Connect with us:
CHRISTIAN LEGAL AID OF LOS ANGELES
  • Events
    • 2022 Prayer Breakfast
  • Home
    • Our Staff
  • About
    • What We Do >
      • Our Services >
        • Our Clients
        • Blog
  • Donate
    • Micah 6:8
  • Get Involved
    • Learn
    • Volunteer
    • Pray
    • Intern
  • Contact
  • Español

Happy Easter!

4/2/2018

3 Comments

 
Happy Easter from all of us at CLA-LA!

As we celebrate the risen Christ, we remember the truth that life conquers death, hope conquers despair, and love conquers all. We revel in the triumph of the resurrection. We hear the proclamation in the garden: “He is not here; He has risen, just as He said! Come, see the place where He lay.”

How absurd and wonderful that this becomes the greatest proclamation of God’s work in the world: Jesus is not here.

What the angel at the tomb announces is that this absence is actually the truest testimony of Divine presence. To these women, and to anyone with eyes of faith, the angel offers this invitation: "Come and see! The empty tomb is not an insult added to injury, but rather the inauguration of a whole new way of life.”

We are called out to the places where life seems dimmed, where injustice seems final, where hope seems extinguished. Because that's not always what we find. Sometimes where we expect our worst fears to be finally confirmed, we find a pregnant pause. We encounter the emptiness of the tomb. And in the void—in the imprints left where God once was—we find hope and life again.

So that is the invitation I want to extend to you: Come and see. Set aside your confidences about where joy can be found. Sit with someone whose life looks unlike yours. Recognize the possibilities in impossible situations. You can’t know what to expect; you never know what you will find. It just might be a place of resurrection.

That’s one of the best things about CLA-LA: together, we are finding God in the world, in the needs of our neighbors, in acquaintances becoming friends, in people discovering the work of justice. We’re refusing to concede the inevitability of oppression. And—sometimes when we least expect it—we are seeing hope catch its breath and watching new life begin. 
3 Comments

In Transit

12/5/2017

3 Comments

 
Advent is upon us! In this season, we share in a time of anticipation; we know that Christmas is coming, but it is not here yet. The world waits, and we wait with it.

I recently had an experience that brought this into new light for me. I’d placed an order online, and received the emailed notification: “Your package has shipped!” In the grand scheme of things it’s a pretty trivial thing to wait for a cardboard box to show up on your doorstep. Still, the week between that automated promise in my inbox and the expected delivery date was punctuated with small moments of anticipation.

Finally the delivery date came. And went.

The joy and frustration of modern technology are contained so well in the string of numbers and letters that allow us to track packages as they move—or don’t. This time, the status alternated between “out for delivery” and something more frustratingly nonspecific: “in transit.”

Picture

Read More
3 Comments

Finding Hope Together

9/26/2017

1 Comment

 
This blog post was written by Sharon Cho, who served with CLA-LA as an administrative assistant for the last two years. She leaves us to continue the pursuit of justice at her church and in her community. Thanks so much for sharing your life and love with us!
Picture
One of my favorite hours working at CLA-LA was “existential crisis hour” every Thursday, at 11AM. Half-jokingly, the interim Executive Director Susan Vincent and I would allow ourselves this hour to question the meaning of life. We wrestled through all of the current tribulations occurring in our world, struggled to confront our personal attributions towards those problems, and questioned how we could even help, in spite of all the restrictions we were surrounded by.  

It was conversations like these that strangely brought consolation because it gave me permission to feel understood and not alone, as well as the opportunity to dialogue and learn. 

This is a glimpse of what CLA-LA has given to me and to so many others. 
​

Read More
1 Comment

The Call of Easter

4/17/2017

1 Comment

 
I don’t know about you, but sometimes I feel like the world keeps getting crazier. It seems to be dying, and it’s not a peaceful process. We try to tune it out or look away. We feel the temptation to withdraw, to shrink the scope of our concern to what we can control, to inhabit smaller and smaller worlds until we feel some sense of safety.

But this is not the way of the Cross; it is not the way of resurrection. The Cross transforms suffering, not by keeping it at a distance, but by Christ taking the world’s suffering upon Himself. On the Cross we see Jesus’s body broken and blood spilled. On the Cross we see what God’s presence in the world looks like. 

​If we take the Cross at face value, it doesn’t look like good news. It looks like failure. It looks like death. But through eyes of faith, we see God at work redeeming the world.
​
So this is the call of Easter, the invitation to which we must now respond: Come and die, that you might truly live.


Read More
1 Comment

The Surprise of Christmas

12/5/2016

7 Comments

 
One of the best things about Christmas is that it is nothing like we expected. 
​
Perhaps Joseph believed that he could serve God by fighting with his sons against oppression and injustice. In a way, he did exactly that: his son broke the chains of sin and death and led captivity captive. But the baby in a manger looked nothing like he expected. 

Perhaps Mary looked forward to a life of faithful obedience to the law, love for her family, and service to her community. In a sense, she got exactly that: she was the mother of Christ, the one who came to perfectly fulfill the law and whose sacrifice brought salvation to the whole world. But the baby in a manger looked nothing like she expected. 

Read More
7 Comments

Serving this Summer at CLA-LA

9/20/2016

1 Comment

 
This blog post was written by Nolan Scarr, a 2016 Hugh and Hazel Darling Foundation Summer Intern at CLA-LA.

I believe being a Christian lawyer offers a unique and special place within the body of Christ. We possess gifts and talents that our brothers and sisters in Christ need access to, and with Christian Legal Aid of Los Angeles we’re able to reach those who need it the most. Here we don’t solely rely on the expertise of our knowledge, but also appeal to our God and invite Him to be part of the solution. Even if a client doesn’t have a relationship with Christ, we’ll take the time to help them and love them as our neighbor. My summer internship with CLA-LA has shown me what it looks like to be a Christian lawyer in a society that is desperate for God’s help.
   
At CLA-LA, we offer free legal clinics throughout Los Angeles County to those who are most vulnerable in society. No matter what the legal issue may be, our doors are open to offer assistance to our client’s needs. We offer help in educating our clients, and preparing documents to empower them with the legal knowledge and know how to navigate through their legal problem.
  
I’ll most remember the client we assisted at one of our regular locations. This man was looking to get his record clean to assist him in pursuing legal immigration status in the future. He was a former gang member who had been shot in the spine at a young age and was to be in a wheelchair for the rest of his life. I thought it would be difficult to connect with him given our very different life experiences but found this wasn’t the case. I asked about his plans for Fourth of July. He told me he was going camping with his family, and I shared with him my plans to be on the beach for the weekend. By the end of our appointment, I learned he had a daughter, and that he wanted to get involved with a church small group. I emphasized the importance of having a church group to walk with and encouraged him to make it a priority to get involved.

​He mentioned he still experiences pain in his back due to the incident several years ago. I shared with him the pain I experienced from being diagnosed with arthritis at a young age and told him some of my remedies to control the pain. He actually wrote them down and was going to look into them. He thanked everyone for filling out documents and explaining the next steps he needed to take, but when he shook my hand and thanked me for talking with him, I knew this was a special moment, one that I still can’t rightly explain in words.  

​My time with CLA has been a blessing, and I am so grateful for the grace God has given me that has allowed me to take part in His mission to reach out to the most vulnerable in our society.

1 Comment

Learning to Love Justice

5/12/2016

2 Comments

 
"He loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord.”

​Psalms 33:5 ESV

​The Lord loves justice. 

One of the beautiful and convicting realizations that comes from this simple statement is how inseparable justice is from a right understanding of God and His purposes. Imagine for a moment that you were to describe the nature of God - how would you begin? Would you start with His love? His power? His work as Creator and Redeemer?

Here’s how the Lord describes himself:
​“For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who is not partial and takes no bribe. He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing.” 

Deuteronomy 10:17-19 ESV
How do we respond to this revelation? 
​
​

Read More
2 Comments

A Beautiful Exchange

3/24/2016

1 Comment

 
This post was written by staff member Sharon Cho, who joined CLA-LA as our Administrative Assistant last fall.
​

Joining CLA-LA has been a gift to me. I didn’t completely know what I was signing up for as I joined the staff of two, but 6 months in I am eternally grateful that I have been given something that can never compare with any monetary value or treasure here on earth.

What has been given you ask?

The gift of humanity.

I’ll try my best to explain myself:
​

Picture
Working behind-the-scenes, and now having attended 6 clinics, it’s been an honor to witness the provision that CLA gives to those that don’t have the necessary means in obtaining it. I’ve seen countless clients, after meeting with our volunteer attorneys, looking satisfied as they walked away with specific plans tailored to their legal issues. 

However, the more that I get the chance to interact with these clients face-to-face or over the phone, I always tend to feel like I’ve received more from them than I actually do in the giving. 
​

​When they invite me into hearing their stories, I am reminded that the most vulnerable, unseen, and forgotten are in fact themselves sons, daughters, mothers, and fathers. They remind me of the commonality that we all share: we are all humans, a precious gift given to us by our Creator. 
​

Read More
1 Comment

Be Like Jesus

2/22/2016

1 Comment

 
This Lenten season I have been reflecting upon the life of Jesus and how we are to be like Him. 

In Philippians 2, Paul speaks to the church. He says they are to be united in mind and love, and humble. They are not to do things out of selfish ambition but to put others before themselves. He encourages them by focusing on the humility of Jesus--God Himself became a servant who died a gruesome death on their behalf. 
​
"Be like Jesus" is a saying we hear so often it can seem like a pat phrase, but the reality is that it is the standard for our lives. Putting others before ourselves means laying down our lives and what we are entitled to so that another might benefit.

This is not the way of the world.  Whether it's in our jobs, schools, or personal relationships, the questions that guide our actions are often self-centered: "How does this benefit me?" "Should I even put in the effort?" "What will be my return on investment?"


Yet Jesus shows us another way. He shows us that love is willing to sacrifice. He humbled Himself to the point of death so that we might experience life. And we are called to know and be like Him so others may know Him too.

These are the questions I am asking this Lenten season, and I invite you to join me: "What areas of my heart need to change so Jesus is reflected more in my life?" "Am I laying down my life so others can see His goodness and know the greatness of His love?"
​ 
So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. - Philippians 2:1-8
1 Comment

Christ is Enough

1/14/2016

3 Comments

 
At the start of the new year, we often find ourselves reviewing the past and taking stock of our lives. Many times we stand in wonder of what the Lord has accomplished in our lives and the wondrous gifts He has given to us. All too often, however, we stand at the measure and find ourselves lacking. Whether due to unforeseen setbacks, or failures of will, or disappointing circumstances, we are unsettled by our own shortcomings. We are not where—or who—we hoped to be. 
Picture
Perhaps this tendency is exacerbated among those of us who thrive on achievement. For those for whom improvement is a continual goal and competition an alluring challenge, the sting of shortcoming can be particularly painful. Whether our ideals are material, intellectual, relational, or even spiritual, we feel the dissonance when we don’t measure up. So we resolve to try harder, to be better, to make changes. We try desperately to control everything from our emotions to our environments. And yet the suspicion that this year might nevertheless turn out like any other persists in the back of our minds.
​

Read More
3 Comments
<<Previous

    About Us

    This blog is written by staff, supporters, and friends of CLA-LA to encourage the pursuit of justice in every area of life.

    While legal information may be posted from time to time, it is for educational purposes only and does not create an attorney-client relationship.

    If you need legal advice, contact a lawyer. We may also be able to provide referrals in some situations.


    Newsletters


    Archives

    April 2018
    December 2017
    September 2017
    April 2017
    December 2016
    September 2016
    May 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    August 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015

    Categories

    All
    Doing Justice


​Donate Now
Get Involved
​
​Media

Copyright © 2019 Christian Legal Aid of Los Angeles
Legal Documents
Picture