“My Purpose Is Giving Back”
Last week we sat down with Amber to talk about how going on a mission trip with Element changed her life.
Amber is a mom, restaurant owner, and member of Element’s Wentzville campus, and she decided to put all that aside last year to go on a mission trip to the LA Dream Center.
The Los Angeles Dream Center’s mission is “to connect broken people to a community of support by providing free resources and services that address immediate and long-term needs in the areas of homelessness, hunger, poverty, addiction, abuse, education and human trafficking.” Element has made it a frequent stop for their missions programs and will be returning to it later this year.
Amber’s family was one of the reasons she decided to go on the trip to the Dream Center. She said that her parents went on several mission trips when she was growing up, and they had always taken something away from it. When she brought the idea to them, they thought it would be a good idea for her to go with her son and spend the time together. So she committed to the trip and then came back forever changed.
“People Can’t Comprehend the amount of homeless you will see in LA.”
It’s hard to believe just how many people are shoved into such a small area, where families are living in such poverty, but that’s skid row. That’s the group of people that the Dream Center, and Element, serve.
The groups were equipped with water bottles and other items to give the people, but as much as they were out there to serve, Amber clearly remembers that “they shared before they went out ‘the most important thing is connecting with people.’”
“When you sit down with these individuals, you realize that they are no different than you. Their circumstances are different, but they are the same.”
These people are people. They are just disadvantaged. When I asked her what a memorable connection for her was, she remembered Danny.
“One of the connections that was memorable was Danny at the park from skid row.”
“He had a full-ride scholarship to play D1 basketball, but he made some poor decisions and ended up going to prison. Once he got out he was dropped off at skid row. He still had his whole life ahead of him, but here he was. It gave me a lot of perspective. He was no different. He was just like anybody you have a conversation with.
We’re one mistake from being a Danny. I’ve made a lot of mistakes, but he was in the wrong place, at the wrong time, with the wrong people. That’s how he ended up where he was.
I hope he and his girlfriend got housing. I think about Danny a lot.”
Danny was a normal person, but life didn’t break his way.
“I wish I could be that mentor he needed, you know. If they had this mentor praying with them and being with them I think there would be far less homeless than there are today.”
God would make sure that she was able to do that at least some while she was there. Making connections turned out to not be as difficult as she expected, and she was able to share her faith despite not being a trained pastor or missionary. All she had to do was share her story.
“One of the things I was reluctant about was not knowing enough of the Bible, but those questions didn’t come up. It was connecting with people, building relationships, and sharing Christ. You don’t need to know the Bible in-depth to share your testimony. That’s what they wanted to hear.”
“When you do go on these mission trips, everything you thought mattered doesn’t matter anymore. Your purpose is to share Christ.”
These conversations spurred change in Amber’s heart. She didn’t know it yet, but God had sent her there not as much to impact the LA community, but the local community in St. Louis.
When she was getting ready to leave LA, the Dream Center leaders asked everyone:
“What can you do when you go back home?”
She didn’t think she had what it took to make a difference in her community. She didn’t have any skills she could think of that would prove useful. However, she prayed over it and found that she could leverage her restaurant and partner with local homeless shelters to donate left-over food and feed the hungry.
This new perspective has helped Amber recognize all of her countless blessings. She now looks at the world in a different way, and tries to help when she can. “My purpose is giving back,” she said, “There are people here just like there were in LA.”
To find out more about how you can experience life change as Amber did, click here: