California

California dreams. I lived in California for four and a half years and I decided this winter that it was time to return and visit my friends. I landed at midnight at LAX and stumbled out of the airport to find my friends in their car waiting for me. I think squelling was involved when we first saw one another. As we drove from LAX to their city in Orange County, I kept thinking how crazy it was that I had lived there. The overwhelming amount of smog, cement, and traffic greeted me as we sped down the freeway. There are parts of Southern California that are beautiful and there are parts that are not. The only beautiful part is the diversity, the friends, the families, that inhabit the cement city.

The next day I woke up, packed up some things, and drove to a park to have a mini college reunion. It was so good to see everyone! Catch up on life and hear about what they are doing right now. Here is a picture of my first roommate, her husband, and baby. It was so good to spend time with them!

I also had the opportunity to go to a benefit banquet for an organization my friend Meg works at. It was fun to see and hear the work that they are doing and how her passion fits within their framework. Meg has a gift to work with kids and right now she works in a hard neighborhood, with tough kids, and yet still creates an environment for them to just be kids. In addition to the banquet, I had a chance to see her in action and do her thang during her program. Below is a picture of a few friends dressed up for the banquet.

And, of course, it seems like when I come into town I force my old roommates to get together and hang out. Unfortunately, not all of them were available this weekend- but it was good to get some of them together! I am so blessed by their friendships.

Finally, what would a trip to Southern California be without some great Asian food? Noodles, Currey, Boba, oh my! I love the diversity of food options in California. Below is boba from Half and Half. The new Asian- go-to Boba place in SoCal. Their boba is honey flavored and it was delicious. It was also the size of a pint of ice cream.

This trip to California was wonderful. I slipped back to my friend's lives very easily- to the point where I was shocked at how easy it was. While these are not all the people I saw, or things I did while in California- it gives you a taste for why I visit California. Its not for the beaches, or Disneyland, or movie starts (although I sat next to Julia Roberts on my flight out). I visit California for my friends, for the community they have, and the joy visiting brings.

What can I do?

What can I do? What can you do? The comment I received from my last post was really, really good. So basically, I took from her comment a few things. Often as Americans we are told to just throw money at a problem in order to solve it. That the church in the United States tells us that we must share God's love to the world through our actions, which then means donating money to the church. Invisible Children is giving the general population a different option than just giving money.

The Kony2012 videos give an easy way for the average person to feel part of doing something. Calling up our congressmen and telling them to solve this problem, the problem of the LRA in central Africa. Just so that I am clear, I think Kony and the LRA are people who have committed evil atrocities against humanity and they should be punished for their actions. I have simply been asking, if it is always the job of Americans to fight the bad guy when there are thousands of people in the countries the LRA operate that know the situation better than we do. (You can read my first post here and my second post here)
So the question is, what can we do? What can the average outsider, American, Brit, etc. do when we hear about these terrible things going on in the world? What can one person do to make a difference? My response is based upon how involved you want to be.

1. Donate Money. I know, I know- you want other ideas. But this is the first layer of involvement. You hear about a need, you want to be minimally involved (unless you are Bill Gates) and you donate money to a reputable organization. Donating money to an organization is helpful- even the $20 a month donation. My friend Rachel who has worked in the Horn of Africa just blogged about this: which you can find here. You will eventually become bombarded with needs and organizations requesting donations. Which leads me to point two.

2. Find a problem, issue, country, people group, topic and stick with it. Learn everything you can about the topic. Be a walking advocate about the issue. Know the facts, know the problems, know the complexities of the issues. You can be more effective in solving a problem, if you become focused. Essentially, it becomes your "hobby" so to speak. When you get together with friends, they ask you how you are doing, what you are doing, etc. This is the avenue to start sharing about the issue you care most about. There is a fine line between being obnoxious with friends and family, and simply sharing with what you are most passionate about. In this research, you know which organizations are work hands-on to adress the problems. Then you can be an informed donor and confident that your money is going to a good place.

3. Do what Invisible Children does. Flood the mail box of your congressmen about your issue. If you know what is happening on the issue you are passionate about, then you know what is happening in politics and how it links. Why do you think we have American troops in Uganda? It is because enough people of the general public wanted them there and congress listened.

4. Find other people who are passionate about the same topic. Form a working group to share information, access resources, and creatively come up with ways to be part of solving a problem. Bring in guest speakers and experts.

5. Find a local problem and volunteer. The US has some major problems and sometimes it is easier to become involved in solving a local problem.

If we choose one topic we are passionate about and do everything we can to change the current situation (donations, volunteerism, government advocacy), then when we hear the million pleas for help we can confidently decline and focus our energy on the topic we are passionate about and know that change can come about as a result of it. We can not solve every single problem or we will be pulled in so many directions, but we can focus on one thing and hopefully see change. Invisible Children chose the LRA. What will you choose?