Without Help, It’s Too Bad To Be True

The past couple Thursday afternoons I have been able to help Project Prevention as they make food deliveries to families at risk of losing their children to foster care due to poverty. Until my recent experience, I did not realize this was even possible, and I wish it were not.

Our first stop was a single mother living with her two children. Before she found help at The Dream Center and Project Prevention, she and her young boys had little food and no furniture, including beds. After listening to her story and seeing how much she loves her children, I cannot imagine the pain she has already gone through and the thought of potentially losing her very own boys. On a daily basis she is faced with more pain and anxiety I have ever felt in my entire life, but her smile week-after-week challenges me and my attitude.

Next, we stop on a corner occupied by a small convenience store. After heading up a narrow stairway leading to apartments above the property, we knock on the door of another single mother living with her five children. That alone would be difficult for almost any single parent, but as I unloaded the food on a small table that could tightly seat two, I notice there is only one bedroom in the apartment. I realize this entire family lives in an area about the size of my college dorm room!

While I thought about my college years, I spoke with the eldest child, a boy who is going to be a senior in high school in the fall. He told me about his plans after high school, which includes attending college in the Los Angeles area next year. I was impressed by his attitude and the fact that he did not use his current situation as an excuse.

After receiving many “thank you’s” from the grateful family, we made our way to a few more stops before heading back to The Dream Center. Sadly, each one had a similar sad story of parents struggling to provide the basics for themselves and their children. Thankfully, as I have seen so many times, whether with Project Prevention, on Skid Row, or in the housing projects of South Central Los Angeles, there is a sense of peace and hope in those with so little to the naked eye. But through sharing Christ and taking the families to church, many have found the strength needed to make it through each day.

Thanks to those who work with Project Prevention every day and those who support the ministry, we are able to give hope to those with not much else.

- Jesse

"Because You say so, I will"

Looking back on my first month as an intern at The LA Dream Center I realize how much God has directed my life to this point. A couple of months ago I was living close to family and friends in the Midwest and had a great job, but I felt I was missing out on something.  Ever since my first visit to The Dream Center I felt a strong desire to come back and serve full-time. After graduating from college two years ago and working in the field I studied, I still did not feel like I was where I needed to be.

 

In the fall of 2009 I finally decided to follow the dream I had years ago, and I applied to become a one-year intern.  During that summer, I was reading Luke 5:5 where Jesus told Simon to lower the nets after a long night of fishing with nothing to show for it. Simon, probably frustrated and ready to quit, responded so simply, “Because You say so, I will.” Like Simon, moving to LA was not an easy decision or made the most sense, but I do not regret listening to the voice of God.

 

We often hear God is always with you and has a plan for your life, but it’s another thing to experience it yourself. Once I arrived at The Dream Center, I learned that I would be working in the Marketing Department, which is what I studied in college. Also, upon arrival I learned that a friend from college was coming to volunteer, and we have since become roommates.  After seeing these two works of God within my first month here, I am excited to see what is coming up in my future.

 

If you are thinking about coming out to The Dream Center to volunteer, I would recommend that you first—pray. You need to talk with God so you can hear what His plan is for you. In Proverbs 16:9 it states, “the Lord determines our steps;” we need to let Him. Secondly, don’t be afraid to take a risk. A piece of advice I received in college is, “If you are given an opportunity, say ‘yes,’ and learn as fast as you can.” This is something I try to put into practice in my life.

 

If God has put a desire on your heart, pray about it and don’t be afraid to take a risk. When facing a big decision remember that God has watched over your life through today, don't think He will stop now.

 

- Jesse

Full Circle on a Homeless Block

On July 1, 2010, I went to Skid Row on an outreach with Under the Bridge, which was a bittersweet moment. Next week, I will be concluding my three and a half year internship at The Dream Center. I first came to The Dream Center in May 2005 on a short-term missions trip, which lasted a week. Long story short, I flew back to New York (my home state) and the experience was imprinted in my heart. The images that I saw on Skid Row were etched in my memory as I lived 3,000 miles away, and part of me felt like I would eventually go back to The Dream Center and help with the ministries again.

 

Just over a month after graduating from college, I was back on a plane to Los Angeles in February 2007 to become a full-time intern. I cannot put into a short blog all that I have experienced during these past several years, but it has all been life-changing to say the least. When people ask me what I learned at The Dream Center and living in the city of Los Angeles, I’ve said that I have learned to be a leader. I am very much an introvert, and God has taken me out of my comfort zone and has stretched me to have more confidence and really depend on Him.

 

I didn’t go back to Skid Row as soon as I started my internship. I was placed in the Teen Discipleship girls’ home, which was a blessing because I wanted to work with youth. Sure, I had worked with teenagers in the past, including my home church’s youth group and an outreach to the Lower East Side of Manhattan that I did while I was in college, but I was not totally ready for DCTD! Though it was a challenge for me to be authoritative and confront bad behavior and even verbally encourage those girls, God gave me the grace to do so, and I am so thankful for the year that I spent there.

 

When I switched over to the Marketing department, I was glad because I was wondering how I could use my love for writing at The Dream Center. Needless to say, I have been able to put my writing abilities to use, and in the process, have learned so much from those that I have worked with. In addition, I have interviewed well over 100 people whose lives have been positively impacted by the outreaches and ministries of The Dream Center. I heard so many stories, each unique and impacting, all different ages and walks of life. South Central. Rampart. East L.A. Chinatown. Hollywood. Venice. SRO Hotels. Beverly Hills. Skid Row…

 

It’s hard not to get choked up when I think of what an amazing opportunity that I have had to be at The Dream Center. Of course, nothing is perfect here, but I have learned from the good and the bad experiences, and I am grateful for each of them. I know that moving on from here, I will have much to take with me, whatever God has for me.

 

So, I did my last outreach (at least for now!) in Skid Row this week; the very place that gripped my heart on that short-term missions trip. On the way there, I watched, almost as if it were the first time: seeing short-term volunteers with their brooms and barrels, cleaning up garbage on the sidewalks. Food trucks headed to their destination packed with groceries to feed the community. The Dream Center taking over L.A.!

When we got to Skid Row, I just walked around with a couple of other volunteers, inviting people to come get a hot meal to eat on the corner of 6^th and Crocker. While there, I saw a few people that I had interviewed for Marketing stories, including two that I hadn’t seen in basically a year. It was as if, in that moment, my time at The Dream Center was beginning to come full circle.

 

Though it’ll be kind of hard to leave this place, which has become home, it is time. And I want to encourage volunteers who may already be here or are considering coming, it is a great opportunity to learn and become selfless as you address the needs of others. Find a need and fill it, and find a hurt and heal it.

 

Thanks to all who made this time possible. I love you.

 

Poeticize for Christ,

Shameka Hamlet

A Family with Eleven Kids Receives Mattresses from Project Prevention

When his wife passed away in 2008, Manuel became a single dad to his eleven children- 4 girls and 7 boys. For many years, this family lived in a single-bedroom apartment, which only had a living room, kitchen and restroom. Everyone in the household managed to cram into a tight space; however, they slept on the floor. As a widower, Manuel supported his children through his restaurant job, but his income was not enough to relocate his large family into a more spacious home.

 

Moving to America from Guatemala 25 years ago, Manuel and his wife raised their children in Los Angeles. After Manuel’s wife died from liver failure two years ago, social workers became concerned about the family’s living conditions, and saw the horrendous circumstances that they had called home. Manuel’s children range from the ages of three to nineteen. The youngest was just a baby when his mother died. When The Dream Center found out about Manuel’s family, they could not ignore the overwhelming need, and brought essential aid to each family member.

 

Since the start of this year, Manuel and his children have been able to move into a two-bedroom apartment. On May 19, 2010, The Dream Center’s Project Prevention ministry took a truck loaded with beds to this family, who had become accustomed to sleeping on the floor. This was a massive improvement for Manuel and his children, many of whom never had a mattress of their own. They can now rest comfortably and have better mornings when they wake up after a good night’s sleep.

 

Along with having their basic needs met and a homey place to live, this family has become closer to each other and to God. Though each day has its own struggles, Manuel and his children have experienced the lovingkindness of Project Prevention volunteers. Thanks to the sacrificial offerings of Dream Center supporters, Project Prevention is keeping families unified. Because of all of the supplies that this ministry team brought to Manuel’s home, which many homes can take for granted, he and his children can stay together without fret of being placed into the foster care system. They can now have a renewed sense of hope.   

Blessings in Buckets at Ramona Gardens

After volunteering at The Dream Center for a few years, one outreach that I have been able to go out with several times is the Food Truck ministry. This ministry brings food to various neighborhoods throughout Los Angeles. The site that I went to recently was Ramona Gardens, which is a housing project in East L.A.

 

A short-term missions team from Pennsylvania came out as well, helping to prepare bags of groceries for the Ramona Gardens residents and playing with the kids in the week-away-from-summer sun. Carrots, tomatoes, mozzarella, yogurt and packages of frozen beef patties were stocked into plastic shopping bags, which was enough food to get each family and individual through the week.

 

On average, a person would pay about $30 for all of that food, but not a single person had to pull out their wallets, because everything that they received was free of charge. I do not totally understand the circumstances that most of these people are in, but I know that the economy has been extremely difficult for people, particularly those living in Los Angeles. When people give to The Dream Center, those gifts are used towards the community, and people are abundantly blessed.

 

Speaking of abundantly blessed, one thing that I noticed about several of the people waiting in line to receive food was that they held empty buckets. Not large buckets, but ones that could barely hold one normal-sized grocery bag of food. I had never seen that at a food truck site. Most people come prepared with big boxes and shopping carts and baskets to put their food in; however, these bucket people seemed to say, in a nonverbal way, that they did not expect to receive much.

 

Their buckets overflowed. They could have brought larger containers, but from my perspective, it gave the appearance that they had actually received more than the others because the emptiness that they came with was filled to capacity. When we bring the little that we have to God, He can use that and fill up our buckets to overflowing, too.

 

- Shameka

What's Holding You Back?

I'm a little over two weeks old now; I am referring to my internship time here at the Los Angeles Dream Center of course. My actual age is 22 and I'm a recent college graduate from an art and design school in Columbus, Ohio. At the Dream Center I will be a Graphic Design intern in the Marketing department for one year. Just a month ago I was sitting at home in Ohio fighting to stay focused for this internship and I could've quit right there... It's definitely God that I'm here today. Fear of flying and failure did not win. My decision to come and for how long surrounded God's question to me: "How much do you trust Me?"

 

Ever since I found my purpose for living in Christ, I have consciously decided to make my life count for something by pouring into the lives of others.

 

My uncle once told me something about time that's never left my heart. He reminded me that it never stands still, so we as people must choose to move forward with it or to slip back in the past. Moving forward is about growing and to stay back is to stunt our own growth. The ironic part about my decision to intern at the Los Angeles Dream Center is that the same uncle who gave me these wise words about "time" feared my journey here, yet his words inspired me to take this leap of faith. 

 

I see this journey as an exercising of my faith where I am able to see just how big my God is. He has pushed me out of my comfort-zone back in Ohio and encouraged me to take a great leap of faith to truly discover His omnipresence here in Los Angeles. During the "waiting process" for preparation to deal with this great transition in my life, I diligently prayed about the distance from the "norm" of family, friends and life as it were. 

 

Even though my family is far away, I have peace from God that He is right here with me as well as the blessings and prayers of loved ones on my life so big, the geographical distance is not that bad. I can use social-networking sites, email, text and calling to stay connected to those I love. Additionally, the residents, volunteers and staff here are so kind and loving that they quickly become your extended family so that your stay here can truly be enjoyed.

 

I hope that you prayerfully consider if God wants you to be here, for how long, in what area of focus – even about your roommate(s). Get prayed up and armored up (Eph. 6:10-18). Don't expect the grass to be greener on the other side and that nothing can go wrong because if you do, you only set yourself up for disappointment. Instead be honest with yourself and with God. Intentionally ask Him day after day – not because you think He forgot but because you mean it – to prepare you for this next big step with Him. Be honest with yourself and plainly say, "It won't always be easy but with God it will be possible."

 

You can make it because if He wants you here He will see you through to the end – financially, spiritually, emotionally, psychologically, etc. I have experienced some "interceptions" while being here, but I haven't let that hold me back because I just keep saying, "God is good." And He is as well as faithful! The good has always outweighed the bad and Romans 8:28 reminds me that this will always be my reality. 

 

To me, there is no better way to make one's life count than to pour it into another. (God blesses us abundantly so why waste the overflow?) You never know who will outlast you or what lives another can reach that you cannot. For this very reason, I find it vital to pour into another person's life good pockets of hope, information and love. Here at the Dream Center, we are blessed to do just that. The whole Dream Center is of an equal heart to do outreach and what I like to call, "Doing the Holy Bible," to the glory of God. I'm glad I'm here; to be able to use my artistic gifts in Kingdom building is a real treat to me. 

 

-LaQuesha

Use Your Gifts

I just wrapped up the first week of my one-year internship here at The L.A. Dream Center. After coming on a weeklong short-term mission trip three years ago, I finally made the journey out West for an extended stay. It was during my first trip when I saw Skid Row that my entire outlook on life changed. I could not forget the images of hundreds of men and women sleeping on filthy sidewalks within the shadows of the luxurious downtown skyline. 

After a three-year break, I returned to Skid Row to serve lunch to dozens of those in need. It was a privilege to serve with a global team made up of volunteers from across the world: Brazil, England, Finland and Germany. I was amazed that, although not everyone on our team spoke perfect English, the homeless clearly understood the joy in our hearts and the compassion we had for them. I saw first-hand that Jesus’ love is not bound by borders, ethnicity or language; it can be shown simply with a smile.

Today my attitude has once again been challenged after seeing someone, who has absolutely nothing, be so thankful. I cannot stop asking, “Why is that not me? What have I done to deserve the life that I have?” I did not earn my loving parents and the upbringing they gave me, my talents and abilities, and most importantly—God’s forgiveness. I could have just as easily been born into a life of poverty and hopelessness not knowing where I will eat and sleep the next day. With all God has given me, why do I focus on what I do not have rather than all He has blessed me with?

No matter who you are, you have been given different opportunities in life. As found in the Parable of the Talents in Matthew 25, God gives us all a unique gift, and it is our responsibility to use what we have been given. Although we all have something different to offer, we all do have something to offer! Others may have gifts that you do not, but that is not an excuse to be inactive. We are to be thankful and use our God-given strengths to edify each other and the Body of Christ.

You do not need to be on a missions trip in Los Angeles to use your talents and abilities for God. You can be a servant in an office in the Midwest or in a classroom on the East Coast. Wherever you are, God has blessed you with skills to bring Him glory and honor. We need to make sure we are responsible “with a few things,” as simple as a smile, that we have been given. 

- Jesse