Friday morning just 'felt' early. We had some sleep the night before. I guess the week was catching up. However tired I felt, my eagerness to finally see this "School on Wheels" and to work there energized me.
School on Wheels is a secular agency that educates homeless children. Their mission is to work with children, to provide a safe environment where they can continue their education until their family (usually it's just a mother and her child or children) is able to gain access to a school. They are amazing people. The church we were connecting with in Los Angeles, Mosaic, connects with many non-profits in Los Angeles, specifically agencies that are doing good work to serve people. More on that later.
I envisioned this school that was literally on wheels-perhaps a remodeled old school bus parked on Skid Row. I was surprised when we arrived to find it was in a storefront, on Skid Row, and once inside, to discover that this place was a well appointed tutoring station.
Originally we thought we would be tutoring children. However, the kids would not be arriving until the afternoon. Our assignment was to pack some 400 new, donated backpacks with a lot of nice, new, donated school supplies.
The man who runs the agency, Matt Raab, is an amazing individual. His love for children and his passion for education and his compassion for people is tangible. He welcomed us with bagels and drinks and showed us around and told us what they did.
We watched a video-stories from homeless children about the impact School on Wheels had on their lives, and what it was like to be homeless as a child. It was amazing to see so many children talk so passionately about how important school was to them and how desperately they wanted to stay in school and graduate, then go to college. Some wanted to be policemen, some doctors. Some just wanted to have a good job so the family would never live on the streets again. These kids were not reading lines-this was 'straight from the gut' talk. These kids wanted hope. They knew education was valuable. They wanted to break free from this cycle they were in.
They don't choose this life. In most cases, their mothers did not choose this life. Story after story showed women who just wanted their child to be safe and to somehow find housing and a job. These mothers were not trying to 'work the system.' The common thing in most all interviews was this sense of fear, mixed with shame and confusion as to being in that position-and most all of that fear and anxiety was directed towards the children.
Skid Row is a dangerous place for adult men. It's a very dangerous place for women and children.
Matt, a man in his early thirties, is using his gifts and abilities to invest in the lives of the forgotten. It's hard to be around a person like Matt and not be impressed by the sense of commitment he and his staff have for these children and their families.
As we watched the video, we heard stories from children, and one in particular stood out. This young man, twelve I believe, spoke of what it was like to be homeless, to always be on the move, to never have a sense of 'belonging.' He sounded like an adult, innocence long lost, I can only imagine what he's seen, what he's been through at that age. At one point in the video he compares life to a chess match, and paraphrasing, he said something to the effect of: "I'm the oldest. I have to watch out for my family. It's like in chess. You need to make the right move. Every move matters. If you make a wrong move, bad things can happen."
He's just a child-and I thought of my own twelve year old at that time and this boy's story just ate at me. Life as chess game, carefully making every move-just to be safe. Just to make sure the proverbial wheels don't fall off. The child watching out for the family.
So after watching this video and learning more of what School on Wheels does (and after wiping away a lot of tears streaming down my face-and I know others were doing the same), we were formed into an assembly line and we spent the next 2 and a half hours stuffing as many bags as we could-not randomly, but making sure each bag had exactly what it needed for a student to go to school. Pencils, notebooks, scissors, markers, pencil sharpeners, etc... and this is what we did.
But something interesting was taking place. As we stuffed the bags, we did not see this as busy work, or meaningless work, because we knew that each bag represented a homeless child. We might not ever meet that child, but that bag, so nice, so clean, so full of supplies, would be important to each child, so what we were doing became important to us-to do it correctly, to make sure no kid was short-changed.
While we were there, a mother came in with one of the younger students. Matt unlocked the door and the mother and child came in. Safety. He sat down to talk with them, then one of his assistants came by as well. I didn't know what they were talking about, couldn't hear from where I was standing, but I could see.
I saw this young man come to life. He WANTED to stay. He wanted class to start NOW. He didn't want to go back-back OUT THERE.
When it was noon, it was time for us to leave. We did not finish all 400 bags, but made a huge dent. Another volunteer group was coming in later that week and their work would be easy and the bags would be ready in time.
As we left School on Wheels, many things stuck with me-but three things in particular:
1) Matt made a statement about how they track the kids. If one goes missing, they go to find that child so they can continue working with them, so they can watch out for that child. In other words, when times get even tougher in a very tough place, they don't give up on the children, or the family. They continue to pursue. It reminded me of the way God pursues us when we were lost and far from Him. This kind of commitment is rare these days. I commend Matt and the staff at School on Wheels for making that commitment to place and to people and sticking to it. From talking to him, I can see how it can be a discouraging thing at times. So much uncertainty, and so much danger out there, but someone has to be pursuing these families and watching out for these kids. They are one of those few who do just that.
2) My friend from Mosaic, Adrian, is an amazing guy. He is the "Serve LA" pastor, and his job description basically can be summed up by saying: "Interface with as many non-Christian non-profit service entities that are doing good and meaningful work as possible to develop relationships with them. Through serving with them, the Gospel will flow through those relational lines." Adrian's job is to connect followers of Christ in the church to those who may not know Him and to develop relationships through service that God will use for His Glory and the Kingdom. Matt asked a question towards the end of our time, one that caught me off guard. He said, 'Hey-you guys were amazing. Forgive me, but I can't remember, how did you find out about us?" I told him "Adrian, from Mosaic connected us with you." Immediately he said,'Oh, Adrian...man, that guy is incredible.We really like Adrian around here. He's amazing. Mosaic has some incredible people. We really like working with them."
Matt may not know the 'why' these people from Mosaic he has met, and Adrian in particular, are so 'amazing'-but I do-Matt and his co-workers are seeing Christ in the lives of these Christians who are coming alongside them. And as I listened to him, I wondered, "How many 'secular' agencies do I know have positive things to say about a church or followers of Christ because of their authenticity, love and service? I don't know the answer to that question, but I do believe we (the church) should ideally be seen as a blessing by those who may not know Him.
3) So this leads to the third take away for me: Sometimes we followers of Christ think that the only agencies we can or should connect with (agencies that are service agencies) must be Christian agencies. I liked Mosaic's strategy. Through serving in this agency, by serving these people, relationships are formed, and through those relationships, the Gospel travels. I didn't see (and from what I understand there is not one) a 'Christian" School on Wheels. But by being intentional, Gospel and Christ are introduced into that context by followers of Christ who come alongside those doing good work to support their efforts and to become their friend-and this too speaks.
We returned to Los Angeles because we sensed that God was calling us to invest in a place-not to be spiritual tourists going from one place to the next each year. If we are able to go back to Los Angeles next year, we plan on spending perhaps half of our time with School on Wheels, to invest in the children, and to invest in those who are serving them.
Because we see the power of coming alongside someone and loving them, serving with them, and how God uses such things to bring people to Himself.
If you want to learn more about School on Wheels, and perhaps do something to make a difference-check out their website: http://www.schoolonwheels.org/
If you email them, tell Matt that Kevin from San Antonio (the guy who brought the college students from Texas to stuff backpacks) said 'hello'-and tell him you've heard amazing things about what they are doing. Join Adrian, join us in developing relationships that matter in so many ways-in forming relationships that God will use in amazing ways.
These kids matter, and so do Matt and his staff-they all matter to God, so they should all matter to us.
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