Anaheim 07

I attended the technology ministry track Sunday because I wanted be able to help with technology in my church and school. Mark, the presenter, emphasized that people need to know how to use technology in the church to make it easier for worship and messages. The one thing that surprised me was that he said that technology can be used not only for secular purposes but for edification in church services. I realize that person who are interested in technology can help out in church.

For Monday’s Tourformation experience, the six people in my group visited Skid Row. At the Union Rescue Mission Tim Peters told us to observe, smell, listen to our surroundings, talk to someone and ask them how they felt about LA. Our group went down San Pedro St., but we were told not to go through San Jacinto St.; it is one of the worst streets in LA.

As we were heading back to the Rescue Mission, we met a man on the street that said he was a James Brown impersonator. He was very upset because he believed people were hindering his career. When we asked him if he was saved, he said, “I believe in God, and I am a Christian.” Rachel Rodriguez, one of the people from our group, asked him if he was hungry and gave him a bag of food from Subway. We all prayed for him and afterward he told us, “It must have been God’s will for you to have come here and talked to me.” Before we left I encouraged him to go to church and listen to what God had to say to him.

The most difficult thing for me was seeing the homeless people in such horrible living conditions: the smell of urine in the streets, some drunk, others sleeping on the streets and others with shopping carts full of personal things. I had heard homelessness was bad, but I was not aware it was this bad. The thing I enjoyed was that I was able to tell James that Jesus loves him and was able to pray for him.

What impacted me the most about the visit was that there are people like Tim Peters who hear the call to work in a ministry, give their time and love for hopeless and homeless people. This experience changed my way of thinking on ministering. It showed me that there is hope for these homeless people and that God can do a miracle in their lives if they believe in him. God can transform lives.