A Week in the City

I have never been to Los Angeles before or even Cali for that matter. This past week I spent a week of training with World Impact Ministries experiencing the dynamic, diverse, and interesting city that LA is. I will tell the story of my experience through a few pictures I took.

They do not have trees like this in the midwest. I remember when I was looking at colleges I wanted to go to a school with a different culture, food, people, and different trees than what I was use to in the midwest. LA has many many things that run contrast to the environment but one thing that sticks out more than others is the unique trees amongst a very urban environment.

I learned and played more card games in my 6 days in LA than my entire life combined. Euchre, hearts, kemps, and dirty pirate hooker to name a few.

So many hours spent in a car ride waiting on traffic or lost. I was cramped, hot, and car sick a lot this week.

We spent 3 days of our trip at a park in South Central playing sports with kids, doing arts and crafts, and telling them about Jesus. I was in a my first and hopefully my LAST Bible drama. The kids were precious and such a joy to be around. They climbed all over us and begged us to throw them in the air. Often their parents would sip "kool aid" on a bench or drop them off and not even be to concerned for there where abouts or how high these crazy white kids were throwing their kids in the air. I buried a couple needles with my foot into the ground that we played soccer in while stray dogs, drunk people, and homeless people slept in the park. The dynamics and contradictions were extremely interesting.

Amongst all that was so disconcerting was such hope, joy, and potential in all of the kids we were given the blessing and honor to hang out with.