This post is from Alex Gross. She is one of four interns who stayed in Apartment 55 at the Village. This is her take on her summer experience experiencing Shalom in Santa Barbara 
Thanks Alex!
Summer of Shalom “I have been surprised to find that I am given more life, more hope, more moments of buoyancy and redemption, the more I give up. The more I let go, do without, reduce, the more I feel rich. The more I let people be who they are, instead of cramming them into what I need from them, the more surprised I am by their beauty and depth” (Niequist 159). I re-read those sentences over and over again. Mayterm had just ended, I had made one final trip up north and my focus was finally fully devoted to the residents of the Village Apartments. I cracked open Cold Tangerines, by Shauna Niequist and when I hit the chapter entitled “Shalom,” I knew I was in for a treat. As I read the chapter and eventually came across the previous paragraph I had true, undeniable clarity. I was in the midst of a summer of Shalom, a summer of appreciation and peace. It was a known fact that I would be working at Hume Lake Christian Camps the first summer of my college years since I was in Jr High. It may have been a fact in my world, but God had a whole different vision in mind. As the weeks went by last spring I waited daily for Hume to call and offer me a job at the snack shop or even on the janitorial staff. During this season I found myself becoming more deeply involved with the West Side ministry at Westmont. I helped out over spring break and drove down when homework would permit to visit the students I had met over the course of the week. It became clear as the weeks and days went on that God wanted me there. It suddenly seemed like the opportunity of a lifetime to live in Apartment 55 in the Village Apartments. Thus, I found myself moving out of my dorm room and into the apartment the last week of May. The first week of mayterm was coming to an end and I was suddenly asking myself, “what in the world did I get myself into?” I was missing, for the first time since I had moved, Turlock. My dads cooking, my laundry room, and a summer in the central valley looked much better than it ever had before. I withheld the temptation to go home that first week more times than one and listened to the clear voice that was saying loud and clear, be present and be here. So here, is where I stayed. And I can now look back and say that it is the best decision I made all summer. By mid July my weekly schedule was finally set in stone. I worked in the Westmont admissions office everyday from two to five, Monday nights was a bible study with the younger girls at the Carillo apartments, Tuesdays I met with Jeff and my roommates, Wednesdays entailed more meetings, Thursdays were Younglife, which all lead to the highlight of my week; Friday night bible study with the Jr high girls. Even when I was not at one of these events, just being at home meant being in the midst of the beautifulness that lead up to them. Monday night bible studies- “Shalom happens when we do the hardest work, the most secret struggle, the most demanding truth telling” (Niequist 160). I met two girls from the Carrillo Apartments over Spring Break in Santa Barbara. The two fifth grade girls lived in the Carillo apartments across from the Village and seeing their homes absolutely broke my heart. Over spring break I got to know the girls on a surface level but the day they found out I moved in the village I earned the title of “big sister.” During a trip to Yogurtland in early June I asked the girls if they would like a bible study..maybe Monday nights at six? A few nights later there were six girls knocking on our door at five till six. These girls became the core girls that showed up every week. Fifth and sixth grade girls are vicious, very vicious. They had a lot of drama to work out and it was both a struggle and blessing to hold their hands during those first few weeks. Romans twelve became the theme of out bible study talks. “If at all possible, as far as it depends, live at peace with everyone.” This one line seemed to get through to the girls as the weeks went one. Less tears have been shed and girls who were once enemies love to show us how much they are getting along because they know it makes us proud. Those girls come over often and I love having them over. Two girls asked me over spring break if I would be their camp counselor at Kids camp that summer. Back then I gave a “probably not but we’ll see,” and I could not stop smiling as we got in to bed the first night of camp and one of these girls said, “ See, I told you that you would be our counselor at the camp.” 5:45 AM is extremely early. 6:00 AM is extremely early to walk into an over crowded community center and wait in line for a cup of coffee. 6:05 AM on Wednesday mornings has made it all worth it. There have been quite a few Westmont Students this summer that have found their way in and out of Santa Barbara, jumping in and out of this summer of Shalom. In order for all of us to keep our sanity, and have the community that is needed, we all gather Wednesday mornings for our Shalom Meetings at 6 AM in the community center. I absolutely love those meetings. Together we read, processed, and discussed Santa Barbara outside of the Westmont lens. Together we faced the poverty that dwells in our city, together we sought guidance from our elders, together we formed a different sort of community. 6 AM is extremely early, but there is something about that early morning hour that brought about a unique since of joy and strength. Looking back, it was during those meetings that Shalom was tangible, plausible, and a guaranteed reality. Young Life. I had never even heard of the organization until Westmont and little did I know how much I would end up loving the program when I showed up at the first meeting this summer. There are about seven of us students that show up on Thursday nights in an attempt to entertain jr high and high school students for an hour or so... and when it comes down to it none of us have a clue what we are doing. We are all pretty good at pretending but we are a new club with leaders who are new to Young life. So we do the best we can, and I have loved the results. Some of the students call it “the program.” We play basketball, watch a skit or two, hear some of the bible, and eat pizza together at the end. It has been awesome to see Christ in those students. I am excited for the next season of Young Life on the West side. God has started something pretty big in those students and I am blessed enough to be here for three more years to watch the beginning of it unfold. There are six girls that make up our Friday night Jh High girls bible study. We label it a bible study but at times I am so tempted to call it a boy study. Friday nights are the night we intentionally gather but these girls are my neighbors. Not a day has gone by that I have not been stopped walking to my car, to get my laundry, or to get the mail without hearing about someone’s boyfriend or about the outfit they plan on wearing to the movies that night. Dominique claimed me as her mentor in May and I am blessed to have been able to spend time with her. She will be a freshmen in high school next year and she has more questions than I could have imagined. I absolutely love answering each and every one of them. I could write on and on about each one of the girls because they have all impacted me in such tremendous ways. It has been great to be apart of their circle, get to know their secret code language, and walk with them during this season of life. I have learned more this summer then I did my whole freshmen year at Westmont. I met Jesus in a way I had never before. It has been a summer of Shalom and it is my prayer that this would turn into a life time of Shalom. I have started relationships with these girls and I am to close to walk away now. For the first time I have invested prayer and relational time into specific people for a long period of time. I have found a whole new meaning of community and church. I have seen the struggles of being a single moms and felt the burden of young girls being not only a daughter but roommate, best friend, and babysitter too. It is my prayer that these girls find the holistic healing of Jesus. Because of them I have fallen more in love with Jesus and am trusting Him more and more. It was on my lesson plan to “cultivate my own spiritual life.” I would say that cultivate is an understatement. I have better knowledge of who Jesus Christ is and have thus been compelled into action by love. Working at Hume Lake could have been great but this has been so much better than that. I am thankful for the spirit and the conviction to stay this summer. Romans twelve was the theme of our bible study with the carillo girls and I pray I daily to live out the words written in that chapter. “Therefore I urge you brothers to offer up your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God, this is your spiritual act of worship.” I learned this summer that when I live this out I am most satisfied in Him. It was through the hardships of this summer and the ones I will face the rest of my life that will produce the sweet essence of Shalom. “And when you have tasted it, smelled it, fought for it, labored it into life, you’ll give your soul to get a little more, and it is always worth it. Shalom” (Niequist).
