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The Cause Within You

We are so excited as Pastor Matthew's latest book, "The Cause Within You," comes out next week! On February 1, you can get your own copy to hear Pastor's story, and learn how you too can discover the one great thing you were created to do in this world.

If you are hungry for a life full of passion instead of apathy; if you are ready to use your specific gifts and abilities to make a mark on the world; if you need to be reminded that God loves you and has a plan for your life— "The Cause Within You" is the book that can change everything. Through his own story and the stories of others whose lives have been transformed, Pastor Matthew will lead you to the cause of your lifetime.

For a sneak peak at the book and access to additional resources, please visit: http://www.thecausewithinyou.com/

A portion of the proceeds goes directly back to the outreaches of The Dream Center.

Need Fillers, Need Fillers

The Food Truck ministry has always intrigued me. I've been an intern here, at The Dream Center, for a while but never got to work with Food Truck. That is until recently. I was blessed to have the opportunity to go out with the Food Truck ministry and see what they do. I regret that I didn't assist or at least observe their "preparation process" of loading the trucks. If I had, I would've experienced the full magnitude of the ministry. All I know is that I've seen them on various days – loading the trucks with tons of food – and I appreciate their hard work.

After we met up and prayed out, we jumped in cars and the trucks and headed to different distribution neighborhoods. The Food Truck group I went with delivered to Imperial Court in Watts. When I arrived, I jumped into the truck where the food was and quickly switched out my winter mittens for latex gloves. I worked alongside a short-term missionary from a small town in Washington whom I had met earlier that day. Our job was to put frozen chickens into grocery bags, tie them off and hand them to the neighborhood volunteer outside.

The neighborhood volunteers were some interesting characters. They were helpful but some were pushy and agitated – the Devil's always busy but I wouldn't let him take my joy! I just accepted the fact that they weren't used to me or the short-term volunteers, and we weren't used to the pace of this outreach since this was all our first time. Like a pastor who preached here once said, Satan's biggest attack against Christians is: offense. Knowing that, I stayed focused because this missionary experience is not about me.

If you struggle with offense, I encourage you to get past it, so if you ever come to the Dream Center – or wherever you do outreach – you can stay focused. The Scripture that has helped me the most in this area is Colossians 3:23-24, "And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ." (NKJV)

When I got outside of the truck, I had a new job: hand out bags of potatoes. We had good-sized piles of chickens, potatoes, and half-gallon juices which seemed huge at the beginning. But quickly, I began to notice that those piles of food were diminishing rather quickly. At the end of the food distribution we had to tell several other needy families that we didn't have any more food to hand out. That is a hard thing to bear witness to. Imperial Court is a huge public assistance project in Watts, here in L.A. The need is great in this neighborhood, but we can only feed as many people that we have food for.

I encourage every reader to support The Dream Center and its mission to fill the needs of those around it. And no matter how "offended" you may be toward a brother or sister in Christ, remember that you give and work unto the Lord. Don't let the devil stop you from being a blessing.

- LaQuesha

Growing Experience

A while back, before I was involved in The Movement, I got the opportunity to come to The Dream Center on Short Term Missions with my church. During the week that I was able to spend at The Dream Center, we went to the beach at Santa Monica and invited homeless people to a free dinner near the boardwalk. I got the opportunity to talk with several people, but there were a few that really touched me.

The first man that I talked with (I don't recall his name) was from Guatemala. He spoke in a fluent mix of Spanglish, and told me some bits and pieces of his story. He had come from Guatemala seven years ago, where he had once had a steady job. Why he came, he never revealed, but he did tell me that he had been homeless since then. From the time he had come, he had just been doing a barrage of work that came his way. While my conversation with him didn't get too overly spiritual, he began to cry as I was talking to him. Just reaching out and showing him love was enough. I prayed with him, and shortly after that, I saw him leave.

This one young man named Patrick (he couldn't have been more than 26 or so) shared his story with me. Patrick had grown up in Alabama, in a Christian home. I don't know when, or how, but somehow, he ended up being a male prostitute in Nevada. I don't quite know the circumstances that led up to it, but at some point, he felt the need to escape. To run away. He hopped in his car and just began driving. Driving to escape the pain that he felt. How did he get to California? It just so happens that is where his car ran out of gas on the freeway. That was a year ago. He has been living on the streets ever since.

The last man that I had the opportunity to talk with was named Brian. At one point, Brian had been quite successful. He was once quite a well-known hairstylist. He had come to California from New York with his friend, who has since died. He didn't really allude to what it may have been, but at some point, business went bad, and he ended up on the streets. However, his outlook was amazing. He was grateful for the trial in his life, because it had grown him into a stronger person. All in all, I didn't really get the feeling that Brian and I saw completely eye to eye on spiritual standings, but he did let me pray for him. He asked for a prayer of protection.

Talking to these people showed me a glimpse of the heart of The Dream Center, as well as Pastor Matthew and all of the volunteers here. It's a blessing to be able to go out and serve God and reach out to this city every day for ten months. The Dream Center is doing great work, and I can only imagine the things that God will do through me while serving Him here.

- David