Hey Everyone!

This weekend has been a real blessing hanging out with brothers & sisters of Christ and just seeing what God is doing in this world. As some of you know, last Friday, I went up to San Francisco for the iHeart ministry with the goals of going forth to meet some homeless folks and fellow shipping with fellow brother & sister in Christ. I honestly had no idea of what to expect since this is my first time doing outreach to the homeless or any similar outreach due to the fact that I haven't done any missions in the past, however, going into this by preparing our hearts with prayers and totally just letting God do his work in us to ask us for protection, compassion, mercy, and just a heart of patience, we left good ol' Santa Clara and embarked to SOMA SF.

As we headed up to San Francisco, I felt a sense of joy and excitement, which surprised me since prior to the prayer, I felt a bit anxious. They prayer prior to us journeying up to SF really quieted my soul. It also helped that I knew I had Andrew and Tiffany to watch my back. Andrew, who is battle tested in these type of things and Tiffany, who I can see as a person who has a heart and wisdom of the Word that made me feel that good things will happen. As we made it up to SF and parked on 6th/Mission, we made our way around the streets and just immersed within the neighborhood. To get a feel of what it was like hanging out in places slightly dilapidated and not what I'm used it. It actually reminded me a bit like some parts of Berkeley where it had it's own culture. In total we met Judy, Jim, Deon, and Deena (sp?), however I'm going to cut it a bit short and just talk about Judy who was the first homeless lady we met. It was totally God's blessing that we met her first in our encounters and that she had such a gentle heart that moved me in ways I never thought I would be moved.

Going into a donuts & coffee shop to get change / break our $20, we met a elderly lady who was ordering a cup of noodles. She was paying for dinner as Andrew approached her to inquire about her favorite donut and what is good around here. We found out that she liked danishes and offered her with coffee. Accepting, we ended up sitting down together and sharing stories. I heard about a tale about the Vietnam War and a lost love. Having to raise a daughter all on your own because the husband ended up with amnesia and later one where she eventually lost her memory. A tale of broken relationships but hope for the future husband and wife who met-up years later out of coincidence and which leads to a chance of rekindled love. I thought these things were only saved for Korean dramas.

However, what Judy taught me the most is that although we live in two different worlds, we are alike in so many ways. I can honestly say she was one of the most gentle and humble person I've met. Yet she lives with hope that I don't see with many homeless. She was actually very educated and I learned a lot about the Bahai faith. But more than anything else, she taught me the power of prayer and meaning of relationships. She asked questions such as what 'brought us together'. What brings us together? Friendship? God? Church? A common burden in our hearts? It was actually the first time I was ever asked such a question vs the usual - what is our jobs. After our mutual sharing of faith and praying for one another, I saw tears run down her checks. It reminded me of the first time I prayed for my mom for her cancer which also brought her to tears. Honest prayers have power. The Lord's name has power. And our faith/growth works out in his timing and out of service. As I end, I ask myself, what is our burden/aches in our hearts? If we don't have one why not? As I end this, I just want to say that I'll remember this and use this whenever I feel a complacency in my heart. Thanks again the two of you for an awesome time.

For some reason this verse popped in my head today that I felt relevant.
"He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire." (Luke 3:16)

Take care all you EV'ers!

- Gary

"The question is not what God's will is for you. It's what God wants you to do in the next five minutes" - Francis Chan.

From the get go and the start of the summit and, all the way until the end, the Freedom Summit 2009 held at Abundant Life Christian Fellowship was awesome! Nancy, Peter, and I came to the summit a bit tired, but once the message started, we were all wide awake and energized. Just hearing people like Francis Chan, Bethany Hoang, and Nathan George speak was such a blessing. I have never heard such a funny and lively pastor as Francis, and I can understand why a lot of people hear him speak at the Passion Conferences. Not only is he able to break down complex ideas with simple examples, I felt that he challenges every one of us by living in faith to God... How do we live in faith and awe of God? It's to live in a way such that our lives become a personal testimony to others, and such that someone will say that they felt like they have just "walked with Jesus". Hearing him speak about this fact left me reflecting back and how I lived my life. Did I walk like Jesus? Is my life a testimony to others? Or do I look like Jesus transformed me at all? Am I living comfortably without risks? These are all questions I had to ask myself and if I'm living out my life as God would want me to... Shouldn't we do something crazy, as God showed us his crazy love for us by sending Jesus on the Cross?

Slavery & Human Trafficking in the Modern-Era:

It's funny how we proclaim that slavery has been abolished all those years ago... yet there are still 27 million people who worked in modern day slavery in 2007. Hearing the stories about how people are forced into labor / sex traffic from various reasons: debt, love, captured, and etc. sickens me. For example, a video clip showing a plantation owner laugh, smirk, and act so casual about how his 'workers' are in eternal debt without a way to pay back stirred within me a need to just wipe his smirk away, but I know physical blows won't be effective. Jesus probably wouldn't want that either. I don't have footage of the video, but there is a similar footage of how "freedom vs slavery" looks like in modern era at: http://www.free2work.org/

It shocked me a bit hearing that slavery happens in our backyard. When we hear about prostitution, people paying for sex, we might not see this as a form of slavery, but anyone "forced" into this way to survive is in slavery. According to Agent Minerva Shelton, 80% of the girls especially in adolecense working on the streets come from bad homes. They are runaways looking for a way out of abuse, who want love - but can't find it but with a pimp. These girls don't know love outside of abuse and what is offered by a pimp who pretends to love them and uses them to make money. It's sad because I understand how they feel, and I truly didn't understand love myself until I heard the gospel.

John 3:16 - "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him."

Wow... how crazy is that? That God died for us to save us... to forgive our sins... because he values us and loves us. I think the gospel can would really speak into the hearts of these girls.

What We Can Do:

One of the ways we can do according to Bethany Hoang is fund, raise awareness, and pray on these issues. Not all of us are called to help in the frontlines of ending slavery, but there are a few areas we can help. This includes purchasing food from comapanies who believe in "fair trade" that require meeting minimum social, economic, and environmental standards (http://www.fairtrade.net/). Doing crazy things such as a guy who at the summit ran 27 miles from SFO to the Summit to fundraise with each mile representing 1 million slaves. Or reporting incidents of slavery in your backyard "Wiki" style on www.slaverymap.org. I hope to be able to pass along information on the conference to anyone else who may be interested. Take Care!

Slavery Map:

Before signing-off I wanted to upload some pictures