Urban ministry impacts Watts community with the gospel
by Lori Arnold
LOS ANGLES, Calif. — Many of them left college with a vision to reach the poorest of the poor. Even after raising their own missionary support, most live together in communal units to share their resources while sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ through education and outreaches to children. And, sometimes, their work is accented by gunshots from marauding bands of outlaws.
No, missionaries don’t have to travel to Haiti, the Sudan or Israel to minister in crime-riddled slums. Sometimes the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles will work just fine.
Such is the work of World Impact, a national ministry that serves 10 urban cities nationwide, including the Watts area of Los Angeles. The group specializes in training and equipping urban leaders to plant and grow their own urban churches. To reach that goal, World Impact operates the Los Angeles Christian School, where urban missionaries teach students in kindergarten through the eighth grade. Their school service is augmented by year-round camping and retreat experiences, teen leadership training programs, tutoring and sports programs, and medical and dental health outreaches.
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| California Legislative News |
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OPINION
Will it be more of the same?
by Everett Rice
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — As Californians head to the polls in the coming days, they will be asked to cast their vote to elect a new president, replace or re-elect their congressional and state representatives, and approve or reject 12 state ballot initiatives. For many, the presidential race will be the most important question on the ballot, but I ask you … given our state Legislature’s continued inability to effectively govern our state’s affairs, shouldn’t who we elect to the Senate and Assembly be the biggest concern?
Let’s just consider for a moment the state budget. After a year of partisan wrangling, culminating into the longest budget impasse in state history, the Legislature is poised yet again for more of the same. For example, only three weeks after the 81-day delay in enacting the 2008-09 state budget, some legislative leaders are already calling for a special session to tackle an emerging deficit that has occurred due to the state’s declining fiscal condition, lower than expected revenue collections and lack of solid structural budget reform in the plan they just developed.
As world markets continue to struggle and family incomes continue to decline, there is no indication that California’s structural fiscal problems will be resolved any time soon. So, in the midst of these touch economic time, Californians must ask whether our legislative leaders and the governor can actually work together to solve the state’s fiscal problems or will they continue to focus on the demands of special interest that serve a few, at the expense of the many who call California home. As the recent legislative session has demonstrated, Legislators will continue to fight tirelessly for their personal agendas and refuse to seriously address structural flaws within the state budget.
In the coming months, Californians will hear redundant cries that the state has a “revenue” or “spending” problem, which will be the excuse for members to do very little solve the budget problem. However, these same legislators will spend countless hours vigorously working on their pet projects and issues. Unfortunately, these pet issues often infringe on the rights of family and parents, while doing little to solve the state’s budget problems.
For instance, the following bills passed at the end of session, while a fiscally prudent budget remained elusive.
• Assembly Bill 16, authored by Noreen Evans, would require health care service plan contracts and health insurance policies that offer coverage for cervical cancer treatment or surgery to also provide coverage for a human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine beginning on Jan. 1. The governor vetoed this bill.
• Assembly Bill 2567, authored by Mark Leno, is the Harvey Milk bill. The bill requires the governor to proclaim May 22 of each year as Harvey Milk Day, which honors the first openly homosexual public official. The bill encourages those schools to conduct suitable commemorative exercises on that date. The governor vetoed this measure.
• Assembly Bill 2747, authored by Patty Berg, provides that when a health-care provider makes a diagnosis that a patient has a terminal illness, the provider must provide information and counseling regarding legal end-of-life options. This measure is the new tactic used by the Assisted-Suicide proponents that seek to incrementally bring euthanasia to California. The bill further, seeks to interfere in the patient/doctor relationship. which could place lives at risk by mandating what information must be provided to a patient regardless of medical necessity. The measure was approved by the legislature and the governor signed it into law on the last day to veto bills.
• Senate Bill 60, authored by Senator Gil Cedillo, would require the Department of Motor Vehicles to issue drivers’ licenses and identification cards that are in compliance with certain requirements of the federal Real ID Act, which would enable illegal immigrants to receive driver licenses. The measure was vetoed by the governor.
• Senate Bill 1729, authored by Carole Migden, requires that registered nurses, certified nurse assistants, licensed vocational nurses, and physicians working in skilled-nursing facilities or congregate living health facilities participate in a training program to be prescribed by the Department of Public Health that focuses on preventing and eliminating discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. The governor signed this measure into law.
This year was a clear example of members pushing their personal agenda’s rather than focusing on the state budget that resulted in hundreds of new laws being passed and a budget being authorized 81 days late, which did not solve the problem. Based on comments from the legislative leaders since they authorized this year’s budget and realized the true depth of the pending fiscal calamity, it appears it will be more of the same.
Rice is the legislative coordinator for the California Family Council.
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