Getting to San Francisco to Serve

Yesterday, a team of 10 people left from Tampa to travel to San Francisco, California. It is a youth trip and I am one of the leaders. We are staying in a Youth With A Mission (YWAM) “base camp” located in a neighborhood in the city called the “Tenderloin.” This neighborhood has great need, particularly with the homeless, and YWAM has set up base camp as a permanent site to minister to and with the men and women of the streets. I will write more on the ministry as we go through the week. This entry is about why we are here and a little about the challenges getting here.

After spending eight days in Honduras earlier this month - our seventh trip to that country as a church - and now spending this week in inner city ministry, the question arises once again of “why are we spending all of that money to go far from Dunedin to take care of people when we have needs right here in our own backyard." I hear it every time along with questions about why I'm gone on these trips and not in the pulpit. The answer hasn't changed over the years. We think it fulfills the gospel call to make disciples of all the "people groups" (Matthew 28:19) and be Christ's witnesses throughout the whole planet (Acts 1:9).  I struggle with those who think it is okay to not help those beyond our church or community. I've heard of churches who say that. We only take care of our own people. That is NOT us. I've said it before: I want us to be inwardly strong and outwardly focused. Car Care Ministry, strip club outreach, Homeless Emergency Project (HEP) and all of these mission trips are ways of us being outwardly focused. And as for me being on these trips and away from the pulpit and the church, I am not the kind of leader who leads from the back. I lead from the front. It's who I am. That takes me away at times. It is part of who I am as a pastor.

Being on this particular trip has had an interesting start. To get from Tampa to San Francisco, it took 26 hours, three airplanes, four states, three limo buses, two trains/trams, one hotel, and a whole lot of patience. Our planned route took us through Milwaukee and put us in on Monday evening. We got to Milwaukee without incident. And then the plan went awry. The flight was delayed three hours and then, because they couldn't get a crew and airplane together at 10 pm, the flight was cancelled. They drove us to a hotel near Chicago's Midway airport, a 90 minute drive away. We got into Chicago at 1 am. We had to leave for the airport at 4 am. It was a short night. We got on the airplane, landed in Los Angeles and were welcomed with another flight delay, this time it was the final leg to San Francisco. FINALLY, we landed, caught the mass transit to the YWAM site, and stopped moving. I told my daughter Christina we are "stupid tired." Sleep will be welcome tonight.

The best part of all has been the "no problem" attitude of the team. They have been content no matter what is happening. The patience displayed has been great, especially since this is the very situation in which others come unglued. We lost a day of being on mission which is a disappointment, but we all know that God is in control and somehow this was a part of this journey we needed to experience. As Nicky said when we prayed in Chicago, "it was late at night and we were uncertain where we would sleep for a while and we are going to serve the homeless of San Francisco who experience this as a way of life. Maybe God is preparing us." Well said, Nicky.

YWAM base camp has several mission teams here now and all of the teams gathered in the dining area tonight for a pizza party. Not pizza we at; rather, pizza we prepared so we could bake and serve it tomorrow to the homeless for lunch. Afterward, our team leader, Daniel, took us for a walk around the Tenderloin district. We stopped for coffee at Philz Coffee, a place coffee lovers rave about, and then to pick up some congestion medicine for a few on the team who are feely stuffy.

And now...bed.