Prayer tour of LA
Tonight we arrived for culture shock in Los Angeles. After an authentic Nicaraguan dinner, we were led on a prayer tour through the slums of LA. I am still reeling from the overload of devastation we witnessed. We first drove through downtown in the ‘big bucks’ section where dozens of high rise banks stand with their marbled flooring and twelve-story walls of tinted windows. Our next stop was within just one block and the landscape was changed. Bars over windows, trash lining the streets, and graffiti covering the decaying walls of old buildings emerged. We drove down Skid Row at 9 pm and the images still sweep through my mind. The one image that still makes me shudder is the picture of dozens of people lined up on the sidewalks with only a piece of cardboard to lie on. It reminded me of several ‘homeless’ awareness days I have helped with through Habitat for Humanity on Wartburg’s campus. During our night of homelessness, we borrowed huge boxes from local businesses to sleep in on the middle of the campus lawn. I had thought our little campout would be at least slightly similar to the actual situation… I was severely naive. Our cardboard homes were a palace compared to these. Not only did we have three times as much cardboard, but we slept on grass and in sleeping bags. Women holding children, men on crutches, and prostitutes who conduct business in port-a-potties were lined up and down the streets and their only refuge was a piece of flat cardboard to separate them from the hard cement. It is a hard realization to swallow.
I’m not sure what the primary cause of my nauseousness is stemming from right now…it’s a toss-up between seeing the horrible living conditions these people are living in and feeling the hypocrisy of driving down Skid Row with the mere purpose of ‘gaping’ at this foreign and impoverished lifestyle we know nothing about. Praying over different areas helped lessen the helpless feeling I had yet did little to decrease my anger towards the injustice. Perhaps that’s the point. The poverty here was reminiscent of Haiti except this time it was in our own country, in our own ‘land of opportunity’. The irony breaks my heart…
Kelly
2 Comments:
God placed you there to experience what so many of us have never experienced. You can't forget your task, to experience these places that through your experiences you can encourage others to experience the same. These images will stay with you for a long time, even more so when you experience these things in our country. It's different when you can explain poverty as "third world", it's a different thing when you describe it in terms of the richest country in the world.... Can you remember the richness of the Haitians who though they had nothing had faith? Maybe faith will help the third world people in our own country. Maybe those who have preceeded you and will follow you in the U.S. third world will in faith make a difference, even for one of the least of these. God bless you all for your ministry. Thank you for what you are doing....
Dad Bill
Thank you, Kelly, for being such a thoughtful and caring young woman. Your words were touching, and the beautiful hand-made card made it even more special. Warren often asked about all of you girls, but he really admired the adventure that you are embarked upon.
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