Some Explanations & Clarifications

Hey Everyone!

I want to take a few moments in this post to clarify a few things for all my friends and family that are following my journey out here in Los Angeles. I imagine there could be some confusion about what exactly I am actually doing out here; I admit, it can sometimes be confusing to me as well. :)

As I have tried to lay out in my previous posts, I felt God's calling on my life to come out here to Los Angeles several months ago. After seeing confirmation of that feeling through wise counsel, prayer, and reading His Word, I drove out here to Los Angeles at the end of August. I have now been out here for about a month and a half. It has been a whirlwind time.

I came out to Los Angeles to be part of a church called Kairos. Kairos calls itself a network of neighborhood churches joining God in bringing more of heaven to earth. There is a location in Hollywood, Downtown/USC, and in West Los Angeles (Santa Monica.) I am working with a new canvas group (community group) of the West Los Angeles congregation in the Westwood:UCLA area. The hope is that it will eventually become it's own congregation, but for now, we are partnering with Kairos West Los Angeles. Right now, we are simply cultivating a new community of God in the Westwood:UCLA area. That is taking on many forms.

One of those forms is a community dinner we do for any students that want to come by on Wednesday nights at one of our leaders apartments on campus. This has been an amazing time as we have seen more students come over every week. We have dinner, hang out and talk about whatever; in short, we're building relationships that God will infect with his Grace. :) My co-leaders in the Westwood:UCLA Canvas group and I are also spending concentrated time on campus every week in prayer. We are meeting with students, professors, and staff that are looking to partner with what God is doing at UCLA. Those have been great interactions and times of relationship-building. A lot is happening!

We also have set up a recurring mission trip opportunity for students and people from the Westwood community. In fact, some of us are heading down to Mexico tomorrow to help build a sustainable structure for an orphanage. My co-leader at Kairos; Dustin, has set up an engineering non-profit called Eben Ezer. That is the context with which we are headed south this weekend. I'm so excited.

So that's what I'm doing ministry-wise, let me briefly lay out for you all what I have been doing for work out here. I want to begin by explaining what the next several months will look like for me. I have decided that to help me do ministry out here, that I will be support-raising in addition to finding a part-time job in the community. In order to do that, I will be coming back to Chicago in March-June of 2010 to intensely raise support. I am waiting until then so that I can acclimate myself to the culture out here, and actually have some stories of ministry to tell people when I get home. After I am done support-raising in Chicago, I will head back here for the next few years.

Until I leave in March of next year, I do obviously, have to make money for everyday living expenses. Unfortunately, no one will hire someone in a consistant part-time position who is going to be quitting in just a few short months. Enter the idea to do background acting. Being that this is Los Angeles, the entertainment capital of the world, I have the ability to do Extra work in the short term until I leave in March. Background acting is unique in that you call in and book yourself each day, and it is up to you whether or not you work on any given day. So when I stop calling in to book jobs in March...no one in the entertainment industry will care.

When I return in July 2010, I can look for an actual part-time job in the Westwood area for the long term. No more background work for Conner.

So in summary, I came out here to help be a part of what God is doing through Kairos in Los Angeles. I am still absolutely committed to that. I am doing background acting at this point to "pay the bills." I will be dropping that next March when I come home to Chicago to support-raise. Then, when I come back to Los Angeles I will be finding a part-time job in the Westwood:UCLA area and will be able to focus completely on ministry with Kairos. I hope this helps clear up any confusion anyone might have. If you have any questions further for me, or would just like to talk, please don't hesistate to give me a call or e-mail me.

Thank you to everyone for praying for me, asking questions, and just generally being concerned about my life out here. I am so glad you all care so much. Have a blessed day.

Conner

Cell - 847.204.8994
E-mail - cjsimms@gmail.com