Sunday, June 1, 2008

Open my eyes.

I am going to Los Angeles exactly one week from today. I am dong the "Urban Project" with Athletes in Action (AIA), a sports ministry. We are basically going to serve the urban community for 3 weeks.

I know what you are thinking. The big HOLLYWOOD sign on the hill. Beverly Hills, 90210. Rodeo Drive. Shopping. The beach. The boardwalk. Celebrities. One of the richest economies in the country.

Let me give you a different picture of L.A. The picture that we never see because it's real and no one wants to admit it...

Between 2nd St. and 7th St. and between Main and Central. Fifty blocks. Eighty thousand people in varied states of homelessness. Average age of homeless= 9 years old. Psych patients. Crack addicts. Heroine addicts. Gangsters. Artists. Veterans. Children. Missions. Welfare hotels. Dealers. Sex-offenders. Racism. Unemployment. Cyclical poverty. The "worst social disaster in America." Better known as Skid Row.

THAT is the Los Angeles that I am going to. I want my eyes to be opened. I'm excited. I'm scared. I have no idea what to expect. I don't even know what to say. The bubble that I live in is about to be popped. My world is about to change.