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Just £16 will cover the cost of one person doing the entire Apha Express in Skid Row.

So if you have this much to give you could change a life and give hope.

Thank you.

 

Skid Row is a notorious ‘no go’ area in Los Angeles, where the downward spiral of poverty, homelessness and addiction commonly leads to hopelessness and isolation. Outcast and forgotten by mainstream society, many of its inhabitants live in sub-human conditions, immersed in a culture of drugs, violence and prostitution. Of the estimated 60,000 homeless in the city of Los Angeles, up to 10% live in Skid Row, where 50% suffer from some form of mental illness or physical disability.

Our attention was drawn to this acute problem in Summer 2012, when, as a result of our involvement with a highly successful collaboration between Holy Trinity Brompton London and the William Wilberforce Trust, we were invited to Southern California to teach church leaders about the Alpha Course, with a specific focus on marginalised communities. Alpha Course leaders in the US had heard about the turnaround being experienced by homeless communities in London as a result of our approach, which addresses not just ‘rooflessness’, but the spiritual and emotional wounds created by living on the streets.

We delivered a training day to our US colleagues and heard much about the severity of the homelessness problem in Los Angeles, especially Skid Row. We were deeply unsettled.

On our return to London, we recounted our experience to members of the congregation at Holy Trinity Brompton. This elicited a spontaneous flurry of community prayer, from which ideas, visions and volunteers flowed. It became clear that we were being called to offer similar hope and support to the people of LA that those in London were experiencing through their participation in the Alpha programme for the marginalised. The ‘Bring Life to LA’ mission was born.

 

In October 2013, twenty volunteers from the congregation of Holy Trinity Brompton will travel to Skid Row, some to deliver further training to Alpha US course leaders, some to make contact with those living in local Single Room Occupancy (SRO) dwellings and some to tell their stories of transformation, from hopelessness and isolation on the streets, to new lives filled with service and community in London. Some of the delegation are ex-offenders who have suffered from the crippling addictions and mental illness that often accompany homelessness – we anticipate their personal testimonies will be very influential among the Skid Row homeless community.

 

Our vision is shared by many in the local LA community, who will be doing everything they can to support our three-week mission. The Union Rescue Mission, for example, has kindly offered us hostel accommodation, and Global Leadership Dynamics will coordinate a network of city-wide prayer gatherings, which will culminate in a major worship event at the Union Rescue Mission. Life Connections International will network with the Skid Row community and co-ordinate service projects in and around the area.

 

But we still desperately need your help. We have raised the cost of the flights - we need the cost of a Mini Bus, accomodation and food - but the biggest gap is the cost of breakfast for guests to enjoy Alpha Express - just £16 per person.

Thank you