The final moments came as the plane descended into LAX. Over the last 20 minutes, all we saw out the windows were the lights of Los Angeles; it was huge! After making our way through the heavy traffic, we arrived at the Dream Center. Our first thought upon arriving there came out as, "What did we get ourselves into?"

Our week began with our fun days. We traveled to Venice Beach, Manhattan Beach, Six Flags Magic Mountain and the clippers vs. Mavericks game. Our class had a blast together and really connected a lot. The groups were never the same and everyone hung out with everyone. Some of us jumped into the ocean for the very first time. We learned that the "macho" guys were actually not-so-macho when it came to roller coasters, and that Los Angeles is full of very... odd people.

On Sunday, we were able to experience the church at the Dream Center. It is held in the Angelus Temple, which is about a mile or so from the actual Dream Center. Buses go out in the morning and pick up anyone they can and bring them back to the church. Anyone is allowed to come, from homeless to the disciples at the Dream Center. There is also a program called the "Discipleship Program." The drug users and other addicts or people off the streets are allowed to live at the Dream Center as long as they follow strict rules. Some of the rules consist basically of not talking to the opposite sex and having to bring the Bible or Jesus into every conversation they have. It is a really good program and they accept anyone and everyone to come onto their team.

The mission part of the week began and we started out with a tour of the Dream Center itself and then headed out in separate groups to do the food drop. It was definitely a new experience to hand out food to so many kids and parents who had absolutely nothing. During one of the nights, we traveled down to Santa Monica to gather the homeless for a free meal. It backfired in a sense that it started pouring rain and no one showed up, but it was still and experience for our class. We also split up into three groups one morning and went out to clean-up streets, work at the church and do some landscaping. A huge discomfort came when we had to stand on the street corners of a very large school that was half Latino and half African-American, and being the only white people in the area made it slightly unnerving.

In the middle of the week, they needed our help for some more various tasks around the Dream Center. Again, we split up into groups of three and went out to do some tutoring at the small school there, helped pick up the gym, and did some marketing calls (helping thank the donors). On Thursday, we split into two groups. Some went to help fill the food truck and others went to help fill the Metro Kids truck. Later that day, we had the opportunity to travel with the Metro Kids bus and play with some of the kids. All the children were Latino and they came from some very troubled homes. It touched the class and was a huge heart-wrenching experience for us. We were allowed to interact with the children and we played games, prayed for them, and prayed with them to accept Christ if they wished.

Skid Row was probably the most eye-opening experience. There are thousands of homeless that live on the area of downtown Los Angeles. It smelled and was extremely trashy and we had to jump out of our comfort zones to invite them for a free meal.  It was a great opportunity to evangelize and really get to know their stories. The boys met a man who was convinced he was "god" and the Buche's had a Bible thrown at them, but overall, it was a great experience. Our last night, we got to enjoy watching the boys play basketball one last time together and got to see a free concert at the center.

Overall, the trip was a huge success. Our first impression did not last more than an hour, and we felt extremely safe while we were there. One thing we learned is that you do not have to leave the country to find poverty and lost souls - it is in our own backyard, in a way.