Christmas @ The Club

I wanted to first let you all know that Preston, the little boy I had asked you all to be praying for, is doing much better. He has been at the King's Club almost every day and seems to finally be getting back to his loving little self. Thank you all so much for your prayer for him and his mom during this difficult time. We are so happy to have him back and without your prayer that may not have been the case, so thank you.

As the Christmas parties for the King’s Club (the after school program I work at) have been this week it has been a very busy week for me. After baking about 100 sugar cookies on Monday night for them to decorate at the party, I continued to be busy all week. I went in Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday early and stayed late for preparation for the parties. The elementary and teens had separate parties on different days and both were a lot of fun and went very well overall.

            Every week Kat and I meet with either our city director Jason or the two year apprentice Becky to spend time together and talk about what is going on in life. During our one-on-one this week, Becky and I talked about BARM and the differences between the teens and the elementary kids for a while. I have recently been spending a lot of time with the teens, but previously I spent very little time with them. I remember feeling guilty for not spending much time with the youth, since I have always loved teenagers. I felt like I was just choosing to spend more time with the elementary because they are easier to work with as they show affection more than the teens who are frequently hard to reach. The few times I did try to talk to the youth I was met with cold responses, pushing me even farther towards the elementary portion of the program.

            In the last few weeks after Jesse invited me to go to youth group with many of the teens, I have been developing relationships with the older students. I now am greeted with hugs from many of the girls, I get asked to play pool or other games with them, the guys mess with me, the girls will talk to me about different things going on in life, and we all joke around and have fun together. I noticed how much I really do feel that I am now a part of the teen group during the teen Christmas party. We spent a lot of time together as friends during the Christmas party. I also noticed that I was really being accepted when Marshelle was going around the room thanking everyone that helped put the party together and I received quite a few hollers and “We love you Rachel’s” particularly from the girls when she said my name. I also got very positive feedback from the students about the game that I led during the party and noticed their excitement when I decided to play one of the other games with them.

I am not saying all these different ways that I received positive feedback from the youth to try and act like I am really cool and popular now, but instead for it to be a testament of God’s greatness. Although I was very uncomfortable with it at first I think the fact that I waited to reach out to the youth was part of God’s perfect timing. The youth at the King’s Club are very hardhearted and closed off to many new people and to the world in many ways due to the variety of difficult circumstances they have been through. Many of them have faced off and on homeless since they were very young and as a result have been forced to relocate very frequently. People other than their parents, such as their grandparents or another family members, have raised many of them. If they are lucky enough to have a parent raising them it is never both parents. The realities so many of these youth face are so far beyond my understanding as I have always had such a strong support system. Due to their life experiences with abandonment they do not automatically trust people and in order to gain their respect and favor one must really work for it. I really do think that me fixing my attention at the beginning on the elementary rather than jumping right into the youth was a part of God’s plan. I think that by first showing my dedication to the King’s Club through my consistency with the elementary kids, I was laying the foundation and preparing the way for me to be able to invest in the youth and develop relationships with them. I wanted to jump right into relationships with the youth and through many different circumstances I kept getting pulled back into working with the younger kids. My original frustration was due to my lack of understanding God’s greater picture. God’s timing is perfect and through this I am reminded of that. I am also reminded how great God is and how small I am. There is no way that I could have known what God had in store for my involvement with the youth. As always, God had a perfect plan with perfect timing all along. I was just unable to recognize it because our ability as humans to process and see the great depths of God is so small. I am also very excited for what He has in store for this next year as I continue to work at the King’s Club. 

City Highlight

Every month one of the cities CSM is located in does a city highlight for others to read. This month I got the privilege of writing one for the San Francisco Bay Area. I wrote a revised version of my earlier post about Trey from the Salvation Army. Since I have pretty much already posted it on here I won't include mine. As I was reading through some of the old ones I came across one written in July 2011 by one of our previous city staff named Heather. I thought it was really interesting so I wanted to include it for all of you to read. Enjoy =) If you want to read more city highlights from San Francisco and other cities here is a link to the archive on city highlights! http://csm.org/cityhighlightmain.php

“…They may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified.” Isaiah 61:3b

The city of Oakland got its name from the many oak trees that covered the area. But when you hear of Oakland today, you don’t really think of it as a righteous place full of splendor. You think of murder, gangs, thugs, homeless, prostitutes, and the like. Oakland has frequently been on the list of top ten most dangerous cities in both California and the nation. From an outsider’s point of view, there aren’t many things that Oakland can boast about. Most people who aren’t from Oakland only pass through it to get to San Francisco or Berkeley. Oakland is a dangerous place. One site where we send our groups, called the St. Vincent’s Day Home, is a daycare center for children ages 2-5. The neighborhood where it’s located is one of the most dangerous in Oakland. At this day home, they practice not only fire and earthquake drills, but also for drive-by shootings. The children there know when the teacher yells “drop” to drop to the floor. This is their reality.

Another area where we do ministry is the Tenderloin in San Francisco. Within the 20 block area, there are extremely high levels of visible drug-use, prostitution, assault, murders and theft. On the first block of the Tenderloin, Turk St, crime is 35 times more likely to happen than it is anywhere else in San Francisco. That same block has a crime rate 8 times higher than any other block in the Tenderloin. Another site we partner with, Project Open Hand, delivers hot meals to residents in the SRO’s of the Tenderloin. We walk through the streets of this crime-infested area everyday with mostly suburban students, delivering meals in run-down buildings to residents we don’t know. Although this may be the most anxiety-causing activity for some, its rewards generally allow some to forget about how dangerous the place is.

I think that’s why I’ve grown to love the Bay Area – the rewards. Are we not called to the dark and gritty areas, to the places where God is needed the most? In these places of darkness, evidence of God is clear. It’s tough being on the streets, seeing the same faces and knowing their situations haven’t changed. However, the hope we have is in God’s redemption. Oakland is not too far out of the reach of God’s redemption. The Tenderloin is not too far out of the reach of God’s healing. There is a reason God has placed us in this city and has called each group here to serve. “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, ‘Your God reigns.’” Isaiah 52:7.

-Heather Olson, CSM San Francisco Bay Area City Staff

Prayers for Preston

Hi everyone! Today while I was at the after school program I was informed that one of our kiddos is pretty sick. Preston was born super premature and has heart problems his entire life. He had open heart surgery a few years ago and was admitted into the hospital this morning because he was having more heart problems. I don't know all the details but I do know that he is pretty sick. Preston is in 3rd grade and is such an adorable loving kid. Preston and his mother, who is only in her young 20s, have been living in the shelter for a little while now. I just ask you to pray for Preston's health as well as for his mother. Not only is the thought of the possibility of losing your son scary enough, but they are totally unable to afford the medical care he needs right now. If I have learned anything from this year I have definitely learned about the power of prayer so I thank you for lifting Preston and his mother up in prayer during this difficult time.

Oh Snap! Snapshots here!

If you didn't get time to read the super long update here is some pictures to fill you in on a little bit of what these last few weeks have loved like. Enjoy! 

My thrilling Friday nights include making brownies
 in a toaster oven... while wearing a turkey hat. 

 Philadelphia:

All of the apprentices from the various cities.
Oh how I love these folk

Just standing with a beautiful American artifact

'Merica!

Philadelphia City Hall

My gluten-free Philly cheese steak sandwich... it was mighty good. Allergies can't hold me back!

More of all of us apprentices posing together at the Catalyst conference

Home:

My best friend and I posing in front of our beautifully decorated Christmas tree

Hoorah I'm Still Alive!

Hello all! I wanted to start by apologizing for not writing on here in so long. I am sure you were all thinking I got caught on a runaway trolley and died or something. You can rest assured know I am alive and well. It has just been a very busy last couple of weeks. I am going to give you a quick update on everything going on in life.

Some of the wonderful apprentices from the
various cities in front of the LOVE statue in Philly!

            Over two weeks ago now, starting on the 12^th of November I was in Philadelphia for an apprentice conference. All of the apprentices from the various city sites such as L.A, Denver, Houston, Chicago, Nashville, New York, and of course San Francisco, all met up in the city of Brotherly Love for some training and fellowship time. I had such an amazing time getting to learn more about all of the other cities God is moving in through CSM. It was also really cool to get to experience the city of Philadelphia up close and personal. We spent most of our time during the day sharing and training for our year with CSM. In the evenings all of the apprentices would stay up into the wee hours of the night talking and laughing together. On Thursday we also all went to a Catalyst one day conference. Catalyst focused mainly on mega church leadership, but there were definitely things I could pull away from it that had to do with CSM. My favorite part of this time in Philly was just getting to spend time with 12 other awesome people that are in the same life situation as me in many ways. Although we are all pretty different we had such a great time together and still enjoy keeping up contact with one another.

            After flying back from Philly late Thursday, we hosted a group very soon after. The group came mid day on Sunday and was here until Wednesday morning. This group was relatively easy and was enjoyable to have. I had a hard time not being distracted from the group because I knew that as soon as they left I was going to be going home for Thanksgiving. Becky, Kat and I all hosted our own service group because there were 30 junior high students. My service group went to the childcare place in West Oakland called St. Vincent’s Day Home that I have talked a little about in previous updates. They also went to the Salvation Army Service Center where we did various projects to help them prepare for Christmas. My group also went to the San Francisco Food Bank where they sorted through pounds of oranges that will be distributed to organizations all around the city. All of the groups also did city search. City Search is the activity in which the group goes out in groups of about 4 to explore the city. They get only 2 dollars for lunch and are supposed to spend the remainder of the 4 hours getting to know some of the homeless individuals on the streets. There is a couple of other activities they can do in order to gain a greater understanding of the complexities of living on the streets. 

All of the runners in the Rey family ready to go.
Jake and I dressed in our best with our turkey hats!

                As soon as the group left on Wednesday morning I was off to the airport. After a lengthy flight I arrived safely in Michigan. Right off the bat it was so exciting to get picked up by my parents, brother, and of course my favorite 3-year-old Robert. After not nearly enough sleep we left at 6am (3am my time) to go run the Detroit Turkey Trot. Although I wasn’t in great shape I finished and was very proud of my brother and dad who also finished the 10K alongside me. After the race we watched the parade together and headed off to go eat some turkey. It was so great to be surrounded by such great family and be able to have some awesome conversations with some of the people I care about most. After Thanksgiving it was still so great being home and spend more time with people. It was great to be able to see some of my friends that I have missed and to be able to spend more time with my family. It was also so fun just to be able to be home for all of the Christmas preparation festivities such as cutting down and decorating the Christmas tree. I have been so blessed to have such a wonderful fun family! To everyone I saw while I was home, it was such a blessing to be able to spend time with you. If I wasn’t able to see you over Thanksgiving, I am sad I missed you and hope I am able to see you while I am home for Christmas!

Our lovely group from this last weekend.

            After coming home last Wednesday from Michigan, I had a few days to gather my thoughts before hosting again last weekend. We had a group that was a mix of middle school and high school students from Lodi, California come in on Friday evening and they were here until Sunday. On Friday night we just ate dinner and had the San Francisco prayer tour. On Saturday morning we packed over 200 bag lunches and brought them to an organization we work with called City Team in San Francisco. With the help of City Team we delivered these lunches to individuals living in the SRO Hotels and some individuals on the streets. Despite the fact that this was incredibly disorganized, I think it was a really great experience for the students to be able to go inside the SROs and experience first hand some of the realities of the streets of San Francisco. After this, the group went down to the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood for a meet a need. During the meet a need activity the group gets $20 to spend to meet a need of someone they meet on the street. The main objective is for them to get to know someone on the street and for them to realize how easily they can help someone on the street wherever they go. After the meet a need activity we went to dinner at one of our Vietnamese restaurants and enjoyed some delicious Pho.  After dinner the group went back to the housing site in Oakland to play a game about justice. The rules to the game are complicated to explain but the purpose is to simulate the struggles and complications of the system and how oppressive and difficult poverty can be to overcome. Despite the rain that continued all weekend I never once heard the group complain. They were troopers and were a pretty easy group to have. Hosting is always so much fun because I get to hang out and be super goofy with young people all day. I really love hosting though because I feel like I am constantly seeing God work through the group while hosting. It is so great to see the light bulbs come on as the students and staff begin to grasp some of the complications that exist for those living in poverty. God is constantly moving in and through the groups as they serve the city and are blessed by the people they come in contact with. God is so big and actively moving here everyday.

            While the group was here we also had a girl named Kelsey shadowing us. Kelsey had applied and interviewed for a host position for this summer and possibly for the spring as well. Part of the hiring process involves a site visit for them to check out what it is like to actually be a host first hand. Kelsey was an awesome woman of God with a big heart for the city and has officially accepted a summer host position here in the Bay Area! We are all very excited to have her as a part of our team and see God work through her this summer!

            This week we have been working on delivering our Christmas gifts to many of our ministry sites. As an end of the year gift we are giving our ministry partners a card, a financial donation to their ministry, and a box of fudge. I spent much of Monday writing cards to the 19 ministry sites we are delivering gifts to. My hand was hurting quite bad afterwards! We are planning to deliver these gifts within the next couple of days. I am looking forward to getting to meet some of the people at the ministry sites that I have not had the opportunity to meet yet.  
  
              Yesterday I finally got to go back to the King’s Club at BARM, which is the after school program that I work at. It was so wonderful to get to see all of the kids again. I have missed their great hugs and smiling faces. It was so great to hear them yell worship songs as they worship their King with such joy and excitement. When I hear these kids sing I realize how dry our adult suburban worship can be sometimes. These kids don’t care about the way they sound or who is listening or watching them; they just call out in worship to their Creator. It is such a beautiful site to watch elementary age kids worship with everything in their body. No wonder Christ respected children and told the adults to act more like them! After BARM was over I got convinced to go to a youth group that many of the students go to with Brother Jesse who is one of the staff at BARM. I was recruited mainly because Jesse needed another person to drive students, but it ended up being so awesome. I had a really awesome conversation with one of the high school girls on the way and enjoyed spending time with all of them throughout the night. Since I have primarily been focusing on the elementary aged kids while at BARM, it was so awesome to be able to connect with some of the older girls as well. During our conversations I was reminded why I love youth so much. They are such beautiful young women of God that I really hope I get the chance to connect with more often.

            Wow again I have successfully written a super long update. I am sorry for how long it has been since my last update and for the short memoir that is this blog post as a result of how long it has been. Please pray for my sanity in these next few weeks. Things have been incredibly busy lately and I am definitely feeling the weight of some of this busyness. I have a lot to do before the year comes to a close and I have been missing the stability that existed before these last few weeks. I went to BARM for the first time in weeks yesterday and haven’t been able to go to my church in weeks due to being in Philly, Michigan, and hosting. Please pray for me that I will be able to fall back into the swing of things and get everything done that I need to over these next few weeks. Also please lift the King’s Club at BARM up in prayer. The head of the program has been very sick for the last week, and one of the other full time staff has been out because her mother is incredibly sick. Please pray for their health as well as the program that it will continue to run smoothly without these two very important ladies. I also ask you to pray for the families of these children I have grown to love. The holiday season can be very difficult for families in poverty, so I just ask you to pray for them that they will experience the joy and love of Christ particularly in this season. Thank you all for keeping me in your thoughts and prayers! Love you all to the moon and back! 

Not-So-Academic Research Paper

Hello all so another update should be coming soon. In previous posts I have discussed this research paper I had been working on a lot, and since then I have had a few requests to share it. Below is a link to my google drive document of the paper. It is rather lengthy at 16 pages, so do not feel compelled to read it. I also want to warn you that although I have called it a research paper it is far from an academic paper (I don't even have citations gasp!), and isn't written beautifully or anything fancy like that. The purpose of the paper was more so to learn about the history of the Bay Area and to explore various needs and ministry sites in the area. You might want to check it out if you would like to learn more about the history of San Francisco and Oakland, what I feel are some of the biggest needs in the city, or if you would like to learn what are some other ministry sites I might be interested in working with. If anyone decides to read it and has any questions about anything feel free to send me an email. =) Enjoy!

https://docs.google.com/folder/d/0Bxyd6xOnh0jgbzhrZU9RWDRSUzQ/edit

Front Page Fame

I think some of you may have seen this on facebook, but I thought I would put it up on my blog incase you aren't the facebooking type. Our first group made their home town newspaper's front page! It's pretty exciting because not only did they make make the front page, but I am the front page with them! It's pretty much my one and only moment of fame in life. The link to the article is below the picture if you desire to read it. 

http://www.lassennews.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=8596%3Amiddle-school-students-serve-in-bay-area&catid=2%3Alassencountynewsheadline&Itemid=1#.UIbVhySsJy4.facebook

Lesson #86325 and Still Learning

This weekend a powerful message was hammered back into me in a slightly uncomfortable incredibly humbling way. This message I speak of is the message that prayer is powerful and that when we allow God to move great things happen. Although I know these things in my head I sadly have to be constantly reminded of them.

This journey of rediscovery began on Friday night when the junior high youth group appeared on the scene as hyper and chatty as ever. As we drove over to the restaurant the noise level in the car was well beyond 140 decibels and was causing my head to pound with discomfort. When I asked them to be quiet so I could call the restaurant and tell them we were going to be running late one kid’s response was, “it’s impossible for me to be quiet” and he continued on yelling through my call. Not only was I annoyed at the current situation, but also I already dreaded the response to my request for 2 hours of silence during the prayer tour later that night. The night went on and my attitude continued to get worse. As the prayer tour began the talking, racially offensive comments, and spastic movements did not despite my pleas for silent prayer. By the time we got home I had tried every method in the book that I knew of to get these children to be quiet. Any ideas that I had about my growing patience were shattered as I stood in front of these kids restraining myself from breaking every rule in the handbook. I busted in the door about to break. I couldn’t do 2 more days of this.

            I lay in bed that night unable to sleep from the frustration that continued to surge throughout my body. My head pounded as I lay dreading the next day with these kids. Even though it was incredibly late, I got up and brought this situation before the Lord. I prayed out to Him in complete despair for I knew on my own strength I could not continue through this weekend. As I prayed I was filled with comfort. I texted a number of individuals I knew were praying for me back home and asked them to really bathe my weekend in prayer. I asked them to pray for me to be filled with patience I didn’t know I was capable of and for God to do a miracle and prove me wrong about this group.

            The next morning I woke up feeling better but still a bit unsure. As the day continued I began to not recognize the group or myself. The same students that I thought I was going to murder the night before were becoming some of my favorite in the group. Their goofiness and energy was no longer so annoying to me, but was instead causing me joy and bringing out my absolutely ridiculous side. I found myself responding to situations with patience and in ways I didn’t understand. As I began to respect and enjoy the group more, so did they respect me more than the previous day. When I would have to ask them to sit or quiet down they actually listened. This was not the same group from the night before and I was not the same person as the day before.

 The incredibly fast turn around from the night before made it so clear that this was not on my own doing. There is nothing that I did to make this group better, in fact I could not have had a worse attitude about them, but God showed me truly how great He is. Through all the prayer and God’s great work the entire weekend turned around and I had an amazing time. God had to bring me to utter despair and break me in order to open up the situation for Him to step in and do great things. It is so great to be reminded of the beauty that occurs when our broken selves are humbled to the point that we stop trying to do it on our own and instead let God work. 

Mah Mailing Address

I also wanted to give everyone my mailing address so you can send me lots of great love notes! If you ever feel so compelled to send me mail my mailing address is below: 

CSM

Rachel Rey 

PO Box 72397

Oakland, CA 94612

Another Novel-like Update

Hello all! This week has been a much-loved slower schedule. We have spent most of the week working on creating monthly goals and key result areas for ourselves to focus our time here with CSM on. I have also been spending a lot of time working on the research paper they are having us do to get to know the city. The main purpose of this paper is to familiarize us with the Bay Area by starting with the history of San Francisco and Oakland. The next section is to identify needs of the Bay Area that can be met by non-profits or the church. The final section is to describe 3-5 organizations that already exist that are working to fill these needs. From this paper we are to gain a better understanding of where we might be interested in serving this year. Although a paper sounds like school, something that freaked my roommate Kat out greatly, I love that we are really being pushed to understand where we are serving. Through our weekly reflection papers, assigned reading, this research paper, and other writing assignments we are really being pushed to learn and reflect on our experiences.

We also spent time last week serving at a couple of organizations. On Tuesday we went with a group from Salvation Army to deliver sandwiches, juice boxes, chips, and gallon jugs of water to the “homes” of homeless individuals in homeless camps under many bridges in San Francisco. . Trey from the Salvation Army was such a real example for me of what Christ-like urban ministry looks like. His love for God was so apparent in the way that he interacted with the people on the streets. Despite the fact that many of these people suffered from clear mental and addictive illnesses, were dirty, smelled of body odor and urine, and called the shelter of bridges home, they were Trey’s great friends. He greeted each of them with a hug and used their name as he so authentically asked them how they were doing. As they continued to talk like old friends, Trey would not only meet the need he set out to fill that night, but he would inquire about any other needs they had. He filled their tummies with the sandwiches, talked with them, and when another issue would come up he would offer to do anything necessary to help with it. When the issue of their things being taken from their camp by city officials and moved to a junkyard came up, without hesitation he offered to take anyone who wanted to go claim their stuff that Friday morning. He also offered to bring paperwork for housing programs to a few individuals he talked to. When one person shared that they were not feeling well he offered to bring a doctor into the camp to check them out. With each individual he desired to meet all of his or her needs regardless of the difficulty on his part that it would take. Trey showed God to these people not because he screamed about God on the street corner or forced them to pray with him, but just by showing up and caring for each and every one of them the love of God was apparent through him.

            In American society we are taught to live by schedules, to work hard in order to gain success, and to plan every minute of our days in order to reach maximum productivity. In urban culture this way of living doesn’t exist. Despite my background, in order to do effective ministry I can’t live by my perfectly scheduled life. Trey allowed the Spirit to lead him and because of that he could connect with the individuals on the street and meet their needs effectively. He wasn’t concerned with getting all the sandwiches delivered to as many people as possible; he was concerned with connecting with them and showing God’s love for them through that. In a conversation with Trey he said that the best advice he ever got was “just show up and to show up consistently.” By his continuous desire and commitment to meet any of their needs, I could see him acting out this advice. I feel as though this experience with Trey delivering sandwiches was incredibly impactful on my understanding of urban ministry. I was challenged to let go of my schedule, ideas, and plan for this year and to let the Spirit of God guide me. I was challenged to be aware to the Spirit’s calling and willing to meet people’s needs regardless of the difficulty or my plan for the day. I am incredibly thankful for all that Trey does with Salvation Army to serve the needs of these people and the way in which his ministry was a ministry to me as well. Pray for me that I will be able to let go of my desire to plan out this year and accomplish something great through it. Pray that I will be able to serve the city like Trey does by letting the Spirit lead my ministry.

We also went to Bay Area Rescue Mission, or BARM for short, to work with their after school program called King’s Club again on Friday. Again I loved working with Sister Marshelle and the other staff as we played with these children. Since it was a Friday we didn’t have schoolwork to do, so I got to play pretend that we were a dog family with a group of five 2nd graders. I absolutely love getting to connect with these children as I get to be my super goofy childlike self and also getting to connect on a deeper level with some of the older students. I still strongly desire to serve at this ministry site on a regular basis and plan to spend 3 days there this week to continue to develop an understanding of all their ministry does. Please continue to ask God to make it clear to me whether or not He wants me to serve at King’s Club throughout this year.

As my search for a church continues I went to a church this Sunday called Oakland City Church and I absolutely loved it. They don’t have a church building and meet only on Sunday nights within another church’s building. I have never experienced a church that was this multi cultural. I honestly could not say what the most highly represented ethnicity was. Due to their range of ethnicities they also had a much more gospel style worship, which I love. They sang a majority of well-known contemporary Christian songs, only they sang them much more upbeat in a gospel style. I felt like we were really rejoicing the good news of God through our worship. Although it wasn’t the head pastor speaking, the preaching was sound. I look forward to experiencing the head pastor speak. After the service there was a Raiders tailgate potluck dinner. As soon as the service let out multiple people came up to me and introduced themselves, talked to me for a while, and encouraged me to stay for the dinner. I decided to stay for the dinner and after no more than 2 seconds of me standing there awkwardly looking for a table after getting my food, the head pastor came up to me. After we talked for a little while, he introduced me to a table of incredibly friendly people that I sat and chatted with for the remainder of the dinner. After talking for a while one of the girls asked me if I would want to go to her home group and took down my information to let me know more about it. This church experience was such an answer to prayer. Being such a people person and being without a strong community around me I was beginning to feel lonely out here. The community at this church that I am already starting to get invested into after only one visit is God’s way of showing me that he hears my distress and is using them to comfort me. God is so good!

This weekend Kat and I are hosting another group of 15 junior high students. We are going to be leading separate serving groups but will be together for dinner and debrief times. The group is coming on Friday and will be here through Sunday. Please pray for energy and wisdom to lead them effectively for both Kat and I. Pray that we will allow God to lead them instead of trying to rely on our own strength to lead them.

I guess it is becoming my trend to write incredibly long posts. I don’t think I can get myself to write on here more than once a week, so I am probably just going to continue to write long posts on a weekly basis and you are just going to have to deal with it :P. Rest assured that, as my schedule gets more regular as I get plugged into a ministry, church, and are out of this busy month for hosting, my posts should reduce in size. I hope you are all doing fabulous! Thank you all for your support and prayer for me throughout this year. Love you all like crazy!

Meet all of our CSM staff here in the San Francisco Bay Area. From left to right, the first girl is Becky. Becky is another apprentice that is going on almost 3 years here between hosting and her first year apprenticeship last year. As an apprentice she does many of the same things Kat and I do, but she also has a much more leadership position and works as a mentor for Kat and I. She is great! So next in the blue is Kim and next to her is her husband Jason, who was squatting so he isn't actually that short. Kim and Jason are the city directors here in the Bay Area. They do much of the behind the scenes planning for the groups. Although they are our bosses they are really more so our friends. The little cutie in the pink is their one year old baby named Stephanie. When Stephanie comes into the office it makes work much more enjoyable. Next is me! Then to the right of me is Kat, my roommate and the other apprentice. This picture was taken outside of the church building that we work at and where Kat and I live. Although you can't see anything besides brick at least it is some pretty cool brick! 

A Little Something for Your Visual Enjoyment

I am not very good at remembering to take pictures but I am going to try and remember to take pictures throughout the year so I can post them on here. I haven't done the best job so far but I will improve because I care that much about you guys! Aren't I such a sweetheart. =)

Packed up and ready to trek across the country. This is my interpretation of packing lightly... 

Some of the beautiful countryside along our drive. Oh how I love America! 

This is Utah's definition of a rest stop. We thought it was too funny to not take a picture of. Going to the bathroom in this smelly outhouse without running water made me appreciate the good ole rest stops in Michigan even more. 

Meet the other apprentice and my new roommate named Kat in our room for the year! 

Wahoo I Made It!

Greetings all from sunny beautiful California! After an incredibly long 4-day journey across the country with my two amazing parents I arrived in the Bay Area two weeks ago. Thank you all for praying for our safety as we traveled. We had a great trip and I loved seeing some of our beautiful country while talking and jamming to some tunes with the two greatest people I know. Mom and Dad I cannot thank you two enough for taking time away from work, for spending the time and money to go with me, and for all the love and care you have poured out to me all these years.

            After getting settled, the city directors Kim & Jason did not waste any time preparing the other apprentice named Kat and I. We hosted our first group last weekend so the normal 2-week training was completed in 4 insane days. Part of our training consisted of learning the city by mapping out everywhere we had to go and dictating directions to the other city staff that pretended to not know how to get anywhere. We also visited and practiced framing the various service sites that we will be working with throughout the year. We also just had to learn a lot of logistical aspects of hosting which required us to do a lot of reading from our over 300-page handbook. The most enjoyable part of our training has been visiting all of the ethnic restaurants that we take groups to each night for dinner. My favorite place by far is our Indian restaurant in SF called Naan N’ Curry. I loved ordering in Spanish and stumbling through a conversation in Spanish with our waitress at the Nicaraguan restaurant we take groups too. It is so great getting to eat amazing food every night and since it is part of our training CSM pays for it. =)   

My roommate/ the other apprentice Kat and I hosted the group last weekend together and despite our fear beforehand it actually went very well. We had a group of 10 junior highers from the small town of Susanville, California. They were a great first group and were gracious to us for any small first time mess-ups. We went with the group to a day home for children ages 2-5 in the rough area of West Oakland. The day home is such a light in a dark place as they provide fabulous childcare for children of low-income families. We also took them to the San Francisco Food Bank where we sorted rice and got to converse with some of the other volunteers. We also passed out socks and hygiene kits in an area in San Francisco where a large number of homeless individuals hang out. Along with giving them something to meet their tangible need, we also got the opportunity to pray with some of them who asked for prayer. The highlight of my weekend was getting the opportunity to pray with 3 homeless individuals. As we held hands and came before the King in the middle of this busy street and prayed for one another I felt the physical presence of the Holy Spirit. Even writing about this experience now gives me chills. Despite the group leaders pleas to not do it, the group also got the opportunity to experience something we call “City Search”. City Search is essentially a block of time where the group gets to experience the city and the complications of living on the street firsthand as they walk around the Tenderloin district of San Francisco. They are given questions they can ask individuals as well as two dollars each for lunch. Although 2 dollars may sound like a decent amount of money, in the expensive city of San Francisco there is very little that this money can buy.  They are to engage in conversation with individuals and learn about God’s children that may be very different than what they are used to. Kat and I did not join them on this activity but we did get to experience it for ourselves during our training as the two of us got to meet some fascinating, hilarious, and intelligent individuals that call either government housing or the streets home.

After the group left we were back to more training. Last week was much more relaxed training although it still consisted of many 10-12 hour days. We spent this week visiting more organizations and restaurants we will be working with. We also spent time taking various personality tests and discussing our strengths and weaknesses as CSM staff members and how we can best work together through that. We also discussed conflict management and learned how each of us views and handles conflict. It may be because I am interested in Psychology, but I absolutely loved that learning not only about ourselves but also about the people we will be working with was a part of our training.

We had another group here this weekend but Kat and I were not the primary hosts for this group. The 2-year apprentice named Becky and another city host from a year ago came up from LA to host this group. Although we were not in charge of hosting them we still participated in some of the activities they did so we could experience more of the organizations. We served at a dinning room in Oakland with the group as well as delivered meals with an organization called Project Open Hand. Project Open Hand delivers hot and frozen meals to elderly individuals as well as to individuals living with HIV/AIDS or other diseases that prevent them from being able to attend another meal program. This experience was incredibly eye opening as we got to go into the SRO Hotels that many low-income individuals live in. The Single Room Occupancy Hotels or SROs for short are structured like dorm rooms where each individual or family gets a single room that isn’t much bigger than a dorm room. The SRO Hotels have community bathrooms and usually share a kitchen with their entire building. Many of the SROs were built after the 1906 earthquake in San Francisco as temporary housing for individuals and have remained as low-income housing. Individuals can rent an SRO from anywhere between $400-$800 dollars a month. In the Tenderloin district where we were delivering these meals many individuals call an SRO home. Walking into these buildings gave me a glimpse into the lives of many individuals and families that are living in the Tenderloin district. Music blared from many of the rooms and smoke billowed out from under the doors of many rooms. The group did other activities yesterday but Kat and I got our first day off since we got here. I enjoyed the much-needed rest as well as enjoyed learning the neighborhood on a long run around the area.

            I have really loved getting to meet some of the amazingly strong and loving individuals at many of these organizations. One woman named Marshelle or as the kids call her Sister Marshelle is particularly remarkable. This woman works with the Bay Area Rescue Mission in Richmond at their after school drop in center called King’s Club. King’s Club gives children in grade school up through youth in high school a safe place to come after school to socialize and work on homework as well as learn the good news about Jesus. The love this woman has for these children as well as the expectations she holds the students to is spectacular. Part of my apprenticeship with CSM is to find an organization to work with part time throughout the year. I am heavily considering working with Bay Area Rescue Missions through King’s Club throughout the year. Please pray for me that I will be given clarity on whether or not this organization is where God has me.

             I am sorry for how long this post is and I am even more sorry for how long it took me to write on this. Rest assured that I did not die on the way out here but instead have just been incredibly busy. Things should be slowing down here as we wrap up training, so I will have more time to keep all of you updated about my time in the Bay Area. Overall it has been amazing learning about the city and getting to know all the wonderful people I will be working with this year. God is good! Please continue to pray for me. Specifically pray for my health as the late nights and early mornings have caused me to develop a pretty bad sore throat and cold. Also pray for some of the organizations I talked about and for the city as a whole. If you got this far than you must really love me! =) Anyway that’s all for now folks! Hope you all are doing great! 

Vision and Prayer Letter

My dear friends, family, aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, mentors, and anyone else who somehow found their way to my blogs,

I hope this letter finds you doing well. As you may already know, I have been accepted for a yearlong mission apprenticeship with Center for Student Missions in San Francisco. As I approach this exciting next step in my life I wanted to write you to tell you what CSM is, why I feel called there, and how you can be praying for me throughout the year. CSM works with about 10,000 students and adults each year leading them in service and mission projects in 10 North American cities. Through their year round partnerships with more than 500 organizations they provide students with the opportunity to serve homeless individuals, urban families, immigrants, and other often forgotten individuals within the city.

Throughout high school I spent a large deal of time invested in youth in the inner city of Detroit. Through my experiences in Detroit, God has instilled an enormous passion in me for justice in urban communities. God has given me a heart for the city and I feel He may be calling me to work in urban ministry full time after college. I am incredibly excited about this opportunity with CSM to grow in knowledge and experience. Within this program I will be working part-time with CSM, as a liaison between non-profit groups in San Francisco and student groups that want to minister there, as well as working part-time myself with an organization already meeting needs in the city.

            As the necessity for me to decide whether I should re-enroll at North Park University in Chicago or go elsewhere came closer last school year, I couldn’t shake the discomfort I was feeling. I couldn’t explain why I was feeling so unsettled about returning to college. After an incredibly long process of considering several options for this next year and watching them fall through one after the other, suddenly the idea of working for CSM entered my consciousness. After a summer of emails, applications, several long interviews, prayer, and many, many conversations I was offered the position to work with CSM.  I now look back on this long and difficult experience of uncertainty about my plans and know the reason for this was because God had greater plans for me to work with CSM for this next year and return to college after that.

            I plan to leave for San Francisco September 26^th for an October 1^st start date and will return sometime at the end of next summer. All of you have played a role in shaping me into the person I am today. I want to thank you all for the prayer, thought, kindness, and love you have already poured out to me throughout my life. So many of you have taught me through the way you live what it means to live a life dedicated to Jesus Christ. As my departure date steadily approaches I ask you to join my team as I serve the city of San Francisco. More than anything I desire you to coat this entire experience in prayer. I ask you to pray for the city of San Francisco and for the individuals I will have the opportunity to be in relationship with. Pray for me that God will continue to break my heart for what breaks His. Pray that I will not lose sight of God’s plan for my life and that I will have the wisdom and courage to devote myself fully to His purpose everyday. I also ask you to pray that I remain humble throughout my every action recognizing that it is only through the grace of Jesus Christ that anything is possible. I will be sending out a reminder of ways you can be praying for me at a later date. You can join my team by pledging to pray for CSM, the city of San Francisco, and myself online at http://csm.org/prayerpartner.php. I will be writing on this blog throughout the year so you can hear about the ways in which God is teaching and growing me throughout this experience.

            If you have any questions, would like to hear more about CSM, or would like to just chat more about what led me to urban missions, I would love to hear from you! My cell phone number 734-355-5557 and my email address is r.rey829@gmail.com. Again I want to thank you all for all of your love and support for me throughout my life and into this next year as I venture to San Francisco.

Sincerely,

Rachel Rey