Redefining Reality

Greetings to my partners in ministry from the inner city of South Los Angeles!

Even here in sunny Southern California it’s finally clear that summer is over. But in response to one of the central themes of LAUP—learning how to slow down and to be present to God and to people—I have been reading through students’ reflections on what God did in them and through them this past summer. There are a number of exciting developments of LAUP into the future, but first I want to lead you into celebrating what has already been achieved. Listen to Ophelia’s testimony:

“The key word of this summer is probably ‘reality’. This summer I was dragged out of what I thought was the whole world and was put in a completely different environment: a neighborhood where drugs, gangs, teen pregnancy, drop-outs, and homelessness are the reality. At the same time, I saw the deeper spiritual world that I didn’t even fully believe, and I saw that it is more real than the world I had known. I finally realized that my understanding of reality is limited by my experience. This summer my understanding of God shifted from creating my own image of him based on my experiences, to digging into Scripture, taking God for His words, getting to know who He is through my relationship with Jesus, and living in his reality.”

The consistent theme of students’ reflections was encountering heartbreaking stories in the youth and families of the inner city—physical and verbal abuse, parental neglect, pre-teen sexual activity—but seeing how their prayers, their presence, and their love brought transformative healing. Students saw themselves become the presence of God to those in desperate need of it, and are now back on campus and in the work place with new hope for what God can achieve through their own lives.

I encourage you celebrate the hope that has come--both to college students and to the poor--and to thank God with me for involving us in such a wonderful work