Nov. 1
st
2009
Y W A M
SAN FRANCISCO
Through the Neighborhoods to the Nations
The other day as I was drivingfrom the extreme southern side of San Francisco back to my home indowntown, I pondered, “Whatmakes a city beautiful?” It could bethe architecture, the parks, or theway the city is situated amongst a backdrop of hills or on the oceanfront. San Francisco has all that. Butwhat makes it even more strikingare the diverse people and culturesof the city. As I drove throughseveral neighborhoods, the variousmurals, art work on the stores, andsmells from the different restaurantsgrabbed my attention. I realized SanFrancisco and the Bay area are notonly beautiful because of its man-made aesthetics but because of thevariety of cultures that reside in thisunique place.Just think about the diversity. SanFrancisco city hosts the largestChinatown outside of Asia. Just awalk through this amazingneighborhood is not only a touristattraction, but a vast myriad of alleys, small herbal shops, and hole-in-the-wall restaurants that leaveyou more than satisfied. A shortdrive outside of San Francisco andinto the Greater Bay area takes youto nearby cities like Fremont, thehome of the largest Afghancommunity outside Afghanistan andthe refugee camps. Or venture over to the Silicon Valley where Google,Apple, EBay, Yahoo, Oracle andother software giants have their headquarters. More than 150,000Indians have made this digitalvalley their home. A quick ride over the Bay Bridge takes you toBerkeley, which is home to theUniversity of California. 44% of thestudents at this intellectual capitalare from Asia.I can go on and reveal more precious jewels of the Bay Area…Japantown, The Mission, LittleSaigon, and unreached peoplegroups like the Gujarati’s of Western India, the Vietnamese, theJewish community, Thais, and somany more. But what can be doneto discover and authentically lovethese gems?Here at YWAM San Francisco weare seeking to bring Jesus to every person and every neighborhood. We believe that in every culture and people group are amazing gifts thatGod wants to release. We arelooking for leaders who want to pioneer new ministries amongstsome of these hidden jewels of theSan Francisco Bay Area. You might be a church planter or want to reachout through music. Your strategymight be to use business as a modelthat would give you relationalcontacts with people that wouldnever set foot into a church. Or youmight be thinking of reaching intothe upper class of society. We arelooking for pioneers that wouldspan the gap of ministry from thePowerless to the Powerful. It startswith one person having a focus for a people, place or passion, who iswilling to step out in faith and bringChrist’s love to that focus. Could it be you?
“The Bay Area is sobeautiful, I hesitate to preach about heavenwhile I’m here.” -Billy Graham
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