Okay last post about my trip just to get it out of my system and I promise to end with my planned weekend training schedule. Actually...open lake swim Saturday afternoon, bike ride Sunday morning. Now if your happy and don't want to read the rest of my post you can leave.
The rest of this post is going to deal with very uncomfortable topics like religion, addiction and recovery. I make no secret that I am Christian, but don't expect this to become a permanent religious blog, if you liked me last week, you will like me tomorrow. So you are now warned if your uncomfortable today.
My partners and I flew out to the
Dream Center in Los Angeles, a 400,000 square foot, remodeled hospital, for the grand opening of their new exercise facility, The Lords Gym, sponsored by my company, Pure Fitness. The gym's been open for a week but was officially opening the next morning for 'business'. I must state first off that the staff that catered to us were the most humble, gracious people I have met, just good people. When we arrived for the ribbon cutting we were greated by hundreds of residents that were screaming and clapping and crying. The Pastors gave a short speech about how the new fitness center was created and how we are a Christian based fitness company, (which we are) and about our food drive and other outreach programs internally and externally.
I was very moved at this point, I did not expect such displays. I expected a private tour, then attend a service, dinner, then done. I had kids, young kids, thirteen, seventeen year old kids, telling me what a blessing I was in their life. One told me that before he came to the Dream Center he was living on the streets addicted to crystal meth, herion and crack all at the same time. That coming to the Dream Center saved his life and his soul and the equipment we donated gave him hope that he would rebuild the body drug addiction stole from him just as Christ was rebuilding his heart.
A young girl, told me she lived in a crack house with twenty people who she did not know, that these strangers did drugs with her parents and siblings. That she could not shower or sleep without strange men filled with drugs looking at her. She came to the Dream Center first only for a hot meal in a friendly environment then to clean up her life and get away from the perversion she was living in. The gym to her, meant a chance to prove to herself that she could do anything she set her mind too. She also said that since she bacame saved, she has saved her family and they are currently going through rehab at the Dream Center, living in different dorms but meeting when they can to rebuild the family she has always wanted.
I am told that others were glad for the gym because they needed to bulk up and build muscle before they went to jail, so they could defend themselves.
Someone gave me a hug and cried into my chest for our gift; telling me I was a Soul Winner for Christ and that it has changed their life. I had never been called that before.
Externally all I could do was praise and be joyful. Inside all I wanted to do was cry. Not out of pity but becuase I have tithed almost all my life and never really seen what an impact that has had on people. Listening to Pastors speak about feeding 2,000 people a day, every day, for free. How one year they staged the largerst volunteer program in LA by having 7,000 people hand out food and toys to every house in a 500 block radius of the Dream Center in 8 hours so that 210,000 people had a gift for Christmas and 46,000 homes had food for dinner. How they run their own childrens ministry by sending buses out into the community; that lay down a blue tarp in little parks to speak to children, while gang bangers drink 40's on the park benches and gun fire erupts from accross the street, the children so desensitized they don't even hear it.
The service is held at the
Angelus Temple. The band is as loud and fast and energetic as a rock concert. A dance troupe came out and did hip hop, which I don't care for but it was fun to watch. Every week a different pastor comes out, on their own accord to preach a short sermon, a testimony to the power of the Dream Center and its senior Pastor. There was much to like and to be honest some parts I did not care for. Again I was floored when we were escorted around to private back rooms and given a standing ovation in the service. The community as well has been looking forward to using the new gym and appreicated the contribution.
As much as I felt the presence of God around me, it was hard to escape the reality of security guards at all the doors, double checking that doors where properly secured after entering. Even in all that goodness a level of security had to be taken because of gangs and drugs and evil.
When people heard I was a 'triathlete', they would get all quite and pensive and ask me how I trained for," that", like it was some sort of Jedi program. I would talk about my goals and training and how if it wasn't for God I don't think I could have dreamed big enough for Ironman or have the faith to Go Long and that I will finish it. I actually had a captive audience for a few minutes. Who'd a thought that?
In Summary, (in bold for those scrolling to the end), it was very humbling. I felt like I was a part of something that was bigger than myself, though my roll was very small in this matter. It will be nice to get back into a regular routine this weekend with training, even better to get back to my regular triathlon based posts. I have already been typing this for 90 minutes, writing, editing, deleting, trying to find the right words and still knowing I have not.
