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San Francisco Bay Area
This month we're heading on over to the San Francisco Bay Area!
Be sure to visit our opportunities page for
more information about serving with us in the "City by the Bay".
News from the SF Bay Area - The Great City of Oakland!!!!
There is so much to share about all the exciting things that are going on
in the great city of Oakland. It has been amazing moving to the San Antonio neighborhood and
having the opportunity to learn more about the city, while trying to connect with various
ministries and non-profits that might benefit from partnering with CSM and utilizing our
volunteers. Even though I have only been in Oakland since February, God has already crossed
my path with the paths of some incredible people that are using their gifts and talents to serve the city
they live in. Instead of writing a novel about all the different people I’ve met and places
I’ve visited, I’m going to focus on the Oakland Police Department. Many of you have probably
heard about Oakland in the news: the crime, the gangs, the drugs, etc. Despite the alarming
crime rate, there is unfortunately a major shortage of police officers in Oakland.
This past February, I had the opportunity to get a glimpse into what an Oakland
police officer experiences on a daily basis. In trying to learn more about the crime in Oakland,
I sent a couple of e-mails to a chief officer asking him if I could meet with someone who could fill
me in on the gang scene. I was told to dress professionally and meet at a police station in East
Oakland. Excitedly, I prepared myself for what I thought would be a sit down interview with an
experienced cop. Instead, when I arrived, I found out that I was doing a ride along with a police
officer (which meant that I was handed a set of car keys and told that if I felt “unsafe” at any
time to run or drive away with the car). With my nice clothes and dress shoes, I jumped in the
front seat of the cop car that had blood splattered in the back window and spent a day going on
calls with an officer while learning about some of the gang impacted areas in between sirens blaring.
Calls ranged from drug busts and stolen cars to robberies in homes and markets.
The encounter that left me most heart broken was a call from a young woman on
International Boulevard in Fruitvale, which is a predominantly Latino neighborhood in Oakland. Her
name was Maria, and she reported that a man had stolen 6 cans of coffee from her small market store.
While the officer filled out the report, Maria and I talked about the robbery. Most people wouldn’t
make a big deal out of 6 coffee cans being stolen, but she explained through tears why the loss was
such a huge one. Maria told me that she and her husband had put their life savings into opening up
their store. She went on to say that their market had only been open for one week, and the same
man had robbed their store 2 different times. Not only was I sad for Maria and her husband, I was
also sad for the man that was desperate enough to steal cans of coffee from a small market. I
continue to wrestle with issues connected to racism, poverty, and classism and what is required of
me as a Christ follower in responding to these issues. Jeremiah 29:7 states: “As people of faith we
are called by God to pray and work for the shalom of the city –its health, welfare and prosperity.”
My time as pseudo cop was just one of many great experiences that I have had since
moving to Oakland. This past March, I hosted our very first Oakland group at Harbor House Ministries.
(Check out Harbor House!) The group was from Tigard,
Oregon and each student/leader left Oakland with a new perspective on the city and God’s heart for all
people. My group got to eat at some of our new Oakland restaurants which include: Cambodian food,
Chicken & Waffles, Thai, Indian, Ethiopian, Vietnamese, and Mexican. CSM San Francisco Bay Area is
growing in the amount of ministries and non-profits that we are able to provide volunteers for, and I
am excited about all of the new possibilities in Oakland.
In the new Oakland prayer tour, we conclude with mentioning that the city’s namesake
was from the Oak trees that filled the streets as late as the 1870’s and talk about how God has been
doing a mighty work in this city and is going to restore Oakland. In the midst of the crime, drugs,
and poverty God is at work! Isaiah 61:1-3 states:
“The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives, and release from darkness
for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort
all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion – to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of
ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor.”
Sign up your group to come experience a week in Oakland!
-Lisa Trump, CSM San Francisco Bay Area Associate City
Director
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