Sacramento Urban Project

Erin and I took a team of students (pictured) from Sonoma State and UC Davis and spent a week, 6/13-19 learning and serving in Sacramento. We learned about the topics of poverty, homelessness, racism and God's love. We served by doing food distribution, community gardening, at a women's shelter and more. It was an intense week and all 5 of the SSU had their world rocked! Here is what one had to say...

Megan (pictured bottom middle): "I really enjoyed being a part of this experience because it is something that can be related to my daily life. My eyes were opened so many times to the injustices that are present in my own back yard! Learning about the Lord's vision for Shalom [The Hebrew word and idea of peace, harmony and reconciliation] -- how things ought to be has inspired me to be more active in my community. Through hearing other people's stories, I am sure that with God's hand in everything...we can eventually live in a world of Shalom."

"Repent and Believe" JOURNEY 2011

"The kingdom of God is at hand; Repent and believe in the gospel," were the first words spoken by Jesus in the Gospel of Mark and they were a main theme for our retreat called Journey. Right after the school year ended, we retreated to the redwoods from 5/30-6/3. I had the priviledge of leading over 40 students (pictured) from Sonoma State, Santa Rosa JC and San Jose State in a study of Mark. We studied it for 7 hours each day! God must be good if college students are willing to study for that long, the week after finals! Many students experienced healing, repentance, and were challenged by Jesus through Mark study. Here is what Laura said, (a woman from the freshmen Bible study I led, who has been mentioned in a previous post)...

Laura - "Coming into Journey, I was putting Jesus in a box and therefore not trusting him as I should have...Through prayer, I felt Jesus' presence around me. It was total and complete happiness, peace and warmth.... Jesus healed my spiritual blindness."