felt bad about feeling like I wanted to go home or feeling overwhelmed, and I often tried to overcome that by trying to throw myself in at the deep end work wise and got involved in as much as possible all at once.

But God slowed me down. He has a lot of grace like that… showing me that it was ok to just settle in. The people I met here are also totally God sent: He’s never left me alone and I’ve always had the support that I’ve needed at that moment.

In other situations too, he’s been teaching me to trust him. Like at the airport, when I was told my visa would only last for six months. I had already applied to come to The Dream Center for a year. I could have freaked out, and I nearly did, but instead I took a really deep breath and gave it to God. The next thing I knew, I was informed by immigration that it was apparently all just a big misunderstanding! But I had managed to keep my peace because I trusted Jesus because I knew he had my back.

There have been situations where I have nearly lost my peace, but even those times are teaching me to trust God even more knowing that if my God is for me, who can be against me and He has shown me that again and again.

I have been so blessed by the experiences of this first week. The first outreach I went out with was Under The Bridge, where we went out serving meals to people who needed them. This was my first experience of seeing so many people with such great need and in such desperate situations. It’s shocking to see that there are people living like that and it is a lot to take in, but it is equally awesome to see so many amazing people taking time out of their ordinary lives to serve this community, these people.

The second outreach I went out with was the food truck. It felt really good to serve the community in a practical way and to love on them in a way that they could receive it – groceries. I got to give out many smiles and received many back. It was awesome to be a part of something that was so simple but which had such a great impact. There were kids helping us unload the truck and braiding our hair. It was so nice to be in that moment where everyone was working together for the sake of loving others.

So my first week is over but it has been a good week. God has put me here and He is looking after me throughout all the difficulties. Living at The Dream Center is a constant reminder of His goodness and faithfulness and grace.

- Charli