In the words of Rachel… Hello my little blueberries! Today was so interesting and amazing from start to finish. In the morning, we had the opportunity to work with the Dream Center, a ministry that meets the needs, heals the hurts, and solves the problems of inner-city people (you can look them up at dreamcenter.org). We listened to a couple testimonies from volunteers and workers there and we got to work with them and help them clean up trash in the community around them. After that, we split up and got lunch on Sunset Boulevard. We finished lunch at 2:00pm and journeyed together to the Self-Realization Fellowship. For over two hours we listened and conversed with Aneil Ananda about his beliefs and practices at the temple. A lot of interesting questions and answers were brought forth and we learned more about the community around us. Following this we ate dinner and split up into small groups again to explore the wonder that is Hollywood Boulevard. We saw some stars, went in some shops, got free chocolate, and had some coffee. I (Brian) ended up having a conversation with an English teacher that was from Iowa that taught in Turkey and Spain! I was talking about and fiddling with my credit card (I don’t suggest doing this by the way) and I guess she looked over her shoulder at it because apparently she had the same one and wanted to make sure it wasn’t hers. She explained herself and we had a good laugh and we talked about her being a teacher and so forth. I then got the opportunity to talk about how I was trusting in my God for my future and whatever it entailed. It was awesome.
Andrew Warnock: Today was a weird and spiritual day. This morning I continued to think of why I have never heard of Dream Center and the ministry it provides to people of addiction, being lost, being broke, and who have been abused in any way. The media would not cover a story like this one because of how God-centered the program is. God is working in the lives of many in L.A. Though, as the day went on I also saw the opposite side of the spiritual spectrum. Walking around Hollywood Boulevard was a trip! All kinds of people of shapes and sizes and colors and styles were around. People dressed in costumes trying to entertain and make some money. People trying to launch a career and give out mix-tapes. People with exotic animals trying to get people to take pictures with them, then ask for money in exchange for their services. People were begging to find celebrities. People who just seemed to be lost in darkness and caught up in the world and what it has to offer. Personally, I felt overwhelmed from all of the stimuli. We weren’t told we HAD to talk to people about our faith, but that we shouldn’t pass up the opportunity. A man who was impersonating James Brown came up to Simone, Cassi, Ethan and myself and asked us what we were doing here, as I was in the middle of saying how I was feeling overwhelmed. We told him about Joshua and he immediately began to talk about religion, faith, evil and God. God sent someone to talk to us about Him to help me relax and trust that He is good and He is with me always, even in the middle of Satan’s world. We had an incredible conversation with the man about biblical feminism (and what he thought there was a lack of), creation, wisdom, and of course, Jesus. 90% of the conversation was him talking to us, and he loved every second of it. We tried to challenge him intellectually and speak truth to him emotionally. After the conversation he thanked us for listening, encouraged us in the fact of us being the next generation and our humility and desire to seek knowledge and understanding for ourselves. He gave all of us hugs and had a huge smile on his face. All four of us walked away with smiles also. I felt lighter and so much happier to have been able to talk to someone on such a deep level after feeling so discouraged.
L.A. 2017 – Wednesday from Joshua Wilderness Institute on Vimeo.