Hi beautiful ones! I'm happily loving missions right now~ well I finally am tonight... Because since Saturday night, I was in "poverty." It just ended tonight. After an amazing beach day with the kids from the churches after school program Saturday afternoon, we took a silent car tour to Skid Row.- a few blocks in LA where the homeless and drug addicts set up tents & squatted at. (Google it for more info)
When we got back to the church for discussion...
All 11 of us suddenly "lost everything." Actually, 2 of us became homeless.
So 9 of us were able to retrieve 3 personal items, keep just our inner wear, shoes, and one item we had on to wear .. We had to buy whatever else we needed. We were told we'd be given 27 "Say yes" dollars a day~ An average amount of what the people in poverty make..not real money.. & The 2 homeless people had no personal items to retrieve ...
So being the materialistic high maintenance person I realized I've become after moving to the Midwest, I was pissed. To say the least. LOL. I mean the idea of becoming poor and homeless was great for us to realize but I just didn't know it'd be to this extent. I'll just give a quick summary so I don't forget and just keep some of you guys who have supported, some details!
For my 3 items, I chose my sleeping bag, a towel(for more warmth/pillow if needed), and bought another item for 6 "say yes" dollars. So I had on my inner wear, RD long sleeve, and changed into my most comfortable jeggings.(currently bagged up in a plastic bag due to the filth.. Felt like pledging all over again!) I gave away a personal item to one of the "homeless" girls haha. Oh! And I forgot to mention, we slept outside. In the pastors backyard. Can you just imagine my excitement?
Anyyyyways, so the cost of meals were "$7" and showers were "$5." Also bus rides were "$1" to "$2" depending on whatever he felt like asking for -___-
Sunday consisted of us in our clothes we wore from after the beach day on Saturday... To church! Arg I felt so nasty already and wanted to put on my nice Sunday wear. Fortunately, our God isn't one who cares what we look like. So we had the English service at 9 am, then the Spanish service at 11:30. Afterwards, we had a bunch of activities. Many of us also decided to just save eating and using our 7 for dinner. We figured we might not even get paid 27 a day because of thinking how the poor and homeless also never are stable and things just happen.
I had foolish hope thinking it'd be over by one night... Unfortunately we were still homeless. And we didn't get paid, as expected. Again, to say the least.. I was pissed.
Of course I understood the idea of this poverty simulation but I just didn't think it was very useful after the 24 hour mark. We got it. We need to appreciate what we have and also realize and put ourselves in the position of the poor & homeless. However, my initial expectations of this mission trip, along with the rest of my members was that we'd be hanging with kids, reaching out to the community and the ppl of LA, and just really spreading the gospel in the best way. I just didn't understand why I have to also smell, not eat, barely get any hours of sleep due to the 50-60 degree temperatures sleeping OUTSIDE. I was very bitter...
I woke up probably over 20 times both nights~ I kept hoping it's be sunny out when I got up again.. Unfortunately it was still dark.. Every. Time. Finally when the sun got up, I'd get the courage to leave my sleeping bag and embrace the cold morning. I actually cried this morning. LOL I felt so so pathetic but my head was pounding, I got barely enough sleep and I was hungry :'( I couldn't help but think so many negative thoughts. I was convinced the pastor was just a cruel cruel being.
I had actually made threats to my leader saying id run away and somehow get a room at the Marriott. LOL! How spoiled and bratty could I be?! But I still didn't understand.. Actually, now that it's over, I can still say I don't fully understand why it was more than 1 day. But~ I did gain a lot.
If you guys want to know all the details, definitely would love to tell you once I get back Saturday :) or just ask ! I finally have my phone back~ but obviously limited due to realizing not having it the past 2 days actually brought our group closer.
But all in all, I did get a lot out of it. I have kankor sores and I still feel gross after a 30 min shower. But hopefully the rest of the week, working with the kids will be amazing and evangelizing at Los Angeles City College in the mornings will be awesome & be a great experience.
Hope you guys are doing great~ happy Tuesday! I'm typing this on my phone so apologize for any typos heh. Love y'all~ and thank you for those who have been praying!! I promise I'll keep my heart on God and be positive towards all of this. And to those who have financially supported me, can't thank you enough! And you can always continue to donate through the link posted in previous posts. :)
Do Everything In Love, Always~
SK
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