He Delights in the "Impossible"

Halloween is the biggest event here in Santa Barbara. Specifically, Halloween is the biggest event here in Isla Vista. In a place known for its parties, Halloween is by far the craziest.

Every year, 20,000 out-of-towners come to our town of 20,000 residents to take part in the 4-day non-stop party.

Cops are on horses, floodlights illuminate the streets like daylight, cell phones don't work due to the sheer mass of people all around you, and instead of walking down the street, you pretty much get carried.

(The apartment complex in this picture is where I used to live.)

This year there were 230 arrests, 230 citations, and 40 hospitalizations, including a 17-year-old who was stabbed multiple times.

So why am I writing about this? Because it's real and it's the world and ignoring it is not only useless, but wrong.

At Jesus Burgers, Halloween usually ends up being mostly about helping people who are hurt, lost, or crying. But this year... was different. Friday night, the girls I went with led someone to the Lord. Saturday night, I met someone who was so clearly being called out of the life they were living. We talked for two hours about idols, chasing temporary happiness from substances, and finding identities in the wrong places. I've never felt so strongly like I was brought to a place to talk to one specific person. These are just two of the countless people this weekend who heard truth, were prayed over, and left changed. It never stops being amazing. I never get used to it.

These are not one-night encounters, these are people who we meet, come alongside, surround with community, and genuinely love.

These are people who are out with their friends, walking the street on their way from one party to the next. What possesses them to come up to us and just start talking? What keeps them talking to us for hours, telling their friends they'll catch up with them later?

In the seemingly least likely of places, at the least likely of times, He shows up. And it's such a beautiful reminder that the earth is His. We are His. Our unsaved family and friends are His. Even Isla Vista, on Halloween, is His.

Some friends telling some new friends about the King on Halloween