Families On Mission

In Los Angeles, the poor and the rich live very close together. Sometimes they are only divided by a freeway, a hill or a few miles. The effect on the rich is that they do not know the poor. Stereotypes and fear seem easier than taking risks in relationship.

Earlier this month a family group came from a local church, from a well off community less than 15 miles away. Parents came with their children. Through activities designed for families to serve as a whole, members of the group, from ages 7 to 57, encountered people in need in a whole new way.

This group’s first activity was Meet-a-Need. In small teams they walked around Broadway in downtown LA, and found someone they could help. They had five dollars to use creatively with someone they met. I don’t know exactly what was said, but I know this group was affected by the experience. These families met someone with much less money than them, but no less heart or feeling. As usually happens with our groups that come from all over, the visitors end up learning much more than they teach.

Less than two weeks after this group left, we received an update from one mother on this local, family trip. She said it was too soon that weekend for her to see what her seven year-old son had learned. She wanted us to know the impact the weekend trip had on her and her son.

The weekend following her CSM trip in LA, Belinda was visiting San Francisco with her family. While relaxing outside of a museum in a downtown SF park, she and her son saw a man who looked confused. Despite freezing rain that morning, the man had apparently been wading in the fountain, because his pants were wet up to his knees. As he wandered around and then headed back into the fountain, a security guard started yelling loudly at him that he could not collect coins. Belinda’s son turned to his mom and remarked, "I think if this man and the policeman could just talk they would understand each other better."

Belinda wrote to us that she could tell in that one reaction that her son truly saw the fountain wader as a man with needs. He saw him as a human being, not as a nuisance or a sub-human.
I believe that Belinda’s effort to take her son and her whole family to serve in Los Angeles was a powerful example. Her son learned as much from her model as from the lessons of our CSM trip.

CSM’s lofty mission is to transform people and churches and so honor Christ. Encountering those in need is a powerfully transforming act as we see that we all have needs. Maybe if we just talk to people we will understand each other better.
[Reflection by Rachel Hamilton CSM-LA Director. I was blessed to host their group.]

Needle In A Haystack & Magnetic Prayer

Los Angeles County has an estimated 91,000 homeless. Orange County—a bordering, affluent county—has an even higher percentage of homeless. As I pray to not be overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of poverty in my community, I have sought to embrace Mother Teresa’s wisdom: "I never look at the masses as my responsibility. I look only at the individual. I can love only one person at a time. I can feed only one person at a time. Just one, one, one."

A local Orange County youth group recently came on their annual CSM-LA weekend trip. One
morning, in seeking to live out Mother Teresa's wisdom, they were given a few dollars to take a homeless person out for breakfast. Christie and her son were with the group who enjoyed a scrumptious Irish meal (McDonalds) with Charles. Charles was an older man who was dressed in ratty clothes and female flip flops that were half his foot-size. After breakfast, Christie helped Charles pick out an entire new wardrobe from clothes collected at her church.

But the thought of Charles’ sandals never left her mind. She cried out to God for him all weekend. When her group left on Sunday, Christie told me that she was going to collect shoes and socks (which are like gold to the homeless) from her friends. Three days later, Christie and her sister loaded their Expedition up with the donations, and made their way back to downtown LA. She called me to ask for directions and to tell me that she had been praying all week for God to help her find Charles. I was touched by her act of compassion, but realized that finding Charles within downtown’s sea of homeless people was like searching for a needle in a haystack.

As Christie exited the freeway and began entering downtown, she saw a homeless man standing by the traffic light. At first she thought he was barefoot, but as she drove closer she quickly realized that this man was wearing size six female flip-flops! Charles was given new socks and shoes; Christie and her sister were blessed to eat another meal with Charles; and I learned a valuable lesson in the power of prayer.

Compassionate Listening

What was the most compassionate thing anyone has ever done for you? The most compassionate times in my life have involved friends staying by my side when I have been heartbroken. I cannot recall any of their advice or sympathy cards. Their presence and listening ears are all I remember.

Here in Los Angeles, there are many people talking about the poor; however, there are few people talking to the poor. Youth groups that come on CSM trips typically have an opportunity to get to know some of the homeless by name. Some groups invite the poor to lunch, others hand out socks and blankets. These are small acts. But they are small acts done with great love!

And this compassionate love is what the poor remember. Last week, Nina, a homeless woman, approached my group and asked, "Are you guys the ones who come to listen to people?" Her comment made me cry. I am so happy that CSM groups are known for their listening ears. When the poor are ignored all day long by passersby, perhaps sitting down and hearing their stories is the most compassionate act we can do. May we continue to be known for small acts done with great love!