Several people, in the
Churches we visited throughout Northern California in 2013, offered Elizabeth,
Francesca, Lorenzy-Ella, Rafael & Anna, a home to stay in, rather than have
them sleep on the Churches’ floors. (very kind people)
At New Life Community
Church in Sacramento, California, our delectables were invited into the home of
a beaut. couple, Steve & Pam, where they had love lavished upon them day and night. The rest
of us Nicaraguan riffraff slept on beds made out of church chairs at New Life’s
main premises.
At first sight of the
sleeping arrangement my top lip did a sort of impermissible, uncontrollable, unavoidable curling motion, but when my head
finally hit the pillow, and after all the teenage pranks and jokes were out of
the way (shoe throwing, siren noises, passing enough gas to heat half of
Sacramento’s houses), well I slept like a baby.
Morning time and the
reality of New Life’s main premises not containing showers became a significant
and smelly reality. I would learn to deal with this reoccurring issue, on a
daily basis, but initially I begged, stole and borrowed, in order to feel liquid
heat sliding down my tired old body.
In any case, a
true-blue, young and fun loving couple took pity on our plight, and opened up their
home so that we could rinse our woofy physiques. Taylor and Jamie were great
hosts for us, mid-twenties, neck-deep in Church and ministry stuff, plus
working their jobs and taking care of their daughter.
Once we smelled a bit
better, the dude asked us all to sit down and shared his awesome testimony.
He’s a man’s man, so it wasn’t too flowery (no flowers, NOT ONE LITTLE
DAISY!!!). The sentences were short and meaty. The boys jaws were wide open by
the end (gangster lifestyle complete with drugs, sex and rock’n’roll to-boot +
a decade of prison time – It was upon learning this that I swapped the recliner
beside the fire place for the straight-back-chair by the front door).
This young man left
nothing out of his story and offered our lads his love and encouragement to gun
(it turned out to be a figure of speech, so I quickly took my hand off of the
doorknob)-for-God. It was an emotional time with lots of hugging and prayers –
I live for moments like these. Just… Beautiful…
When we were once
again sitting comfortably, with everyone on lounges and recliners and me
straight-backed by the front door, the man of the house brought out oodles of
DC caps, sneakers and t-shirts, enough for everyone to have one or two of each.
The boys became little
girls, squealing with delight, and bickering over colours, shapes and sizes.
Nicaraguans LOVE clothing, above everything else, and so this will certainly
remain a HIGHLIGHT for these boys' trip to California. However, the generosity
displayed by this kind fellow was symbolic of the norm at New Life Community
Church.
Now on another day we
had the awesome privilege of yet again visiting the Dream Center and going with
them to spend some time with a few of Sacramento’s poorest people.
In telling our
Nica-lads about this trip into a dusky poverty and homelessness, the boys’ faces
betrayed them, their expressions revealing shock and horror. They weren’t in
America to visit poor people, there was plenty of that at home in Nicaragua. They were in America to reach people with the
Gospel of Jesus Christ AND enjoy the plentiful bounty that was America (Please
sir, I want some more).
Nevertheless we got
into our people movers, and headed once again to the magnificent Dream Center
in downtown Sacramento. We walked into the first room and were confronted with
piles of boxes, food stuffs, chaos and love. We were asked to be seated and
took our places on the floor.
The hefty gentleman kept
everything upbeat and joked between himself and his overweight counterparts,
who also laughed through their smoker’s voices and left us all a wee bit
bemused on account of their hearty, yet slightly socially misplaced interactions.
We fitfully went
through the process of how to pack a gift bag (full to the brim with food and
drinking water) and with the do’s and don’ts of interacting with the homeless.
I half didn’t know what
to expect when I arrived in one of the shadier areas of Sacramento’s downtown. The
Hunchback of Notre Dame? Frankenstein? The Elephant Man? The Grinch??? We
gathered at the end of the street and listened to final, last minute
instructions.
We were obstructing
the bike path and so moved out of the way and re-gathered. Our Nica-fellas
listened-on intently, pretending they understood everything.
 |
| Receiving last minute instructions, before ministering to the homeless in Sacramento, CA |
And we were off! We
marched back onto the bicycle path, completely disregarding the first
instruction, which was to keep the bicycle path clear at ALL times. Everyone
chatted feverishly, trying hard to contain our bubbling excitement.
The moment felt kind
of like “weeeeeeeeeeeeeee’re off to see the Wizaaaaaaaaaaaard, the wonderful
wizard of Oooooooooooz…” But only because we were a bunch of complete misfits, and
not because of who waited for us at the other end – in fact, looking back, I
think the homeless people must have wondered if they’d not been informed it was
role reversal day! We were a mixture of nationalities, sexes, ages, body types,
languages, cultures, socio-economic statuses, etc. Our only uniting feature was
our love for God and humanity.
The first bunch of
people encountered stood on the path, clearly homeless. They were a bit on the
nose, a couple of them appeared to have something wrong with their intellect
and they wore shabby clothes. But besides all that, they were human.
 |
| The first people we encountered on our mission of hope to those in poverty (Sacramento) |
The one surprising
factor to me was the absence of drugs and alcohol. Really, I don’t know what I
was thinking, but I was sure there’d be at least one wine-o amongst ‘em, swiggin
his booze and singing sailor tunes. No. Not one! In fact, due to their sober
state, we were able to converse as if we were sitting in a fancy-pants café somewhere.
They seemed educated! “He’s
an engineer” a fellow beside me said. I turned and looked at this unfamiliar chap
and wondered for a second if he too were homeless. But I saw him later, back at headquarters,
interacting knowingly with one of the leaders. “I guess he’s with us” I thought
to myself.
“Oooooooh” I
responded, not quite sure if I’d been staring, and wondering what my next move
should be. Too late, the fellow beside me continued, “Yeeeeeah, it was Vietnam
that killed him.” Now looking at the food bag in my hand I extended my arm to
the homeless chap. “Riiiiiiiiiight…” I said, still talking with the bloke
beside me, but looking straight into the eyes of pain and discomfort.
“How are you?” I asked
sensitively. Sezni’s hand began squirming in mine. I suddenly realised his poor
little limb was losing circulation on account of my crushing clasp. Was I
nervous? Uncomfortable? Disgusted with what I was seeing? Angry? I don’t know… I released the child to frolic with the
natives.
 |
| Bicycles, it's how the homeless get around Sacramento |
The Vietnam Vet. spoke
with a mild British accent and with all the manners of a Buckingham Palace
official. We chatted for a while and then it was “Tally-Ho” and into the night
he rode - They nearly all have bicycles… They’re very, VERY busy, the homeless…
They have to get from this feeding center to that one...
Next we came across a
bunch of people too far from the path to visit with. We waved and called out
and then a small group from the church and Rene detoured from our trail and
headed down into the grassy depths below. They wandered behind trees and bushes
to where this specific group camped.
 |
| Rene heading off with his crew, to give love to homeless people in Sacramento |
I turned around, realising
that another small contingent from our army was departing the bike path. I did
my mental tally “1,2,3,4 Briens aaaaaaaaaand 1,2,3,4,5,hang on! Start again
1,2,3 – BEYCKER, STOP MOVING!!!” It was to be no use. I would never, in the
dark, be able to keep tabs on everyone. I decided to focus on just the Brien
children “1,2,3 – GOOD GRACIOUS!” I glanced around just in time to see Lizzie &
Sezni’s bodies disappearing around the underside of the bridge.
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK!
 |
| Jonny exploring poverty in Sacramento - a tad shocking for the lad |
I twirled around in a panic
and again saw something quite startling. Two young people, in their late teens
or early twenties, blonde as could be and one of them heavily pregnant. The
Dream Center folk handed over their goodies, laid hands on the young couple and
began to pray.
Still further down the
path, my kids and our Nicaraguan youths disappeared into the brush with other
youth from New Life Community Church, handing people food and offering to pray
with them.
 |
| Nicaraguan youths from Capital on the Edge, learning about poverty from white people in Sacramento |
We saw many things on our
travels through homelessness. Even in America, the 7th richest
country in the world (Forbes Magazine, 2012), it was interesting to note the
diversity amongst those who were homeless. It seems homelessness knows no
boundaries and is too, multicultural.
We were told there are
several thousand homeless people in Sacramento, just one city in an American state
that prides itself on forward thinking and social justice. Yet it seems some
are just unable to escape the cycle of poverty, even in such a rich country.
Sadder still, so many Californians
appear to be completely comfortable with the poverty that surrounds them.
Sadder again? The Churches – who are helping Churches like the Dream Center and
the Salvation Army? Nearly nobody… Thank you New Life Community Church of Fair
Oakes for caring…
We treaded carefully
back to the cars, avoiding human waste at every step (YIKES!!!). We were in
high spirits, but had been deeply moved and were contemplative. Once back at
the Dream Center we participated in a time of debriefing.
Some people from our
team felt grateful for what God had bestowed upon them. Others were moved with
compassion and had many questions. Rene, our youngest teen from Nicaragua had
this to say:
“In Nicaragua we don’t
have homeless people (not true). Every person in Nicaragua is helped by the
government (also not true). Even the poorest people try to make a house out of
something. I think it is very sad that there are people in America, such a rich
country, who do not have a bed to sleep on and a house to live in.”
 |
| Debriefing at the Dream Center (Sacramento) |
Although a bit
juvenile and overly simplistic, the sentiment is there. The Nicaraguan boys
were deeply shocked, not by the poverty, but by the context of it. Poverty
exists, even in America…
 |
| Final moment at the Dream Center in downtown Sacramento (Capital on the Edge & New Life Community Church Youth) |
It seemed to be a week
of eyes being opened for our team. On another day we trotted off to help at a
foodbank in Orangevale. Our group divided into three. One group assisted in a
door-to-door letterbox drop. Another group helped at the center, providing free
food to the community’s poor. Whilst a third group helped in the garden, moving
dirt from point A to point B.
 |
| Mr. Food Bank, our mascot (Rafael from Capital on the Edge) |
It was a fantabulous
time, with everyone involved laughing and joking whilst working away. We ate
hotdogs for lunch and were offered an array of drinks to keep us motivated.
 |
| Working our (Capital on the Edge) Nica-fingers to the bone at the Orangevale Food Bank |
Of course I was chief
whip-cracker and kept the dirt removalists under the microscope. Nicaraguans
are proud people, and it was far too easy to keep them going by stating over
and over again that nobody on the face of the planet works as hard as a
Nicaraguan. The truth is, I believe it! Nicaraguans don’t have machines like we
do in the West, so when it comes to manual labour, they win, hands down.
 |
| Staff of Orangevale Food Bank with helpers from Capital on the Edge & New Life Community Church |
By the afternoon we
changed tack and started performing for the public our dyno presentation of
bboy (breakdancing) and tricking (street gymnastics/martial arts). Beck-star, a
lovely lass from New Life Community Church, shared her testimony and every
person who walked through the doors was offered a haircut – several of our
Nica-youths also took the opportunity to have their hair tidied up. What a day!
It was terrific…
 |
| At the Orangevale Foodbank with New Life Community Church (thanks boys from Capital on the Edge) |
Now I have to confess
that I’m not GREAT with remembering dates. BUT, I think it was Good Friday that
we went to the Pastor’s house for showers. Pastor Mark is no ordinary fella.
Underneath that tough, handsome exterior, is a tough handsome interior. He and
his beautiful wife, Cathy, are true servant hearts and they’d have to be to do
what they did!
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| Capital on the Edge, performing at New Life Community Church (Sacramento) |
Our smelly, dirty crew
were invited with open arms and love into the home of the Tuckers. It was there
that each young fella stripped off and utilized the showers in the Tucker home,
even in the MASTER bedroom. The boys were then treated to EVERY pain relief and
swelling reducing medicine available in modern medicine.
 |
| Ericson, being tended to in Pastor Tucker's home (Sacramento: New Life Community Church) |
One of the Tucker’s
kids, at just 18, came second in the state for wrestling. So smelly boys and
all that goes with, are just “normal” in this blessed household. Cathy rolled
her eyes a few times, but by and large I could tell that she was blessed to be
a blessing. Because of their familiarity with physically demanding sports, they
were able to assist us with bandages, crèmes, and braces. They had machines to
massage, chairs that extended for patient care, loads of sports channels on tv
for our amusement (honestly the boys had never SEEN so many channels), and a
sack throwing game outside just for fun. Fresh, fruity drinks were served and
all I can say is wowowowoowowow!
 |
| Pastor Mark, throwing his sack... (Sacramento: New Life Community Church) |
The Tucker family, a
model of generosity, which makes loads of sense why their Church is so
committed to helping the broken, both within their home, their Church and
throughout the city.
And because of the
Tucker family, you see a flow through effect to the other pastors, senior
figures within the Church and the youth. I have to say at this point, that the
New Life youth group were over the top for Jesus and expressing their love for
him in every way. At no other place in California did we feel as welcomed,
loved and supported as in the youth group of New Life Community Church. Thanks
New Life for a marvelous outreach week. We will be back. WE WILL BE BACK!!!
If you would
like to learn more about who our Nica-Youths are, or to support them, please
visit their page, SUPPORT
Nica-Talent
To learn more about our
street theatre production, "CREATED", please visit our page, NICAVANGELISTS:
"CREATED", North American Tour (2013)
If you would
like to see a video of some of our Nica-Youths practicing, please CLICK
HERE.
We are not up
to budget, and travelling with 14 people is very expensive. We need an
investment from Christian people for our next evangelism tour to the Midwest.
To support us or make a once off donation, please visit our page, Contemplating
SUPPORTING something significant?
To learn more
about New Life Community Church, please CLICK HERE
