The Falcon   |   Volume 81, Issue 26

Published 6/02/10   |   Log In

SPU women serve in final Quest trip

Quest volunteers stop by In & Out Burger in California during their trip to San Francisco over Memorial Day Weekend.
Photo credit: Crissy Kirklin.

San Francisco visit helps those in need

By ZACHARIAH BRYAN, News Writer

Published: June 2, 2010

While on a prayer walk in the Tenderloin District of San Francisco, Calif., students met a homeless woman named Alfreda who was pregnant with her 11th child. Senior Laura Martin said Alfreda, without instigation, immediately opened up to the students, expressing sincere appreciation for their prayers and saying that God had sent her angels.

"It was really amazing to see this person in such a dire circumstance who was still able to feel God's comfort just because of our presence," Martin said.

This experience was part of SPU's ninth and final Quest women's volunteer trip, which took place over Memorial Day weekend.

Last Friday at 7 p.m., 72 Seattle Pacific women squeezed into 15 cars and traveled 900 miles down to San Francisco, where they helped serve the poverty stricken population of the city's Tenderloin District.

"There was such an overwhelming and intense sense of community," freshman Katie Geluso said, adding that it was incredible to get to know so many people with whom she never had the opportunity to connect before.

"It's not every day we get to drive 900 miles," she said. "It's not every day we sleep in a mission with cockroaches."

"It's Christian community development at its finest," sophomore Grace Barrios said.

Senior Crissy Kirklin, a leader of the trip, said she had never seen a group of girls bond so "completely and fully and without reservation."

Kirklin said her favorite moment was when she went outside to gather everyone to go to sleep and saw that they had gotten together and were playing in a massive 65-woman kickball game.

"I couldn't tell them to go to sleep," she said.

The women had community-bonding traditions along the way, including one where the leaders washed the feet of every single girl, Kirklin said. Geluso compared this event to when Jesus washed the feet of his apostles, adding that she was shocked to see the leaders do something so amazing.

Aside from playing games and taking part in traditions, the women spent 24 hours working out of the San Francisco Mission, stuffing envelopes, bringing groceries to the locals and going on prayer walks.

The people at the mission are constantly working to help improve the district, not just by handing out food, but by transforming the place from the inside out, Kirklin said. She said that they were trying to improve the people so that they could improve themselves.

"Even though we're only there for 24 hours, it's amazing to be able to support that," she said.

The Tenderloin District is a 6-by-6 block area with 568 buildings and 30,000 residents, 7,000 of whom are homeless, Geluso said. This is where San Francisco has shoved their grunge, homelessness and filth, Martin said.

Freshman Kelsey Hertel said every door has a gate in front of it and whenever she went out of or into a building, the gate would have to be locked behind her to keep people from breaking in.

Kirklin said there was "constant screaming and yelling and sirens" in the district. These noises continued on throughout the night, she added.

Just a block away from the Tenderloin District, there are skyscrapers and stores such as Gucci and Macy's, Martin said.

Geluso also noted the stark differences between the district and the city, and said the district was like a completely different world. "Like someone just took it and dropped it in the middle of this nice neighborhood."

Of the residents who do have homes, many live in single room occupancy apartments, or SROs, that have been modified from old, run down hotel buildings. Each room is no bigger than an Ashton Hall dorm room, Martin said.

"I don't know what they do with the children," Barrios said.

Several of these apartments are home to shut-ins, people who never leave their homes. They spend all day smoking and watching TV and only get food and resources from outside groups, such as the San Francisco Rescue Mission, Martin said.

While doing service work, Barrios met Yolanda, a receptionist for an SRO apartment building. Even though Yolanda's job might be considered mediocre by some people, she was still able to incorporate God into her work and to offer prayers for all of the residents that lived in the SROs, Barrios said.

Barrios, a nursing major, added that it made her think of how she was going to use her career as a tool for God instead of treating it merely as a job.

Likewise, freshman Trinna Miranda said she thought about how she would use her major in elementary education to help people. Seeing the unfortunate children in the area made her think about where she wanted to teach.

Hertell, an educational ministry major, said she can definitely see herself working in a mission. Her experience at the Tenderloin District gave her a "burning passion to serve," Hertell added.

Geluso, who has also been on a mission trip to Honduras, said she realizes now that the United States needs as much help and ministry as any country overseas.

"It's always amazing to see how God has touched every individual through the trip," Kirklin said.

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