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Volume IV, Number IX Montreat, NQ 28757 March 26, 2004
Mission Team Wades in L.A. Poverty
by Tim Tyson
The twenty- two member
Spring Break Los Angeles Mis
sion Team, headed by Chaplain
Bill Cain, set off for California
on March 5.
The group of faculty, students
and alumni partnered with eight
local ministries for their ten-day
stay, participating in everything
from inner city after school pro
grams to grocery distribution.
Center for Student Missions
(CSM) facilitated the mission
package.
Before unpacking, the group
of weary travelers shuttled off
for a 2-hour prayer tour through
the guts of downtown L.A. This
set the perspective for the week
and represented the group’s first
real taste of the West Coast’s
largest city.
“Seeing so many people live
in fear broke my heart. They
can’t even sleep at night,” shares
sophomore Jan Bostic.
Most homeless people sleep
during the day, when the streets
are safer.
The mission team enjoyed
the security of housing off the
streets but encountered less-
than-ritzy accommodations. The
twelve girls shared one sparsely
furnished apartment with eight
mattresses, and one bathroom;
the ten guys lived in similar con
ditions.
The week’s ministries concen
trated on addressing the problem
of poverty and its solution.
Student Jessica Pazur sums up,
“It’s terrible and sad, but it’s a
beautiful thing to watch so many
people that have committed
their lives to helping them [the
poor].”
Downtown L.A. is broken
into districts. The government,
financial, street vendor, garment,
and jewelry districts sit shoulder-
to-shoulder. One district nestled
tightly with the rest, dubbed
Skid Row, consists of a 10-block
area.
For the last two decades.
Skid Row has become the main
confluence of the homeless and
downtrodden.
According to Jeff Thomas,
Pastor of Central City Church,
located in the heart of Skid Row,
it is illegal to be homeless and
loiter on the streets of the city.
This law is enforced throughout
the entire city except for in this
10-block region.
Two decades ago, the home
less demographic was older
middle-aged males with an alco
hol addiction. Today the majority
of the 10,000 homeless are single
mothers and young males with
heroin addictions.
Skid Row was one of the
major areas where the group
focused their ministry efforts,
basing many of their operations
out of Central City Church, but
Continued on page 8
“...but whoever drinks the water I give him will never
thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a
spring of water welling up to eternal life. ”
-John 4:14 NIV
Freshman Stephen Cain hugs on of the children from The Lighthouse, an after school program loeated
in Watts, CA. Cain, with otlier students and faculty from Montreal, visited Los Angeles over Spring
Break for the school's annual mission trip.
Community Launches Youth Center
by Korfney Blythe
Volunteers led by local retiree
Dr. Gene Rainey, kick off plans
to open a $350,000 community
youth center in Black Moun
tain for Owen Middle and High
School students.
The 6,000 square foot center
will be located on the comer of
Old 70 and Lake Eden Drive in
front of the Swannanoa Valley
Youth Academy. Plans include
an outdoor skate park and indoor
pro shop, entertainment theatre,
game room, computer lab, and
concert area.
The center will boast activities
such as pool, ping-pong, open
mic nights, artwork displays,
tutoring, career training, and
movie showings on weekdays
from 3 until 9 pm, with extended
weekend hours.
The final center could take up
to 18 months to finish. In the
meantime, Shawna Coulson,
youth leader at St. James Epis
copal Church in Black Mountain
stresses, “These kids need a place
to hang out like yesterday. We’ve
lost kids lately to overdose. The
more time that passes, the more
risk for the youth.”
The Step House (formerly
Black Mountain Health Food
Store) has been offered as
another possible location for a
temporary center. Step House
owner John Palmeroy is willing
to rent out the property while the
final structure is underway.
Initial talks with Montreat Col
lege Senior Advancement
Continued on page 3
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