written on friday, posted on sunday -- an update from my first day

The following is from my journal written on Friday...

I am here!! And I feel rested now…it’s amazing how a two hour time difference can mess you up. No worries though, I am also getting my coffee for the morning at a place call “Muddy’s” on Valencia. I’ve decided this morning the just walk around the neighborhood, get a feel for things and to see what kind of stores, restaurants and coffee shops are around.

One thing I can say about San Francisco that I like is that everyone has their own personality and style. I’ve had the conversation with many people before how when I go to some Christian events most people look the same, talk the same, listen to the same music…not much diversity. However, in San Francisco there is lots of diversity…and it has a great beauty to it.

I have lunch with Mark and Adam at 1:00pm, so I’m enjoying some time at Muddy’s journaling. San Francisco is such a neat place. At first arrival it doesn’t feel like a big city…it does have a hint of a small town in the midst of its bigness. It’s is nice to be in a place that is like India in the fact that there is life on the street…and in a few ways life is lived on the streets here.

Yesterday Nate and Adam picked me up at the airport. After I put my stuff down Adam and I went grocery shopping…we were having dinner with Mark, Lisa and the family. I had my first Trader Joe’s experience…nice store. It is interesting being in a place where, for the most part, the majority of the culture desires to live and eat healthy. We went to a market down the street from the house…a great little quasi-open-air market with great produce…even better produce than Fiesta in Waco.

While we were walking, Adam was informing me of a rise in violent crime in the neighborhood. There has especially been a rise in homicides. He was telling me about a murder that had happened about a block from the house. There had been a fight between a couple of men and some day workers came and broke up the fight. Later some people came and shot the two day workers for breaking up the fight.

Because of this the seven week focus of the upcoming Jesus Dojo will center on community action, and what can be done concerning neighborhood violence. Some in the community have been attending weekly police meeting, and many of the Dojo activities will center on community action.

When Adam and I returned home we fixed a salad…our contribution to dinner. When Mark arrived we chatted for a bit and I found out that a couple from England would be joining us for dinner. They were friends of friends and were on vacation to San Francisco. The guy was actually a music composer for video games…pretty cool job!

We all had a wonderful conversation with them about the state of the church in both England and the US. I enjoyed the conversation because of a few reasons:

I got to hear a bit about what is going on with the church in England. This greatly interest me because of my studies of Lesslie Newbigin and his assessment of the church culture in England
Adam shared with them what the current incarnation of Re:Imagine looks like. It was nice to hear what is going on in the community and what I will be involved in for the semester.
Mark told of the history of Re:Imagine and all the things it’s tried to do and ministries it’s practiced…I loved hearing that.

Hearing Mark and Adam talk was wonderful. It made me feel more and more like this place and people will be a good fit for me.