Within the same mentality of the weather, I think of my life right now. The winds are changing within my life. KW was the hot stagnant lifestyle. Nothing really happening and no adventure to be found. It was unbearable like the humidity the air and clouds bring. Here in Los Angeles, I have this new profound view of my life. Something has changed, something has refreshed me and given me energy once again.
So a quick recap of my past 2 weeks.
June 8 - arrived and got lost in East LA
June 9 - Santa Monica and Intern Dinner
June 10 - Lost in LA trying to drive friends to Amtrak, late for meeting, and went to the Grove with Lauren and Taleen (random girls)
June 11 - FIFA
June 12 - FIFA and shopping with the boys
June 13 - Happy Ending Bar for the Australia/Germany game, and experienced the Mayan
June 14 - Netherlands at 4:30am and shopping
June 15 - Went into the office, Meeting with Adrian and Ben, and MLX meeting
June 16 - Office and ServeLA meeting
June 17 - Intern Meeting, Office, Lakers Finals, Coffee with Jason
June 18 - Helped set up Baptistery and Mini putt putt with people
June 19 - Netherlands at 4:30am, YELO and Lemonade in Venice
June 20 - set-up at Whittier, lunch with Tavo and Mayan
Today, I am heading to the office in attempts to do SHTUFFF!
Thoughts:
As I have been working with and conversing with the leaders and volunteer staff at Mosaic I've begun to realize things about church. In general, church is on a downward spiral into total nothingness. Now, I know that it will never become nothing, BUT the fact of the matter is at the beginning of the church body it thriving and people knew the Christians were great people of love and honesty and dependence. However, these days there is an overcast of people who call themselves Christians, but don't know the relationship with Christ. Through this I have noticed that CHANGE has to occur. This is so the church, in essence, can stay relevant to society.
Here at Mosaic, I am an intern. Therefore, I am getting involved in many different aspects and projects the church has. One of the main opportunities Mosaic has is ServeLA. ServeLA is a social justice initiative, where they help non-profit, non-faith organizations in the city. This way they can build relationships with anyone they come in contact with, especially non-believers. This ministry has brought to light that we as Christians can NOT just throw one event for an outreach and say "Okay we did our part". We need to be outgoing to create and build relationships. There is this need for a continuous progress of relationships with our efforts. Making things a regular habit because YOU WANT TO! It's almost a mentality of networking between everyone.
We are soon going to be cleaning up Skid Row in Downtown LA. Seven thousand to eight thousand homeless people live here. It is SO dirty that the city has even stopped cleaning it up. As an initiative to help them and create some hopeful relationships we are going to clean up as much as we can and make it a regular gathering. Through that we are hoping to show and teach the people on these streets that there are others who are concerned about them. Maybe even figure out their needs and see what we can do for them. It's a great way to get involved and step outside what would be your comfort zone.
Looking at Artisans (the worship arts ministry) I see passion for change! A passion for something new and relevant to its community. The body of the church ranges from young to old, but the passion and love is there within everyone who attends. They know that God can be present and can do His will through many different acts of worship. They have dance, spoken word, dramas, solos, concerts, parties and other things that are not just revolved around singing. It's about a new mind set! I new way to get our cities to be creative and to expand our mind. For me, this just gets me riled up!
The Mayan is a night club that is turned into a Sunday night gathering. It's primarily for young adults, but we have a wide range of ages that show. It is where the Urban side of worship is displayed. It is where Church goes out to make themselves MORE accessible to non-faith people. This "show," if you will, remarkably does not feel like one. The sincerity of the people shines through! The love of the people shines through! The passion to reach out shines through! It is captivating for people to see and it has drawn people in. There are lights and cameras and a rock band and a stage and a DJ and artists and anything you can think that traditional church strives to be away from. But when the passion to see people come to Christ is so high, and continually elevates, one has to try everything he/she can to reach a hand out and hope people are listening and growing! This is how the "show" of church should be done... with love and passion!
That's all I have for now... I'll write soon!
Great to hear that you are seeing a lot and finally getting to do some stuff too!
ReplyDeleteJust yesterday I was telling Mark about how, even though we went to a Christian school, we were never taught how to serve others. Everytime we had a drive or a charity to sponsor or money to raise it was always for us (for a new roof, building a new wing, etc.). We never actually did anything for people in our community or to uplift others.