Thursday, March 24th
We started off our morning by planting the community garden. We spread out all the plants and arranged them how we wanted. Then we started to work pulling out all the weeds that were already there. When we got them all cleared out, we finally got to work putting in the new ones. As we were planting all these different things, neighbors kept coming out and talking to us. Kim said that she has never talked to these neighbors before so it was cool to see that it was already working. We spent like 4 hours on this garden, but the final result was well worth it. Hopefully, it will accomplish its goal and really create community within the apartment complex.
Then, we decided to head out for Hermosa Beach. For our last day, they wanted us to spend it on the beach. Mostly, because it’s super close to LAX, so less work in the morning. But, for Ashley, we made sure to find a cupcakery to test out what LA cupcakes taste like. I got a fantastic Reese’s cupcake and even Ashley agreed that they were better than in Sioux Falls. Then we headed out to Fairfax. It’s pretty much like a regular mall but with no roof. We got some different food and then headed out to shop. Since the shops were all out of my price range, I just tagged along for the ride. If anyone watches Extra, it’s filmed right in the middle of the Square. I hung out at the fountain while people shopped. I’m watching the show right now while typing this and I can see it in the background.
Then we headed to our huge hotel room and Emily and I quickly went to the beach. We were super excited because neither of us had really spent time on the beach. So we decided to collect a bunch of shells on the beach. We got a ton of them but we haven’t quite decided what to do with them yet. It was fun picking up the shells on the beach. There was a storm brewing and so we had to run away from the waves. We also made sure to get some pictures for the Lying Down game so look forward to seeing those. It was super fun to just hang out on the beach.
Afterwards, we met up with Ashley and headed out to shop. It was like a completely different place than LA. The shop owners were super friendly and talkative. So we talked to them quite a bit. Later, we met up with Kim and Annie at a New Orleans Cajun restaurant. There, we debriefed about the trip and I enjoyed some alligator on a stick and gumbo. I wish my stomach had been feeling better because the gumbo was fantastic!
Saturday, March 26, 2011
LA Day 6
Wednesday, March 23rd
So we started off the morning doing a Joshua walk around the neighborhood. In the Bible, Joshua and Caleb went to spy in the land and check out what to do with it. So, we mapped out a couple blocks and headed out. We learned some interesting things. When we were walking around, we noticed just how isolated everyone is. Everyone has up all these fences, physically and mentally, that just keep them so closed off. But, when we smiled at people and said “good morning,” we could usually get them to smile back. Also, the shop owners were extremely not talkative.
Another thing we noticed was how sketchy the Scientology building is. There were all sorts of cameras hidden outside, a separate parking garage across with tons of security, and people walking very quickly around it. But the weirdest part was the people walking around carrying briefcases with symbols on them and people walking around with legal pads writing weird numbers and symbols, and then getting in cars with license plates from East Coast states.
There was also a church on that street that had a lot of people outside of it. Our mission was to see if we could help form a community so we decided to talk to some of these people. We first started talking to a man named Mo. He was just standing outside moving him arm like he was practicing a tennis serve. We chatted with him for a while and asked him why everyone was outside. He told us that every morning, they provided bread for those who were homeless or very low-income. The bread truck was late that day and that’s why they were all waiting outside. We asked him what he knew about the others. He said that he saw these people every day but they had no idea what each other’s names were or what their background stories were. It was crazy to me that these people see each other every day but they don’t care to get to know each other. But, we finished our walk by meeting up with Annie and Kim at the LA Rose Café.
This is one of those restaurants you go to just because the owners are so awesome. He was so pleased that we came to his restaurant and kept making us special food. (Amazing empanadas!) We shared a bunch of random food, including Filipino food which is super delicious. He kept talking about the Philippines which were fun to hear about. Lem is known for his desserts and he didn’t disappoint. I got an amazing white chocolate cheesecake with whipped cream and fresh strawberries. At the end, he even made us free cupcakes to take home. It was nice to find that amount of friendliness in LA.
After eating, we headed over to Home Depot. Annie and Kim had the idea of starting a community garden. There was a great space in their apartment complex and they had gotten the landlord’s okay. So we headed out to pick some flowers and vegetables to plant. We headed out with 2 full carts and stuffed it all in the trunk. I was amazed at how Kim knew all the things to pick out and how much sun they needed. I hope I can have my own vegetable garden someday. It’d be fun to grow stuff that I like to eat. But right now, I think I’ll just stick with my daisy and hope that it makes it.
After Home Depot, we headed out to go visit Jonathan’s apartment again. This time, he knew we were coming again, but it was really pouring outside, again. Haha. Jonathan is a friend of Kimberly and Annie’s who goes to their church. He is currently unemployed, but is using that time to develop a tv show that he wants to direct. So, when we visited him, we took that time to view it. He showed us a couple takes and then showed us a couple finished products. It was really cool to see the process behind what goes into a series. So if the show “Bok Nup” ever becomes a reality, I’ll have totally known about it before. His roommate Mark also showed us some of the photography he had just taken. He was taking pictures for a modeling agency so we put in our input of which ones we liked best.
The most interesting part of our visit to Jonathan’s was the elevator down. Annie told him that he had to take us down the sketchy elevator. Doesn’t that already sound like some foreshadowing? She explained that it had a really funny sign in it. So sure enough, we took the elevator down and checked out the sign. “For Seeking Assistance: 1. Ring alarm bell or use phone. 2. Stay Calm- There is little danger of car dropping uncontrollably or of running out of air. Car is ventilated.” Doesn’t that just create unnecessary pictures in your head! It just makes you super worried. So we took the elevator down to the lobby, but the door wouldn’t open. It was one of those ones with two doors. And the outside would not open. It was a little scary, so we rode up to the second floor, but that one wouldn’t open either. We rode to the basement and finally back up to the first floor. Jonathan figured out how to trick the switch and finally got us out of there. Once we were out of the elevator, we turned around saw an Out of Order sign on the elevator button. You know, they should really have put one on the 6th floor…..
After that, we headed to Annie’s community Bible study. She told us that a lot of the people in her Bible study worked in the Industry. She said that one of the couples actually worked as editors for a reality show. (She didn’t tell us which one) The one who was hosting it was a cinematographer. It was cool to talk to these people and see them put away their careers for a bit and concentrate on God. These people were so incredibly nice. It made me wonder if we were still in LA. At the end, we got a bunch of hugs. Honestly, that was the first time I had seen a hug take place, and it was from ones that had just met us a couple hours ago.
So we started off the morning doing a Joshua walk around the neighborhood. In the Bible, Joshua and Caleb went to spy in the land and check out what to do with it. So, we mapped out a couple blocks and headed out. We learned some interesting things. When we were walking around, we noticed just how isolated everyone is. Everyone has up all these fences, physically and mentally, that just keep them so closed off. But, when we smiled at people and said “good morning,” we could usually get them to smile back. Also, the shop owners were extremely not talkative.
Another thing we noticed was how sketchy the Scientology building is. There were all sorts of cameras hidden outside, a separate parking garage across with tons of security, and people walking very quickly around it. But the weirdest part was the people walking around carrying briefcases with symbols on them and people walking around with legal pads writing weird numbers and symbols, and then getting in cars with license plates from East Coast states.
There was also a church on that street that had a lot of people outside of it. Our mission was to see if we could help form a community so we decided to talk to some of these people. We first started talking to a man named Mo. He was just standing outside moving him arm like he was practicing a tennis serve. We chatted with him for a while and asked him why everyone was outside. He told us that every morning, they provided bread for those who were homeless or very low-income. The bread truck was late that day and that’s why they were all waiting outside. We asked him what he knew about the others. He said that he saw these people every day but they had no idea what each other’s names were or what their background stories were. It was crazy to me that these people see each other every day but they don’t care to get to know each other. But, we finished our walk by meeting up with Annie and Kim at the LA Rose Café.
This is one of those restaurants you go to just because the owners are so awesome. He was so pleased that we came to his restaurant and kept making us special food. (Amazing empanadas!) We shared a bunch of random food, including Filipino food which is super delicious. He kept talking about the Philippines which were fun to hear about. Lem is known for his desserts and he didn’t disappoint. I got an amazing white chocolate cheesecake with whipped cream and fresh strawberries. At the end, he even made us free cupcakes to take home. It was nice to find that amount of friendliness in LA.
After eating, we headed over to Home Depot. Annie and Kim had the idea of starting a community garden. There was a great space in their apartment complex and they had gotten the landlord’s okay. So we headed out to pick some flowers and vegetables to plant. We headed out with 2 full carts and stuffed it all in the trunk. I was amazed at how Kim knew all the things to pick out and how much sun they needed. I hope I can have my own vegetable garden someday. It’d be fun to grow stuff that I like to eat. But right now, I think I’ll just stick with my daisy and hope that it makes it.
After Home Depot, we headed out to go visit Jonathan’s apartment again. This time, he knew we were coming again, but it was really pouring outside, again. Haha. Jonathan is a friend of Kimberly and Annie’s who goes to their church. He is currently unemployed, but is using that time to develop a tv show that he wants to direct. So, when we visited him, we took that time to view it. He showed us a couple takes and then showed us a couple finished products. It was really cool to see the process behind what goes into a series. So if the show “Bok Nup” ever becomes a reality, I’ll have totally known about it before. His roommate Mark also showed us some of the photography he had just taken. He was taking pictures for a modeling agency so we put in our input of which ones we liked best.
The most interesting part of our visit to Jonathan’s was the elevator down. Annie told him that he had to take us down the sketchy elevator. Doesn’t that already sound like some foreshadowing? She explained that it had a really funny sign in it. So sure enough, we took the elevator down and checked out the sign. “For Seeking Assistance: 1. Ring alarm bell or use phone. 2. Stay Calm- There is little danger of car dropping uncontrollably or of running out of air. Car is ventilated.” Doesn’t that just create unnecessary pictures in your head! It just makes you super worried. So we took the elevator down to the lobby, but the door wouldn’t open. It was one of those ones with two doors. And the outside would not open. It was a little scary, so we rode up to the second floor, but that one wouldn’t open either. We rode to the basement and finally back up to the first floor. Jonathan figured out how to trick the switch and finally got us out of there. Once we were out of the elevator, we turned around saw an Out of Order sign on the elevator button. You know, they should really have put one on the 6th floor…..
After that, we headed to Annie’s community Bible study. She told us that a lot of the people in her Bible study worked in the Industry. She said that one of the couples actually worked as editors for a reality show. (She didn’t tell us which one) The one who was hosting it was a cinematographer. It was cool to talk to these people and see them put away their careers for a bit and concentrate on God. These people were so incredibly nice. It made me wonder if we were still in LA. At the end, we got a bunch of hugs. Honestly, that was the first time I had seen a hug take place, and it was from ones that had just met us a couple hours ago.
LA Day 5
Tuesday, March 22nd
Today, we started off our day at Bread and Roses. We had to leave at 7 to get there by 8:30 because the traffic is so horrible. But, we got there and they soon put us to work. Bread and Roses is a café built to serve the homeless. It was started by a nun who believed that just because you’re homeless doesn’t mean you don’t want beauty surrounding you. Apparently Martin Sheen was a huge volunteer back in the day. Now, it currently has four people on staff: the manager, two executives, and a gourmet chef. The chef went to culinary school and now has a partnership with the school to bring interns to the café and train them.
We soon got put to work making coffee, garlic bread, placing silverware and that kind of stuff. They have three shifts for them to come eat at- 9:30, 10:30, and 11:30. They have an office down the street that people must go to to make reservations. This allows them to not only keep the place from getting crazy full, but also allows them to keep track of these people and better help them.
It was quite an experience serving them. They were so genuinely thankful and happy. They were also quite the characters. The guy who worked security that day was convinced that Emily and I were movie stars. We teased him at the end telling him that we are going to need a better cover next time. One homeless man decided to start calling me Sue, as a nickname for my Sioux Falls shirt. Another man actually had an iguana on top of his hat. He fed it a strawberry. Yes, we got a picture. One lady told us that she was going to cast us all in the musical she had written. Another took pictures of us and the food and said she was going to post them on her blog. I wonder where those actually ended up. It was so much fun; the time went by way too quickly.
We headed down the street. (There is so much walking in LA!) We found a sandwich shop and ordered some paninis and bottles of Coke. Kimberly got her food first and headed outside. We waited until our food came and went outside to join her. She was sitting on a bench outside talking to one of the homeless men we’d just served. (God really gave us a ministry with the homeless on this trip. The others haven’t really been mentioned much, but this was the third one-on-one we had on the street.) As we talked to him, we asked if there was anything we could pray for him about. He said his aunt had just died and as he started talking about her, he started bawling. We started praying for him and Kim said something about God helping him break his addiction. (He had asked her earlier for beer money.) He quickly turned to her and laughed. “Don’t pray for that! I like my addiction!” Kim told him that God wouldn’t take it away until he was ready to let it go. Later, I wondered how many things God wants to rid us of that He can’t because we are still clinging on to them.
Since Venice beach was only a few blocks away, we decided to drive by it. There was no place to park because the weather was so nice. We headed back to the apartment. We spent some time in prayer and then headed out to Hollywood. They let us go out on our own and check out Hollywood Blvd. We were right by the Kodak Theater where they have a lot of red carpets. It was cool to check out some of the different stores along the way. We went in a couple vintage shops but the prices were way out of our range. The second one we went to seemed like it was a bunch of donated costumes, or they were mass produced because there was a lot of identical clothing. But I got some key chains for my family and some postcards to put on my wall. I was also feeling super tourist-y and bought myself an I heart LA t-shirt. :)
We met up with Kim and Annie and told them about our sightseeing. We enjoyed delicious burgers and malts at Mel’s Diner. We headed out after that to check out Kim and Annie’s church. The whole way there, we were in a super giggly mood and everything was hilariously funny. I realize it was probably one of those “you had to be there” moments, so I won’t go into it. But we got to the church. One of the things I thought was really cool about this church was that after the service, they met in groups and prayed.
Today, we started off our day at Bread and Roses. We had to leave at 7 to get there by 8:30 because the traffic is so horrible. But, we got there and they soon put us to work. Bread and Roses is a café built to serve the homeless. It was started by a nun who believed that just because you’re homeless doesn’t mean you don’t want beauty surrounding you. Apparently Martin Sheen was a huge volunteer back in the day. Now, it currently has four people on staff: the manager, two executives, and a gourmet chef. The chef went to culinary school and now has a partnership with the school to bring interns to the café and train them.
We soon got put to work making coffee, garlic bread, placing silverware and that kind of stuff. They have three shifts for them to come eat at- 9:30, 10:30, and 11:30. They have an office down the street that people must go to to make reservations. This allows them to not only keep the place from getting crazy full, but also allows them to keep track of these people and better help them.
It was quite an experience serving them. They were so genuinely thankful and happy. They were also quite the characters. The guy who worked security that day was convinced that Emily and I were movie stars. We teased him at the end telling him that we are going to need a better cover next time. One homeless man decided to start calling me Sue, as a nickname for my Sioux Falls shirt. Another man actually had an iguana on top of his hat. He fed it a strawberry. Yes, we got a picture. One lady told us that she was going to cast us all in the musical she had written. Another took pictures of us and the food and said she was going to post them on her blog. I wonder where those actually ended up. It was so much fun; the time went by way too quickly.
We headed down the street. (There is so much walking in LA!) We found a sandwich shop and ordered some paninis and bottles of Coke. Kimberly got her food first and headed outside. We waited until our food came and went outside to join her. She was sitting on a bench outside talking to one of the homeless men we’d just served. (God really gave us a ministry with the homeless on this trip. The others haven’t really been mentioned much, but this was the third one-on-one we had on the street.) As we talked to him, we asked if there was anything we could pray for him about. He said his aunt had just died and as he started talking about her, he started bawling. We started praying for him and Kim said something about God helping him break his addiction. (He had asked her earlier for beer money.) He quickly turned to her and laughed. “Don’t pray for that! I like my addiction!” Kim told him that God wouldn’t take it away until he was ready to let it go. Later, I wondered how many things God wants to rid us of that He can’t because we are still clinging on to them.
Since Venice beach was only a few blocks away, we decided to drive by it. There was no place to park because the weather was so nice. We headed back to the apartment. We spent some time in prayer and then headed out to Hollywood. They let us go out on our own and check out Hollywood Blvd. We were right by the Kodak Theater where they have a lot of red carpets. It was cool to check out some of the different stores along the way. We went in a couple vintage shops but the prices were way out of our range. The second one we went to seemed like it was a bunch of donated costumes, or they were mass produced because there was a lot of identical clothing. But I got some key chains for my family and some postcards to put on my wall. I was also feeling super tourist-y and bought myself an I heart LA t-shirt. :)
We met up with Kim and Annie and told them about our sightseeing. We enjoyed delicious burgers and malts at Mel’s Diner. We headed out after that to check out Kim and Annie’s church. The whole way there, we were in a super giggly mood and everything was hilariously funny. I realize it was probably one of those “you had to be there” moments, so I won’t go into it. But we got to the church. One of the things I thought was really cool about this church was that after the service, they met in groups and prayed.
LA Day 4
Monday, March 21st
We started off our Monday by watching the movie, “Finger of God.” It’s a documentary about random miracles that are going on in the church. We then added a new type of food- Middle Eastern. This time, I got to try pita bread with chicken and humus. After that, we talked about going into town and just walking around; paying attention to what the Holy Spirit was telling us.
We headed off to where they told us to start. As we were walking, we walked by this temple. All of a sudden, we got a feeling to keep walking, so we kept going. This creepy guy like stepped into the doorway, so we sped up. We went into some different shops and just kept a discerning eye. We went to this art gallery that was known for being super weird, which it was. I couldn’t believe how dark the art was, it just felt so empty. It made me wonder a lot about the people who made it. If art is an expression of the soul, what’s going on inside of them?
We stopped for some coffee and flowers for Annie. (She was home sick.) Apparently everyone thought they lost me in the grocery store. I thought it was funny because I just happened to need coffee and there was a Starbucks in the grocery store. It made me laugh though when they thought they lost me. We headed back out to the car. It was weird because the sun was shining and it was raining. It’s kind of how I always pictured it raining in California.
After that, we dropped off the car at the apartment and took off for Little Tokyo. We walked like half a mile to the Metro station and I got to ride in my first subway. It was interesting, but I thought it was fun. Kim pointed out some cool landmarks along the way. We saw this awesome wall that was dedicated to the work of Biddy Mason. She was an incredible slave who actually fought for her freedom and won. We also checked out an awesome market that seemed a lot like a food court at the mall, with all kinds of different ethnic foods. Then, we arrived at the Curry House where we met Sharon. Sharon was a pastor who felt God calling her to plant a house of prayer. She planted the Reformation House of Prayer down a block, and we spent the night praying there for LA.
It was really cool to dedicate a night to praying. I’m not a person that prays out loud. I find that whenever I pray out loud, I spend so much time thinking about what I’m about to say. It’s like I’m rehearsing it in my mind so that it sounds the best when I finally say it out loud. So I usually try to not volunteer to pray out loud. I just pray silently, that way I don’t think about it in advance. I just pray. But here, only God was listening. We spent hours in prayer. I’d never done that, but it was so cool to just spend all that time with God, knowing that your prayers were being lifted up to him.
We started off our Monday by watching the movie, “Finger of God.” It’s a documentary about random miracles that are going on in the church. We then added a new type of food- Middle Eastern. This time, I got to try pita bread with chicken and humus. After that, we talked about going into town and just walking around; paying attention to what the Holy Spirit was telling us.
We headed off to where they told us to start. As we were walking, we walked by this temple. All of a sudden, we got a feeling to keep walking, so we kept going. This creepy guy like stepped into the doorway, so we sped up. We went into some different shops and just kept a discerning eye. We went to this art gallery that was known for being super weird, which it was. I couldn’t believe how dark the art was, it just felt so empty. It made me wonder a lot about the people who made it. If art is an expression of the soul, what’s going on inside of them?
We stopped for some coffee and flowers for Annie. (She was home sick.) Apparently everyone thought they lost me in the grocery store. I thought it was funny because I just happened to need coffee and there was a Starbucks in the grocery store. It made me laugh though when they thought they lost me. We headed back out to the car. It was weird because the sun was shining and it was raining. It’s kind of how I always pictured it raining in California.
After that, we dropped off the car at the apartment and took off for Little Tokyo. We walked like half a mile to the Metro station and I got to ride in my first subway. It was interesting, but I thought it was fun. Kim pointed out some cool landmarks along the way. We saw this awesome wall that was dedicated to the work of Biddy Mason. She was an incredible slave who actually fought for her freedom and won. We also checked out an awesome market that seemed a lot like a food court at the mall, with all kinds of different ethnic foods. Then, we arrived at the Curry House where we met Sharon. Sharon was a pastor who felt God calling her to plant a house of prayer. She planted the Reformation House of Prayer down a block, and we spent the night praying there for LA.
It was really cool to dedicate a night to praying. I’m not a person that prays out loud. I find that whenever I pray out loud, I spend so much time thinking about what I’m about to say. It’s like I’m rehearsing it in my mind so that it sounds the best when I finally say it out loud. So I usually try to not volunteer to pray out loud. I just pray silently, that way I don’t think about it in advance. I just pray. But here, only God was listening. We spent hours in prayer. I’d never done that, but it was so cool to just spend all that time with God, knowing that your prayers were being lifted up to him.
LA Day 3
We started off the day by watching Crash. It's a movie that portrays the different dividing lines between cultures here in LA. I was amazed at just how violent it gets. It is so easy to get a handgun here so they try to solve all their problems that way. It was so sad to see how empty they all still felt afterwards.
After watching the movie and discussing it, we headed out to MacArthur Park and Mama's Hot Tamales. It was pouring rain outside, a rarity in California I'm told, which complicated our day a little bit. As we drove by MacArthur Park, it looked like a normal park: lake in the middle surrounded by grass and palm trees, with a band shell on the side. We headed across the street to try Mama's Hot Tamales. Hardly anyone was in there because of the rain. (Californians pretty much shut down when it rains.) But this turned out to be a plus for us. After we had ran the two blocks from the car, we were soaked, but greeted very nicely by a waitress who sat us down. Since hardly anyone was there, Mama herself came over to talk to us. Kimberly asked if she would join us and tell us her story. So she came back after we had eaten, and told us her story.
She had lived in Pasadena since she was 14. When her husband died, she had a lot of friends urge her to go make a difference in LA. When she came, she discovered MacArthur Park and the insane amount of crime that happened there. She wanted to do something about it so she got a group together of police, city officials, and merchants in the area to try and clean it up. They started by attracting street vendors to the park, so people could start making money. By the time she had been around a couple years, there were zero arrests in the park, compared to the six hundred arrests the year before she got involved. She opened her restaurant across the street to help build community. With that came the tamale festival where they make a 12 ft tamale and invite the neighborhood to come and eat it. She has made such a difference in the community. It was so awesome to meet her and hear her story.
The rain was kind of a pain in the butt, but we trudged through anyway.Annie stopped to buy an umbrella but it turned upside down right when she opened it. This provided us with plenty of comedy through the whole trip though. Across the street, there was a botanica. These are how most people find religion, but often very horrible kinds. These shops are filled with crazy kinds of stuff that can get you involved with all kinds of dark powers. They wanted us to see what one was like. It seemed so incredibly spiritually dark inside. There were candles all along the wall. These were used to accomplish certain things like removing your jinxes or punishing your enemies. The whole time we were in there (for like 30 seconds) our hearts just felt heavy. It was crazy to feel the huge amounts of spiritual warfare going on in there.
We walked further through the rain. (We were completely soaked and our umbrellas were broken, so there wasn't any way to get more wet.) We stopped at our friend Jonathan's apartment but he didn't answer his phone. We decided to complete our circle by walking along the edge of the park. When we passed the band shell, I was shocked by how many homeless people had taken shelter inside.
We finally made it back to the car where we quickly stopped at a Starbucks (I swear they're everywhere here!) to warm ourselves up. After that, we got back in the car to talk about trafficking. Currently there are 23 million people being trafficked. Most of these are in the United States and 80% are women. It was crazy to think about how much is going on and we have no idea. Even though we have all this technology to potentially know everything, we let this injustice take place every day.
We drove around a bit through the manufacturing district where we saw where most of the trafficking takes place. It was crazy to look at all the barbed wire and wonder about what was going on inside. Emily and Ashley talked about just how heavy this made their hearts. Which honestly made me feel super guilty because I wasn't feeling the same way. Instead, my heart was breaking for the different cultures and how separated they were. That is where I would want to get involved. That is what God has been placing on my heart. As we were driving around, we were told that a ton of trafficking actually takes place on I-90 and I-29, both of which intersect in Sioux Falls. We couldn't believe that this was happening so close to where we live.
Afterwards, we drove by a church on the edge of the district. The church was originally aimed at helping the homeless, but since their move, they had kind of lost sight of that goal. By moving, they now attracted more wealthy members and didn't branch out much. (For those who don't know, Skid Row, the most famous street for homeless people, is right in the middle of this manufacturing district.)
We decided to change before going to church. We were all sopping wet. We drove downtown, where we arrived at the Mayan nightclub. Inside, we were greeted and grabbed some coffee before heading into the main section. The church was technically Southern Baptist, but LA does it a little differently. The floor was covered with metal chairs all facing the stage. It was very much a church targeted to LA performers. But the best part, in my opinion, was that it never distracted from God. He was the main focus of the church and the reason they used their talents. I felt so welcome in the church and would love to incorporate some of their style in my home church.
After church, we headed to Thai Town, another section of LA, for supper. I discovered I don't really care for Thai food. Mint leaves just kind of freak me out. I think they belong in toothpaste, not chicken. I felt like all the food was in the wrong sauce. But, I'm glad I tried it.
After watching the movie and discussing it, we headed out to MacArthur Park and Mama's Hot Tamales. It was pouring rain outside, a rarity in California I'm told, which complicated our day a little bit. As we drove by MacArthur Park, it looked like a normal park: lake in the middle surrounded by grass and palm trees, with a band shell on the side. We headed across the street to try Mama's Hot Tamales. Hardly anyone was in there because of the rain. (Californians pretty much shut down when it rains.) But this turned out to be a plus for us. After we had ran the two blocks from the car, we were soaked, but greeted very nicely by a waitress who sat us down. Since hardly anyone was there, Mama herself came over to talk to us. Kimberly asked if she would join us and tell us her story. So she came back after we had eaten, and told us her story.
She had lived in Pasadena since she was 14. When her husband died, she had a lot of friends urge her to go make a difference in LA. When she came, she discovered MacArthur Park and the insane amount of crime that happened there. She wanted to do something about it so she got a group together of police, city officials, and merchants in the area to try and clean it up. They started by attracting street vendors to the park, so people could start making money. By the time she had been around a couple years, there were zero arrests in the park, compared to the six hundred arrests the year before she got involved. She opened her restaurant across the street to help build community. With that came the tamale festival where they make a 12 ft tamale and invite the neighborhood to come and eat it. She has made such a difference in the community. It was so awesome to meet her and hear her story.
The rain was kind of a pain in the butt, but we trudged through anyway.Annie stopped to buy an umbrella but it turned upside down right when she opened it. This provided us with plenty of comedy through the whole trip though. Across the street, there was a botanica. These are how most people find religion, but often very horrible kinds. These shops are filled with crazy kinds of stuff that can get you involved with all kinds of dark powers. They wanted us to see what one was like. It seemed so incredibly spiritually dark inside. There were candles all along the wall. These were used to accomplish certain things like removing your jinxes or punishing your enemies. The whole time we were in there (for like 30 seconds) our hearts just felt heavy. It was crazy to feel the huge amounts of spiritual warfare going on in there.
We walked further through the rain. (We were completely soaked and our umbrellas were broken, so there wasn't any way to get more wet.) We stopped at our friend Jonathan's apartment but he didn't answer his phone. We decided to complete our circle by walking along the edge of the park. When we passed the band shell, I was shocked by how many homeless people had taken shelter inside.
We finally made it back to the car where we quickly stopped at a Starbucks (I swear they're everywhere here!) to warm ourselves up. After that, we got back in the car to talk about trafficking. Currently there are 23 million people being trafficked. Most of these are in the United States and 80% are women. It was crazy to think about how much is going on and we have no idea. Even though we have all this technology to potentially know everything, we let this injustice take place every day.
We drove around a bit through the manufacturing district where we saw where most of the trafficking takes place. It was crazy to look at all the barbed wire and wonder about what was going on inside. Emily and Ashley talked about just how heavy this made their hearts. Which honestly made me feel super guilty because I wasn't feeling the same way. Instead, my heart was breaking for the different cultures and how separated they were. That is where I would want to get involved. That is what God has been placing on my heart. As we were driving around, we were told that a ton of trafficking actually takes place on I-90 and I-29, both of which intersect in Sioux Falls. We couldn't believe that this was happening so close to where we live.
Afterwards, we drove by a church on the edge of the district. The church was originally aimed at helping the homeless, but since their move, they had kind of lost sight of that goal. By moving, they now attracted more wealthy members and didn't branch out much. (For those who don't know, Skid Row, the most famous street for homeless people, is right in the middle of this manufacturing district.)
We decided to change before going to church. We were all sopping wet. We drove downtown, where we arrived at the Mayan nightclub. Inside, we were greeted and grabbed some coffee before heading into the main section. The church was technically Southern Baptist, but LA does it a little differently. The floor was covered with metal chairs all facing the stage. It was very much a church targeted to LA performers. But the best part, in my opinion, was that it never distracted from God. He was the main focus of the church and the reason they used their talents. I felt so welcome in the church and would love to incorporate some of their style in my home church.
After church, we headed to Thai Town, another section of LA, for supper. I discovered I don't really care for Thai food. Mint leaves just kind of freak me out. I think they belong in toothpaste, not chicken. I felt like all the food was in the wrong sauce. But, I'm glad I tried it.
Thursday, March 24, 2011
LA Day 2
Hegai liked Esther and took a special interest in her. Right off he started her on beauty treatments, ordered special food, assigned her seven personal maids from the palace, and put her and her maids in the best rooms in the Harem -Esther 2:9
Each girl's turn came to go in to King Xerxes after she had completed the twelve months of prescribed beauty treatments--six month's treatment with oil of myrrh followed by six months with perfumes and various cosmetics. -Esther 2:12
On the second day, we studied the story of Esther. We were invited to attend Esther's Ball, a Jewish masquerade ball. And in the story of Esther, before she goes to the king, she endures 12 months of beauty treatments. So, in an attempt to experience the culture of LA, we drove to the NEw Hong Kong district. This place is crazy! All of a sudden, all of the buildings have CHinese writing and there is hardly any English. Our GPS took us to a massage place where we got an hour back, neck, and foot massage. THe place was owned by a large Asian family that spoke limited English. The whole time we were there, friends and family kept walking in and out, stopping to chat. It was super hard to tell who actually worked there.It was cool though to see how family-oriented thier culture is.
After the massage was done, we tipped them and left for our second destination. This time, our GPS wasn't as nice and got us quite a bit lost. Instead of seeing Chinese letters, we were suddenly seeing Spanish signs. It was crazy how instantaneous the switch was. We drove around the Spanish area until we found the nail salon we were headed to.
While our nails were being done, we took the time to observe those who were working. Two of the girls, who seemed close to our age, were talking about going clubbing that night. Partying, it seemed, was all they could talk about. Mind you, the TV was showing footage of OBama announcing a third war on Libya. Also, it mentioned the tsunami in Hawaii and the girls had never even heard of it. I was kind of disgusted that people could not even care what was going on in the world.
After these two, we headed back to the house to get ready. Apparently in SD, we get ready a lot faster, because they were shocked at how quickly we got ready. (LAans have this thing with ish. And I've basically discovered it's an added in excuse factor. Like if they say they'll be there at 7ish, it leaves time to get stuck in traffic or just running behind. So bascially, we were always early and they were usually late.) We headed out to continue our Esther day by eating some Persian food. But, Google messed up and gave us a Peruvian restaurant instead. (We quickly figured it out when the menu was in Spanish) But God had a plan in mind, because the food was delicious. :)
We headed out to the Biltmore Hotel, which I was informed is one of the ritziest hotels in LA. It was huge! (This is also where I saw my first skyscraper) The lobby was absolutely stunning. It had huge chandeliers and very Baroque looking architecture, with a grand piano in the center. We followed the people wearing masks, but discovered there was also a masquerade birthday party going on. But, they showed us the way to the ball. There were hundreds of people inside, milling around, sitting at tables, or on the dance floor Our leaders challenged us to mingle with people while we were there. About a minute later, Emily was sitting at a table just chatting with some college students. Ashley and I quickly joined in the conversation. It turns out that the group was on a mission trip. They all attended Bethel University and were eager to chat with us about our lives and what we're doing in LA. The dancing pretty much reminded me of USF dnaces, but with a much cooler dancefloor.
However, the coolest part of the night was when they stopped the dance for the reading of Esther. The coolest part was that the Jewish group who put this on was Messianic Jews, and they had combined with the Gentiles to team up against Abaleck, the spirit of doubt. (It's in Esther if you're confused.) At the end of the reading, a rabbi prayed in Hebrew. I've decided it is one of the most beautiful languages to listen to. Afterwards, we heard from Aaron Cohhen who rescues sex slaves out of LA everyday. Human trafficking is a huge problem in LA, where we discovered most of it takes place in places like the massage parlor we visited earlier. We were also informed that a lot of what we are doing this week will be focused around that. I know that I do not know very much about it and am looking forward to being able to educate myself on it. By midnight, we were all pretty exhausted. After all, that is 2am back home, so we headed home for the night.
Each girl's turn came to go in to King Xerxes after she had completed the twelve months of prescribed beauty treatments--six month's treatment with oil of myrrh followed by six months with perfumes and various cosmetics. -Esther 2:12
On the second day, we studied the story of Esther. We were invited to attend Esther's Ball, a Jewish masquerade ball. And in the story of Esther, before she goes to the king, she endures 12 months of beauty treatments. So, in an attempt to experience the culture of LA, we drove to the NEw Hong Kong district. This place is crazy! All of a sudden, all of the buildings have CHinese writing and there is hardly any English. Our GPS took us to a massage place where we got an hour back, neck, and foot massage. THe place was owned by a large Asian family that spoke limited English. The whole time we were there, friends and family kept walking in and out, stopping to chat. It was super hard to tell who actually worked there.It was cool though to see how family-oriented thier culture is.
After the massage was done, we tipped them and left for our second destination. This time, our GPS wasn't as nice and got us quite a bit lost. Instead of seeing Chinese letters, we were suddenly seeing Spanish signs. It was crazy how instantaneous the switch was. We drove around the Spanish area until we found the nail salon we were headed to.
While our nails were being done, we took the time to observe those who were working. Two of the girls, who seemed close to our age, were talking about going clubbing that night. Partying, it seemed, was all they could talk about. Mind you, the TV was showing footage of OBama announcing a third war on Libya. Also, it mentioned the tsunami in Hawaii and the girls had never even heard of it. I was kind of disgusted that people could not even care what was going on in the world.
After these two, we headed back to the house to get ready. Apparently in SD, we get ready a lot faster, because they were shocked at how quickly we got ready. (LAans have this thing with ish. And I've basically discovered it's an added in excuse factor. Like if they say they'll be there at 7ish, it leaves time to get stuck in traffic or just running behind. So bascially, we were always early and they were usually late.) We headed out to continue our Esther day by eating some Persian food. But, Google messed up and gave us a Peruvian restaurant instead. (We quickly figured it out when the menu was in Spanish) But God had a plan in mind, because the food was delicious. :)
We headed out to the Biltmore Hotel, which I was informed is one of the ritziest hotels in LA. It was huge! (This is also where I saw my first skyscraper) The lobby was absolutely stunning. It had huge chandeliers and very Baroque looking architecture, with a grand piano in the center. We followed the people wearing masks, but discovered there was also a masquerade birthday party going on. But, they showed us the way to the ball. There were hundreds of people inside, milling around, sitting at tables, or on the dance floor Our leaders challenged us to mingle with people while we were there. About a minute later, Emily was sitting at a table just chatting with some college students. Ashley and I quickly joined in the conversation. It turns out that the group was on a mission trip. They all attended Bethel University and were eager to chat with us about our lives and what we're doing in LA. The dancing pretty much reminded me of USF dnaces, but with a much cooler dancefloor.
However, the coolest part of the night was when they stopped the dance for the reading of Esther. The coolest part was that the Jewish group who put this on was Messianic Jews, and they had combined with the Gentiles to team up against Abaleck, the spirit of doubt. (It's in Esther if you're confused.) At the end of the reading, a rabbi prayed in Hebrew. I've decided it is one of the most beautiful languages to listen to. Afterwards, we heard from Aaron Cohhen who rescues sex slaves out of LA everyday. Human trafficking is a huge problem in LA, where we discovered most of it takes place in places like the massage parlor we visited earlier. We were also informed that a lot of what we are doing this week will be focused around that. I know that I do not know very much about it and am looking forward to being able to educate myself on it. By midnight, we were all pretty exhausted. After all, that is 2am back home, so we headed home for the night.
Monday, March 21, 2011
LA-Day 1
Wow! I'm in Los Angeles! Part of me felt like I'd never get here, and now I'm just hoping that time will slow down while I'm here. We got to the Sioux Falls airport, made it through security, and soon found out that the USF baseball team was also on our flight. It probably would have been a cooler coincidence if we had known more than just one guy on the team. We boarded the plane, and thanks to open seating, I sat next to a nice old lady from Alexandria, who knew my roommate Brigitte. (It's pretty much because she's awesome like that.) I didn't talk to her a lot, mostly because I alternated between sleeping and getting ahead on some Brit Lit reading. But we got to LA soon enough, even getting to fly by the Hollywood sign. We hopped off the plane at LAX (Yes, literally hopped so we could justify our singing.)and made our way to where we were meeting Kimberly and Annie. Soon enough, they showed up and we took off in their car. They started off just showing us around LA and talking to us, trying to get a feel for our personalities. I think they were a little shocked with out enthusiastic and outspoken we were. (Even with being on a plane for the past 3 1/2 hours).
Right away, they asked us if we wanted coffee which quickly got an enthusiastic YES! So we walked a little bit through LA to find a Starbucks. Once the coffee was in our systems, we were even more talkative. They thought we might like to do some sightseeing while we're here and they were right. They dropped us off at Malibu beach and told us we could meet them later at the fish shack across the street. The beach was amazing! I've never been on a beach, so I was amazed at how it just seems to go on forever. It's definitely one of those places you feel insignificant. We also found a huge group of rocks. Ashley, wanting to reenact the mermaid pose, suggested going over there. It was fun for a while, until the waves started getting bigger, and we frantically ran back to the sand. (I've been told my run was hilarious because my shoes kept sliding off the rocks.)
After that, we decided to cross the street back to the shack. The streets aren't very easy to cross either. It was like an 8-lane SD highway. But eventually, we crossed and met up with the two. We ordered supper and I enjoyed some of the best grilled tilapia. We stayed there for a good hour and a hlaf, just talking about our church and missions backgrounds. We talked a lot about spiritual journeys. One thing Kimberly said really fascinated me. "The gospel was never meant to leave you completely satisfied. Instead, it shows you that it's impossible without God." I thought that was a really cool way to think about it. On our way home, we drove through Beverly Hills, looking at the houses. (Part of this was intentional, but truthfully, we got kinda lost.) We drove through East Hollywood, home of tv studios and the famous Rodeo Drive. They told us to point out when we thought we crossed into West Hollywood. We started to notice the shops become more normal, then we saw how different it was. All of a sudden, we were in the poor neighborhoods. We saw all kinds of Hispanic restaurants and people all around. A minute later, we arrived to their apartment. They wanted to live in the middle of where they were outreaching.
So, we settled in for the night, discussing house rules and what they had in store for us tomorrow. (Which you'll find out in the next entry, whenever I get around to typing it) We also had small presents waiting for us on our beds. Mine was a spiral notebook and pens. THe pens are my absolute favorite, and the notebook has Belle on it. (All I could think about was how jealous Brigitte would be of it, so don't worry Brigitte, I'm not forgetting about you.)
At the end of the day, Annie and Kimberly told us how they pray in Nagaland. EVeryone prays all at the same time and waits until the last person is done to say Amen. I thought it sounded so cool. It's super hard to explain, but it is so awe-inspiring to hear all these different prayers being lifted up at once.
Right away, they asked us if we wanted coffee which quickly got an enthusiastic YES! So we walked a little bit through LA to find a Starbucks. Once the coffee was in our systems, we were even more talkative. They thought we might like to do some sightseeing while we're here and they were right. They dropped us off at Malibu beach and told us we could meet them later at the fish shack across the street. The beach was amazing! I've never been on a beach, so I was amazed at how it just seems to go on forever. It's definitely one of those places you feel insignificant. We also found a huge group of rocks. Ashley, wanting to reenact the mermaid pose, suggested going over there. It was fun for a while, until the waves started getting bigger, and we frantically ran back to the sand. (I've been told my run was hilarious because my shoes kept sliding off the rocks.)
After that, we decided to cross the street back to the shack. The streets aren't very easy to cross either. It was like an 8-lane SD highway. But eventually, we crossed and met up with the two. We ordered supper and I enjoyed some of the best grilled tilapia. We stayed there for a good hour and a hlaf, just talking about our church and missions backgrounds. We talked a lot about spiritual journeys. One thing Kimberly said really fascinated me. "The gospel was never meant to leave you completely satisfied. Instead, it shows you that it's impossible without God." I thought that was a really cool way to think about it. On our way home, we drove through Beverly Hills, looking at the houses. (Part of this was intentional, but truthfully, we got kinda lost.) We drove through East Hollywood, home of tv studios and the famous Rodeo Drive. They told us to point out when we thought we crossed into West Hollywood. We started to notice the shops become more normal, then we saw how different it was. All of a sudden, we were in the poor neighborhoods. We saw all kinds of Hispanic restaurants and people all around. A minute later, we arrived to their apartment. They wanted to live in the middle of where they were outreaching.
So, we settled in for the night, discussing house rules and what they had in store for us tomorrow. (Which you'll find out in the next entry, whenever I get around to typing it) We also had small presents waiting for us on our beds. Mine was a spiral notebook and pens. THe pens are my absolute favorite, and the notebook has Belle on it. (All I could think about was how jealous Brigitte would be of it, so don't worry Brigitte, I'm not forgetting about you.)
At the end of the day, Annie and Kimberly told us how they pray in Nagaland. EVeryone prays all at the same time and waits until the last person is done to say Amen. I thought it sounded so cool. It's super hard to explain, but it is so awe-inspiring to hear all these different prayers being lifted up at once.
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