Oscar (continued)

Oscar was in the program from April to September 2008. Although he did not finish the program, Oscar did begin a relationship with Jesus Christ and got a taste of life outside of the 'hood. It is typically our policy to require 6 months to pass before students who did not graduate the program to enroll in DC Academy. However, when Oscar showed up in Robert's office this last January an exception was made (Robert is our boss and the director of the program). About five weeks after enrolling Oscar turned 18 and received a large sum of money from his mom's life insurance policy. As a result, a bunch of drama ensued with his father and Oscar was again homeless. At school we noticed a significant change in Oscar. He was less motivated, rarely attended and nearly gave up on school entirely. On one of the rare occasions when he did attend, Cami discovered that Oscar was living with drug dealers because he had no other options. So Cami offered our home.

About a month later, Oscar and his girlfriend decided it was time to tell her parents that she was pregnant. That was a long emotional night that left Oscar feeling alone and worthless. About two weeks later he called Cami. Oscar sat down in our living room and told us he was tired of being a "low life". He was ready to change, but knew it wouldn't happen in the 'hood and asked for our help. He wanted to live with people that would make him go to church and help him make good decisions. He wanted to be around the Dream Center, because this was the only place he had experienced hope before. Before even talking to him, Cami and I already knew the Lord was asking us to take him in, so he move in that night.

It has been an interesting 6 months so far, full of joy, hope, frustration, discouragement and trials. There is too much to sum up in a story, so here are a few highlights:

1. Oscar's son Ryan was born 11 weeks early on Tuesday, August 11th around 9:15 am (the second day of the semester for us). Ryan was released from the hospital in late September and is doing great!

2. Shortly after Ryan was born Oscar discovered that his papers expired, so he is not a legal resident and unable to work. Luckily Immigration understands that a teenager is not likely to stay on top of such legal matters, so he has not been deported. Rather he gathered papers to prove he has been residing here in the States and is now just waiting on the money he needs to get his papers reinstated.

3. Oscar has court dates due to driving without a license. Since moving in with us, he has started to attend those rather than just try to hide from the system. He is courageously taking the first steps in taking care of his past mistakes!

4. He started attending a local high school for teen parents, but unfortunately quit going around the end of November.

5. He has found another ministry, Homeboy Industries, that is willing to give him work until he becomes legal and then they will help him get another job.

6. On the night that I started the first blog about Oscar he walked out of Homeboy to discover some of his old gang members waiting by his car. They convince him to drive down to the 'hood and get 'jumped out' (a common gang practice of beating on the "traitor" for a specified amount of time and then just leaving them there to suffer on the street). To Oscar's advantage, some of his 'friends' were there and held the group back a little, so no major damage was done. Unfortunately, the head dog informed Oscar that "the hood is for life" and that it doesn't matter what he has done, they still expect him to run missions. Although it wasn't the smartest choice, we do recognize that it was a courageous one and an attempt at leaving the past behind.

7. One time while reading the Bible together Cami asked Oscar to summarize what he had just read. Oscar began to recap the story by saying that Jesus was around people who make pants. "Make pants," Cami asked. To which Oscar responded, "The Levites." :)
There is probably so much more to tell, but those are a few of the things that stand out. As you think of us and Oscar here are a few things to keep in mind:
~ He struggles to make the tough decisions because he has never had to before.
~ We often have to convince him to stay, that he is worth the effort as Oscar would rather quit and submit to the lie that says he will always be a lowlife.
~ Cami and I are not experienced in all of this. We want to be Christ's hands and feet to Oscar, but we don't want to rescue him either. We are doing our best to teach him to stand on his own two feet, but he has never had to before and there are people in his life offering to carry him.

Well that is probably enough for today. Thanks for reading! And if you have any questions that I may have aroused, please ask. I love to share our story and Oscar's.

Also, Ro (Cami's older sister) has encouraged me to share some of my musing about living here in LA doing what we do. So you can expect some of that soon, rather than just stories.

Thanks again for reading!!!!

So I guess it is about time..........

I introduce you all to Oscar :) But before I do I want to make a few notes:

1. Sorry I did not post last week and am late this week - Cami has been working every night on a business proposal, requiring full use of the computer hence the lack of blogs. As for the business proposal, you will all have to wait to know more about that - sorry, but Cami will fill you in soon. It is worthy of its own blog and he will do such a better job explaining it.

2. It is the last week of the semester!!!! And there are 3 things I want to highlight about that:
A)We are so excited for a much needed vacation (which we get to spend with Cami's family in Japan!), but there is still a lot of work to be done in the next three days.
B) End of the semester at DC Academy often means loss of staff, and this time is no exception. We are losing 3 teachers and our secretary. Leaving Mr. and Mrs. Potter. That's right, we will be the only returning staff :) God has already filled 2 (maybe 3) of those positions, but we have been functioning spent this entire semester being short staffed. We can function if those positions get filled, but it would be nice to be fully staffed (again, another topic worthy of its own blog).
C) We tried a new algebra track this semester and I am proud to report that is was an astounding success!! I taught a regular Algebra 1A class, while Cami taught a class that teaches the same material, but is paced to take the entire school year (it contains a lot of review as well). In years past very few students ever passed Algebra, close to 30%. This semester, we are looking at a success rate of nearly 90%. Needless to say, we are very pleased.

And finally Oscar

He was born in El Salvador, but his family moved to South Central Los Angeles when he was still in grade school. For those of you who don't know, South Central is one of the worst parts of LA, completely overrun by gang activity. A lot changed for Oscar at age 14. In addition to starting his high school career at Crenshaw High (known worldwide for its gang activity and failure in the classroom), his mother lost her battle with cancer. While grieving the loss of his mother, he was also fearing for his own life every time he entered the school building. Although he was able to lay low in the 'hood, many dangers faced him at school. He is small and way too trusting. One day, out of fear for his life, he took a knife to school which not only got him in trouble with the administration, but also caused several gangs to start pressuring to claim a side. For the sake of protection, Oscar picked a side and joined the gang that occupied the blocks closest to his house.

At age 17, after failing to complete any high school credits and getting kicked out by his dad because he had been running missions for the gang, Oscar found himself homeless and in the office of his school counselor. She happened to be an old colleague of our boss Robert and recommended DC Teen Discipleship. Both Oscar and his dad agreed it was the best choice and Oscar was in the program within a few days, despite a 3 month waiting list.

That is when we met Oscar.......

To be continued (it was getting really long, but I will post soon I promise)

3rd Annual Whaley/Potter Thanksgiving

We spent this Thanksgiving weekend in the home of our dear friends Jason and Hannah. They were so welcoming and hospitable - we spent three days relaxing, playing games, have great fellowship and, of course, eating TONS of delicious food. I wish I had pictures to show you all the gourmet dishes Hannah made for us. She loves to bake and we love to eat everything she makes. This was Oscar's first "white" Thanksgiving, so he was especially delighted by all the food. It was a wonderful time full of great fellowship.

As is our tradition, we all went for a hike the day after Thanksgiving. We did Carr Canyon, a hike near their home that is 6 miles round trip, to the top of the peak pictured on the left.

Everyone showing off their pregnant tummies
(Hannah 32 weeks, me 18 and the other two are just full of turkey and other deliciousness)

This was Oscar's first "white" Thanksgiving and he definitely enjoyed all the wonderful food traditions :)