Urban Missions the Story of the Dream Center Los Angeles
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Dudley Pathfinder Book Club Urban Missions The Story of the Dream Center Los Angeles From Wikipedia and dreamcenter.org 2016 2 5 EXTERNAL LINKS that the accusations were groundless. ""There is no basis to the complaints we've heard,” Hayes said,"The horror Dream Center stories reported to us do not exist."" [3] 4 References [1] http://www.dreamcenter.org/about-us/ retrieved Decem- The Dream Center is a Pentecostal Christian Church faith-based organizations.” ber 14, 2013 mission located at 2301 Bellevue Avenue in the Echo In 2001, Pastor Matthew Barnett and the International Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, two [2] Wells, Matthew (September 18, 2005). “Katrina chal- Church of the Foursquare Gospel united the Dream Cen- lenge for LA mission”. BBC News. Retrieved 20 Septem- blocks west of Alvarado Street on the north side of the ter with the famous Angelus Temple. Through a pro- 101 Freeway. It is two miles from Downtown Los Ange- ber 2012. cess of two Christian denominations working together, les and a little over two miles from Hollywood. the unification was possible, and as of November 1, 2001, [3] Sahagun, Louis (September 17, 2005). “No Nightmare Based out of the former Queen of Angels Hospital at Pastor Barnett became the senior pastor over Angelus Seen at the Dream Center”. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved Bellevue and Waterloo Street, the facility consists of al- Temple as well as the Dream Center. 14 December 2013. most 400,000 ft² (37,000 m²) in buildings on 8.8 acres Associated Dream Centers have been established in other (36,000 m²) of prime commercial real estate. cities. Over 100 Dream Centers have been launched 5 External links The church ministers to gang members, drug addicts, un- around the world.[1] wed mothers and children without parents, motorcycle • groups, taggers, AIDS victims, and various subculture, Official website ethnic and nationality groups. It feeds the homeless and 2 Outreach others in need and runs a halfway house for released pris- Coordinates: 34°4′27.9″N 118°16′8.83″W / oners. Close to 500 people are housed at the center and 34.074417°N 118.2691194°W receive rehabilitation. Many other services are offered The Dream Center has a number of resources for both each week to meet the spiritual and physical needs of the community and people living in different states or the community. The center has been said to epitomize countries. For the Homeless they have a Transitional a quote by Tommy Barnett, pastor of the Phoenix First Family Housing Program, Skid Row Outreach and a Assembly of God Church, “Find a need and fill it, find a Food Chapel. For Human Trafficking victims they have hurt and heal it.” the Human Trafficking Program, the emergency shel- ter and the emergency hotline. For community out- The Dream Center is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization. reach they have The Dream Center Academy, The Lord’s Pastor Matthew Barnett manages the Dream Center and Gym, Adopt-a-Block, the Youth Center, and the Wor- pastors the Angelus Temple, which is a Foursquare Pen- ship Project. For hunger in general they provide a Food tecostal church. Truck and a Food Bank to the public. For poverty issues they have the Emancipating Youth Home program, Fos- ter Care Intervention, Clothing Outreach, Mobile Medi- 1 History cal Clinic, Adult Education Program, and the Job Place- ment and Transition Program. For recovery they have the The church was founded in 1993 as the “L.A. Interna- Men’s and Women’s Discipleship live in program. tional Church” by Matthew Barnett, with the help of his father, Tommy Barnett, as a home missions project of the Southern California District of the Assemblies of God. 3 Controversy When the church began in September 1994, there were 39 members. The congregation grew from an average at- According to BBC News, some Hurricane Katrina evac- tendance of 48 on Sunday morning to reaching more than uees who stayed at the Dream Center felt like prisoners.[2] 35,000 people each week in the Center’s 40 services and “Ricky Valentine said he was desperate to leave the 273 ministries and outreaches. Dream Center: “We can't get none of the cash benefits In the first four years of the Dream Center’s establish- because we're staying here. We need them so we can try ment, prostitution and gang violence dropped 73%, the to move on and get back into society.” “We're not used homicide rate dropped 28% and rape dropped 53%. This to feeling like we've got to be in prison. We're evacuees, may have also been due, in part, to rampant gentrification not prisoners,” he added angrily.” in the area during the time period, but the Mayor of Los In response to the complaints, several social activists, led Angeles and the City Council publicly acknowledged the by Ted Hayes, a homelessness advocate, called a news dramatic impact of the Dream Center and praised its ef- conference demanding an investigation of the Dream forts. In 2000, George W. Bush, then Governor of Texas, Center. After visiting the Dream Center, however, and visited the Dream Center and deemed it “a model for being given a tour of the facility, the activists concluded 1 3 6 Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses A Dream of Changing Lives 6.1 Text • Dream Center Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dream_Center?oldid=706440429 Contributors: FredR, Neilc, One Salient Over- Founded in 1994, The Dream Center is a volunteer-driven sight, GlenDavis, Guanabot, SwissCelt, James Russiello, Thane, Theda, Whobot, Bluebot, Scoty6776, RIH-V, Djkeddie, Jllm06, The Anomebot2, Technopat, Lazywolf2, Dandigiacomo, Pastordc, Ltwin, Grayfell, Glane23, AnomieBOT, Killiondude, Thehelpfulbot, Wait- ingForConnection, Anir1uph, Mycultlife, AlanBOT, Fnxdream, OnTheMountainTop, Leslym and Anonymous: 23 organization that finds and fills the needs of over 80,000 6.2 Images 6.3 Content license individuals and families each month. • Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 We do this through mobile hunger relief and medical programs, residential rehabilitation programs adults, a shelter for victims of human trafficking, transitional housing for homeless families, foster care intervention programs, job skills training, life skills, counseling, basic education, Bible studies and more. We work to meet people where they are at, to bring them hope and a way off the streets. We’re also equipping others to serve. The Dream Center’s record of success has attracted urban missionaries and Christian leaders from across the U.S. and the world. As they volunteer with us, they gain insight and skills that they can take back to their own communities. In this way, more than 100 independent Dream Centers have been launched nationally, as well as internationally. Many more churches and ministries have become more effective as we teach those who We are building a community of resilient people whose lives have give their time and talent to do what we do. Many who once needed been redeemed by God’s love. The lives we change are not merely our services also go on to help others. examples of God’s power to restore broken lives. The men, women and families we help also go on to share that love with others, to Vision, Mission pass on the hope they have been given, and to make transformation possible for others. History Why We Exist: Our Mission The Dream Center’s purpose is to reconnect isolated people to God and a community of support by providing human services that address immediate and long-term needs in the areas of How the Dream Began homelessness, hunger, poverty, addiction, education, and human A Turning Point for Two Pastors and a Church trafficking. Pastor Tommy Barnett has a large and growing church in Phoenix, What We Do: Our Vision AZ. Many years ago, as he was growing his church he felt a calling to reach out to the hurting in Los Angeles. In his effort to be faithful, Pastor Tommy worked hard to interest Park. He saw his father’s dream could become reality in that historic other pastors in joining him to care for Los Angeles. Each time, he building – a place to offer God’s love to the homeless and addicted, would take his prospective partners to the area, only to have them to victims of sex trafficking and domestic violence, to emancipated change their mind. The mission fields of Watts, South Central, foster youth and to those who hunger for food and hope. Compton, Imperial Courts, Nickerson Gardens and Downtown Los The Dream Center Was Born Angeles were clearly too dangerous and a new church would be Today, thousands of individuals, businesses and churches in Los unlikely to succeed. Angeles and around the world have caught the vision of The Dream Years Later, God showed Pastor Tommy that his youngest Center, volunteering and giving as God leads. More than 100 son, Pastor Matthew is the one to send to Los Angeles. Despite independent Dream Centers so far have taken root throughout the Pastor Tommy’s concerns for his safety, Pastor Matthew assumed States! the position of Pastor at a small church, Bethel Temple, in 1994. He Roots of The Dream Center was just 20 years old. With little activity in the church and the How a Shuttered Hospital Became a Dream congregation attendance going down due to his age, Pastor Matthew The Franciscan Sisters of the Sacred Heart founded Queen of began setting up his office outside on the sidewalk, asking people Angels Hospital in 1926. Father Wilhelm Berger, founder of the who passed by how he could help them.