In January 2016, the ladies went to share Jesus in California for two weeks. They started with San Francisco and ended with Los Angeles. Here’s what transpired in San Francisco:

The Tenderloin

The first day we arrived in San Francisco, we decided to go minister in The Tenderloin. We landed on Ellis Street and were pleasantly surprised to find Glide and YWAM. Those two Christian organizations have a tremendous impact in the area. On a side note, Glide was featured in the movie The Pursuit of Happyness.

We ministered to several people, but one of them stood out the most. Shawn called us over as we had just gotten off the car. He wanted to introduce himself to three “beautiful women”. We talked with him for about an hour. In the midst of the conversation, Jessica felt impressed to ask if he wanted to commit his life to the Lord. He told us to come back in 30 minutes and promised he would do so. He accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. What a blessing it was to celebrate with him!!!

Oakland

Now, Oakland was phenomenal! While parking, we saw a police station and decided to go minister there. As we were praying for the police officer who was working at the information booth, Bevelyn inquired about the rough parts of Oakland. He looked at us as if we were crazy and proceeded to give us a vague answer. His response or lack thereof didn’t stop us. On our way out, we prayed for two women. Bevelyn inquired again. Though reluctant to tell us, we found out that East Oakland was the place to be.

So, we headed there and met Jeff. He was volunteering for the Salvation Army and shared part of his story with us. He too decided to commit his life to the Lord. Afterward, we met five young men and prophesied over them. While visiting with more people, we were told about an annual feeding celebration at a local bike club on International Blvd. Once we arrived, we prayed with the people and gave out Bibles along with a book entitled Redeeming Love.

On our way back to the hotel, Jessica urged us to stop by a church called Iglesia De Dios Ministerios Maranatha as church members were cooking and selling food right outside. We found out that this was how the church supported itself financially. We gave them Spanish Bibles and shared our journey. They welcomed us like sisters and asked us to join them for Sunday service which we did. Jessica was able to dance along with the worship dance team. It was so cool! The pastor, Jesus Cornejo Ramirez, gave a strong word on the Holy Spirit and wanted to bless us and pray for us individually. Bevelyn received the baptism the Holy Spirit on that day, and the entire church cried and rejoiced. Seeing such caring people was a humbling experience. We felt loved.

Mission District

Our journey at the Mission District started at a taco truck (leave it to Bevelyn’s cravings for any food voted best on the Food Network). We met a young lady who asked Edmee about her braids. She so wanted to have her hair braided that we ended up doing her hair a few days later. We then met a lady named Grace. Jessica told her that God was about to give her a good working position. Grace went on to say that she rose up early that morning to look for a job. She had not done so for a while. We then came across people the world would consider mentally ill. However, we perceived that this was beyond mental illness and that we were dealing with individuals who were demonically possessed. As we started to engage with them, they ran away.

The day before we left San Francisco, we stopped on a strip where homeless people live in tents. We decided to go from tent to tent to see what the Lord had in store. The first few tent residents did not welcome us. However, one tent resident gladly let us in. We sat with him and were impressed with how organized the tent was. As we visited with him, he began to weep profusely and shared how he was crying out to God the night before in desperation. Bevelyn spoke over his life and wept in such a way that we felt Jesus was the one weeping over this young man. We all cried, hugged each other and asked if there was anything we could do for him. He requested a shower. We realized that his clothes and sleeping bags needed to be washed as well. So we proceeded accordingly. He took us around San Francisco, and we all went out for dinner afterward. It was an awesome day!