San Diego, California * Portland, Oregon * New Orleans, Louisiana
San Diego, California
There are few cities in the United States that rival San Diego, California in terms of its beauty and climate. San Diego County has over 70 miles of some of the best beaches in the country, in addition to some of the United State’s best attractions, including Sea World and the San Diego Zoo. With a population of 1.3 million people in the city and a total of 3 million in San Diego County, it is the second largest city in California and the eighth largest in the United States.
Unfortunately, like many other of our nation’s cities, San Diego has very marginalized populations who live in desperate need. According to a 2008 report by the Center on Policy Initiatives, San Diego has over 320,000 residents living in dire poverty, with single moms with children comprising 30% of that number. Additionally, as of the 2011 homeless census, there are over 9,000 people experiencing homelessness in San Diego.
Beyond all of that, San Diego is one of the largest cities in the country for refugee resettlement. A refugee is defined as, “a person who has been forced to leave their home and seek refuge elsewhere.” According to the San Diego Refugee Forum, San Diego is “home to more than 150,000 refugees, asylum seekers, and asylees from Southeast Asia, East Africa, Burma, Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, Bosnia, Kosovo, the Former Soviet Union and other war-torn regions of the world.”
We are very excited to be partnering with several ministries and churches to specifically serve this growing refugee community in San Diego. The community is comprised of people from some of the most truly marginalized and oppressed countries worldwide. We would love for your group to join us as we partner with these great local ministries in San Diego to serve and show the love of Christ to people from all over the world. In San Diego, world missions has truly come to our own backyard!
We invite you to join what God is doing, and to help us bring the light of the Gospel to the people of San Diego, California.
To watch a video of San Diego, click here. To register to bring your group on a mission trip to San Diego, click here.
Portland, Oregon
Portland is the largest city in the state of Oregon and the second largest in the Pacific Northwest. It is in one of the most beautiful settings in the country, with mountains, forests, and the ocean all within a short drive. It has a thriving art community, numerous outdoor activities, the largest independent book store west of the Mississippi, and is one of the best coffee towns in the United States. To top it off, the summers in Portland are amazing with lot’s of sunshine and temperatures hovering between 70 and 80 degrees.
However, that only tells part of the story of Portland. The Pacific Northwest is one of the most unchurched regions of the country. In fact, a recent Gallup Poll ranked Oregon as the state with the highest percentage of residents identifying with “No religion, Atheist, or Agnostic,” at 24.6% and also ranked 41 out of 48 states for least church attendance. Additionally, Portland outpaces even San Francisco and LasVegas for the most strip clubs in a single city. On top of that, Oregon has the highest percentage of homeless per capita of any state in the United States, many of which are youth, and it is ranked 8th out of U.S. states for the largest number of sex offenders per capita.
As you can see the need for the Gospel of Christ in Portland is great. But the good news is that there are amazing full time ministries faithfully bringing the good news of Christ to the people of Portland and we are privileged to be able to partner with them in their mission. To top it off, it is estimated that 12% of the population of Portland is foreign born, meaning that there is truly an opportunity to do world missions in our own backyard. Please come join us in loving and serving the hurting people in Portland who desperately need to know the hope that is found only in Christ.
To watch a video of Portland, click here. To register to bring a group on a mission trip to Portland, click here.
New Orleans, Louisiana
Residents of New Orleans and all of the Gulf Region have endured loss and hardship the past few years with the destruction of both the oil spill and Hurricane Katrina. New Orleans residents take pride in their food, culture and heritage and there is a determined, survivor’s spirit that remains committed to rebuilding and thriving in the unique and challenging region.
Since Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005, the number of homeless men, women and children in New Orleans climbed from 6,000 to 19,000. New Orleans now has the highest homeless per capita rate for any city in the nation. Louisiana also has the highest percentage of people living in poverty of any state in the U.S. and it has the second highest percentage of single parent homes in all the U.S. In the 9th Ward area of New Orleans, 40% of residents did not graduate high school, and 36% of residents live below the poverty line (12% is the nationwide average).
There are great needs in New Orleans, and many of the ministry leaders we partner with in New Orleans have experienced personal loss and trauma as they faithfully serve where God has called them to be his light. We have the opportunity to come along side of them and help bear the weight of the vital ministries that God has called them to in a unique and challenging mission field. The ministries serving year round in New Orleans are extremely creative, faithful and necessary- reaching out to those in need, including impoverished kids, the homeless, AIDS patients, displaced families and the elderly.
We invite you to bring your group to serve with us in this beautifully unique city- New Orleans, Louisiana.
To watch a video of New Orleans, click here. To register to bring a group on a mission trip to New Orleans, click here.
