Elevate Update #3

 

 

 

These past 2 1/2 weeks have been the most challenging in all of my life. Naively, up to this point, I was convinced school and health related issues were the absolute hardest hurdles I could overcome. However, since being here in La Jolla, I’ve realized that God is constantly growing me. We’ve also been talking about how a relationship with Jesus is not founded on feelings, but on a constant trust that despite the hard days, I still need to lean into God because He is unchanging. Because of the people in my community I have constantly been reminded that  it is also possible to be faced with challenges and not live miserably. I have grown more in my faith in my short time here than during any other time period in my life.

I wish I could go into deep detail about every single day, but I could probably write a book and I’m obviously having trouble keeping consistent with my weekly updates. I’ll try to keep this update brief and highlight some key milestones so far.

On the eleventh day of being here I finally found a job at Pottery Barn Kids. As many of you know, I was convinced that based on my experience last summer as a YMCA camp counselor, I thought I had that job in the bag. That being said, I came expecting to attend the group interview only as a formality- I had a Skype interview prior to arriving here and felt pretty confident about having a job there. So, I thought I’d have two weeks to chill until training and camps started. (Because I assumed I had the job). I was so wrong.

I reached a point where my village leader lovingly reminded me that I am not beneath any position. And so, I started applying anywhere and everywhere. I camped out in a mall for about nine days and applied to over forty establishments. Only three interviews resulted from over forty applications. The reason why I’m here is to carry the gospel. My job is just a means for me to do that. I didn’t come here to improve my resume.

Since job hunting has ended, but work hasn’t started, I’ve been filling my time at the San Diego Food Bank. I am meeting so many awesome people there and having very fruitful conversations. This specific food bank feeds over 400,000 people. That is about 1/5 of San Diego’s population that is unable to afford food.

Many people wonder, why do a mission trip/ discipleship program in La Jolla, California? The answer is this: on a list of 117 top churchless cities, San Diego is number thirty-six on that list. It’s easy to assume that because a place seems wealthy or not seemingly poor, that it doesn’t deserve to hear the good news. I forget that La Jolla, California needs the gospel as much as Tijuana and Haiti. Any person who has not heard the good news needs the gospel. That is why we place so much emphasis on serving at our different churches and throwing beach parties on Sunday nights.

One thing that has been revealed to me as I dive deeper into community and DTs (Devotional Times) is that many times I believe the lies of Satan more than I believe the truths that God gives us in His word. This has not been an easy thing to learn, but realizing the root of the problem has been so so good. Right now

Prayer requests:

-Rest

-Casual conversations lead to gospel conversations and more friends at beach parties

-Understanding that the truth that is in God’s word and from God Himself trumps Satan’s lies.

-Selflessness. That I would always come full circle back to the gospel.

-Intentionality with new friends that haven’t become family yet.

 

Thank-you so much for bringing me here. Words cannot even begin to describe everything I’ve been learning and I can’t wait to have more in-depth conversations with you when I get back to Seattle and Pullman in the fall.

 

Kayla (a.k.a.  Ku’Wanga)

P.S. I apologize for any spelling mistakes. I’ve been awake since around 6am and have been gone for most of the day. This project is taking me all over the city!