Kickin it!

This is one of the guys we are working with. April and him are just "kickin it" on the porch of his house. He just got released from Camp and for him just kickin it on the porch can lead to alot of trouble. Not with April, because she isn't in his gang.(smile) But just kickin it with his homies, leads to drinkin a few beers, which leads to this and that (runnin with the gang) and next thing you know, he is back in jail. He started a new job. Pray for him, he is a very smart guy! I think he is smiling on the inside? Maybe next time he will smile on the outside too!

It really is grand...

Yes, that is the Grand Canyon behind us! Reid had his spring break last week and we escaped the city and went hiking at the Grand Canyon. Watched the sunset at night, we had condors and eagles flying over our heads and down below us. Hiking was great, going down the canyon seemed so much easier though. No cell phones, no internet, no noise, no pollution, no worries. It was GRAND!

deliverer

Recently I spent some time teaching the most amazing women. What made them amazing was their hunger. Not for food, but it was their hunger for God. They came each night, desperate. Without deliverance they could die. Drug addiction is such a gripping disease, the fight to escape from it a battle between the strength of an overwhelming, relentless enemy who knows no mercy and man, deceived by this one time friend, now left weak and powerless. How could they fight such a battle where the odds are stacked high against them? They can't, they need a deliverer. So we went to work on that, the search for deliverance. I don't know about you but when I'm getting something delivered, my deliverer comes to the door and he delivers. And that is just what Jesus does...he comes to the door.

Revelations 3:20 says,
Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me. To him who overcomes, i will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne. He who has an ear, let hm hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

Need deliverance? He's at the door. Hungry? Eat with Jesus!

demolition time...

It is remodel time here at YWAM LA! There used to be a mailroom, bookstore and bathrooms here but in a weeks time through the efforts of all of our base staff and students...it's gone. I had taken some great shots of the walls falling down and us (yes me, too) actually working on this demolition but I accidently formatted the pics on my camera and lost them all! But here are a few of my favorite workers, Reid and his good buddy Aidan, working hard on what we call "The wall that wouldn't die."

Look how hard he is working and after a full day of school, too! I will tell you that the next day, a Saturday, he was right back out there working on the wall again. We are in a new phase of our building plan. This will soon become our new bathrooms and cafe.
Look at the determination on Reid's face. aaawww!

How quickly we can tear something down, yet to build up takes so much longer....Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing. I Thessalonians 5:11

A day to give thanks!

Mikal arrived home on Monday, the 20th! I woke up, in tears. I went to bed in tears. Just grateful to have him home, I really am. Here are some pictures of the moments leading up to his Welcome Back reception!

First thing we see are trucks and more trucks being unloaded with all their bags of stuff. You know his things are there, somewhere. The excitement is mounting. And then....

The buses begin to roll in...five of them, 200 marines returning from duty! Coming home from war..here they come..you can hear the shouts!

I look over at my daugher-in-law, Heather, her face says it all.

aaaww, there he is!

A beautiful smile, he is happy to be home!

we are happy, so happy he is back! What do we do, we go eat! He drives like he still driving in a convoy, that's ok, eventually we got there, I can't remember what i ate, all I know is he was at the table!

I wonder...

I wonder if it's normal for my heart to break so much for the guys we work with. Leaving jail tonight, how could my heart not break. I pray and ask God to break my heart with the things that break His. So here I am. Why am I surprised?
I wonder, what does hope look like. I googled hope. I found this picture. I wonder why does hope look a lot like surrender? Is it because when we surrender, that is when we receive hope, I think so. It looks so easy, doesn't it? I wonder why, we make it so hard? Tonight was a good night, I saw hope tonight.

so close

Mikal leaving for Iraq the first time in 2004. His first tour of duty has come and gone, and now he is wrapping up his second. I can breathe again. Whether I like to admit it or not, somewhere in the back of mind, I'm holding my breath. He is days away from his return, he will celebrate his 22nd birthday in Fallujah tomorrow. Happy birthday, son! His little brother prayed morning and night, faithfully for his platoon and for his brother. What dedication for an 8 year old, a 9 year old and now a 10 year old! I know Mikal will never be the same, and I know Reid will remember praying for his brother day in and day out while he was at war, asking time to time "did he call?" I don't know how I've gotten so lucky...I just know I have. This is just our story, but there are so many more, friends still there, in harms way....so we will pray and know that there are many just like us holding their breath, waiting for the day.

uproot indifference

The Freedom Project spent their Friday night out last week, this time at Light of Love Mission Church in Pasadena. Shown left they are having a time of worship after hearing stories from inside the jails, learning more about the plight of our youth incarcerated and seeing a video of Armando, recently released from jail himself. The goal of this night was to get them thinking about people they know at school or know of who may be headed down the same path. As Christians, we can't turn our back to those caught up in sin. Jesus didn't walk away from the woman caught in adultery, right? He said it's not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. So we talked about what that looks like today in our schools, on our streets and across the globe into places war torn like Sierra Leone (showed another short video about child soldiers in that country)

We broke into small groups for discussion...what is the opposite of indifference, we asked. They learned just how messed up these kids lives were like when they came out of incarceration and how slim of a chance they have at success...it definitely opened their eyes. It was great for us too, because we realized how important it is for us to do what God is calling us to do.
With opposition ongoing, we need constant reminders of why we are here, doing what we are doing!

And then they danced! "Rise up and spark a Holy culture" the words were blasting through the church, they were screaming, our dancers as you can see are dancing. We went out with Night of Missions and Kings Kids from our base, so it was great to have a chance to work with some people we don't normally get to do outreach with......I don't suppose I will know all the things accomplished that evening...but that is ok...i know a few...it was good, it was very good!

Rescue me...

I have been working all week on this project...God kept leading me to this song by U2, Love Rescue Me. Going through all these inmate interviews, pulling from them what I guess you would call the meat of their stories..I am hoping this project is the beginning of a movement. I think of it right now as the "Rescue me campaign." Love rescue me? God is love and I do need Him to rescue me everyday! And you? Any different? What do you need rescued from today, busyness, depression, hurt & pain, a life of sin, loneliness, or maybe the big piece of chocolate cake in your fridge!

Freedom Project - Walk-A-Thon!

Freedom Project had our 2nd annual Walk-A-Thon! This time with the help of LAPD's Jeopardy and LAPD's Explorer programs!
Here are some pics of the event...they marched from the foothill division of LAPD to our YWAM campus in Lakeview Terrace and then all came together for hot dogs, chips and football! These are both kids from the freedom project team, court ordered kids into the jeopardy program because of drugs/gang issues, and youth aspiring to be involved in law enforcement! All marching together for one purpose, to send a message that drugs and gangs are not an option in our city. It was a huge blessing for our staff who work with some of these youth week after week and wonder, "are they making an impact?" God revealed to them each, individually that he is at work in ways they cannot imagine, but he surely gave them a glimpse on this day! Let's here it for unity in the city!

having our peace disturbed...

With days and days of riots, and 2 deaths in the county jail system where Micah is it seems like many in our city are feeling the effects of having our peace disturbed. There is increased violence...and mass segregation, lock down county-wide. These are the latest headlines here in our county jail system, and with thousands rioting that can be a huge problem for the Sheriff. But an even greater problem for those on the inside, already living in turmoil. As I watch the boys getting out of juvenile hall, now becoming men, go in the revolving door of county jail, almost as if in rhythm, I can see that there is no peace in their life. It is so hard to communicate just how crazy it is on the inside, and that's on a good day. I broke down in tears as I heard that one inmate was stomped to death, I think what broke my heart the most is the lingering question, who will cry for him? Who will stand in the gap for these, many who are not even sentenced yet, innocent until proven guilty? Not in this system. I know to well how one can end up in the system, it's like a black hole, it swallows you up, and you are lost. I work every week with youth who are given a sentence of 1 year, but I know in my heart they will serve that one year with the rest of their lives. What is said about this system by some is true, it perpetuates the problem. Interviewing young inmates one after another again last night, my peace was disturbed. How do I rest, knowing what I know? Matthew, Chapter 11, verse 28! Jesus says "come to me and I will give you rest" So when I come to Him, I learn from Him and find out that He himself is our peace, Ephesians 2:14. And about justice? Psalms 9:16 says "The Lord is known by his justice." His justice, looks different. I know, I am a product of that. He looked at my life and sentenced me to what seemed fitting, he used the courts to impose the sentence I received, His hand moved the system, and I knew it. I know in all of this my peace is disturbed so that I will be moved to action on behalf of the poor, the imprisoned, the marginalized in our city, the youth under siege. Please pray for the youth incarcerated in our nation...as you read an excerpt from an interview last night....

"I am 18, and incarcerated. My dad was a heroin addict so the only person i had was my mom and she did her best she was always working right now, and my dad is in jail. But i am not angry at him it was the drug that did that to him. I feel like I was missing out on love from my Dad. I was afraid of him, he scared me. I grew up in East LA - i grew up as a follower of gangs because my family was already into them.. I was officially jumped when I was 12 and have been arrested 7 times. I am in now for 9 months. I don't have a safe place to go when I get out, not really, no."

Freedom Project - turns your campus....

There they are at Biola University last weekend...dancing for 700 middle/high schoolers! Time to get them pumped up about campus evangelism. Freedom Project is evolving again and I have to say I love this ministry...it is annointed. The young people loved them and the room was full of energy! They can dance and they can climb trees! Way to go!

trials like ours? No..not quite!

Today I am overwhelmed with my responsibilities here and in the city...but, once again, I can't help but give thanks because I look at the young men we are working with, created and loved by God, and I know that no matter what I face, they face more because their trials are NOT like ours. One wrong move for them, and they are gone for years. Prison time is always hanging over their heads. We have had Armando out at the base a little last week and all this week. He slipped. He is on shaky ground and he needs alot of prayer. Today as he awoke at my place, he said God led him to the Psalms. Psalms 1 - Don't sit, walk and stand with the them! (them being the old friends he used drugs with) The very message we had been giving him for weeks. He must not go back to his old friends, and this is a weakness for him. Last time I wrote, it seemed his mom was very supportive. As time as gone by, we see that has not been the case as we had been led to believe. So we, the church, are becoming his family. He has 7 years prison time hanging over his head. Please pray as he is here working until he can get an I.D. to get a real job. He worked on our Freedom Project set a bit...and played games with the family here are a few pictures of this...armando has shared nothing about his childhood was normal. I know what the past year has been like for him, drugs, crime & lock-up. Please pray for him to obey God's voice because he is hearing him speak. Thanks!


Micah had court this week and this is surely another situation where i can say no, this is not a trial like ours! He was offered a very sweet deal, but turned it down. So as we vowed to stand by him through each day in court, it began to look more and more discouraging. We realized that everyone in the courtroom looked at Micah and saw a guilty man, but we saw a forgiven man. I dare to say that very few have the kind of support that Micah had been given and the District Attorney, Bar Panel Lawyer, Judge, Bailiff, and Private Investigator all saw this. We continue to show this city & county that we mean business when we stand by our young men. Well as of today, he caved and took the deal. It was the best option for him, now we wait and see for the remaining trial downtown. He still has many years possibly hanging over his head with an additional strike...in California that is a dangerous place to be. Plus he will be going to state prison which is infested with gang activity. He has come a long way and I am afraid his trials have only begun, we must pray that Micah will stay tender to God and strong. Like many of the young men we mentor on Friday nights, this is their lives, these are their trials...not like ours, not at all. The stories, how they got this way, well, that varies. One thing that doesn't change, they want a chance, they want to believe there is hope for them, too, but there afraid. Afraid, they'll get hurt again. Funny, the ones we are afraid of are really afraid of us....
trials like ours? no..not quite!

boys will be...well, you know!

just thought i would post this cute pic! This month I am point person on the campus! This means on top of all my other responsibilities...i am the go-to girl if there are any problems on the YWAM base! Well of course, there are many. So as I am running aroung like a chicken with my head cut-off I come flying out the dining hall only to discover these armed bandits, you may recognize one, my little Reid, armed with what was once your common household cleaning item, but is now your weapons of warfare! Aahhhhh...the imagination!

in need of a miracle...

this is Armando, recently just released from the Juvenile Hall we mentor and counsel at on a weekly outreach. He is very close to his GED (an equivalent to high school diploma), currently staying with his mom and has seven years in prison hanging over his head if he makes one wrong move. Actually, that's seven years plus whatever time he will get for any addtional charge, if added. He looks like your run-of-the-mill, typical 18 year old. But, like many of our amazing youth, he's caught up. By what? Meth. Right now, he's clean. We hung out with him on Thursday, met his mom, and sat down for hours discussing what life could look like for Armando. It could go two ways and he knows it. His dad is not in the picture, and hasn't contacted him for years. His mom, however, is great. She has laid down the much needed boundaries, immediately and right now he is working with a brother. We are hoping to co-ordinate the testing for his GED within the next few weeks, once receiving the necessary paperwork on Armando from Texas. This is a key transitional time..he is need of many prayers! He wants to become a fire-fighter, possibly through the military. But, I know for Armando the biggest miracle right now would be if he could recogonize his need for God, his need for a savior. Please pray for that miracle!

Here is a picture of Barry, April & Armando at Charlie Brown Farms in Littlerock...I don't care how "urban" I am...there is a little bit of country in me. So when we went to see Armando I dragged them all out for a "family style" morning at Charlie Browns! It was fun. There were so many things to look at you have to go back again to see it all! We sat down at the table reading the dieter's handbook and the guidebook to dealing with idiots...or something bizarre like that. Anyways, it was definetly quirky, like me! Notice the toilet paper roll cleverly disquised as napkins. Made my day! I even took a picture with, wait is that John Wayne? You have to have a little fun or it's no fun. Right?

Miracles. Armando needs one and so does Micah. In Micah's life he has realized how desparately he needs God, but for him he is at the point where we hope Armando doesn't go...the point where he is now looking at possible prison term of 12 years. Micah continues to read his Bible, prays with other inmates, and encourages anyone he can. I can't help but to look back to a little over a year ago, when he was still a minor, released from Juvenile Hall at the age of 17 into his mom's custody. At that time, she left for 2 months. Micah was alone, and had no way to accomplish the demands probation had laid out before him. That's abandonment, but no one stepped up to plead his case. It's no wonder as I look back on this young man's life that he has made the choice's he has, there was no way he was mature enough to take care of himself, he had been in and out of incarceration since the age of 13. His dad, deceased since he was 9. His mom has not shown up to one hearing for Micah. She has never come to visit him. But when he was home, it was constant demands to get her money. Micah appears in court on the 23rd, and again on the 6th of February. There are two courts, one with each case. If just one case would get dropped then there would be a chance for him. The miracle? That Micah would see the hand of God in all this. I don't know what that looks like, but please pray for Micah. Here is a excerpt from his most recent letter:
God is answering everybody's prayer's because for the past few weeks I've been feeling good. I'm not stressing
as much, I've been reading my bible everyday and I feel God is going to help me through this.
He referred to the scripture in Acts, when Jesus confronts Saul. He said he likes it that Jesus didn't look at Saul like a bad person. He said in his letter to us:
I'm glad Jesus doesn't look at me as a bad person, I love him so much...
We took Reid to see Micah last time for a visit and the two of them went on and on about reptiles as they always have in the past. In Micah's closing line of his letter he wrote, I love you mother. Please pray for Micah, he's just another one of my kids, I will stand in the gap for. We only need a miracle, Jesus!

challenges

While challenges may look different and come in many forms, they all require the same thing. A response. On Wednesday morning, the Freedom Project visited a Christian school. The Freedom Project has done the turnaround drama since we started, the impact remains the same. This picture is the part in the drama where one girl falls victim because of the choices she makes in her life. In essence, a life lived apart from God. Her Christian friend watched helplessly by the sidelines, she did not want to get involved so, she didn't reach out. The result, her friend died and now she will walk away from God, and go down the same path as the other knowing it leads to death. Only until a third friend intervenes, praying and reaching out, the second one would be saved. As we completed the performance part of the program we opened it up for q & a. One student stepped up to ask, why didn't the second friend help when she saw what was happening to her friend. That is when we shared with the students that although the second friend knew the truth, and had learned it in church, she choose to do nothing with it. They need to know what they believe and act on it, share it with thier friends. Don't let other's perish without hearing the truth. You should always be willing to share it with others and help them in their time of need. It was really a great morning. We trust that they were challenged by that message, it really hit them hard and as much as middle schoolers tried to look cool ,they were impacted. Also pictured is April wrapping it up! Go April!

Then hours later, as a few of us from that outreach sat in on a meeting at the YWAM base, we were shaken. Joy Dawson had come to share a message she had been preparing for the mission. Jesus, the model. The first challenge came as she asked, do we truly believe we can be like JESUS? Or, do we model our lives like others in the bible, because they're character seems more achievable? Do we steer clear of the study of Jesus, because of our unbelief? Has our hearts grown hard over the years of playing church? Do you know they have, and they do? Here is just one point to think about: Jesus had singlemindedness and intensity of purpose to accomplish the task given Him by the Father....are you easily distracted from this pursuit? John 17:4 I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do....can we say this?

Ready, set, go!

Ok...2006. Happy New Year! Ready, set, go! Remember, as a child, getting ready to run a race someone would shout, "READY, SET, GO!" I hope you remember, it will help my story. So, early this week I had my schedule, then the Lord interrupted my schedule and called me and another leader to prayer, we briefly stopped and "readied ourselves" to hear what He had to say. He gave me this verse, Joshua 3:15, Now the Jordan is at flood stage all during harvest. As we continued to pray, He showed us both that the Israelites were facing overwhelming circumstances, but this came at a time of harvest! (Yippee, we all love this word, and since He is the Lord of the harvest he can say when, right? Right! And it usually is when there is alot of other things going on..but that is another story) I sensed he was preparing us, yes, let's dare to say making us ready! He even spoke that my overwhelming circumstance was my family. I humbly admit, that it has been overwhelming, the needs of my family outside of my home. It is interesting that the leader with me had the very opposite story.
So as we allowed that to set in our hearts and mind that he handled the floodwaters. Yes, they trusted him and placed thier feet in, but it was He who stopped the water. The next verse says "as soon as the priests feet touched the water's edge, the water from upstream stopped flowing"! (vs 16) They were made ready by a word from God for this crossing the Jordan into the promised land. He readied them and He readies us. His sets the word in our hearts. Then we are equipped to go. Shortly after the prayer time, I received a call that my mom (pretty lady on the right) had a massive heart attack. I was ready, I was set to go. I knew there was the circumstance, but I also knew it was harvest time. She had a procedure done the following day, with two arteries unblocked. Her blood pressure and pulse have not stablilized, but she is much better. We had just the most amazing time talking about Jesus. I was ready for this, but I wasn't before we had prayed. This year, think like a child..when you hear God calling you, climb into His lap, let him get you ready, don't rush off before what he has spoken has set in your spirit, then and only then, go.....Go and bring Jesus to a hurting world in 2006!

do trains really talk?

you know i have only been home for 12 days....seems like it should be more than enough time to unpack my bags and my brain, don't you think? But it seems like I hit the ground running again, which is not highly unusual for me. My boss here calls before i arrive home to inform me that it seems I am in demand for the Christmas party at our campus...you see for the past 4 years I have been the official Master of Ceremonies/Stand up Comic...and this year is to be no exception so welcome home you have a week to prepare..so, be funny now...how will I do this? I look at my situation, all that I just came out of and all I can say is WHAT IS SO FUNNY? You know what I came up with, the fact that he would even ask me to do this...that is what was so funny. I mean, really, I have been crying buckets...not little tears,randomly, here and there...but BUCKETS....since early September, even in preparation for my endeavor in Washington...most of which you all know about! (army med center :( , reconciliation time with my daughter Krysta, not certain if it would go good or bad, being away from my family here for weeks, son in Iraq at war) so you tell me...WHAT IS SO FUNNY? Then I thought, it is funny that God constantly asks us to do the very opposite of what we feel like doing...and this is a classic example for me...I want very much to cry and he is asking me to make people laugh....you know I think he is having a good laugh right now....as i think of "the little train that could" heading up the mountain, with the faint puffs of steam sporatically shooting out from the engine, as he slowly climbs to the top of mountain shouting "I think I can, I think i can, I think I can"....I am hoping for inspiration but all I can wonder is do trains really talk?

some faces....

this is Henry, we met him in Juvenile Hall. He did really good in our weekly outreach, and when he was released called right away...actually it was under poor circumstances. Rival gangs were trying to kill him, missed him, but hit the two people he was standing with. So he went into hiding, has been ever since. That was in September. Henry wants to go into the Army, get his eligibility for GI Bill so he can go to culinary school. Henry has plans now, when we first met him, he was in survival mode like the rest. He has been working at night and then he lays low, he can't go to his mom's house at all, it would jeopardize the whole family. The army says Henry has to cover the gang tattoo on his arm before he will be accepted, that is the only thing holding him back. Henry got this tattoo when he was 11 years old! It goes from the elbow to the shoulder and would cost over $600 to cover up! So Henry has been very discouraged, trying to pay for a car to go to work, insurance (to be legal, yippee) and pay for this tattoo. Well, the students here at the YWAM campus took an offering and paid for his tattoo, so Henry could move forward, because the Army has given him a deadline. This really got Henry's attention, that total strangers would do this for him has blown his mind! Henry said " I never thought I would get out of my gang at such a young age, but it is happening, I can't believe it." Henry is 18 years old, has his life ahead of him and he knows he has God to thank for this second chance!

This is angel..he's 12 years old and is on the Freedom Project, our team first started working with him at Jeopeardy, a gang intervention program. Angel comes from a broken home (everyones story here) has gotten into trouble and is on probation, but after being on the team since last spring and traveling all the way up to Canada this past summer with us, he has been doing better. Angel loves to go to church when he can get there, likes to dance, and hang out with the Freedom Project. They are a strong, positive influence on him and his family. His attendance has not been consistent and that makes it hard, so pray that he will be able to get here each week and we will be able to pick him up on Sundays for church!

me & krysta...

here is a pic of me and krysta, just playing with the cell phone waiting for dinner and watching the Raiders lose football again....by the way my dream job, coaching Raider football!