As many of you know, I recently returned from a mission trip to the Tenderloin District of San Fransisco. I am writing this post to share with you what I saw and learned, and how I can never be the same.
I ended up in San Fransisco because my high school youth group was going to help out at S.F. City Impact, which is the new ministry home of Francis Chan. (Francis Chan is an amazing author and pastor who left his richy rich church in Simi Valley to follow after God's heart = cool.) A lot of my high school kids didn't know who he was, so I explained how he is up there with Billy Graham, you know, third or fourth in line to Jesus, lol.
I was asked to chaperone the trip because there were ten girls going. It was very last minute, which is kind of how I like to roll...except I have two little kids to think about. The great thing about God is when He wants you to do something or go somewhere, He handles all of the details perfectly. So, without really knowing anything about my dilemma, my older sister offered to take my kids for the week to her house in San Luis. Awesome! Then my younger sister offered to babysit from 5 a.m. to 6 p.m.while Tanner worked, if they wanted to stay home. Two great offers from two amazing sisters in one day!
So, I had two days to pack everyone up, semi-organize my life and head to the city. This was not my plan for my Easter break at all. Such plans included: hanging with my kiddos, going to movies, reading books in the sun, lunch with friends, date with the hubby, getting all of my fundraising letters done for our Haiti trip, etc...
Fortunately God had much bigger and better plans.
The Tenderloin District of S.F. is one of the worst areas I've been to in my life and I've been to S.E. Asia and Nepal, folks! There is a difference between homeless and poor; and homeless, poor and addicted to heavy drugs/alcohol. Our team did street ministry every night, which included passing out sandwiches and snacks and asking if we could pray for people. Let me just say how hard it was to find anyone sober! We did hear and see many amazing and crazy things that week, though.
What I learned about street ministry and myself: people need love and food and joy and hope, and I needed to stretch myself and know that I can talk to anyone, I mean anyone! This is what else I learned: Shane Claiborne said it best in his book "The Irresistible Revolution"
When we look through the eyes of Jesus, we see new things in people. In the murderers, we see our own hatred. In the addicts, we see our own addictions. In the saints, we catch glimpses of our own holiness. We can see our own brokenness, our own violence, our own ability to destroy, and we can see our own sacredness, our own capacity to love and forgive. When we realize that we are both wretched and beautiful, we are freed up to see others the same way.
The week in SF was hard, the food was bad, I got one shower, I barely slept, I missed my husband and kids, who I hardly spoke to because we were on the streets until past their bedtime every day, but it was a really good decision to obey God and do His will. And let me just say, the 21 high school kids that gave up their week completely impressed me. We were in the trenches together that week.
In just a few weeks Tanner and I will be headed into the prisons to work with the Bill Glass Prison Ministry. This is Tanner's fourth year attending. I decided to sign up this year too thanks to my experience in SF. I figure I can talk to anyone now after that week. I'm excited to see what God has planned in that weekend. I know lives will be changed and touched...one person at a time.
