Long Beach, California

We arrived in Long Beach, and found that Crystal

and I were staying "on campus".  So, we went

to our apartment for the week where we were

just going to drop off our things and then go eat.

Here's the alleyway leading up to our apartment.

I wasn't exactly sure what to expect since there

was a bum that was digging through this 

garbage as we walked up to our apartment :-)

But don't worry! Around our apartment was

gated and you could only get in with a key :-)

It was very nice!!!
Our own little place for the week! :-)
We were really looking forward to it.
We both agree that we'd have a
blast if we roomed together! :-)
Now, I don't think we could room with
certain people.. or should I say, people
would probably get annoyed with us :-)
But we have a great time together!
No silent treatments yet.. that I know of ;-)

And, of course, I loved the saying on the wall by the door :-)

 

Our team then walked to Panda Express for dinner.

Dr. Jim had talked of going there for some time,

so it was nice to be able to finally go!  Yummy! :-)

Thomas, Stephanie, and Janna played 

in orchestra on Sunday night.

We then went to the pastor's house after church on

Sunday night.  Thomas, of course, had so much

fun with the kids! :-)  The girls are going to miss

him.. or should I say, he is going to miss the girls!

I think it'll go both ways :-)

Pastor Wilkerson and his wife

Matt wanted me to get pictures of his amazing talents! ;-)
The guy sitting on the couch next to Matt is Jeremiah.
He's actually a teen from Wilton, CA, the first place
we ministered this tour when we came to California!
He flew out to help us for the week :-)

I actually don't have as long of post this week because

I was sick from about Monday night to Thursday.

Thankfully I don't usually get sick, but when I do

I guess it's pretty bad!  It could've been worse, but,

let's just say, I'm thankful that I don't normally feel

like that :-)  And thankful I feel so much better!

It was interesting actually what

lessons the Lord can teach you, even through

sickness.  I ended up losing my voice for most

of the week, or, at least, not being able to talk

much at all.  But it definitely made me think

about how I normally use my voice!

Can be quite convicting! 

So, all that to explain why I don't have as 

many pics as I normally would :-)

The pic before this one was us walking into an

Indian restaurant.  Pastor Wilkerson took us out

to lunch on Wednesday afternoon.  He took us

to this restaurant where the owner actually is

a born-again believer, and Pastor Wilkerson

really had a major part in seeing him saved!

It was a pretty awesome story!

This week we had such a variety of food!

Chinese, Korean, Indian, Mexican... it was great! :-)

The school this week was pretty big, about 75

junior and senior high, I think.  The War nights

ended up being about 100, if I remember correctly..

I was a little fuzzy this week in remembering everything :-)

Tube Tug in the gym because there was no grass!

The youth pastor's daughter.  She was so cute!

I think she might've known it too ;-)

The girls did "concerts" in different classrooms :-)

Lydia Wilkerson, the pastor's daughter, decided to

add a little something to the mashed potatoes ;-)

The artist herself! :-)

Tizzy & Lydia

Big Ball Bowling in the gym

I wish I could've gotten pictures that actually turned

out of the final Friday night service.  It was so

awesome!  The Lord really met with us and it

was obvious His presence was there as teenagers

gave testimonies.  Those who had been laughing

and mocking ended up breaking and getting right!

It was awesome!  As teens gave testimonies about

bitterness, others broke about the bitterness they

had in their hearts.  The Lord really worked as

teens ministered to teens.

I talked to a girl who hadn't been there in the

school all week long as she went to a public

school, but the Lord broke her over sin that

she'd been holding on to.  I had the opportunity

to counsel her, and then the youth pastor's wife

was able to talk with her as well.  This teen

finally "got out on the table" what she'd been

hiding for so long, pretending to be a joyful

Christian.  God broke her and she came clean!

Praise the Lord!

And many similar stories happened that evening..

I believe that was the first school on this fall

tour that we'd seen a "complete breakthrough"

or, at least, no obvious resistance left.

It was so special to just watch as the Lord worked!

And just feel so humbled knowing it wasn't you, but

it definitely was the Lord doing the working!

An awesome, incredible feeling and privilege!

Another quick story :-)  There was a girl in

the school who purposely didn't come on Friday

during the day because she didn't want to hear

the preaching.  Well, she showed up Friday night

and when God showed up, she could resist no longer.

Mrs. Van had the opportunity to talk with her, and

she was broken.  As she was talking to Mrs. Van

she confessed that when us team members would

say "hi" or "howdy" or "hey" in the halls, then

she and her friends would go and make fun of us!

Broken and crying, she apologized!  Mrs. Van told

her that she really was forgiven and didn't need

to worry about it.. there were much bigger things

in her life that needed to be dealt with.

But we thought it was cute and funny :-)

I'm sure a lot worse has been said about us! ;-)

 Some of the teen girls that I counseled from the school.

This place was incredible!

This is the main auditorium, but I think they had about

five or six different chapels throughout the massive church

building!  This place was well used too, as they have

Spanish, Korean, Cambodian, and, I think, Indonesian

church services as well as the English church!

(once again all the exact foreign ministries 

they had is a little fuzzy :-))

This place is well used for sure!  I don't think I've ever

seen so many chapels/auditoriums in one building!

Goodbye, First Baptist Church of Long Beach!

It was really awesome what God so clearly did

and how He worked this week...

may His work continue on long after we've left!