I live in Isla Vista ("Island View" in Spanish). I have no way of accurately describing what it's like to live here, but I want to give some sort of idea, because it's my home, it's where I'm called... and I'm so in love with it.
Everyone who lives in I.V. is within a few blocks of the beach. The days are usually sunny and warm, and people play sports on the streets all day, making it hard to drive. The main mode of transportation is bike or skateboard. It all looks so happy, relaxed, and carefree.
But UCSB (University of California, Santa Barbara) is one of the biggest party schools school in the nation. Everyone who lives in I.V. is a college student. That means 20,000 young people crammed into a few blocks of space. Instead of Jesus, people worship alcohol, drugs, money, and other fleshly desires. There are almost no houses; everyone lives in tiny apartments. All the buildings were built a long time ago and are dilapidated or falling into the ocean, and it's not rare to have rats in the walls and frequent blackouts. Everything is falling apart, yet this is the third most expensive place to live in the nation. On the edge of this densely packed town live many Hispanic families, in government-funded housing, who pick up empty cans and bottles off lawns and driveways and balconies in the mornings, which they recycle to make their living. The parks and beaches serve as resting places for the large homeless population.
Families collecting bottles and cans to recycle
A portable home
At night, the noise doesn't dwindle until around 3 am, which is when the walls finally stop shaking from music and the sounds of screaming and breaking glass die down.
On Friday nights, I get home from college night at church at around 11. At nighttime you can't drive down the streets because they are too packed with people partying, so I walk the two blocks home from my friends' house.
The things I see in the TWO blocks it takes to get home... I can't even write about. Balconies sag with the weight of so many people on them, and every house is having a party, blasting music as loud as possible. I get yelled at and harassed the whole way home.
Halloween- the gigantic mass of people on the street and balconies at night
But my God is greater.
How is it possible that I love this place so much? Yes, I am reviled. No, I don't know many people living a set-apart life here. But I have never had so much joy, every single day. It's the joy that comes from knowing you are doing His work; the exact work He has called you to. The Lord has given me a supernatural love for this place and for these people which I know I am SO incapable of. Every time I say, "God, I can't do this. It's too much for me. Why can't I just live in a quiet house with Christians and listen to worship and go to bed early? I miss Ellerslie." He brings, literally to MY DOOR, someone who is hungry for Jesus and so in need of the gospel. The harvest is so, so great and the workers are so, so few. God is not getting the glory in this place. And that is what we are called to spend our lives for.
The last time I began to feel sorry for myself, a guy knocked on my door asking if he could have a glass of water because he had just gotten sick outside. I got him some water, and he ended up leaving 3 hours later, because he couldn't stop asking question after question about Jesus. The joy that comes from knowing you are exactly where you are supposed to be, doing what you are supposed to do, is inexpressible. But even stronger than that is the joy of souls being won for the kingdom, and stronger than THAT is the joy that only comes from knowing He is getting the glory.
A lot of times, people tell me I'm crazy, or it's dangerous, or it's not a good idea to be around all those worldly temptations. To that all I can say is that I have more faith in the power of God than in the power of the enemy. SO much more. I don't even consider those things dangerous or tempting. If He is for us, who can be against us? I am called to be out in the world, not in a protected bubble. I am called to be a light in the middle of darkness. I am called to proclaim the gospel boldly to those who have rejected it. I'm just living my life, poured out and trying desperately to be Spirit led. And I have NO FEAR, for He is with me.
So, for His glory, this is where I am - in this crazy, beautiful, worldly, awe-inspiring, fleshly, wonderful place known as I.V.
The view from my balcony
"As the Father has sent me, so I send you." John 20:21
