Students Serve the Poor in L.A.

Page Photo It typically takes months to plan a missions trip. We were slated to take students to Ensenada, Mexico to work with orphans over spring break. Three weeks before we were ready to go, violence broke out on the borders. It was no longer safe for Americans to travel to Mexico.

So, we had to change our plans. The Lord was up to something. We just didn’t realize it yet. With much prayer and scrambling, we contacted some missions organizations and found ourselves preparing to go to Los Angeles to help homeless people living on Skid Row. It wasn’t what we planned, but as we would find out, it was exactly where we were supposed to be.

Taking 6 students in a packed van, we made it down to Los Angeles in 2 days. Our goal for this trip was simple, to take the students; experience a different culture and have their hearts broken for people in need.

Skid Row was unlike anything we’d ever experienced. The streets were littered with people , and the air was filled with the stench of urine and garbage. The youth were wide eyed and taken back by the extreme poverty and brokenness on people’s faces.

Monday morning we reported for duty with Set Free Ministries—an outreach to the homeless. There we met Thomas, who would be our tour guide showing us around Skid Row. He was a kind, tenderhearted man who had been an alcoholic and homeless only months before, but found a new life and beginning through the Lord and this ministry. We spent our time there serving people and handing out clothes. One day at lunch, Thomas cooked the kids hot dogs and chips. What we didn’t know at the time, was that Thomas spent all the money he had to feed the students lunch. He was so touched by their willingness to serve and he wanted to serve them in return.

I waited until the end of the day to share this with the students. Their reactions were interesting. They couldn’t comprehend why someone would give all they had for someone else. They felt guilty, ashamed and just deeply bothered. No one had ever done something like this for them.

We later found out that Thomas’ bible had been stolen. Once we heard this, all of the students wanted to go out and buy him a new one. We spent the afternoon one day looking for a Bible until we found just the right one. All of the students signed the inside and we went back to Skid Row looking for Thomas.

When we finally found him, it was a beautiful reunion. He was so excited to see us and when the youth handed him a new Bible, he was speechless. Holding back the tears, he told them how he had been praying that morning for a new Bible. He told the students that they were an answer to prayer. Then, Thomas embraced us, with a heart filled with thankfulness.

Youth aren’t used to being called “answers to prayer.” This was just one story of many about how the Lord changed the hearts of a small group of students over spring break in one of the most unlikely places. They walked away realizing that there is more in this world being self serving. Their hearts were broken for people in need. This trip would forever change them.