Hi Pastor Bryan,

I hope your week is going well! I wanted to speak to you last Sunday after the sermon but I was told that it would be better to write this down and to have it in the form of an email to you. :)

(Let me) get to the point...

There have been a few times I have received prayer from you. More recently, you prayed for me at (an Ekko) meeting – and there was so much even in that one prayer. But one of the things that really struck me was that you were praying that I was already “in” with the white collar, but now it was time for me to reach out to the blue collar too. “Blue collar, blue collar,” you kept saying. And you said, “perhaps you have already started on that journey.” I was so affirmed because at the time I had started volunteering on Saturdays creating and hosting art classes for children at transition/homeless shelters, in an effort to start to care and break out of apathy. Maybe similar to why you walk the streets of Fullerton. PB, I am drenched in apathy when it comes to the marginalized, the poor, the needy. I used to not be this way, but being in my profession, in Los Angeles, it was easy to let myself become jaded.

In the past, I have so clearly heard the voice of God... As I’ve gotten older and more involved with my career and life, it’s been getting so much harder. I need to change. It’s part of why I joined (one of the ministries in Ekko). It’s why I volunteered to do the art classes for the kids on Saturdays, even though I didn’t feel like it. I needed to change and to jumpstart that change I needed to face it and invest in it...

I don’t really know what all of this means. For now, I am trying my best to pray for my heart to continue to change and to care more. It’s … pretty hard. I think I’m on the right path though and I am so excited to be part of a church that has this vision. I will continue to pray for our church and our communities. Thank you for always challenging the tribe to think outside ourselves. Have a good night!

- Ekko Member {March 2016}