10 Years ago, I wanted to push myself into loving and serving people in some of the most difficult places. One of those places I decided on was a district in San Francisco, California called Tenderloin. San Francisco has one of the highest homelessness populations in all of the United States. But this area of 50 square blocks has even more challenges such as drugs, crime, and shootings. So many of its corner stores sell alcohol.
I traveled to this Tenderloin District for the first time in 2013 by myself. I never knew exactly what Spiritual warfare looked like. At the time, I just wanted to help. I didn't believe North America needed missionaries. But on that trip, in that district, I learned how very wrong I was. I saw first hand what Spiritual Warfare looked like. I saw how powerful and destructive sin could be and how it could grip a community into addiction to the point of being spiritually bankrupt and in bondage. That was the trip which taught me that North America needs missionaries too.
That same year, Chasing God by Roger Huang was published and became one of my first ever book reviews. Roger shares his own personal story on how he started a ministry called San Francisco City Impact. Today that ministry is operating on its 40th year. But in 2016, he published a follow up book titled, Breaking Through which continues his journey further while sharing a collection of stories of lives that were saved and transformed by God working through this ministry.
After my trip, I returned two more times in the following years. But then the Holy Spirit challenged me to not be silent about this mission field in San Francisco. This challenge however was not to just tell people about it; I was to help organize and lead a team down so that others could see the same things I saw.
So in 2017, I helped assemble a team of young adults, to which we all raised enough funds to be sent out for a week. For that week, we were going to be a small light in a very dark place. Even though Tenderloin has continued to remain a dark district, our team was able to witness how God continues to shine bright through the ministry of City Impact. For me personally, it has been an encouragement to see how much the ministry has grown. This was my fourth visit, and every time I have returned, their light continues to expand and drive out more darkness. More buildings have been purchased which means they are able to expand their reach to more of the lost and broken. They can bring in and house even more teams like the one we assembled, mobilize volunteers, and train more leaders than ever before.
It is crazy to think that this all started with one man handing out sandwiches. Now, San Francisco City Impact is a large-scale ministry of 5 major departments, 16 weekly programs, and intervening on behalf of the people of the inner city. This is how powerful the Holy Spirit can be through one single person.
But this should not be a surprise. Some of the greatest displays of God’s power were accomplished through using one person. This is found time and time again in the Bible and nothing has changed. Today it still only takes one person willing to allow the Holy Spirit to work in our lives. I learned on that trip that any one of us can be that one person too.
So what did God accomplish through our team? Oftentimes, I want a feel-good story to share with you all. I want God to show me those results from our efforts. And in many ways there were results.
During our week, our team served hundreds of people food. We listened to their stories, and what amazing stories they were. We loved, encouraged, and prayed for people. On our final day, our team took part in City Impact's largest outreach of the year in which 10,000 people were served through meals, being medically assessed, being clothed, having their feet washed, their pets washed, their hair cut, having makeovers, being prayed for, and many other of the 45 outreaches planned.
While these results are great to share, with mission trips, the reality is I do not always get to see what God accomplishes from our efforts. I often ask myself, “What if nobody comes to Christ? What if nobody's life was changed? Would this trip be successful? Would our efforts still be worth it?” By the end of that trip, God reminded me of His economy, and in His economy, the answer is an overwhelming yes; It is always worth it. God did not send us to be successful. He did not ask us to produce results. He asked us to be faithful and obedient to His mission. Missions do not always require results, but it always requires being faithful and obedient to His call and direction, which is exactly what Roger has done for the past 40 years.
What I do know is that with over 10,000 people served means that over 10,000 seeds were planted not only in the Tenderloin District, but also in our own hearts. To this day, I still do not know what happened to all those seeds. Just like what Jesus spoke in the parable of the Sower, some of those seeds may be eaten by birds, some may fall on rocks without soil, some may be scorched by the sun, or some choked by plants, or maybe just some will fall on good soil, where it produces a crop—100, 60 or 30 times what was sown. I may never know where all those seeds ended up…but I am certain it is not my place to know. What I do know is that God is faithful and He will finish what He starts.
But with Roger Huang’s 40 years of ministry, I can’t imagine how many seeds he was able to witness grow. Some of his most memorable ones he shares in Breaking Through.
I will end with this. In North America, There is always enough food and water, there is always enough clothes, there is always enough medical and dental services, there is always enough shelter and housing, there is always enough education and resources, but there is not always enough love. It does not matter how many people our team served in San Francisco or how many we will serve in our local community. If we do not love, we accomplished nothing.