LA Ministry Trip - Skid Row

A little cloudy outside, a few stops and turns and we arrived at what is known as "Skid Row". 

As soon as you get out of your car the smell of urine is strong and the homeless line the streets as if they are waiting for something to happen. Some sleeping, some passed out from alcohol, some searching for recycle items to either sleep on or get what little change they can.  

As we pass out sandwiches you can't help but wonder why or how can people live this way. This hard life is so apparent on the faces of those you meet. Last year when I visited Skid Row with another of Sara's team I remembered her telling me to not partner with hopelessness while I am there. This was important to hear especially if you are a person of mercy. 

We walk the streets showing love to those who will trust you to get close enough. They are use to people coming down and helping but even then some refuse to let you get close. As I turn one corner I see grocery baskets, full of miscellaneous items, lined on the street like parked cars. Wondering what’s going on I get a little closer and I notice a ministry is allowing people to come into a building to feed them, some can take a shower or sit and listen to worship music playing on a make shift stage.

Moving on we stop to talk to many about how much God loves them and I got the notion (an official southern term) to begin to ask people how can they be helped to get out of their circumstances? Some of the answers were to never have started drugs or alcohol in the first place. It was obvious there were some who chose to live this lifestyle but just as many if not more, didn't choose it. A loss of their jobs, addictions, "life" issues and mental illness were some of the reasons. 

We had time to pray for a man that was blind and when you first approach him you may feel sorry for him but don't. We prayed for healing but we didn't see the miracle we wanted, but he did share how he sees things and how God allows him to see in different ways, how his cane helps him rely of God to lead his path. What a blessing! There were many that received prayer that day and many memories made.

Through all the praying, laughing, and some tears I hope we made an impact into someone's life. Either way, can you ever get too much compassion?

Los Angeles, CA Ministry Trip (Day One)

Let me begin saying this trip was a ground breaking trip for me.

I am not sure where to begin but I will just jump in and see where it takes us. If you read my last blog you see this could be a dangerous thing.




Venice Beach:

Our first full day in LA we went to Venice Beach. Venice Beach is always an experience! Full of interesting characters like the young man who hitchiked from Washington state and plays music on plastic containers hoping for that break of stardom, or the lady who sells braclets for a friend because she is homeless and it gives her something to do, and lets not forget the man who after gaining your attention for thirty minutes, walks on glass in thirty seconds.  A lot of music, acts, and of course "medical" marijuana for every need you could ever imagine. There is a lot of drug use, homelessness, and prostitution that seems to go on forever. One of my dreams would be to take a worship group down and just let loose for hours and prophetic paintings that bring people into the presence of God. Could you imagine having a long term place there where all you had to do was bring in the presence of God? Worship, dance, sing, paint, and much more. I can definitely see that as a "after BSSM" ministry calling for some of our students.

The beach, the skate park, and the walkway, haring God's love, giving our version of "Spiritual readings" and drawing prophetic art. Mostly we talked with individuals and shared what God would put on our hearts for them, you could tell some were just hungry for conversation.

 Bonnie Brae House:

We were then able to go to the Bonnie Brae house where the Azusa Street revival began. The tour took all but 5 minutes because the house but so small but you could feel the presence of God there. Some collected in the back bedroom and began singing hymns and familiar songs. I chose to lie in the main area's floor and soak up the sweet presence there. At one moment I could just take myself into the midst of the revival and hear the singing and praising of miracles. This prompted me to open my eyes and see what they saw from the floor and all I saw was this small round vent.  For a second there I thought it was a good idea but it didnt do much for me, the vent that is. I later proceeded to the back bedroom and I laid my head up against the wall, asking myself, as though the walls were talking to me, what stories did they have to tell of the revival, the miracles, the powerful presence of God. Although my mind wondered all they could say I didn't actually hear anything. It was good while it lasted. I then found myself doing a very spiritual thing, I began sliding on the floors in my sock feet down the hallway with a few other guys. Yes! it was childlike and fun, and I throughly enjoyed it.

To be continued......

Yes you can pray for me and if you have some Ritalin, thats a possiblity too! lol

I was headed to bed around 11, then I saw something I needed to do, then it reminded me of appointment I have this morning and for some odd reason, that made me think of my strengths, so I got out my Strength Finders book and wrote down my strengths and that made me think that I haven't documented the prophetic words I have received this year so I thought my quickest way would be to take a picture of them and make it into a slide show. After that I wanted to put a copy in my journal and so I did, when I went into my journal I saw all the cartoons and colorings the kids did for me when I went to Haiti, so I took a pic of them also and began working on getting them in a frame so I would have them. When getting the frame I came across a paper that had my declarations and got on the computer to type them and ended back up on FB.

Its now 3:12am and I have to be up by 8am, Do you see a pattern here? yes I will take around the clock prayer for this, or you can slip me some Ritilan lol

I matter and I make a difference

I have a card on my wall that reminds me of this daily. I didnt use to think I mattered nor could I make a difference but I know that was a lie. So now I purposefully walk in this daily. Life does happen and can get you distracted easily. The next thing you know, you are having to get back on track. 

Ephesians 1, tells me "long before the foundations of the earth", He had us in mind. He has settled onto us as the focus of His love, as it says in the Message Bible. 

I matter because I was made out of the focus of His love. I like that!  God thought of everything! 

In verse 11 it states, It's in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. All our hopes and dreams designed in the beginning by Him. 

If I say I don't matter then I am saying what He has made, the dreams He has placed within me, doesn't matter. I want to see mine and His dreams come to fruition. 

I love the journey I am on, I get to see my dreams come true and I get to participate in making a differnce in the world around me. Each one of us matters, don't ever think you don't. Your world may be from one continent to another, or it may be the 50 feet around you. Either way you do matter and you can make a difference in that space. 

Could It Be Any Clearer?

 Working in Mental health in California, or at least Shasta County is a bit challenging. It actually has made me sad because there are no resources in this county presently for those who are truly sick. In CA when someone has mental health issues they are often defined as a "5150". Just four numbers and you can be labled for the rest of your life. It can affect your job, your identity, and future decisions. It will be in the "system" wherever you go. 


What if your past, the times you have made an impulsive decision,  made some poor choices or just went through a difficult time in your life, and it was there to always remind you. 


In my past I had a period of time that was very difficult for me to get through. But I made it and I used it to help others. I look back on that time now and I am so glad for the grace of God and the love of my children. 


What if God labled you? Never forgot your mistakes? Never forgave you? That is what some of us walk in when we think we have to ask Christ to forgive us of our sins. Christ died for our sins, all of them!


I recently heard a teaching by Seth Dahl of how he would go through every night asking God to forgive every sin he committed that day. The realization, what if you forgot one? And because of that you would end of in hell instead of heaven?  Christ forgave all your sins, not just the ones you confessed. 


 Romans 6:6- 11 The Message Bible:
"Could it be any clearer? Our old way of life was nailed to the cross with Christ, a decisive end to that sin-miserable life—no longer at sin's every beck and call! What we believe is this: If we get included in Christ's sin-conquering death, we also get included in his life-saving resurrection. We know that when Jesus was raised from the dead it was a signal of the end of death-as-the-end. Never again will death have the last word. When Jesus died, he took sin down with him, but alive he brings God down to us. From now on, think of it this way: Sin speaks a dead language that means nothing to you; God speaks your mother tongue, and you hang on every word. You are dead to sin and alive to God. That's what Jesus did."


I love the Message Bible, how clearer could it be?  Patricia