Sol, reeling from two recent assaults, stood on the fringes, eyeing a group of college students participating in Urban Immersion™, an annual spring break missions outreach. On this day, the last of their weeklong trip, the students were near a Venice Beach parking lot, offering sack lunches to unhoused residents like Sol.
Unlike most spring breaks, the students here were oblivious to the waves thundering onto the nearby beach. There were more pressing matters capturing their attention. The Urban Immersion outreach was a joint venture between the Inner City Ministry of Cru®, which was hosting the students, and South Bay Celebration Church, a local partner ministry of the Los Angeles Inner City team.
As Sol watched from the side, David Urquhart, then an Inner City staff member, talked to a man who had been bathing himself in a public sink along the beach. Standing beside Urquhart was his wife, Jenn, and Breanna, one of the college students. Like Sol, Breanna was keenly monitoring Urquhart as he modeled his evangelism skills.
During Urban Immersion, college students, most affiliated with Cru Campus programs at their universities, participate in various ministry opportunities to expose them to inner-city ministry.
Often, they work with children, assist small churches with projects and do street evangelism. such as the lunch giveaway and the distribution of Homeless Care Kits, which contain warm socks, gloves, a hat, a scarf, toiletries and gospel literature, all wrapped up in a blanket. Inner City provides the kits to urban churches and ministries so they can help their neighbors in need.
Working with the homeless is often an eye-opener to the college students, many of whom have never had exposure to the inner city. The combined experience of South Bay Celebration Church, which leads regular beach outreaches, and the Inner City team, provides a safe environment for the students, many considering post-graduate ministry opportunities.
The Venice Beach outreach can be a life-changing experience for the young adults.
“The smell of their living conditions was almost overwhelming, just with the urine and unwashed clothes and all that,” Urquhart said. “It was just such a hard place.”
That’s why Breanna and the other Urban Immersion participants carefully observed what their leaders were doing. After a while, a skittish Sol approached the group, asking for a sack lunch. As one of the students handed her the meal and a Homeless Care Kit, Urquhart engaged the woman.
“We’re here just sharing God’s love, that we can trust God wherever we’re at, we can pray to Him, and He can be the focus of our life, so we’d love to give you the sack lunch,” Urquhart told Sol.
Going Deeper
After listening to Urquhart, Sol asked if they had another meal for her friend, Steven, staying in the nearby alley. The trio followed Sol, with food in their hand.
As they walked toward the alley, Sol shared that in recent days she had been punched in the throat by a police officer and, in a separate incident, someone intentionally ran into her with a car as she rode her bicycle. Sol said she was forced to use the bike because weeks earlier, police impounded her car, which she later saw someone driving in the neighborhood.
“Hey, that’s my car,” Sol recalled telling the driver. “That person said they just bought it at a police auction.”
As she continued to open up, Sol revealed she also endured a difficult childhood.
“I think that the thing that touched me the most was she was just so clear that things are not right in her life,” he said. “All these things that she’s experienced, that have been so hard, she said that we would end up in the same place if we were raised in the same way. She’s just kind of fighting for her life.”
‘All these things that she’s experienced, that have been so hard, she said that we would end up in the same place if we were raised in the same way.’
Despite it all, Urquhart said Sol showed no signs of being impaired or in mental distress, though her survival instinct was in overdrive, her trauma raw.
“She was clearly on edge, and even as we were in the alley, she said, ‘I want you guys to get away from these cars, just come closer to the side of the building, step aside,’” he said. “She was just very alert, on high alert, from these cars.”
As she spoke, Urquhart also noticed her weathered hands.
“They were thicker than a carpenter, than a construction worker,” he said, adding that it reflected “just how much she uses her hands on a daily basis just to survive.”
While hunger and housing were her most immediate physical needs, Urquhart noticed that personal dignity was also in short supply, saying it was difficult “seeing how she’s been treated like an animal, that people overlook her, or she feels judged all the time.”
An Object Lesson
As the two talked, Breanna, who attends Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, remained quiet as she continued to process Sol’s story, watching as Urquhart subtly shifted the focus of the conversation.
“I asked her, after experiencing all this hurt and injustice, what is your view of God?” Urquhart asked. “Immediately, she said she’s numb to God. I told her, that’s an honest answer, and even affirmed who wouldn’t be after this incredible hurt.”
‘I asked her, after experiencing all this hurt and injustice, what is your view of God?” Urquhart asked. “Immediately, she said she’s numb to God.’
Sol offered that she often confided in her friend, Steven, because she trusted him.
“Having somebody that is in your life, that you trust and is looking out for you, is just so important because God has made us to be in community with each other,” Urquhart told her. “We need each other’s input in our lives.
“I was able to share that God is walking with us through the heartache and through the trials, that He sees us and, most importantly, He doesn’t want us to live numb. Casting our cares on Him helps to kind of get us unstuck or feeling numb.”
Urquhart said he concluded their conversation by praying with Sol, asking God to help her find hope and direction, and that “the Lord will be Lord of her life.”
As the trio headed back to the original distribution site, Urquhart noticed Breanna was deeply processing the entire conversation. She later admitted it was the first time that she interacted with someone in such dire circumstances.
“It stuck with her,” he said. “She was quiet for a little bit because it is such a heavy story.”
In her Urban Immersion after-report, Breanna said she was surprised by Sol’s willingness to share her struggles, especially her deep hurt over the recent aggressive and violent actions taken against her.
“We listened to her, and she was so appreciative of us giving her food and blankets. She let us pray over her, and she seemed so grateful to have others treat her as a person with value,” Breanna said, adding, “Handing out food to the homeless showed me how simple showing Jesus’ love can be.”
‘Handing out food to the homeless showed me how simple showing Jesus’ love can be.’
Finding Commonality
When evangelizing among such a transient population, Urquhart said he bridges potential awkwardness by offering personal stories that may connect with them.
“I do believe — having a healing story myself — that sharing your story and sharing your experience is such a crucial part to the beginning of a healing journey.”
From that perspective, he then leans into how God sees each of His children and the dignity derived from that.
“We are made in God’s image that reflects a part of God in all of us, no matter where we’re at,” he said. “That image means that nobody should be treated like an animal or neglected beyond the point of any relationship.”
