San Francisco Team 2012

Tomorrow we leave San Francisco with a life-altering experience behind us.

We went into this mission trip not having very much planned and having no idea what to expect. This mindset made room for God to work in so many amazing ways. We head back to southern California having gained so much knowledge and awareness about the world we live in. We are so grateful and feel honored to have been able to witness God’s powerful, beautiful, and mind-blowing plan.

We experienced the power and wisdom of following the call of the Holy Spirit.

We discovered the effective nature of small, independent mission trips.

We learned about the poverty and need right here in America.

We witnessed the joy of those who have next to nothing.

We were blessed by the hospitality and encouragement of Christians and the church.

We were blown away by the power of prayer.

We experienced God’s incredibly protective, strategic, sovereign, and loving character.

And most of all, we learned about the strong bonds and friendships that develop between those who serve the will of God.

Although at times we felt helpless or like there was no way 4 college girls could make a difference, God showed us that every small effort we put out, he uses and grows exponentially. We feel overwhelmingly honored to have been able to be a part of God’s perfect plan.

We couldn’t have done any of it without your prayers, support, and encouragement. Thank you all SO much. God bless!

We ended our trip today with a small journey to a refuge facility for sex trafficking victims called New Day for Children. We had to travel a few hours from the city to visit with these girls, but it was worth it.

We were surprised at how welcoming most of the girls were. We quickly began to bond with them over lunch, followed by a few rounds of Just Dance. These girls are pro.

We also had the opportunity to help some of the girls with their school work. After that, we all headed over to the pond to go canoeing! It was such a blessing to be able to see the girls having SO much fun. 

An top of everything else, we delivered a few gifts to the girls courtesy of members of Addie’s church. The girls were really excited to receive bracelets, rings, and Snuggies!

We were so blessed by these girls today. At many times we forgot they were victims because they were all so fun and friendly; they seemed like normal teenage girls. Occasionally little moments revealed a glimpse of their pasts, but their hope for the future was really inspiring. It was great getting to know each of the girls. It was sad saying goodbye at the end of the day.

We would like to ask you to please be praying for all of these girls and all of New Day. 

Thank you for praying for us this whole week! Please pray that we have a safe journey home tomorrow. 

If you would like to learn more about New Day or support this ministry, visit newdayforchildren.com.

We love you!

Today was such an incredible day for us! One thing we really wanted to do on this trip was to display the love of Jesus through the act of washing feet. YWAM (Youth With A Mission) was generous enough to allow us to use their facilities to do this! Their building is located in the Tenderloin, a district that is filled with homeless people and many poor immigrants.

We set up an area where we would wash the homeless people’s feet as well as provide them with a clean pair of socks. Serving the people in this way was the perfect opportunity to talk to them about the Gospel, specifically about how Jesus washed his disciples feet out of pure love and humility. We got to hear some amazing stories and it was an incredible experience. Adrienne got to explain the concept of sin, Nikki got to pray with a very broken man, Natalie was able to communicate with some elderly Chinese women in Cantonese, and Addie overcame her fear of feet and was able to serve alongside us! Each of us were given the opportunity to contribute to the event in our own, unique ways. So cool.

After we finished with feet washing, we stayed to help YWAM with a program called Food Pantry. Every week YWAM distributes food to low-income families, many of whom are very poor immigrants. We got to witness how the process worked and the diversity of the people that lived in the Tenderloin. So many people were desperate for food; it was eye-opening to learn about the vast amount of poverty that exists in the city. Although the people got a little aggressive and scary at times, we all loved being able to help YWAM help the poor.

After we said our goodbyes to our new friends at YWAM, we headed over to the Golden Gate Bridge to do another prayer walk. We got to see the beautiful San Francisco sunset as we prayed for the broken people that have used, and will use the bridge as a means of ending their lives. It was a wonderful way to end our day of ministry.

Tomorrow is our last day and we would really appreciate prayer that we would finish off this trip strong! Thank you so much for all of your support and prayers. We love you all!

Today marked our half-way point. We left Addie’s house and the wonderful food prepared by her family and moved into her church. We were warmly welcomed by everyone we came in contact with at the church. We met with all the pastors of the church and told them a little about our trip and our lives at Biola. It was really encouraging. 

After settling into our new temporary home, we headed into the city in hopes of spending some time with our friends at Justin Herman Plaza. We had planned to share a passage out of Luke with them, give them some socks and say our final goodbyes. However, once we arrived at our destination, no one was there! Their shopping carts were there, but no sign of Papa Smurf and friends. We had to leave earlier than normal today, so we were nervous we wouldn’t be able to spend as much time with them. Eventually a city worker came and started toting their carts away. A couple of us went after him and asked him where he was taking the carts and that we knew the owners. He said he was taking them to the dump because he had received complaints about them two hours earlier. We are really concerned about our friends considering it probably isn’t normal for carts to be left unattended for so long. Please join us in prayer over our friends and their well-being. Pray that they are safe wherever they are.

After we left the city, Natalie, Nikki and myself (Adrienne) went into UC Berkeley to do some prayer walks and anything else God led us to. Addie had to spend the rest of the day with her family so she couldn’t join us. Immediately after walking onto the campus, an old man named Bill was sitting under a tree while preaching. We all instictively approached him. He asked us if we’re Christians. We said yes. We chatted for a little about his ministry and about our trip before we all prayed together. He even wanted to take a picture with us! We took one too (see the picture above).

After that we ended up walking over to a nice lawn in the middle of campus and sat down and prayed for the campus. We prayed against self pride, fellow brothers and sisters attending the school, and for the areas on campus where all the life-changing conversation apparently happen. 

We eventually ended up on Greek Row. We prayed for the sororities and fraternities. We prayed against the sexual immorality and any hazing that might be happening. We then felt led to go knock on one of the doors of the sororities. We looked up the Christian sorority and went there. The girl who welcomed us in was really kind and showed us around the house. She told us how her sorority tries to serve and glorify God throughout the school. We ended our time with her by praying for her and her house.

We didn’t expect anything that happened today. God took our day and used it for His glory. He continues to blow our minds away with His provisions and guidance. He knows what He wants out of this trip and as a team we aim to do our best to listen to Him.

He is a kind and faithful God. 

Thank you for your continued prayer and support. It is very much appreciated :)

Today we had a lunch date :) with papa smurf and bona! We had agreed to meet up our wonderful new friends yesterday for a date. So we brought thirteen sandwiches a whole box of chips from Costco and three bags of celery….everything was eaten. We arrived at twelve thirty sharp and began to fellowship with our friends. On top of Papa smurf and Bona we met Ray, DeBorah, Zach, Wayne, Timmy, Donna, Joyce, Deborah, and Chris. Every single one of them was absolutely incredible and made our day. The highlight of our day was definitely the dance party that we had in the streets which you will see in our video which we will upload soon! Their joy, excitement and zest for life was inspiring.
I learned many amazing things today. These people are beautiful and as I said above completely and utterly joyful even in the midst of so much hardship. When I was talking to Chris, a Puerto Rican from The Bronx, something he said really impacted me. We were talking about occupy SF and he mentioned that the rich people in the area would look down on them from their skyscrapers and call the police to make the homeless leave so they would have an unobstructed view of their plaza. He then told a story that hit the very core of my being. Chris said that he was standing in a 7-eleven parking lot and he saw a man drive up in a masserati. There was a homeless woman who had no legs and was sitting in a wheelchair on the corner of the store, she was at least eighty five years old. She looked up at the rich man as he walked by and simply asked if he had a couple of bucks to spare. He looked at her as if she were dirt and walked by. Any man who can turn down a legless, homeless, eighty five year old woman is a man who needs to reevaluate his life. I listened to Chris’ story and my heart broke little by little. As he finished I couldn’t help but realize I needed to reevaluate my life as well. How many times have I walked past a homeless person and turned my head away so I wouldn’t have to deal with the guilt? How many times have I pretended that they were just asking for money to get drugs instead of sitting down and asking them about their lives? My challenge to you guys today, and to myself, is to care. Sit down with these incredible people in our backyards and Listen. Listen to their hardships their passions their love and their hate. Be their friend and be Christ to them. Don’t be those rich people up in the skyscrapers who look down on them and pretend they don’t exist. Be different. But most importantly be Jesus. God bless you guys thank you so much for your support.

Smurfs, Hippies, and Jesus! When we woke up on Day 1, we had no idea what God had in store for us! After planning out the rest of our week, we decided to drive across the Bay Bridge to minister to the homeless in Justin Herman Plaza. When we arrived, almost all of the homeless were taking naps except a happy looking woman named Bona. As we began talking to her, she introduced us to her boyfriend, who called himself Papa Smurf! They shared their stories and gave us insight into the lives of the homeless. It was incredible. Next, we walked through Haight Street and Golden Gate Park, communities filled with hippies, nomads, and drugs. As we walked, we prayed for the drug addictions, spiritual warfare, for the truth of the Gospel to overcome false idolatry, and for the communities to be redeemed. Today we learned a lot about the needs of the people of San Francisco and that God definitely has us here for a reason. We’re so excited to see what else God has in store for us this week. Your prayers have kept us safe and have done so much for us so keep them coming! Thank you all so much for your support!

After months of meeting, praying, and fundraising, San Francisco Missions is finally here! Over these past months the Lord has taken us through many challenges of learning to trust His providence and sovereignty, but even in the midst of our uncertain circumstances, he has proven Himself faithful. Today we finally arrived in San Francisco after 6 hours of driving. One of the major lessons we learned today was that God’s plans are greater than ours and we have to learn to give Him all control. There was a period of time we got lost while trying to search for a church, but eventually we ended up not being able to go and instead spent time bonding as sisters in Christ. Please continue to pray that we trust in the Lord’s provision and plan, and that above all else we would show the love, grace, forgiveness, and truth of Christ to the people in SF that so desperately need Him. Please keep us in prayer and be updated with what God is doing through our team. In Christ, Nikki Bernabe, Adrienne Nunley, Addie Stephens, Natalie Yu