1/15/26

We are back at it and have begun orientation and training with the new NCP/EFM apprentices, Cassi Coleman and Thomas Moore! It's been great to have them out with us, and I'm looking forward to this next six months of ministry together! This semester I will participate in more of a leadership role regarding the new apprentices as I impart to them and organize their training and ministry this next six months. As we've begun orientation and preparation for CSUF starting back up on January 20th, we've had some very peculiar and oddly familiar encounters. As we met to continue our preparations this past Tuesday, we were afforded a very unusual encounter with a man outside an ice-cream shop in Yorba Linda.

Thomas, Cassi, and I met together that morning to continue our preparations for campus - choosing to gather in a public space and invite God to interrupt our time if He saw fit. It appears, as the most reasonable explanation, that God indeed desired us to be interrupted that morning and into our afternoon as a quite unusual individual joined us at our table. We initially met at a coffee shop in the area - one that I've never been to prior - but, desiring to sit outside in the nice, warm, SoCal-winter weather, we moved to some outdoor seating at a nearby ice-cream shop which had yet to open for the day. I'm not trying to boast, but we intentionally chose a table in the shade so as not to overheat...

We began our meeting time together, but it was just Thomas and I for a period as Cassi ran some ministry errands. As Thomas and I continued to meet outside this shop, we noticed a very peculiar car pull into a parking spot near us. It was a small mini cooper, but it appeared that was no deterrent for its owner to put an insane amount of decorations on its dashboard. I'm quite skeptical that it was even legal to drive like that as nearly half of the window was blocked by them all; however, the dashboard was only the tip of the iceberg when it came to the person driving it!

Thomas and I continued our conversation, but from the mini cooper immerged a seeming devout customer at Handel's Ice-cream who had arrived for his morning fix of freshly made frozen dessert. After pacing around in anticipation of their opening, he received his ice-cream and went to find a seat. This is where the story starts to get distinctly interesting as the man came directly to the table Thomas and I were sitting at and unapologetically sat down with us to talk. Surprised by this man's boldness or lack of typical social norms, we were wonderfully caught off guard as he proceeded to tell us of his troubles, though completely unsolicited. I'm not sure what exactly compelled him to sit with us, but he wasted no time starting a conversation about how he was doing right now. Here is kind of how it went, though this will most certainly leave out a handful of other interesting things about him and what he said in our engagement.

As he sat down, he said something to the effect of, "I am suffering. Let me tell you about my suffering." So, we welcomed him to continue sharing with us, though our disapproval would likely not have dissuaded him from proceeding regardless. He told us that he is very lonely as his wife died five months ago from breast cancer and he has no family or friends that live in California. He told us about his growing up in Greece until the death of his parents in a tragic car accident where he then moved to New York to live with his uncle. Sometime after growing up in NY, he moved to California with his wife for the nice weather. I imagine eating ice cream outside in a NY January is not nearly as enjoyable as it is here! I think it was about this time that Cassi got back from her errand, and we hadn't even been able to get his name yet as he hadn't paused from talking since sitting down!

We finally got his name, *Elijah, and also learned that he retired only eight months ago from a career in armed security for a bank and later marijuana dispensaries. Again unsolicited, he told us that he only had two "incidences" during his security career. We quickly learned that an "incident" is where you shoot and kill someone. He told us that, on both occasions, a black man entered the dispensary with a gun and that resulted in him shooting and killing them. I'm not sure what compelled *Elijah to tell us this, but it appeared clear from these stories (as well as other comments he made) that he unjustly killed these people as they had not even indicated violence towards anyone but merely carried firearms. I'm not sure if there are other details I am missing that fill this story out, but it was clear from our entire conversation that *Elijah is racist against black people. I'm not one to quickly determine that someone has racist dispositions (especially in our overly publicized and dramatized context), but it was abundantly clear by his presentation of this information and more that he has little regard for black people. The conversation continued into even further depths of oddness, but eventually Nick also joined us at the ice-cream shop table. I would become faint to try to recall and record the entire conversation and situation for you, but you should know this is only the tip of the iceberg.

This is not a typical Tuesday conversation for us, but quite a "baptism of fire" for the new apprentices into the sometimes-mysterious world of open dialogue and art of conversational evangelism! Nothing like starting off the year with an absolutely unhinged conversation to try to navigate! As I reflect, I see many things that I would alter about my interaction in the conversation if I were to do it again, but I must admit that *Elijah's peculiar boldness in sharing with us caught me off my game!

Amidst all the madness, I couldn't help but notice an odd parallel to a year ago when I first met Alan Amavisca. As you can see in the photo above, my first time meeting Alan was spiced up by an unexpected visit from a gang member desiring a new life. Nick and I had planned to meet with Alan, but as we arrived at the coffee shop, we found him already in a conversation with this gang member who proceeded to tell us all about himself and his life. I couldn't help but notice how peculiar it was that a year later I found myself in such a similar situation with the new apprentices - an unexpected conversation with a peculiar and rough-edged individual who has been involved in some sketchy-at-best situations with an increasing number of people joining the conversation as they arrive on the scene. I don't know what I make of it, but it is certainly peculiar and curious to me!