worship the all mighty

so basically i just want to show you guys a couple pictures and a video from me and noes year at the movment so far, i knows its been a long time sense i last posted, so i thought i would give you guys not so much an update but just some images to show you what God is doing here in la. me and noe have been blessed to help lead worship at this placed called Drew st. where we lead worship every saturday, the area Drew St. used to be heavy with gang violience and ex-gang members still live here, yet every satuday we come to give them groceries and have worship, the people have to hear like a 2 min message then we do worship for awhile then we give them there food...wegot one month left until we graduate on july 31st so keep us in your prayers...

Mothers day Ministry!!!!

So its been a long long long time, sense the last update so I thought I would share with you guys what has been going on. Things have been going good, I have been really busy but God has been doing his work. Just recently me and a couple people in my program went to help a ministry apart of the dream center called "Red Eye" where they focus on humanitarian acts in the community. So for mothers day we went out to skid row aka heroin ally. we went there and set up tables and we brought in people apart of the ministry called red eye and they brought all there make up kits and women on skid row got to have a make over where they got there nails done and everything. we also handed out free clothes to keep, and at the end they got to take a picture behind a black background, almost like there on a red carpet. and on the black background there are words that say "I am" and when the women would go to take there picture they hold up a sign that saids "Loved" or beautiful" so it would say "I am loved" or "I am Beautiful" and we would print the pictures right there. and give it to them. You could see a big joy on there face, because no one would ever give them the time of day let alone even have a full on conversation with them while they get to get a make over. during the whole event we handed out food and water and it was an amazing thing to see. I even got to pray for a lady who was having financial trouble. So many lives got touched...I only have 2 months left in this program yet everyday is a new experience for me. As my time is winding down here in La I am reminded of what Billy Graham once said on tv "I know not what the future holds, But I know who holds the future"

The Marathon

so yeaturday I ran the La Marathon. which if you didnt know I am on a running team here at the dream center called "Run for Hope" which we were running the marathon in hopes to raise money for a new ministry starting up called "Project Hope". which is trying to end human trafficking here in La. by opening up a safe house for the people we meet and try to rescue from this lifestyle... my projected time I wanted to get was 4 hours and 40mins which 26miles at a 10min pace is 4 hours and 30min but sense its 26.2 miles i added an extra 10mins. I didnt get my time. When the race started, around mile 3 it started to rain really hard and it got really windy. All i had on was my run for hope t-shirt and my running shorts. The first 13 miles I did good and was on pace to get my time(I had gotten around 2hours 20mins or so after the first 13miles) but around mile 14 the coldness, the rain, and the big winds over took me by that point(it rained the whole marathon which is a first ever for the La marathon) my knees almost gave out towards mile 15 on, I was cold, I was frustrated and but I kept marching on for the goal. After all the whole reason I was running was to help stop human trafficking in La, That is why i trained(kinda trained) for this. so of course I didnt give up. the last 9 miles or so i was limping really bad. I got stopped by so many different random runners and medical people. people were asking if im all right which i was wasn't all right but I told them I was fine so i could keep going, It was hurting bad but to spend time getting help would just prolong the finish and make it worse. Eventually three medical tents(which they place every other mile or so after mile 6) stopped me between miles 18-24 and they all asked me the same thing"are you going to be ok you dont look really good at all" and i just replied back to all them "It doesn't matter" because at that point it didn't matter if I was ok or not or if i was going to be ok or not because I was so close and I put in all those hours to help run a marathon for a ministry greater then me. our running team run for hope could of stood up on stage and told people about the ministry and played a nice video on a sunday morning and people would of gave money and I wouldnt of had to run the marathon at all but we wanted to show people we were more then just words we were going to raise money sacrificing our own bodies for a cause greater then ourselves. so eventually I finished limping as fast as i could which at that point was slower then most people, but i finished. the end result was this we raised 70,792 dollars and with still 26 days to give from today more can still be coming in. Im really sore and my knees hurt like no other, but it was worth it and GOD IS AMAZING!

Run For Hope

Dear Friends

On Sunday, March 20, 2011, I will be running 26.2 miles as part of the Los Angeles Marathon in support of Project Hope LA. The Dream Center is an official charity of the LA Marathon and has served Los Angeles community for 17 years.

The Dream Center provides opportunities and resources for those facing homelessness, poverty, and hopelessness. Assistance is provided in the areas of food, clothing, shelter, education, career development, and healthcare. This year the Dream Center took it one step further and in January 2011, they opened a 38- bed facility to take in victims of human trafficking.

As an official charity of the LA Marathon, I have joined with The Dream Center to RUN FOR HOPE. Did you know 99% of victims are never rescued from human trafficking? Los Angeles is one of the top three points of entry into the United States for victims of slavery and trafficking. The city's widespread diversity makes it easier to hide and move victims from place to place, making it very difficult for law enforcement to locate potential survivors therefore making it one of the fastest growing criminal industry worldwide.

Our goal is to raise $200,000 for Project Hope LA so that we may rescue and help restore the lives of more human trafficking survivors. No donation is too small and each dollar I raise will help to rescue, rebuild and return to society, the life of a victim of human trafficking. I am proud to run to fight against this injustice with The Dream Center.

To donate to this cause and help fight human trafficking in La, simply go to my individual team member site http://www.crowdrise.com/xmarkyx I also encourage you to visit, both, The Dream Center and Project Hope websites at http://www.dreamcenter.org/ and http://projecthopela.com to learn more about the amazing work The Dream Center does helping restore the lives of those individuals who are survivors of human/sex trafficking. In addition, please note that all your gifts to The Dream Center are tax-deductible! Thank you so much for your support.

Please help me make a difference. Help me save a life.

With Appreciation,

Mark Brattrud

Phoenix Trip

so this upcoming week we will be traveling to the mother church of the dream, Phoenix First Assembly of God, we will be there monday-thursday. it is for there 34 Pastor's school where pastors plus leaders want to grow in there walk with God. The Movement will be doing to sessions to support and raise awareness for the dream center, we will also be doing almost all the behind the scenes work of all the stuff that needs to get done for the conference. We will be going there to help out the cause as there will be over a thousand people from all over the United States. So to prepare for this we have been having 10pm practices for our sessions we will be doing there. some of these practices have gone till close to 3am, then the next morning we get up around 7 or 8am like we would every day. its been crazy but God has been moving in this place.
thank you VCA and who ever else reads this, I know you are praying for me and I know I miss you guys alot, I cant wait to see you guys soon.
LOVE MARKY

A whole new level

so today sunday we had our 7th floor dedication, for our new classroom floor which we use for bible studys and other things.as this floor was being build I had to help out building file cabinets and putting front office desks together...also yesturday(saturday) I helped out with worship almost all day. every saturday we go give groceries to people who live in bad areas and at the site im at we get to do a couple worship songs, just on a side walk. but after we did the guy who leads worship my good friend benny, asked if I could help out with worship at the church, the church small groups were getting together to have a day of fast and we got to end the day by leading worship, and I tell you God was moving, we started the worship at 2 and we didnt finish till like 6. we played for 4 hours! and people were getting filled with the holy spirit it was awesome!...lastly back to earlyer when I helped with worship the first time, there was family we help out there that was in need, they were about to have a baby but there house was horrible they didnt even have much food or a good place to sleep in there apt. so before we even got there we prayed that God would provide and then of course I realize I have an extra blanket, which I ultimately gave to them because they needed it more than I did. so now all im left with is a small blanket my Great Grandma made me(its like half my size, she made it for me when I was like 10). I gave away my good blanket because it was bigger and better and I thought it could help them more. so far I havent felt cold because I know God saw my deed and he keeps me warm.

so its been awhile sense ive last posted, I was on break for 2 weeks and now im back, there have been alot of great things going on here in La. I couple of new things is were doing alot of music out, its awesome to see the people we have getting involved, it puts a joy on there face to see these them and us comming together in Christ making music...The college is starting next week on top of our busy ministry schedule so it will be good not only being able to serve but to learn about the bible of college professors. the thing I like best about it is, everything we have done so far will not be lost, nothing we have done will get cut because of the college, we still get to do the ministry with the college on top of that. God is really good. we also had 20 new students come in for the first ever January class and its amazing to meet more believers in Christ. God is doing great things...lastly because we have 20 new students me and 4 other guys had to build all there bunk beds and paint everything on there floor which is the 3rd floor. It took 3 days working most the day and it was a ton of work but we had to get it done for the new students to feel welcome and at home and also so they can have a room with a bed and basic needs.