Tuesday, July 8, 2008
No Summer School for Lauren
I attempted to enroll in my first summer course. It lasted for about 2 days and I decided to drop it. Grad school in a summer session is insane. We were expected to read one book each week for 5 weeks including papers and online chats. I decided that I needed a summer to relax and be able to enjoy cooking and reading again. So this summer...that is what you will find me doing...finally relaxing!
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Day 4,5,6
There was not time to make updates for Day 4, 5, and 6 until now!!!...sorry to keep everyone hanging.
Day Four:
Our day began by working at a school in Oakland called La Esculita. This is an elementary school in the Oakland area that is very close to being closed down. In the past couple of years, this school had very low performance on the state's standardized tests and it was thought to be a better idea to close the school than work to bring the scores up. Regeneration church stepped in to help start a tutoring program which has proven to be successful because the scores have begun to rise. Our job at this school was to help with any clean up that the school needed and to help tutor students. I was able to help tutor a little girl named Jasmine with math problems.
Our next stop was Glide Memorial Methodist Church again, where our team helped serve lunch to the poor and needy. This time, there was another group of college students helping to serve lunch as well. They were from a college in Iowa and were part of a student organization participating in an "alternative spring break." This is a sort of mission trip, full of service projects, but lacking the mission of sharing the hope of Jesus Christ. Here are a couple pictures of the homeless in San Francisco. There is a large number of homeless in the city.
Our next stop was Harbor House again where we helped with their after school program again. It was great getting to see the same kids again a second time and continue building on the relationships we had established. One of our main goals was this but also to be a help to the staff that do this daily. We were each given a group to tutor and then got to play with the kids.
Our last event of the day was to facilitate the homeless bible study again. This was a challenging experience for many of students because they had never led a study before, let alone with homeless men. All did say later that looking back, it was one of their favorite experiences.
Day Five:
Day Five was a a very challenging and impactful day. We worked with a ministry called City team which is located near the Tendorloin in San Francisco. This is the roughest area in the city full of drug addicts and homeless people. Our mission was to make sack lunches and deliver to the occupants of the neighboring "hotels". These hotels are home to 4000 plus people who live in "single occupancy rooms." They are full of drug addicts, prostitutes, mentally disabled, and dying. These hotels are very very old with tiny hallways and rooms. They smell of urine and feces and have bugs flying everywhere. It was very uncomfortable being there, but was one of my favorite experiences. We were there to pass out lunches called "bags of love" and to get into conversations with the residents. Some answered the door and took the lunch quickly, others asked us to pray for them. Many were strung out on drugs. We had been working with the addicts and homeless all week and now we got to see where they lived. We had a staff person with us who actually is a recovering addict who used to live in these hotels. We did not experience anything scary or bad, but he told us later that it is not a place you want to live in and that dark things go on there. It definitely felt very dark there. One man Kevin met was dying of aids from living a life of drugs and a gay lifestyle. He had grown up in the church but had left that long ago. It was so hard to meet so many people and to see the pain in their eyes from the suffering they were living by the choices they continued to make and the sin they continued to live in. All we could do was offer the hope of Jesus Christ but for many, drugs have such an evil power over them. Surprisingly, many seemed to know the gospel...or at least could tell you about Jesus and how he died on the cross for their sins, yet despite that they continued to live in rotting sin in bondage of the devil.
Entrance to the hotel we entered. Hopefully I will get more pictures from a girl on our team so you can see what it looked like inside.
Later in the day, we were able to have a few hours of free time where we rode a trolley and visited Fisherman's Wharf.
Day 6:
Bright and early, we flew home on a 6AM flight. Now that we are back in Texas, we all already miss San Francisco.
Kevin and I are so excited to continue visiting San Francisco with our new goal of at least once a year until we move there. Our future move goal is in three years when Kevin finishes seminary. Thank you to all of our supporters! You truly helped make our trip successful by your many prayers. We look forward to our next visit!
Day Four:
Our day began by working at a school in Oakland called La Esculita. This is an elementary school in the Oakland area that is very close to being closed down. In the past couple of years, this school had very low performance on the state's standardized tests and it was thought to be a better idea to close the school than work to bring the scores up. Regeneration church stepped in to help start a tutoring program which has proven to be successful because the scores have begun to rise. Our job at this school was to help with any clean up that the school needed and to help tutor students. I was able to help tutor a little girl named Jasmine with math problems.
Our next stop was Glide Memorial Methodist Church again, where our team helped serve lunch to the poor and needy. This time, there was another group of college students helping to serve lunch as well. They were from a college in Iowa and were part of a student organization participating in an "alternative spring break." This is a sort of mission trip, full of service projects, but lacking the mission of sharing the hope of Jesus Christ. Here are a couple pictures of the homeless in San Francisco. There is a large number of homeless in the city.
Our next stop was Harbor House again where we helped with their after school program again. It was great getting to see the same kids again a second time and continue building on the relationships we had established. One of our main goals was this but also to be a help to the staff that do this daily. We were each given a group to tutor and then got to play with the kids.
Our last event of the day was to facilitate the homeless bible study again. This was a challenging experience for many of students because they had never led a study before, let alone with homeless men. All did say later that looking back, it was one of their favorite experiences.
Day Five:
Day Five was a a very challenging and impactful day. We worked with a ministry called City team which is located near the Tendorloin in San Francisco. This is the roughest area in the city full of drug addicts and homeless people. Our mission was to make sack lunches and deliver to the occupants of the neighboring "hotels". These hotels are home to 4000 plus people who live in "single occupancy rooms." They are full of drug addicts, prostitutes, mentally disabled, and dying. These hotels are very very old with tiny hallways and rooms. They smell of urine and feces and have bugs flying everywhere. It was very uncomfortable being there, but was one of my favorite experiences. We were there to pass out lunches called "bags of love" and to get into conversations with the residents. Some answered the door and took the lunch quickly, others asked us to pray for them. Many were strung out on drugs. We had been working with the addicts and homeless all week and now we got to see where they lived. We had a staff person with us who actually is a recovering addict who used to live in these hotels. We did not experience anything scary or bad, but he told us later that it is not a place you want to live in and that dark things go on there. It definitely felt very dark there. One man Kevin met was dying of aids from living a life of drugs and a gay lifestyle. He had grown up in the church but had left that long ago. It was so hard to meet so many people and to see the pain in their eyes from the suffering they were living by the choices they continued to make and the sin they continued to live in. All we could do was offer the hope of Jesus Christ but for many, drugs have such an evil power over them. Surprisingly, many seemed to know the gospel...or at least could tell you about Jesus and how he died on the cross for their sins, yet despite that they continued to live in rotting sin in bondage of the devil.
Entrance to the hotel we entered. Hopefully I will get more pictures from a girl on our team so you can see what it looked like inside.
Later in the day, we were able to have a few hours of free time where we rode a trolley and visited Fisherman's Wharf.
Day 6:
Bright and early, we flew home on a 6AM flight. Now that we are back in Texas, we all already miss San Francisco.
Kevin and I are so excited to continue visiting San Francisco with our new goal of at least once a year until we move there. Our future move goal is in three years when Kevin finishes seminary. Thank you to all of our supporters! You truly helped make our trip successful by your many prayers. We look forward to our next visit!
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Day Three
We began our day working at a food bank for a couple of hours. We worked in an assembly line loading bags for families who do not have enough money to eat. These lunch bags were being prepared for those families whose school children were identified as those who are malnourished. Many of the children in the Oakland schools do not get to eat on the weekends because their families do not have money to purchase groceries outside of what the children receive in free school lunches.
In the afternoon, we visited an after school program at a place called Harbor Home. We helped the kids work on homework and then were abel to play with them. THe kids were so excited to get to play with us and were hugging and hanging all over us. Some highschool boys and girls also came and were able to play a game of street hockey and basketball with our guys. After visiting Harbor House, we were able to go to a basketball game to support the high school guys that we met at the program.
During our trip, we have also gotten to experience many different ethnic food. We have had Korean, Vietnamese, Pho, Deep dish pizza and of course IN and Out Burger!
In the afternoon, we visited an after school program at a place called Harbor Home. We helped the kids work on homework and then were abel to play with them. THe kids were so excited to get to play with us and were hugging and hanging all over us. Some highschool boys and girls also came and were able to play a game of street hockey and basketball with our guys. After visiting Harbor House, we were able to go to a basketball game to support the high school guys that we met at the program.
During our trip, we have also gotten to experience many different ethnic food. We have had Korean, Vietnamese, Pho, Deep dish pizza and of course IN and Out Burger!
Day Two Update
Like I mentioned before, we are working with a church called Re:Generation. Here are a couple of shots from their cool coffee shop and their cool sanctuary. 
v
Today we we visited an elementary school in East Oakland called Lockwood Elementary....supposedly one of the roughest elementary schools in Oakland. We worked with a fourth grade class and helped them do a group research project. The host explained to us that in this school district, they are very behind in reading skills and academics in general. They do not have families who help them with homework or are role models for them so we were encouraged to share our school experiences and that it is important for them to stay in school and graduate. Even though it is fourth grade, it is important to instill those thoughts and hope into them. After the class project, we were able to go outside with some of the students who were staying for the after school program. We got to play sports and color easter eggs.
Later that evening, we met up with a church member who leads a jail ministry and bible study for the church. We were able to hear about what it is like to lead a bible study in a jail and then we had the privilege to sit in on a church bible study that he was leading. It was a cool experience to see the many different kinds of people show up at the church for the study. There were a couple hippie looking girls, preppy asians from Cal Berkeley, and us. One thing that is awesome about Oakland is the diversity!
Our team is really bonding and we are having a great time! Thank you for your prayers as we continue to minister to the people of Oakland and San Fran!
v
Today we we visited an elementary school in East Oakland called Lockwood Elementary....supposedly one of the roughest elementary schools in Oakland. We worked with a fourth grade class and helped them do a group research project. The host explained to us that in this school district, they are very behind in reading skills and academics in general. They do not have families who help them with homework or are role models for them so we were encouraged to share our school experiences and that it is important for them to stay in school and graduate. Even though it is fourth grade, it is important to instill those thoughts and hope into them. After the class project, we were able to go outside with some of the students who were staying for the after school program. We got to play sports and color easter eggs.
Later that evening, we met up with a church member who leads a jail ministry and bible study for the church. We were able to hear about what it is like to lead a bible study in a jail and then we had the privilege to sit in on a church bible study that he was leading. It was a cool experience to see the many different kinds of people show up at the church for the study. There were a couple hippie looking girls, preppy asians from Cal Berkeley, and us. One thing that is awesome about Oakland is the diversity!
Our team is really bonding and we are having a great time! Thank you for your prayers as we continue to minister to the people of Oakland and San Fran!
Day Two
Day two has come and gone, and I did not get a chance to update or upload pictures. Stay tuned tonight....I should have time to update blog.
Monday, March 17, 2008
Day One
We made it!
Our flight left DFW airport at 10:10PM which put us in San Francisco at 10:00PM (midnight in Texas).
We then caught our shuttle and headed straight for our hostel to get some sleep before having to wake at 6:00A to make it to our first service project. Our hostel was very interesting, considering I have never stayed in a hostel. It was several stories high with small rooms that contained either a double bed or single bunk beds. Luckily, Kevin and I got to share a room but as you can see in the picture I was not excited by sleeping under the covers. We decided it would be best to sleep in our sleeping bag on top of the bed.
We met at Glide Memorial Methodist Church at 7AM where we were to help with feeding the homeless by working in their food kitchen. Glide is known for their efforts in helping the homeless and are famous by U2 recording an album with Glide's choir and also for being featured in the movie, Pursuit of Happiness with Will Smith. We worked by serving the food in an assembly line fashion to the 2000 plus people who enter their doors daily. 
Our next adventure was to go across the Bay to Oakland which was going to be our headquarters throughout the week. The church that is hosting us is called Re:Generation, or ReGen as they call it.
We had two speakers come talk to us about life in Oakland. One was a guy named Andrew who grew up in Oakland and who was in the process of planting a church in the neighborhood. The second was a lady named Nancy who was an FBI agent who gave us a rundown on the crime in Oakland. She explained that violent crimes are running rampant and they are beginning to seeing younger children committing these violent crimes. She said there are have been 13 year olds arrested for robbing banks and the shared about the horrors of child prostitution and sex slaves that is occurring frequently among the 10-18 year olds, and immigrants arriving in the city. She wasn't trying to scare us, but to give a real perspective of life in Oakland. Oakland is not a place you want to venture out into the night.
Our flight left DFW airport at 10:10PM which put us in San Francisco at 10:00PM (midnight in Texas).
We then caught our shuttle and headed straight for our hostel to get some sleep before having to wake at 6:00A to make it to our first service project. Our hostel was very interesting, considering I have never stayed in a hostel. It was several stories high with small rooms that contained either a double bed or single bunk beds. Luckily, Kevin and I got to share a room but as you can see in the picture I was not excited by sleeping under the covers. We decided it would be best to sleep in our sleeping bag on top of the bed.
We met at Glide Memorial Methodist Church at 7AM where we were to help with feeding the homeless by working in their food kitchen. Glide is known for their efforts in helping the homeless and are famous by U2 recording an album with Glide's choir and also for being featured in the movie, Pursuit of Happiness with Will Smith. We worked by serving the food in an assembly line fashion to the 2000 plus people who enter their doors daily. 
Our next assignment was to hook up with YWAM (Youth with a mission) who sent us in groups to go on a prayer tour throughout the city. We traveled through Union Station, Chinatown, and North Beach. Here are a few cool pictures that were taken along the way throughout the city.
Our next adventure was to go across the Bay to Oakland which was going to be our headquarters throughout the week. The church that is hosting us is called Re:Generation, or ReGen as they call it.
We had two speakers come talk to us about life in Oakland. One was a guy named Andrew who grew up in Oakland and who was in the process of planting a church in the neighborhood. The second was a lady named Nancy who was an FBI agent who gave us a rundown on the crime in Oakland. She explained that violent crimes are running rampant and they are beginning to seeing younger children committing these violent crimes. She said there are have been 13 year olds arrested for robbing banks and the shared about the horrors of child prostitution and sex slaves that is occurring frequently among the 10-18 year olds, and immigrants arriving in the city. She wasn't trying to scare us, but to give a real perspective of life in Oakland. Oakland is not a place you want to venture out into the night.
Later that evening, we had a chance to lead small groups for a homeless bible study at a homeless shelter/food kitchen. We paired up and Kevin and I got to lead a group together. Kevin did a phenomenal job talking with our small group which happened to be all men. Some participated and even shared personal stories which was so cool to hear.
This ended our long day! Even though we are tired, it was an amazing day. I hope I will be able to update everyday :) I know this blog did not even give this experience today justice, but I am glad to give each of you a glimmer of what we are experiencing.
Saturday, March 8, 2008
Snow Day in Denton!
What an awesome day we had this week! Denton received between 7-9 inches of snow on Thursday, March 6th. Classes were canceled at 2 PM on Thursday and UNT remained closed on Friday. This was exciting news around McConnell Hall!! Check out the pictures:
The crazy part was that Monday was a warm day of around 65-70 degrees. Then we were hit with blizzard conditions.
Pretty.
Scenic shot.
Yes....he is wearing shorts and a t-shirt in the snow. The snow just kind of snuck up on everyone and some people just weren't prepared!
Igloo in process.
I was too cold to slide down the hill :)
These trees ended up breaking due to the weight of the snow :(
One of the many snowmen around campus.
Kevin and Calvin playing in the snow.
The crazy part was that Monday was a warm day of around 65-70 degrees. Then we were hit with blizzard conditions.
Pretty.
Scenic shot.
Yes....he is wearing shorts and a t-shirt in the snow. The snow just kind of snuck up on everyone and some people just weren't prepared!
Igloo in process.
I was too cold to slide down the hill :)
Calvin loved the snow! He had a great day playing in the snow with all of the students.
These trees ended up breaking due to the weight of the snow :(
One of the many snowmen around campus.
Kevin and Calvin playing in the snow.
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