Ok, so Philadelphia. My oh my.
We left Kearny, NJ on a Wednesday morning and headed south to Camden, New Jersey to go to a church that Marc had heard about. When we got there, we found out that the pastor was gone in Israel and they were having a special music night. A guy named Santos who sings Christian doo-wop was there to share his testimony & sing. Oddly enough, he has performed at our home church in Cali also! So afterwards we talked to him for a bit & there was a guy hanging out in really close proximity, joking about how he wanted to join us on the road and just constantly trying to jump in our conversation. It was a weird encounter, not with Santos, but with the other guy. So eventually we left & on the way to Wal-mart (where we sleep), we stopped at a gas station to look for postcards. They didn’t have any L but on the way out, this guy comes up to Marc out of nowhere and says, “Why do you think the church doesn’t let you smoke on their property?” It was the same guy! Marc was like, “Hey, I saw you at the church!” and he says, “Yeah, I know, I followed you here.”
I’m sorry, what?! So they started talking and he was all kinds of something weird but he made me really nervous. He did end up saying that he was kidding about following us, but he still kinda freaked me out, especially when he told us that he thinks the only reason the Lord hasn’t delivered him from smoking is because it’s the only thing that separates him from Jesus and keeps him human. Seriously?! What does that even mean?! I think he really thought he was perfect aside from that or something, I don’t know. All I did know was that I definitely did not want to leave before him and have him follow us again, so we waited. We sat in the van for maybe 15-20 minutes and waited for him to leave, but he never walked out which freaked me out even more because now I felt like he was waiting for us to leave so he could follow us! Eventually we left & nobody followed us…that we know of anyways.
That was about it for the Camden area. We didn’t make any connections, so we took off for Philly. We got in on a Friday evening just before 5:00. Our first stop was Calvary Chapel Philly, where we met a few people. Pastor Brian, who leads the young adult group, gave us some info and then we met a dude named Gil. I’m not sure if he is a pastor, but I think so. Either way, he hooked us up with an outreach that was going on the next day in downtown Philly so the next morning we made it to the church just before 9 and headed out. We were traveling with a small group leader who’s name has unfortunately slipped my mind. (If I had to guess I’d say Chris, for what it’s worth. But if you’re reading this, comment so I know your name!) He was in charge, but with us was the guy who drove the van, and 3 kids ages 11-15 maybe. So we got to the church, had a little prayer meeting. The head guy laid down the rules-talk to the people, sit with them, don’t touch them, don’t give them money, and just show them the love of Jesus. We were apparently slightly understaffed that day, so Marc & I along with a kid named Wyatt, were in charge of cooking. We boiled about 80 hot dogs (I’ve never boiled a hot dog before in my life), cooked about 24 packages of Top Ramen (or as they called it, oodles of noodles), and dished up about 40 plates that the other kids came and delivered. It was a pretty awesome day!
Afterwards we went back to the church and Chris invited us over to his house to have a meal with his family. We got to meet his wife and 3 of their 4 kids. They super blessed us, even though we only hung out with them that one time, it is so nice to be able to sit and talk and fellowship with the body of Christ. What a blessing!
So Sunday morning comes around and we headed off to church for 2nd service, hoping we would run into them again. The church is so huge that unfortunately we didn’t see them, but God had other plans. So with nothing to do and nobody to talk to, we headed out to the van, but then realized that we didn’t know where we were going, so we just sat for a couple of minutes. Then, just as Marc finished praying that God would show us what to do next, the phone rang! It was Rich. I know, backstory time.
Think back, if you read my blogs back then, to when we were in Western NY for the first time. We met this guy named Jake, who had an uncle named Rich who was an apartment manager in Philly and just so happened to be in the area when we were there. So we met him and he told us to give him a call when we got into town and he would hook us up with a place. Traditionally, any time anything like this happens to us, it just never works out, and so far this time it hadn’t. We had tried to get a hold of him with no luck, but here he was now calling us! Turns out he was going into 3rd service so we just waited outside for him. Afterwards, he took us to lunch (thank you Jesus!) and then got us set up in our own apartment! He even blessed us with food to cook. Shortly after, we headed out to run errands with him, but stopped at this church that Pastor Joe Focht (he’s like the Chuck of the East Coast) had told us about called The Rock. They were going to be closed the next couple of days, but they said to come back on Thursday to get a feel for the ministry, so now we had plans!
We were super stoked at how the Lord works things out for us, it’s so amazing! Especially because on our last day in Camden, we found out about “Frankenstorm”, which was headed straight for us. Weathercasters called it the perfect storm because it was a mix of a winter storm and a hurricane, all at the same time. And here we were, right in it’s path. Thankfully, we had an apartment to stay in. By the time it hit us, it had dialed down and was no longer classified as a hurricane. It hit New Jersey pretty hard, but we were inland enough that it was just rainy and windy. We kept waiting for it to get really bad, but it never did. We had a nice couple days hanging out in the apartment, watching movies and just chilling with each other.
Once the nasty weather passed, we ventured out a little bit from the apartment…into the common room. We actually had two really great conversations with a couple different tenants. One of them is super into anything any one tells him about Egypt. It’s pretty crazy how many people will believe anything anyone else tells them, but won’t believe the Bible.
That Wednesday night we went to The Rock for church. Let me tell you, Kensington (the neighborhood of Philly we were in) is unlike any other place I’ve ever been. My time here has so opened my eyes to the poverty there is in America, the poverty that we don’t see, that we sometimes choose to keep ourselves blind to.
The next morning, we got to the church at 9 am to help them receive a shipment. Once it was sorted, we walked the neighborhood to distribute food to whoever answered their door. On the corner of the street where the church is here in Philly, is one of the worst spots in America for drug trafficking. Every time we walk by, we are offered drugs or needles. It’s pretty intense. It’s the only place that I’ve been to where it’s scary to be out in the day time. We walked by a homeless man who was sifting through trash on the ground, picking up dirty needles. The houses we went to were so run down, I don’t know how people lived in them. Some windows were busted out, some were condemned, everything was filthy but it was really cool just to be able to be with the people, to bless them, to give and to expect nothing in return. A lot of them were really excited about it.
Every Tuesday and Thursday, the Rock has an after school program that’s free for ages 6 and up. Kids come from 4pm-6:30 and have 2 hours of free time & homework help and for the last half hour they do a Bible study. If you’re a boy over the age of 9 (I think), they have boxing lessons from a former Olympic trainer. Once again, it’s all free, you just have to stay for the Bible study. If you live in suburbia and ever need a reality check, come to Kensington. Maria, one of the interns, calls the after school program crazytown, and it totally is! You can see the effects of these parents’ sins in these kids. They have so much attitude, from 6 years old up to high schoolers. Not all of them, but there are some who definitely stand out as needing love more so than the others. It seems like nobody has really given it to them before. And there is definitely no structure or Godly discipline in their lives. They talk to you so disrespectfully because nobody has taught them any better. It’s so sad, but on the flip side it’s so great that The Rock is there to minister to them & share the word & the love of Jesus with them. In this neighborhood, nobody helps anybody just because. I shared a little bit with the girls ages 9-14 about what Marc and I are doing, and one of the younger girls asked me, “So you sleep outside in your van? Aren’t you afraid of getting shot?” What kind of 10 year old has to worry about that?! It was sad and eye opening.
Friday we made it into downtown Philadelphia & got to see all of the historic sights like the Liberty Bell, Declaration Hall (where Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence), and even where Ben Frank himself is buried. Talk about wieeerd. That’s part of what I love about the east coast-being able to see all of these places that we learn about in elementary school! Marc, of course, had to try a cheese steak so we went to this place called Jim’s. Apparently, a traditional cheese steak is with meat, grilled onions, and cheese wiz. Sounds gross if you ask me, but Marc said it was delicious. It’s funny, he asked for a grilled cheese for me, and the guy was like, “Do you see that on the menu?” And Marc says, “Do you have cheese and bread?” It was pretty funny.
Our day ended at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, more commonly known as the steps that Rocky ran up. It was about a 3 mile walk to get there, but Marc loved it. Just wait for the video, I’m sure it will be hilarious. Then we caught “the el” train back home to our humble abode.
Saturday morning was another eye opener. We made it to the church about 9am to help with an outreach they do called Proclaiming the Way. Every other Saturday they either walk around the neighborhood evangelizing or they set up a small stage for worship & the gospel message and they serve coffee and food. This Saturday was the latter. So we got out there, set up tables & chairs, and started serving the people. I was nervous about it at first-actually I was never too excited about anything at The Rock other than the kids ministry. In all honesty, I didn’t want to help the dealers, I didn’t want to help the addicts. I wanted to lock them up. My real mom is and always has been an addict. Growing up and even sometimes still, it’s hard for me to come to terms with the fact that I wasn’t enough of a reason for my mom to get off of drugs. Story of my life-everytime she was in jail, she would call & write to us to tell us how much she loved us. She was sorry, she was always sorry, and she was going to get clean and get us back (we lived with a foster family). Then as soon as she was released, we stopped hearing from her until the next time she got locked up and that was my life. She called one time when I was 10 and my brother answered the phone but I wouldn’t talk to her. Eventually I picked up the receiver and she asked why I wouldn’t talk to her or see her and I told her, “Because I can’t trust you.” Then I hung up. That was the last time I talked to her for years, but of course, I always had hope, a secret, illogical, deep seeded hope, that she would one day be my mother again. But I was used to the lies and the broken promises. So being out there on Saturday with these people, I felt like every one of them was a manifestation of my mother. I would look at them and literally see her. I just wanted to help them and to fix it, but had no idea what to say to them. I still don’t. I was praying so hard because the event was about to start and I had no idea what I would say, I knew Jesus would have to give me the words. I was relieved when they assigned me to pour coffee. This way I was still helping and interacting, but within limits.
So the people came and we served them. There was one guy who was so out of it that he just sat with his head down nearly the entire time. He couldn’t even lift it up for more than a few seconds. At one point, we ran out of coffee, so I started walking inside to get some more and as I looked down the block, I saw this man who was crazy high. He was standing in the middle of the sidewalk and he kept trying to sit in a chair, but there was no chair there. He’d get almost all the way down before he realized it, then he’d stand back up and do it all over again. He even fell all the way down once. I almost started bawling. I just wanted to help him, but how? I talked to some of the people who work there and they said that he’s been out there for years, which made me even more saddened. I just don’t understand it.
A guy ended up getting saved, and they ministered to a lot of people. One of them was a dealer who knew that he needed to change his life & he wanted to, but he was scared. They spent a really long time talking to him & he ended up coming to church the next day, which was fantastic. It’s so awesome to begin to see God working in people like that.
Sunday, of course, was church at The Rock. I have no idea how the pastors focus when they teach. Someone is always standing up, moving around. This one lady came in in the middle of service to give someone a cup of coffee. Another dude got up from the front, went to the back, and was talking to a guy a few seats in, asking him for his coffee. It’s so different from what you’re used to at church but it’s amazing to see the least of these being reached in the name of Jesus.
After church, we joined a bunch of the interns (Leah, Maria, and Jarrett) and other people (Matte, Lanita, and Lisa) took the el into the city to go to the art museum. Normally admission is $20 but on the first Sunday of the month, it’s “Pay what you think” day. Sweeeeeeet. It was a good time!
On Monday, I have no idea what we did during the day. Something at the church, but I just can’t quite remember at this point. In the evening, we were supposed to pick up a guy we had met to go to the young adult group at CC Philly, but right when we were supposed to get him, he called and cancelled on us. Leah & Maria were with us, so we just hung out and then headed over. They were having a night of prayer, worship, and communion. It was a really blessed time to spend with Jesus. Afterwards, we got to catch up a little bit with Pastor Brian (from our first day in Philly) and get some info from him on hurricane relief. We had found out a day or two earlier that 2 of our pastors from back home were going to be in New Jersey, scoping out the land. We were so excited! Two hours away! And that’s how the new plan moved from being Delaware to hurricane relief in Jersey.
On Tuesday, we were blessed to be visited by 2 of our friends from New Jersey, Brittany and Yve! They drove all the way from Kearny, NJ to come and see us! We took the train into the city and went to this place called “Philadelphia’s Magic Garden” which isn’t really a garden at all, but a vacant lot that a man made a GIANT mosaic out of using recycled glass and other items. It was really pretty. The next stop was Geno’s for a cheese steak, this time Marc got provolone with, instead of wiz with. (With means with onions….in case you’re ever in Philly.) Right after that-Pat’s. That’s right, he had a cheese steak and then another one! But the 3 of them wanted to compare the 2 famous places (that are across the street from each other) so they ate at Geno’s, then split one at Pat’s (where they filmed part of Rocky). And then we were off! We walked around the city for a bit, through an art exhibit in city hall, and then through the Reading Terminal Market, a really cool marketplace that Marc & I stumbled upon last time we were in the city. Brittany and Marc tried the chocolate covered onion. I had the teeniest of bites, but it was DISGUSTING, and then it was home.
On Wednesday we got to the church around 9 to help cook and get ready for the women’s breakfast they put on every week. About 25 women show up, give or take. They start with worship & a short Bible study, then they eat. About 15-20 minutes before hand, we hit the streets to invite people. While we were walking, one of the dealers offered us some drugs and Leah, one of the interns & sweetest girl ever, says, “Oh, no thank you. Have a blessed day!” I thought it was just the funniest thing! I always just ignore them and walk past, but she was just super sweet to them, like they were offering her a puppy or something. So anyways, we invited this one lady. It turned out she was a Jehovah’s Witness so of course I started talking with her, but it was just so frustrating because if she got tripped up, she wouldn’t even try to answer, she would just deflect the question. The man who was with her is named Curtis. Please pray for him! Leah and I both think that the reason we stopped to talk with them was for him. He had had a stroke and lost the ability to speak, but we both saw something in him that gave us hope. That night I had a dream that we saw him again and he could speak and he had become a Christian! Hopefully it was a promise from the Lord.
We planned on leaving after the breakfast, but while we were there, another storm rolled into Jersey and kind of into Philly, so we started getting snow and at some points sleet. We figured it would be a better idea to wait out the storm. We wouldn’t be able to do much in a storm in Jersey anyways.
That night was church, more prayer and worship. Being down there, we see such a testimony of God’s goodness. Earlier that day, there had been a donation of clothes. It was an entire men’s wardrobe full of winter clothes-long john’s, jackets, flannels, snow pants, undershirts. Everything was in AMAZING condition and looked as though it had never been worn. Some of it was expensive brands and there were even a few flannels in the bag that had never been worn. It was especially wonderful because just a day before, we were praying for winter clothes and here came all of these free, warm, awesome clothes. And people say that God isn’t good! Man, He takes care of us like no other.
So for a few weeks now, Monstro (our van) has been having an issue here and there. Sometimes our Check Engine light will randomly turn on. Other times, from a stop, we push the gas and it doesn’t really go, or at least not right away. It’s been a recurring issue. It actually is the same issue we had back in Wyoming, state #3. When we took it to the dealership back then, they wanted $1,300 to fix the EGR valve and the work wouldn’t be guaranteed, so we told them no thank you. Then we laid hands on it, prayed over it, and in faith started driving to the next stop, 300 miles away. We made it through that week and another week (and state) later before it started messing up again. So while we were there, we got our fuel pump replaced with a used part and it ran smoothly for months. All that to say, on the way home from church, on one of the most ghetto streets ever, the van shut off. “Oh please Jesus, don’t let us break down here” were the exact words that came out of my mouth. Thankfully, it started again immediately and we made it back to the apartment. The next day we took it into the shop that Pastor Buddy recommended and made it back to The Rock in time to help with the after school program. Another day of crazy children who really need God’s love!
Today, Friday, was another day of newness. It started out at The Rock, where we prepared some food to take to a man from the congregation named Mr. Paul who had lost his eyesight to diabetes in the past few years. He lives alone and doesn’t have a nurse because his landlord doesn’t want anyone to come over, but the church is going to really start helping him as much as they can. Please, please, please, if nothing else, pray for this man. He has such joy in knowing Jesus but his life is so strained right now. I wanted to cry so many times when we were there. I feel like if we lived here, he would be my assignment, I would make him food everyday. He was so appreciative to have us there but his living conditions could be so much better. My heart breaks for this man.
Then we got a call from the mechanic-without asking us, he had fixed the problem. The only problem is that it was more money than we hoped and more money than we had. Just the day before I had read in Mark where Jesus tells Peter, “Whatever you ask for believing, you will receive.” So I prayed for the van and prayed for the van. At that point, I didn’t know how much it was going to be, but I knew that God would take care of it. So when we found out how much it would be and that we didn’t really have enough to cover it, I just prayed more. Guess what? God took care of the bill. Our van is fixed and in the morning, we’ll be on the road to Jersey.
That evening, we headed to a storefront owned by the church about a block away called “The Lost Coin”. They have a coffee house night every other Friday where they stand outside & have people off of the streets come in & have coffee & snacks and hear some worship music. It was an incredible night. Marc got to talk to a couple dealers and a couple addicts, all of who bawled their eyes out. One man told him, “Every time I shoot up, I just want to die, and I hope that I do.” He shared with him the gospel and told him he could give him resources that would hook him up and get him clean, but he resisted. This is part of my heart ache with addicts, part of what I don’t understand. I guess it’s just like the book of Proverbs says, “As a dog returns to it’s vomit, so a fool returns to his folly”.
I talked to a man named Chris who was so excited about the 7 months of sobriety that he had, until he “put all of his eggs in one basket” and it didn’t work out. Now he’s right back where he started. His words broke my heart when he told me about his relationship with his dad-as he got clean, his dad would give him another chance, he’d let him come back but then everything went south. Over and over again. I know that cycle, I know how hard it was for his dad to say, “that’s enough, this time you need to stay gone because I can’t do this anymore”. At the end of the night Marc got to pray with him. Craig (church/ministry admin & awesome guy) got him hooked up with the number of a rehab house. Hopefully he’ll go soon.
It was a really emotional night and so many times, I just wanted to cry. In the past when emotional problems come up dealing with this subject, I always get this overwhelming urge to flee, not to deal with it, and to just push it out of my mind but here, it’s a good emotional. It’s hard, but I don’t get the urge to run. When I got here, I thought to myself, “There is no way that I would EVER live here.” I didn’t even want to entertain the thought that God might move us here. Tonight, I felt as though I would be ok with it if He did. I don’t think He’s going to, I just think that He wanted me to be in a place that I was ok if He did. We’ll see what He has in store for our future. I at least would love to bring people here for outreach.
On Saturday morning, we picked up our van from the shop. It had been there since Thursday evening. They called us on Friday and said they were done fixing it, but they never called us to authorize the work! So we wondered, what the heck are we going to do?! We barely had enough money to pay it & some of the money we would have had to use to pay it was already dedicated to something else. Sheesh. So we just prayed! Because the Lord has called us here and we were faced with a pretty impossible solution, we knew the answer: God would have to provide! And He did! We were blessed, without us asking, by someone paying our bill. The Lord is good!
So we headed to The Rock to say our goodbyes. Timmy took us out to breakfast & Joe tagged along, then we got back, said thank you to Pastor Buddy for everything he & his church did for us, Paul blessed us with chips & shampoo, & it was off to Jersey for hurricane relief!
driving into Philly on the:
Benjamin Franklin Bridge
cooking hot dogs
bunning hot dogs
our first night at The Rock
from the left, Jarrett, me, Craig, Joe, Leah, & Mariah.
aka-the homies.
hurricane preparations:
our apartment:
our room :)
the creepy house across the street
The Rock!
The Rock has a boxing ministry, so, naturally, a boxing ring.
Elfred's Alley-the oldest residential street in America!
This, my friends, is where Benjamin Franklin's body is.
Oh that? That's just the Liberty Bell.
Marc had to try a cheese steak of course.
analysis: great meat, not so great bread.
dude. No idea what's up with that nasty statue.
yeah....she was washing her bike wheels....in the fountain
Marc standing in front of some statue of some dude.
dun dun dun dun dun nuh nuh nuh dundun....
you know the rest
I clearly don't care about this place,
(maybe cause I had to walk 3 miles to get there)
but the lady behind me did.
:)
this is the name of the car dealership in the ghetto of Philly
the site of the Proclaiming the Way outreach.
We cooked hot dogs & made coffee & served people.
with the homies at the art museum!
The awesome teahouse in the Asian art room:
Philly in the background
we play this game where we see who can stand the
longest on the train without holding on.
This super awesome place in Philly called
"Philadelphia's Magic Gardens":
Brittany, Yve, me, & Marc
our awesome friends from Jersey who came to visit us.
Weird, I didn't know that was allowed.
So this is one of the most famous spots for cheese steaks.
analysis: the bread was bomb.
and then we went to the other most famous spot:
Pat's!
analysis: bomb bread & bomb meat.
Pat's gets the stamp of approval.
notice the little red stone on the floor on the left of Brittany
here it is:
And then to City Hall!
<3
aaaaahhhh!
my, how the tables have turned
chocolate covered onion! Brittany & Marc took a monstrosity
of a bite, I tried a tiny bite.
The wall decoration in the sanctuary at The Rock
coffeehouse ministry they have every other Friday night at
the storefront down the street called The Lost Coin, Inc.
Danielle & Joe
Marc praying with Chris, the guy I told you about.
The gang! Me, Marc, Craig, Paul, Joe, & Timmy.
this church believes that only black people go to heaven.
don't ask.
"Learn-live. Love yourself and your family. Say no to drugs."
