LA Recap

Well, we're back from our youth trip to LA and it was great! I'm tired after having slept on the floor of a church for the past five nights and driving over 1,000 miles in Southern California. Before we left on the trip we wrote letters to ourselves and then opened them on the day that we left for come home.

I was amazed at how most of my expectations and hopes were met. In my note dated April 10th, I wrote, "I hope that as a result of this experience I will be less judgmental of other traditions and that I will appreciate some of the differences there are in the church. I hope that we will alll see the church as being made up of various parts - all glorifying God and presenting the Gospel of Christ accurately and faithfully."

That pretty much is what happened. One student commented that he appreciated the differences that we saw at the churches we visited, however he did have his own preference for worshiping and it wasn't necessarily any of the ones that we visited.

This picture at the right is the Mayan theater in downtown LA. This is not a concert but the stage for Mosaic's Sunday evening service. This church seems to reach out to young (20's - 30's) professionals. We saw a wide range of worship expressions (dance, singing, testimonies) and heard testimonies from people who had been transformed by Jesus Christ and were living changed lives. These people would probably not have gone to a traditional church and I saw how this church was used to bring people to Christ. This was one of the two places that I anticipated I would be judgmental towards. I really enjoyed the experience but like the high school student I mentioned earlier, I probably not regularly attend here.

The other place where I felt I would be challenged was Saddleback. When people talk about their church grounds, they sometimes call it their "campus." Well, Saddleback is truly a campus. It was huge and felt like a theme park minus the rides. One person commented that it felt like they were trying to create a village-like atmosphere. I would agree. We noticed that even the stones had music coming from them; but of course, they were outdoor speakers.

Saturday night ate at Saddleback - yes, we ate at one of the eateries they have on campus - and attended their high school worship service. There were students to greet us at the door when we came in. They handed us pens and an outline of the teaching that we would be hearing that night. The worship band was student led and very good. Students also ran the cameras, lights and sound for the service. Throughout the service they had videos to advertise upcoming events and interviews with their student interns. The guest speaker that night was Doug Fields, their former youth pastor. He's still on staff and disciples a group of freshmen boys during the week. Our kids were excited to hear Doug as we had just completed a series on sex and dating that Doug had produced through Youth Specialties Ministry.

The message was that night was clear and biblically strong. For some reason I thought that things would be somewhat Christian-lite. I guess that was part of my judgmental-ism coming out. However it was great. The picture above is the outside of the youth building. They call it 'The Refinery.' In the front is a sand volleyball court. Out back is a skate park and an outdoor restaurant. Inside is a deli and a coffee shop. There is also a half-court basketball set-up and a video arcade room upstairs.

We did get to eat at the Original Tommy's at Beverly and Rampart. Some kids liked it while others did not. I guess it's like the different churches we visited. Afterwards we went to Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood. The kids got to see the famous footprints as well as the freaks that frequent Hollywood Blvd. We then went up to the Griffith Park Observatory for a couple of hours. On Monday we went to Dodger Stadium and saw the Dodgers beat the Braves 4-2. I think Kaylene is now a Dodger fan. Now I don't have to celebrate alone.

Surprisingly, I was most affected when we went down to Skid Row to partipate with a ministry that has karaoke night every Wednesday. Driving east on 6th St. from the Harbor Freeway, we quickly left the highrise buildings and ended in a section of town that had literally hundreds of people living on the streets. I've seen the homeless in the Tenderloin of San Francisco and the homeless in downtown Fresno, but the scale of homelessness was almost overwhelming. I think this is because people are drawn to LA for a chance of fame or success. The weather is not harsh as well and these things contribute to the number of homeless people in LA. There were also more women and children than I have seen in other areas. On side streets, the more fortunate had cars to sleep in. Most were on the streets however. The karaoke night was fun and the people that participated had one night in which they could escape the harsh reality of living on the streets of Los Angeles. They had a prayer room set up in which people could share prayer requests and praises.

I think it will take a couple of days to see what kind of impact this trip will have on me as well as the kids. In the meantime I'll try to keep this blog going from time to time with thoughts and views on what's happening. Thanks for your prayers for us. It will be interesting to see what the students get out this.