A Different Kind of Church

For a while now God has opened my eyes to the idea that The Church doesn't mean a building. I don't think I really grasped that concept until moving to LA, because when you grow up in the bible belt its hard not to relate The Church with a building...seeing as on every street there is at least one church building.
Because LA has very few buildings that are only churches (even the super fast growing church we go to here called RealityLA meets in the auditorium of a high school), God has been teaching me to be intentional about looking for The Church in places I may have never thought to look. This thought challenged me to find "church" in three places out side of the regular building and this is what I've found.


1. An organization called Central City Community Outreach every Wednesday gives the residents of Skid Row their moment to shine. Skid Row contains the largest population of homeless people in the United States, up to nearly 7,000 people in a five block by five block radius are literally homeless, and each Wednesday a handful of these folks get to drink coffee, dance till they cant dance any more, and sing their hearts out. As you could imagine there are not many forms of entertainment for our homeless brothers and sisters so Tony and his wife decided to open up the doors to the community to give people a moment to be a star. Music varies from old crowd favorites, R&B, and even Coldplay. Not only are these people having a blast but there are so many phenomenal voices! American Idol should think about doing a round of auditions here next year! In a place like skid row its easy to only see the dark, to walk through and never see a glimpse of good, but  every Wednesday night God is bursting out of this place, showing Himself in the form of beautiful voices, genuine joy, and real fellowship. Praise goes out to intentional community, smiles reflecting the heart of Jesus, and getting to be a star!

2. The second place God has showed me Church has been for sure where I least expected it. For the past three weeks I have had the privilege of taking students to an elderly rehabilitation center called Vernon Convalescent Home. Vernon is a place where the elderly who have had some sort of medical problem can go live and recover, or receive the proper care that is needed for them to heal. 

I have always been super nervous when it comes to spending time with the elderly...I'm aware that this probably makes me a bad person, but I'm just being honest. I get scared and just feel uncomfortable. But God is so much bigger then my fears and rose to my challenge for Him to present himself in this place. Each time I have gone I have gotten to sit in on a worship service that is done every Monday at 11. A wonderful lady named Ms. Pattie comes and places the piano and leads a group of about ten women in old hymns. Not only do I get to be blessed by their genuine worship lifting of their voices in strength before our Lord, but there is also a testimony time where they all share how God has loved them that week. This past week a lady named Mattie shared that she was born in 1912 (which makes her 100 for all you math stars out there) and that she was so thankful to wake up, but that she can not wait to meet Jesus face to face and bow at his feet. Praise goes out to getting wisdom from new sisters, overcoming fear, and authentic worship. 

                                          

3. I have gotten the awesome opportunity to work at a not so official ministry site with my past few CSM groups. Each afternoon we go to a large community called Wyvernwood in East LA. It is a neighborhood that is in an area of LA that has more gang activity then your typical community. Not only do they have more gang activity but they also have more kids then they average neighborhood. Up to 2,000 Latino kids live in this community of small town house style apartments, with up to four families living together in some cases. The best way kids stay out of getting involved with gangs is after school activities and so its a great way for us to plug into this community by having something for the children here to do when they get off the bus. We play soccer, duck duck goose, color with chalk, do arts and crafts, teach bible stories, and be kids! Most of these kids will be forced to grow up pretty fast, I hang out with a group of 9 to 11 year old boys who use the F word like its their job, so we try and offer them a two to three hour period of their day where they can just be kids. Each time we close our time in the afternoons we all join hands and make a circle and kids share what they are thankful for. (thanks Sifat for this great idea) At the beginning of my time with these kids they told me they were thankful for things like toilets, food, soccer, and underwear...which yes, are all great things to be thankful for... However. yesterday a small boy raised his hand and said he was thankful for his generation... Praise goes out to having log roll races down a hill, laying in the grass looking at the sky talking about air planes, and hearing the thankful hearts of a generation that will undoubtedly change our world.

"Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit."

Ephesians 2:19-22