BLOG

Next Step summer mission trips are just a few weeks away! This means we are in the calm before things get crazy in the best way possible. In about a week our Summer Staff…

As I was writing this list, I thought this could be a great exercise to see how the Skid Row community has succeeded. So often, I only think about how this community needs to change, that I forget about how many incredible strengths they have. So, below are three examples form a long list I wrote on how I want Skid Row to stay the same.

Because the volunteers took time out of their schedule to be in community with a part of their community that is normally ignored, I and the rest of those at the event were able to witness just a small portion of God’s perfect plan

I should take great pride in the fact the building I work in is worn out. This means that the community living and working behind its doors are using the building to its fullest potential.

“When it comes to ministry, age is just a number. We have to be willing and able to let Christ work through us. Sometimes this can uncomfortable or even scary.”

My move has given me the space to reflect on what I have learned from living at a shelter for those experiencing homelessness for the past six months. Through this post, I would like to share what the beautiful community of Skid Row has taught me.

This is not in the plans…this is not in the plans…this is not in the plans! This is what was running through my head as I was explaining to the leaders and students what we were about to do.

Since moving out to L.A. I have been fighting this I mentality. I am moving to L.A. to serve Skid Row. I am working for both Next step and Union Rescue Mission. It is up to me to make sure that the off season trip goes smoothly. As soon as the Next Step interns landed in L.A. this mentality was tested.

We are all guests in this world…created to bring glory to the ultimate host.

Transition is a beautiful thing. Now, if you would have asked me a few weeks ago how I liked my current state of changing from one season of life to a completely new one,…

Read more about what it looks like to relocate to a community here.

“I do not mind working for the community, but I do not want to live amongst this community!”, this was my thought while sitting in my friend’s house in Phoenix, Arizona- having finished already…

The apostle Paul was a long-term missionary who advanced the Gospel through short-term missions. Paul seldom stayed longer than a few months or even weeks in a single location.

Be encouraged that our labor is not in vain. We serve a risen and ascended Christ who has said… “I will build my Church and the gates of Hell will not prevail against it.” That is precisely what He is doing.

When we live in light of the incarnation of Christ, our lives will be shocking to others. Although we are sons and daughters of the King, we will humiliate ourselves by serving others.

With all the issues facing the city of Los Angeles, there is an underlying temptation to focus all of our attention on justice in the city, and “drift” from our first purpose which is the mission of God to multiply His church on earth.

Doing justice means giving people their due. It means giving people what we owe them as fellow image bearers of God. Everyone human being deserves and longs for vocation, dignity, hope, meaning, and value. Through the Gospel, Christ offers people the ultimate vocation as His servant, the ultimate

I was recently in Los Angeles on a trip to meet with partners and begin the planning process for our 2017 summer. I had the honor to teach an afternoon Bible class on the…