I'm feelin' a bit ANTsy

Hi friends, glad to see you could make it back to read about another great experience that I have had here in LA...

It started off just as normal as any other day. The usual: wake up, breakfast, make fun of the way Kelsey looks in the morning, etc. We were expected to have a meeting with Ken and Bob around 10:30 this morning. They had quite the time with LA traffic so they didn't make it to the Church until about 11:30 or so. That was completely fine, because some of the guys that stay here at the church were watching a great "wake up and embrace the day" movie...Death Race. So I of course joined in the viewing party and lounged on the sofa. About 20 minutes in, I started itching in various places of my body. Some on my neck, a few places on my back under my shirt, my upper leg. I didn't think twice about it, just scratching a bit, until I prop my feet up and turn on my side. At this moment, my life flashed before my eyes. As I looked out in front of my face, I saw a winding river of blackness. My body froze as I realized what exactly was going on. The pieces of the puzzle was coming together now. I was itching so much because I was laying upon a sea of little black ants, or as I like to call them, Monomorium minimum.

You see, here in Southern California, these little guys are EVERYWHERE. As a matter of fact, I just now found one crawling on my foot...I dunno what it is about this place. So as I lay there for the eternity of 2 seconds, I wonder where else these little guys are venturing on my body...little did I know what awaited me. I jump up and start brushing my body off in a flailing fit in between the audience of the movie and the television screen. So there, 4 other guys watched in awe with blank stares of confusion on their faces while I ran about convulsing across the room. Eventually Josh cautiously asked "what are you doing" and that is when I explained the situation at hand.

Moving on, I sit here constantly scratching every little itch or tingle that I feel while writing this. I am sure those of you reading find yourself doing the same. Aaanywaaay...Bob and Ken walked through the door and we assembled the team. Today's meeting was a bit different than usual. Not only did we direct the point of conversation towards the biblical evidence of the qualifications needed to enter heaven's gates, but an older Swedish gentleman named Bennett walked into the room yelling something about a bake sale. You see, Bennett has been a member at the Church on Pearl since "ninteen seventy-four". He speaks with a strong Swedish accent and is not the quietest speaker by any means. After a short confusion of the bake sale and his visit, we found out (thanks to Bob who was the only one not shocked enough to speak) that the church had actually posted on bulletin an advertisement for a bake sale this morning. Un-luckily for Bennett and the whole city of Santa Monica, there would be no bake sale taking place this at the Pearl. With some short dialouge with the very social Swed, he asked the question "how does one become a missionary". This is when stuff 'got deep'. He of course was referring to us, a group of missionaries that has traveled across the nation to love the people of LA. But what he soon found out is that one can be a missionary, right in your own community. I know this sounds a little juvenile, but I think we sometimes tend to forget that simple fact. Sometimes we focus too much on the people around the world that need to hear about Christ's love, and we forget and overlook those people with the same need right infront of our very eyes. I'll let you chew on that for a bit.

After the meeting we said goodbye and were off to a late lunch and a couple hours on the field. Thomas and Luke had some good quality conversation with Kung Fu Tony and found out that his son is actually a Christian. Cool huh? We'll be praying that God will show the guys a clear 'next step' with Tony and the many other contacts they've made in Venice Beach.

Josh and I had some quiet time at a local coffee shop and ran into Ian, the guy from the Crusades group out here. It was nice to see him again and I am excited to continue our relationship with him and the many other friendly people we met last night at their meeting. We are supposed to be meeting with Jeff soon for our first church service, but he hasn't returned Josh's email. I think I can speak for Josh and I when I say that we are getting pretty excited about what God has in store for this. I hope he responds soon so that we can further our relationship with him and maybe have something to pass on to the permanent church planters here.

Storm and Kelsey spent the day at the beach with Anuhaya, a girl they were introduced to. I won't go into details about that, but instead leave that for Kelsey and Storm to discuss on the appropriate blog days. I can say though that she was interested in the idea of a bible study sometime in the near future. Just pray that God be will be working in her life and preparing her and the girls for what is to come.

Tonight was capped off with some group bonding time and a little bit more "counseling" as we tried to come up with some solutions to the problems we discussed last night about the team dynamics. So what did we do you ask? A 1 a.m. run to Wendy's to stuff our faces with hundreds of calories before coming back and crawling in bed. What can be more physcially and emotionally healthy than that? I recommend trying that sometime if you don't do that on a regular basis. I'm pretty sure Dr. Phil endorses it.

So as I think about the great sleep I'm gonna get tonight, I want to leave you with a few things to pray for.

1. Tomorrow, Josh and I are going out to the coffee shops and I am going to be manning the sign that Josh handled last week. Pray that God gives me comfort and wisdom during this. I am pretty nervous and I am trying to just rely on Him and trust Him to speak through me. Also just pray for some good opportunities and conversation with the people we come in contact with.
2. Pray for each group's patience and encouragement. As we watch time fly by, we are trying to figure out how to tie the loose ends and have something to pass on once we leave LA. Pray that we can just trust God with this and have faith that he will take care of everything as he always does.
3. Our team dynamics. This is a great team of people that I love very much. I couldn't have picked a better group myself and I know God has put us all together here for a purpose. Just pray that we will embrace these 3 weeks that we have here together and to keep each other in good spirits.

Thank you all ONCE AGAIN for everything. Your prayers and support mean so much to us.

Until next Tuesday, stay safe and keep your bug spray at hand.
God Bless,
Bruce