A Little Southern in LA...

Well, we got into LA today and I cannot express in words how amazing it has been already. Most of our team has been quite anxious and nervous about what we're actually going to be doing, but truth be told...it's all up in the air. We were set at ease when we were told we could do no wrong and that any efforts here would be appreciated at all. More on that later...but for now, let's update ya'll on the people here.

We're definitely in LA haha! I got on the plane from Ohio to here, and every single person in First Class was on their blackberry, doing last minute emails and talking. They ALL had blackberries too by the way. It makes my flip phone look pretty retro! When we landed in LA we were greeted by the Director of Missions, Ted Knapp, his wife Kerrie, and a pastor D.D. They may be some of the nicest people I've ever met. In talking with them, they feel like we're truly a God-send and have made us feel like we've been a part of their ministry for years. It's been completely welcoming!! 

I did however make my first Southerner mistake already at dinner...I said "sir." Apparently in LA, no one ever responds with a "yes sir/mam" "no sir/mam." Instead, it is always a ''uh huh'' or "yeah" or "no". While I was sure that my mother would hate Ted for telling me to drop those habits of southern politeness, deep down I was excited because I felt like a rebel!! When I was just losing my southern roots and politeness I was comforted by D.D. For the first time on our trip and in thinking about this trip, I realized I'm out of the south, which means no more sweet tea. Our team began to discuss this when the waiter mentioned we could add fruit flavors to the tea, but still...we knew it wouldn't suffice for some good 'ole sweet tea. But, I'm guessing D.D. could pick up on this. He said "Oh no. I make the best sweet tea ever. Come on out to the hood, we'll treat ya right. Black eyed peas, barbeque ribs. We'll do it up for you!" So, it's comforting...I'm still not too far from some good country cooking and a big glass of sweet tea. I just have to go to the 'ghetto' to get it haha!

After being picked up at LAX and eating dinner at California Pizza, we then headed to the church we're staying at here in LA. We were greeted by more warm faces and friendly people. The Hispanic Church Planter, Esau and his family were here to greet us. They're our neighbors here on the church grounds. It's Esau, his wife and three boys. They'll be the ones providing our food in the morning and at night, and from what we were...it is going to be some delish food! On the other side of our building is a couple of young guys who live on the grounds and help out around the church in any way possible! 

Its been amazing so far and the team has definitely felt welcomed. It's been awesome to see how the Lord is already at work too!

Let me explain. We'll be working in Santa Monica, Venice, and West LA areas. These three areas of LA will be where we put all of our ministry efforts. When Luke and I asked the Director of Missions with the association we're working with about the previous efforts we got this: failure. So far, to our understanding, any church planting efforts that have been started here in these three areas have all failed. One of the biggest issues for this area is money. One of the churches that is on their feet in this area pays $16,000 a month to rent their building, and have to pay $6 a car that parks there for parking! Apparently, all sorts of experts and church planting pros from across the country have been in these areas to do work, and all of them have brought hundreds of thousands of dollars, and still...nothing has worked. 

When Luke and I shared our conversation about this area with the team, a sense of peace came on us. It may be weird, but for some reason we're all relieved in knowing that they don't really expect anything other than that we do what the Lord puts before us. I say 'anything other than' as if it were a small task, but it is comforting knowing that our focus and the people out here and their focus is solely doing what the Lord puts before us. The Director of Missions, Ted, proceeded to tell us that he really truly felt like our team of 6 college students was a God-send and that we were what they've been waiting and praying for. They've been doing prayer walking for the past couple of weeks in the 3 areas we'll be working with. It's so awesome to see that the Lord is blessing this trip already. Again, I see an importance of prayer. A team of about 30 people have already been cultivating the grounds out here with their prayers, and praying that the Spirit would do awesome things. 

It's midnight here in LA, 3 am in NC and I cannot express how excited I am...at least not in words that would make sense at this hour of the night. But, know this fellow readers of the blog...our team greatly appreciates what the Lord is doing and what He is using you, our supporters, for. Please continue to be in prayer for us as we continue to see how the Lord is working. 

Here's a list off the top of my head of stuff to start praying for:

1 - Humility: If even the professional church planters can throw thousands of dollars and tons of time in this area, and not accomplish much...how can we, 6 ASU college students, do much? May the Lord bless us with His Spirit in ways that only HE can!

2 - Santa Monica/West LA/Venice: These are the three areas we'll be working in. Pray that the Lord would spread His Spirit and begin to open up opportunities for us! 

3 - Strength: We got in LA and were immediately overwhelmed with info, excitement, the Lord, and so many other things. These next few days will be about training, adjusting to LA and the surrounding areas, and getting ready to start going out. So, pray that we'll have continued strength to make it through the next 8 weeks without being too overwhelmed mentally, spiritually, physically or emotionally.

Thanks again to you reading and supporting our team through updates. As another BLOG update for ya'll (I had to throw something Southern in there!) each of the teammates will be alternating days to write here. So, the schedule looks like this

Mondays - Josh Littlejohn

Tuesdays - Bruce Bentley

Wednesdays - Storm Stuart

Thursdays - OFF DAY

Fridays - Kelsey Morris

Saturdays - Thomas Chavez

Sundays - Luke Summey