I can't believe it has been 2 months since I've left..

My heart is crying out for West Oakland. One little girl, Tiara, who is 9, calls me on the phone regularly, as I call her also. I am thankful for her mother who cares about her a great deal, and also for her grandmother who takes care of her when her mother is working at the hospital. I ask her about school every time we talk, and how her friendships are going with some of the other kids I was able to spend time with this summer. She is having a hard time with another girl, Norisha, whom I built a close relationship with this summer as well. Norisha has been teasing her about her shoes, because they came from Payless. Something you will find out about West Oakland, is that there is a big focus on image, and clothing. It is more important to have the best style, nice clothes, name brands, than to take care of other basic needs. I wish it weren't that way, especially in childhood. I tell Tiara that it doesn't matter where her shoes come from, as long as she has some to wear, and same with her clothes, all that matters is that she has them. I don't want her to have to worry about what she looks like because of what others say. She is such a beautiful little girl, with a lot of joy. I feel like a Mom sometimes when I am talking with her, because I want her to succeed and be a light in West Oakland. I don't want her to lose sight of her dreams, and end up pregnant as a teenager. Perhaps I went too far, and said to her that she should not date any guys until she knows that she is ready to get married. To her it seems so far off, and she says that she doesn't even think about guys right now. I want her to know these things so far in advance that it doesn't hit her when she gets to middle and high school and then she won't know what to do. She wants me to come see her on Halloween, and I wish so badly that I could do that for her... I miss my little friends like crazy. She and I were watching the Muppets special on Disney Channel, while were on the phone, and she was so excited about it. She told me that she had been looking forward to it all week long. Oh, I remember the days, looking forward to T.G.I.F, Full House, Step by Step, all those wholesome shows. She is still living her childhood, and I want her to do so as long as she can. I told her that I want to hear about her growing up, and know how she is doing as she goes through her youth. She was excited to know that we could talk on the phone for that long, and that she might be able to come visit me someday. I desire a pure life for her, one that she can belong to God, and know how beautiful she is in His eyes. I pray that I can be in her life for as many of her days as God allows, and that I won't waste a moment of conversation that we have.

I'm not sure if this post will reach any of you, but I am so passionate about the youth of today and being a Godly, yet human influence to them. Praise God for lighting this fire within me.


Love,
Kristin

7/2/08 Update - Belated again..

There was more structure put into place for our program today and it really seemed to help. We had about the same number of kids as yesterday, but there were about five new kids who took the place of the ones who didn't come today. Which means we could have a really large group tomorrow. Yeah! The older boys are very lovable with joy in their hearts, but they put off this tough front with each other. They have street smarts and know how to protect themselves, but I want to badly for them to let their guards down. I'm going to be looking for opportunities to see what their life is really life outside this program. I hope to play football with them. The smile on Damari's face every time I threw the football to him, melted my heart. He caught it maybe one out of every ten times, but he was still smiling and so happy. Judy and Leonard weren't there today, and I hope it is not because they had to go to a shelter. Lord, help their family to build their life back up to where they once were. Provide for them, allowing them to see you working in their lives. Lord, allow me to meet these kids where they are at, as you always do with us. Help me to better understand where they are coming from. Let me love these kids without thinking about how hard it will be to leave them at the end of the summer. Show me what you want me to do with this experience. Whether it be making this my lifestyle or spending more time in the inner-city. I pray that you will have laid it on my heart by the end of my time here.

Update for 7/1/08 - Belated

So yesterday was the first day of the after school program that we're putting on for the kids in the neighborhood. We had 8 kids show up which made it fairly easy to handle since there are 7 of us and Luke. There were 5 boys and 3 girls (Jacob, Leonard, Frizzell, Trevon, Ke-Jon) and (Judy, Angel and Sherry). They were respectful to all of us and the little boys were so sweet. It was during a prayer time before snack and I was holding hands with Trevon and Eboni, and Frizzell prayed the most innocent and beautiful prayer. He mentioned that he wanted us to all be forgiven of our sins and the bad things we have done. Then, he said, I pray for all of the kids here and for the leaders - bless all of them. This was coming from a first, soon to be second grader. After the prayer was over, we all looked at each other knowing that we were blessed. How visible the Lord was in this amazing child. After everyone let go of each others hands - I noticed that Trevon (first grader) was still holding my hand and smiling up at me. I wished that I could take a picture to remember the sweet, innocent face of his. I held his hand a little while longer and moved on to snack. Overall, the day went really well and the kids really took a liking to all of us. We were hoping to get more kids the day after and guess what? The Lord provided! Our numbers doubled . We had a bunch of new boys come (Dajohn, James, Damari, Zaymon, Angel, Devaris, and Christian). Everyone from the day before had returned but Frizzell. They were excited to see us and they remembered our names! The sweet sound of children playing and screaming on the playground filled my ears. These kids finally get a chance to just be kids. Zaymon became attached to me quickly and it was so sweet. We all came inside to listen to what we were going to be doing for the day and he cuddled up next to me with his arms leaning on my knees. He trusted me and I pray that I will be able to continue building a relationship with him and the others. I gave so many hugs out to the kids today and they responded well to that love.

My prayer: Lord, you are evident here in The Center. The drop-out rate in West Oakland is about 60% which means more than half of the kids we are working with may not graduate and could end up on the streets dealing drugs. This breaks my heart! I want to take them all in and care for them and show them God's love. How much I want them to make an impact on this world and be successful. The statistics are working against them and I pray that through conversation with the kids - we can make an impact on their lives enough for them to not give up when the community is not supporting their decisions. I pray that God will give us the words that their little ears need to hear. Let us be intentional about our speech and thoughtful about that topics of conversation that we choose. I am in awe of your Lord. You are truly showing me that I have a role here in West Oakland. The fear that I had felt prior to coming was of the devil and not of you. I'm so thankful that you didn't let me give up. I am already feeling connected with members of the community and am praising your name for this experience. I never would have pictured myself here and I am in debt to you for allowing everything to fall into place. You are a beautiful God with a compassion and heart for your people.

An Update from West Oakland Inner City

... I am not actually able to update everyday anymore because I won't have internet access where I am living. However, every so often I will be able to visit Matt at his place, and this will be a time where I can fill you in on the happenings.

On Friday I got settled into Amanda's apartment and made the room I'm staying in, my own. She was so gracious to provide me with bedding, a futon to sleep on, a cabinet for my clothes, and a desk where I can do my reading and writing. I put up pictures and hung up my clothes - and soon felt at home. Shortly after, the crew from InterVarsity showed up - Eboni, Bryan, Tiera, Victor, Sylvia, and Joyce. Eboni and Victor are from Texas, while Tiera and Bryan both come from Reno, Nevada. Joyce and Sylvia are both from the bay area. Right away the InterVarsity group welcomed me in. I am the odd one out, since their rules and guidelines for their summer ministry are different than what is expected of me through WorldIMPACT. Nonetheless I can tell we're all goignn to grow a lot through this experience. The dynamic seems to be building nicely with inside jokes already making an appearance. Currently, I don't have any pictures of the group, but soon I will be getting on that and posting some for all of you to see.

The first night we had a family dinner where Tiera and Eboni made some amazing fried chicken, I made potato wedges, and Sylvia, Brian, and Joyce made the salad. What a team! We had a regular feast, and none of us were expecting it to turn out so well. The Lord provides! We were not sure how the eating situation was going to go down since each person on InterVarsity only gets $15 a week for food. We had to spend the money wisely at the grocery store, and pray that we will have enough to feed seven people three meals a day for a week. Speaking of food, we went to the restaurant a few doors down that had a grand opening yesterday, and talked with Jason and Bette (the owners) for awhile, and they appreciate what we're doing for the neighborhood. They gave us seven halves of baked whole bodied chickens, that had amazing seasonings, and also potatoes underneath them, and pineapple and peaches on top. It was soooo good. We also gratefully received a dessert from them - delicious baklava. I had never had it before, but the puff pastry on the top was mmmmmm! We definitely did not deserve any of this food, but I say it again - The Lord provides! We could hardly eat three of the half chickens between the seven of us, so we kept the others for later, so it will help us with some meals later on in the week.

I am feeling my heart being prepared for this adventure - with all of the prayer times and praise to our Lord for the people he has introduced us to thus far. I hope to become a member of this community by the end of my stint with WorldIMPACT. Together after dinner the first night we prayed over the house that InterVarsity is living in and called out any spirits that are not of the Lord. I felt like this was such a unique experience to share with these people. I was admiring the hearts and thoughts of the people I'm going to be spending the summer with. I look forward to being a part of their InterVarsity family.

Friday we also hung up fliers around the neighborhood for the after school program that we are going to be putting on for the kids in the neighborhood. On our walk, Bryan, Tiera, Luke and I met a man named Mr. Watkins who had so much to share with us. He had an organic garden that he loved to work on and he had a bit of gopher problem. He tried bombing them and that didn't work and then he bought some poisonous peanuts to put in them holes and hopefully that will do the trick. We're planning to meet up with him again and maybe help him tend to his garden if he would like that.

I must be going now though - I went to church with Matt this morning and now we're heading back to the West Oakland area so that I can spend the day with InterVarsity, and also figure out some of the logistics with Amanda on the after school program. I forgot to mention that Amanda got back from her trip yesterday so we had a great time getting groceries together and catching up when she got back. I may be able to update again on Wednesday, but until then if West Oakland crosses your mind, shoot up a prayer for the people, and the ministry that we are a part of.

YO DOG! Your breath be kickin'! - Leonard

This afternoon I met up with Luke again, and we went walking the neighborhoods to find children to hang out with for the day. Our thought for the day was to either take some kids to the beach, fly some kites with the kids, or something else fun to get the kids away from their everyday lives. Luke is friends with many of the families in the neighborhood, and knows the parents very well. We met up with two children named Judy (7) and Leonard (8). It was evident that they had grown up taking care of themselves, when I later found out that there were 11 children in their family. Their street smarts blew my mind, and the way that they talked about legal issues that their family is dealing with surprised me. They were very aware of what goes on in their neighborhood - the drugs, the violence, and the robberies - and to them, it was somewhat of a normal happening. They were not living in fear, it was more of a feeling of normalcy that I observed.

I admired Leonard and Judy's bravery, and believed that I should be taking on that feeling of fearlessness as well. The Lord is going here before me, and knows every single event and person that I am going to meet. I don't have anything that I should be fearful about, and it is so exciting to be building these relationships with people from the neighborhood.
Luke and I ended up taking the two kids to a park near San Francisco to fly kites. There were two kites - one was shaped like a monkey, and the other was more complicated. It was a special design with two handles used to guide the kite in either direction. It was very tricky to use, and Luke did a great job of teaching Judy. Here is a picture to show Judy and Luke working together to achieve a common goal of flying a kite.


We spent a great deal of time at the park, and I tried to teach Judy how to do a cartwheel, and let me tell you that it was much more difficult that I had once envisioned. I did not succeed at teaching her, but we sure had a fun time trying. We took Judy and Leonard to Kentucky Fried Chicken before dropping them off at their apartment. Which by the way is a three bedroom apartment where 16 people are living. They may be soon getting put into a shelter if the living conditions don't better themselves in the near future. I hope and pray that they will not have to be put into this situation, and I'm not really sure which situation is better for them currently. It was clear that they were not excited to go home, and that they wanted us to take them to our homes. I loved spending time with Judy and Leonard, and hope that I will get to see them again this summer.

Tomorrow morning I will be moving into my new apartment where Amanda and I will be living together for the summer. I am feeling confident going into this, and the InterVarsity crew will be coming in tomorrow morning as well. I pray that this will be a smooth transition and that we will be able to bond together quickly so that we can effectively work as a team in this ministry. I will leave you all with this picture of Luke, myself, and Judy walking in the field near the park. It is a sweet reminder to me of how quickly children can bond with someone through a day of fun and adventure.

Day One - West Oakland Inner City

Today was the beginning of my six week long adventure at World Impact. As most of you know I have been living here at Matt's place with Tony, Sarah and Lora for the past week and a half, and am moving into an apartment in West Oakland with Amanda (WorldIMPACT missionary) on Friday morning. I started volunteering today, working alongside Luke (another WorldIMPACT missionary), and also with Judy (Hendrik's wife). Luke walked with me from the center, where all of our activities will take place (bible study, VBS, clubs, etc.), to the thrift store/resource center that is owned by WorldIMPACT. On our way Luke introduced to me to a few men that he has become friends with over the time he has lived there. One man named Chico, and the other named Duncan. Both very polite, wanting to greet me with a handshake, sharing their name and asking me mine. I believed them to be kind members of the Campbell street community. After speaking with Luke further, I found out that they were both drug dealers. He also informed me that many of the men on the street corners right outside of the building that I will be living in are drug dealers. I looked out the window to witness a group of men talking, and I then wondered to myself, how would I have ever known? I didn't want to judge after I found out this information. I knew in my heart that these men had more to offer this community than drugs, and Luke had given them a chance. I wanted to be part of their community, and build meaningful relationships with others who may be involved in selling drugs or have family members who deal drugs. I feel that there are so many people who have fallen to this route of work in this neighborhood, because that is what they know. Not many are telling them that it's not okay. The Oakland Police are not doing their job, and much of the drug dealing goes unnoticed. I'm not saying that I am going to tell these drug dealers to stop, but I am going to be praying so hard during my time here that the dealers will see a better life for themselves through Christ. Drug dealing is a way of life, and as sad as it sounds, some people don't understand the repercussions of it on the community. It's an infectious cycle, where one person starts selling, and others buy, and more sell and then more buy. Children see their parents living this cycle out daily, and in turn they think that it is normal to live this way. Life can be so much more fulfilling! Pure joy and love can be found in Christ - and I pray that I can be a living example of this. I have so much to learn from this community, and I don't plan on doing a lot of talking with the people here. I believe my purpose is more to listen, and learn - and once the relationship is built I can share.

Back to the building I mentioned earlier. This building used to be home to a gambling hall, and drug house prior to WorldIMPACT purchasing it. Since the purchase a few years back, it has been turned into a thrift store for the community, and will soon be turned into a resource center for the people of the surrounding neighborhoods to find jobs, medical care, rehab, dental care, etc. In the upstairs of this building are the living quarters for the InterVarsity team that will be coming in, that consists of 7 college students. Mine and Luke's job today was to clean it up and get it ready for them when they come on Friday morning. We scrubbed floors, counters, mirrors, windows, you name it, we cleaned it. :) We stopped to have lunch and sat outside at a picnic table, talking about the ways of the West Oakland neighborhoods. I am so intrigued by the lifestyle, and want to know how it got to be the way that it is. Luke was insightful with his information, and we eventually went back to clean the living quarters some more. Afterwards we decided to do some much needed painting on the exterior of the house. It was a task that I was excited to take on - I had never really painted a house before.

Also, another first that took place was yesterday. I drove in California for the first time! Hooray! I survived, and tomorrow I will be driving on my own to the WorldIMPACT center.

If anyone is reading this - prayer and hope for a better tomorrow in this neighborhood. Also, confidence in speaking to new people in the neighborhood, and not getting discouraged by the circumstances. Allow me to see each person through the eyes of God, not my own.

Spare the Air - Free BART rides until noon!

Yesterday, I woke up and thought about how great it would be to take the BART into the city while Matt was at work. Lora, Marian, and John were around the house, and I had a hunch this would be something they may want to take part in. I went to the BART website, and lucky duck I was, I found out that they were offering free BART rides until noon! We gathered up some essentials, and drove to the MacArthur station. From here we accidently got on the wrong BART, so we eventually had to switch and head the other direction.
About a half hour later, we ended up in San Fran. We got off at the Embarcadero stop and started walking past all of the piers until we hit pier 39 (1.3 miles). At pier 39 is where the fun begins. We decided to eat at the Boudin bakery - known for delicious Sourdough bread, that can only be made by the San Francisco bay because of the special sea air. Also, we walked around the boardwalk area, and saw a silly sea lion, pictured above.

We then walked to China Town and experienced the sights and sounds of the Chinese people selling goods, and providing services to those who were passersby. We purchased some Chinese candy, and took some pictures on John's camera of us standing in front of hanging greasy ducks. It was somewhat disturbing, but very cultural. :) I don't know what many of the foods were that I examined, but I am certain that I saw some preserved duck eggs, boiled chicken feet, rice goo with dried shrimp (just sitting out in the sun, mind you), and candy that looked like a small sausage, just to name a few. Every time I visit, I gain an appreciation for the Chinese people's taste. I suppose there are some strange things that Americans eat, such as pork rinds (not me), and... I can't think of others at the moment because I'm jaded by what I've been eating for the past 22 years.

Speaking of years.. Matt is going to be 24 on Sunday, so there will definitely be more pictures to come my friends. There is also other news that I will share on a later day that effects where Matt and I will be living when we get married. More details to come..