“Knowing by Name” – by Crissy Brooks

This morning as my dog and I walked down my street I greeted neighbors on their way to work.  I heard Gaby yell across the street, waving vigorously, “Good morning Florinda,” as her neighbor passed by.  I asked one of the kids at the bus stop about his school’s upcoming jog-a-thon.  The kids greeted the [...]

Sharing my English by Jane Miller

I’m not sure why, but Maple Street Learning Center had been on my heart for quite a while.  In August of 2008, I finally decided after Church one day to take an extra minute and talk with a lady named Michelle Yuen.  Michelle was working at a Volunteer Kiosk at the Crossing Church.  I enjoy [...]

Prayers of Praise and Lament

Each fall, the Mika team sets aside a week to pause and seek the Lord together for wisdom and direction.  As part of our time this year, we each wrote Psalms of Praise and Prayers of Lament.  Over the next couple of weeks we’ll be sharing several of these prayers on our blog.  The first [...]

Why I Volunteer

By Alexis Billings Step up has been an amazing experience for me this semester. Firstly, it was a cross-cultural experience as I am Caucasian and all of the families in the program are Hispanic. It has been very moving to share a common goal and common beliefs with people of a different cultural background. Since I do [...]

Alleys, Scars, and Day Laborers

 By Crissy Brooks   It is amazing to what lengths we will go to avoid seeing what is hard.  This morning on my way home from my run I thought about going down the alley.  I like to pass through that way every once in awhile to check out what’s going on.  The alley is [...]