Friends and Family, Wow, it has been a while since I updated this blog and what a year it has been thusfar!! I could spend hours telling you story after story about the children at Central City Community Outreach and the student athlete lives the Lord has been touching through Athletes in Action but I believe telling you all about this past month of June might be the best way to sum it all up!
Urban Project-Los Angeles…
Since 2000 Athletes in Action has hosted the Urban Project- Los Angeles in the heart of LA with the vision to teach, train, and equip college student-athletes to engage with and invest in God’s heart for the poor, culture, diversity and holistic community development. In order to practice what they are learning, the student athletes serve at five ministry sites across the city. As the UPLA ministry site coordinator I had the blessing of supervising these sites and hearing firsthand the praises from the staff at each site. Here is a little break down of where our students served:
-Compton Salvation Army: A beacon of hope in a struggling city, this community center aims to re-establish the basic fundamental principles of fellowship, family and discipleship and encouragement through an after school tutoring program, summer child care, basketball leagues, a weight room and worship services. This summer, our students helped the Compton staff finish a recording studio that will be a huge ministry tool for the youth in the community. Writing and producing music is of huge interest to the kids= great tool of expression and empowerment! One of our AIA student-athletes wrote, “While being at Compton, we have had many opportunities to share the love of God and our faith in Jesus with the children. We have already had four children choose to accept Christ in their hearts.” Please be praying for these children!!
-Ramona Gardens: A new ministry site of the Urban Project Los Angeles, Ramona Gardens is a predominantly Hispanic housing project in east LA that struggles with gang activity and violence. Our students arrived with humble “we will help however we can” attitidues and left more blessed than they could have ever imagined. When I went to Ramona for a site visit, the site staff sang the praises of the students; “they were different from every other group,” and how it was very evident that they had a different Spirit about them- it was beautiful to say the least! Please pray for gang peace in this community and that God would continue to raise up leaders from Ramona Gardens.
-Nickerson Gardens: Nicks is the largest government funded housing project west of the Mississippi River. Considered the most violent, drug infested and crime riddled neighborhood in the country, the children have seen and experienced more than one could ever imagine. Through the common language of sports, however, the differences between the students and kids became invisible and bonds were quickly formed. Our student athletes left with Nickerson forever a part of their hearts. Please keep praying for peace among the gangs and protection over the children.
-Faith in Christ: FIC is not only a church but “a ministry in the heart of the city with a heart for the city,” as their motto reads. It has been my honor to be connected with FIC for the past three years and see the Lord provide for the tireless work of Pastor Joe and Gwen Brown. Challenged with a wide variety of tasks this summer, our students went into FIC with servant hearts. According to the students, the highlight for them was assisting in leading the Vacation Bible School programs! Please keep praying that the Lord would provide for the ministry at FIC and continue to strengthen those who tirelessly serve there.
LAST BUT NOT LEAST… what has been going on at Central City Community Outreach
I won’t break this one down too much because this entire blog is about Central City BUT I did want to share about the impact the student-athletes had after working with our kids for the month of June. Aside from the amazing job the students did with homework help and building relationships with the kids, the AIA group organized and executed a bible study titled “Who in the World is God.” Each day the kids traveled to a different country and learned about a new facet of God’s character…God is your Creator, Savior, Father, etc. Each “topic” was then followed by learning a relevant song and small group breakouts to discuss an applicable bible story and what this meant individually for the kids. Our kids learned SOO much about God that week and are still singing the songs and asking questions like “OK, I get that God loves us but then why did He kill His son.” Please keep praying that the Lord would captivate the hearts of all our kids.
In the end, Jesus is all we really need. Thank you Lord for being more than enough!
No comments:
Post a Comment