The Optimist (Abilene, Tex.), Vol. 79, No. 22, Ed. 1, Wednesday, November 7, 1990 Page: 3 of 8
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When Henry moved to Cali-
fornia from Colombia lour years
ago at the age of 21 he was Iso-
lated from society not only
because of culture and ethnic
barriers but also because of lan-
Oe barriers. Henry knew two
iah words hello and
thank you when he came to
the United States. Not knowing
the language left him alone and
ostracized.
The people were cruet" lte
said. And he explained in his
newly learned second language
now it teeis to be thought of as
dumb just because of a language
difference.
"I was lonely and had no one
to spend time with" Henry said
with a look in his eyes that filled
in the story where nis vocabulary
limited him.
But the good news is the
change. With a new light in his
eyes Henry explained how he
met someone who invited him to
church studied with him loved
him and how he eventually
became a Christian.
"For one year now I have been
a Christian Henry said.
He said being part of his
church family replaced the lone-
liness hefhaa from being away
from his friends and family in
Columbia.
Henry is a member of one of
the Hispanic churches in the Los
Angeles are that World Mission
Workshop participants visited
during the Urban Plunge. The
more than 400 students repre-
senting almost 20 universities
and colleges got a chance to
experience some of the cultural
ethnic and socio-economic diver-
sifkations found in Los Angeles
churches and downtown L.A.
After visiting churches that
represented the large numbers of
Asian Hispanic and black popu-
lations in California we were
taken on a tour through the
streets of downtown L. A.
"The streets of urban L. A. are
cleaned of the homeless people
during the day they are
forced to move on" said Debbie
Leonard junior liberal arts major
from Pepperdine University
"But at night they abound she
said in her role as tourguide for
our van of about 14 ACU stu-
dents. "You can just ignore it if you
keep your eyes on the freeway
and go wherever you're going
but the reality ia if s there'
The Urban Plunge was the
final stage of the three-stage
workshop with the theme The
Chamcelesa Christ in a Chancing
Wen-Id." The workshop which
was combined with the West
Coast Campus Ministry Seminar
was Oct. 18-21 at Pepperdine
University in Mattbu Calif.
The first stage began Thursday
evening whenBryan Bost who
has been a missionary in Sao
Paulo Brazil for more than 14
years spoke about "The
Changeless Christ' The mission-
ary contrasted the constant
changes in Brazilian inflation to
the everlasting $$festant promis-
e of God
H said in his slightly
detectable BraziUan accent "It's
hard to think about forever when
you're young. But ifyou don't
think about forever ifs going to
get here before you know it.
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The second stage of the work-
shop was Friday with a fbciis on
the "The Changing World by
keynote speaker Wendell Broom
ACU mkaionary-iii-residervce.
He said "Unless we understand
change and the process of
change we're not going to make
good missionaries at all" He also
talked about how Jesus made the
changes inhimself to do what
had to be done.
"Jesus changed his status in
heaven for earth. He changed hk
divinity into humanity"
in aacunon io mrce Keynote
speakers Friday two classes and
two area interest meetings were
scheduled.
The 10 classes to choose from
included "Reaching the Numb:
Ministry in the Western World"
by Stanley Shipp evangelist
from St. Louis who dealt with
the need for mission work in
America. In contrast Roger
Massey missionary in
Yugoslavia spoke on the topic
"From Communism to Freedom:
What Shall We Do with Eastern
Europe?" which told about the
mission opportunities of the
newly opened "fields of harvest"
in Eastern Europe. T CV
The area interest meetings pror
vided an opportunity to interact
with missionaries who had
served in different areas of the
world. At least one missionary
representing each continent of
the world was there.
The last keynote speaker for
Friday Jim Reppart missionary
in Africa summed up the first
two stages of the workshop with
his topic "The Changeless Christ
in a Changing World?' The
evening ended in worship with
songs and prayers that filled the
room with indescribable emo-
tion. . Finally in preparation for the
final stage ot the workshop
Evertt Huffard professor at
Harding Graduate School of
Religion and Shipp shared the
topic "Into the Marketplace"
preparing us for the Urban
Plunge.
"Ifyou go to L.A. today and
you think you're the expert you
won't learn one single thing'
Shipp said.
Tne worst thing they can do
to you in L.A. is kill you and
thaf s not so bad" he said.
Huffard tied the first two
stages of the workshop together
saying "When churches don't
respond to change they die."
He described missionaries m
having a "willingness to dream
dreams and see visions." Prepar-
iiwr everyone for the Urban
Piunge he said 'This is not a
sight-seeing trip. You've been
called you're here. We cannot
grow spiritually without ten
sion."
X he final stage was the .
Urban Plunge caUed a "lab
experience where we were
divided into small groups that
went to different congregations.
The groups ate lunch with their
SDOftsofins: congregations and
then did a variety of things Kke.
passing out church literature
working in soup kitchens ov
knocking on doors.
The Urban Plunge ended with
a tour of downtown L. A. The
streets changed drastically block
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by block. A part of town
appeared to oe a city in Mexico
store and restaurant signs
were all written in Spanish.
Then crossing Sunset.Boulevard
tuv.ruiui iimu every inuig was
written in Chinese.
Immaculate nice areas turned
into streets full of graffiti and lit-
ter where not a single space
could be found unmarred by
spray paint.
Our tour guide Pebbie point-
ed out a sign for a public Uprary
that was written in English
Spanish and Chinese.
California has a large number
of minorities The white popula-
tion is 16.7 million and the total
of all other ethnic groups num-
ber at 12.1 million people. Also
L.A. is the city with the second
largest population of Hispanics
in the world second only to
Mexico City.
We left with eyes full of new
visions and a broader perspec
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tive ot the world
The day ended at Zuma Beach
for a catered dinner on the
beach. Not the typical cook-out
we wasted on usagna and satod.
Several got their feet wet in the
ocean and a tew adventurers
jumped in fully clothed so they
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could return to Texas and boast
of swimming in California.
We gathered in a circle and
sang songs as the sun sank into
the blue-ereen ocean leaving
I V I t Lt It J t
behind beautiful shades of
orange and yellow.
The evening came to a close
groups loaded info their Vans
shoes filled with sand and met
at Pepperdine for the final
keynote address.
With final reflectiont of the
weekend Huffard and Shipp
spoke on the topic "Make Me a
Servant."
Huffard said There's a defi-
nite hope and it starts with
you."
Shipp spoke about being'a ser-
vant every day and learning
from mistakes
"You do not accidentally
become a servant" he said. "It is
us allowing God .to put us in sit-
uations in which we are in total
dependence of God."
the workshop ended with
people sharing their feelings
about the Urban Plunge. Some
said they were ministered to by
the people some were scared ot
the inner city and some
expressed feeling like minorities.
Finally Huffard asked for vol-
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unteers to tell about the minori-
ties they met from each ethnic
church. When Huffard asked for
someone to speak about a person
from a Hispanic church I raised
my hand.
Staking and nervous JUt front
of almost 500 people I told
about Henry about how he.
moved to California was afraid
and lonely and then became a
Christian. . ';?.
But what was redly touching
about Henry was the erkf of hk
story. '' ?
Henry said "I wiH workW"
my English and then go back to
tell them. It is sad that they do
not know." ;
Now Henry has a vision. He
has a vision to be a world Chris-
tian himself. He wants to o
back to his country and left tme
people about the wve he has
found in Jesus Christ.
Henry is inspirational. He has
a Hght and he wants to aninc ife.
For that the experience of World
Mission Workshop will always
be etched ki my heart
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The Optimist (Abilene, Tex.), Vol. 79, No. 22, Ed. 1, Wednesday, November 7, 1990, newspaper, November 7, 1990; Abilene, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth96214/m1/3/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Abilene Christian University Library.