The Longest 28 hours of my Life, The Santa Rosa Dip

In what felt like the longest 28 hours of my life, a group of 50 students and staff simulated what it might be like to be homeless in Santa Rosa, during the "Santa Rosa Dip". Without exaggeration, it was one of the most intense and impactful ministry experiences in years.


In order to live like a homeless person might live, most of us slept outside, on the church property. We only had a sleeping bag and cardboard. Our sleeping bags were wet from the dew within 2 hours, and the temperature dropped to 35 degrees. There were sleeping bags that became frosted by the morning. Most of us slept only a few hours that night, if we were lucky. Here is a 30 second video showing our sleeping arrangements.



We were awoken at 6am and told that we had to leave, because we were trespassing on private property (this was part of the simulation). We spent the next 2 hours wandering in Santa Rosa trying to find food with the 53 cents we each had. "7 eleven" would not accept our change, but thankfully a half mile down the road, "Donut City" did. We could only afford 3 donut holes each, but we were all very appreciative of that food!

The weekend consisted of many experiences that changed peoples' perspectives. We did a scripture study on God's heart for Justice in Isaiah 58, we went in pairs downtown with bagged dinners and ate with homeless people. One of the best parts about the whole weekend was that it was almost entirely planned and run by students. The ministry is about raising up young leaders, and they stepped up.

Here is a video testimony from 3 freshmen students who went. The video is just under 3 minutes long.