Our high school students just got back from a week of service and learning in the Tenderloin District of San Francisco. They were there with YWAM, serving in the community and learning to embody a ministry of presence with the homeless community in the area. The Tenderloin District in San Francisco is frequently quoted by tourist magazines as "The worst neighborhood in San Francisco." 
Many of the students met homeless people who won't even go into the Tenderloin District because they consider it to be too rough. People sit on the street all day and night in front of the YWAM base and sell and use crack, heroin, and anything else they can get there hands on. This was the first trip in five years that I haven't attended with our high school students, and I have to say that it was quite hard for me. They were in great hands with Jeff Given leading the trip and the other fantastic leaders who went with them. I decided to surprise them with my presence on Wednesday (perhaps in part because I have a hard time letting go, but also to show them my love and communicate that I still care for them deeply, even though I'm shipping out soon). I was able to take Wednesday off from my work at the hospital in exchange for working on Saturday. The flying situation was quite difficult, however. I had a really hard time finding a reasonable price for an airline ticket. So I ended up flying out of L.A.X. Wednesday morning on an American Airlines flight and returned Wednesday night on a Delta flight. Unfortunately, both flights were an hour and a half late, and when you're only going for one day, that can be quite a bear. I left my house at 5:30am, and made it to the Tenderloin District at 11:00am (even though it's only an our and a half flight) and I left the Tenderloin District at 4:00pm and arrived at my doorstep at 10:00pm. That's a bit of traveling for a five-hour visit. I didn't imagine how tired I would actually be by the end of that day, but it was well worth it. I got to see our kids in action and hear stories of what they've been doing and I was truly encouraged by their ministry and the honesty of some of the difficulty they faced. The homelessness in the Tenderloin District can feel very hopeless, and I think our students felt that reality and were challenged with having to face the truth that they couldn't fix the problems they encountered. Some of them learned to share God's love by simply being present and offering a cup of hot chocolate even in
the face of rejection, getting no sense of accomplishment and not seeing any fruit of their labor. This is a hard reality for anyone to face, especially in a culture where the results of our work is praised over the work itself. I deal with this on a daily basis at the hospital. I'll never forget one time when Pastor Jack said to me in his office, "We're called to be faithful, not successful." Our students were faithful this week. The rest is up to the Holy Spirit.
Gitch! It was so great to see you up in San Francisco; I'm really glad you could come and visit even just for the day. It was tough realizing that we can't even come close to fixing the problems in the tenderloin but I think we all learned so much and had a great experience. And we all missed you too!!
Posted by: Kelsey Wank | June 27, 2008 at 01:43 PM