Day 3 - Wednesday - DEMOLITION DAY!!!
“Sunshine Thrift Store”
Our task for the day: to demolish an old storage room to expand their new storage room. Let me just tell you, that was the best day ever! We had too much fun demolishing the room and hacking away at the walls to get rid of the old plaster and the wood panels underneath. Now, I know how they demolish houses like in the show, Extreme Makeover – Home Edition! Cat, Nathan, and I dismantled this huge dresser that they had in there with our hammers. I never realized how much fun construction (well, in this case, deconstruction) could be. We were sweating! I’ve never perspired like that in my entire life, even when I go to the gym to work out – that does not even compare to the amount of sweating I did on demolition day. My jeans were soaked. You could have wringed it and come up with a bucket-full of sweat. Okay, so maybe that was an exaggeration, but it’s pretty close. There were plaster dust flying all over and place, and so much hammering and hacking away on the walls. Some people were dismantling the ceiling. It was great! That was pretty much what we did the whole morning, and we nearly finished clearing up that old storage room so they could knock down the walls for expansion.
“Tour of South Central Los Angeles”
We drove around South Central L.A. to see how things are in that community. It wasn’t quite as desolate as I had imagined it would be. You didn’t see too many people outside walking around however. And you can just sense that there is still fear lingering around, what with all the drive-by shooting and just random acts of violence happening there pretty much on a daily-basis. What struck most of us was that, just a few minutes down the street, you’ll see the skyline of downtown Los Angeles, where the businesses, the financial centre of the city, are located. Nice, shiny buildings not too far from South Central L.A. The poor side and the thriving side all down one street. Makes one wonder why that is. I prayed as we were driving through the streets. Couldn’t help but pray for the people in that community.
Amidst the demolition and the desolation of South Central, we could see God’s glory, definitely in the fun that we had during demolition, and feeling God’s love for the people of L.A. as we drove through South Central. They are in deep need of Jesus. We need to let them know about the love of God, and that it is easily available to them, all they have to do is accept that gift.
That was my last day in Hollywood. I didn’t want to leave but I had to because of a prior obligation. But I will never forget my experience serving God in that area in Hollywood, and I couldn’t have asked for a better group of people to serve with. Everyone stepped up and used the different gifts that God has given them.
OTHER HIGHLIGHTS:
- Some of the girls swinging like monkeys on the ropes that they had in the gym adjacent to the rooms where we stayed in. Ooooh, the burn! But the gals had fun.
- Scrabble time! Haha I kicked butt! Right Jer? Hehehe
- Katzy and Norlyn’s crazy-awesome experience during Thursday’s Prayer walk. They have to tell you that story one of these days, with the Palm Reader place and the hair salon guy. You can totally tell God’s hand all over that piece! Jesus loves His people!!!
- April and Jeremy’s experience when they went to feed the homeless on 3rd Street (the Promenade) in Santa Monica. They’re not so scary, as Nate had simply put it.
- Cooking for the team. I was blessed by the fact that I was able to serve the team in this way. I had no idea that I was going to be able to wake up at 5:30 in the morning daily to cook for these guys. But I was very glad to do it, and was glad that April and Cat were there with me. We ruled in the kitchen! Cat even ate my spaghetti, and this girl doesn’t eat red (marinara) sauce with her spaghetti! (Yeah, I have to brag about that one, just this once – hehe).
Soli Deo Gloria!
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