Made My Way to LA

     Hello all! There's lots to catch ya'll up on. First things first: I moved to a new city- Los Angeles, the city of angels. How I got here is a major God story. It is a dream being fulfilled after six years in the making! I've visited the state of California three times prior to moving here, each two years apart. First, for a college visit to Pepperdine University in 2017, then for a mission trip to Skid Row in 2019 with my university, and then I visited San Jose to visit my roommate in 2021. Each trip was such a treat and consistently rekindled the fire in my heart for the Golden State. 

    And now, well, I'm living here long term for a year long commitment working with City Year, which is an Americorps Organization. *sidenote: I've explained what this program is so many times. Rather than reciting my speech once again about the program, I will include the link here to save me some words and to give you a better idea: https://youtu.be/2nME3vW1SDM . 😉

    Living here and typing out this story is something I could only dream of a couple of months ago. I accepted the position to work for City Year in November and knew it was a door God opened for me, but I had no idea how it would all unfold. Eventually, this summer, God was speaking to me about being His heir and having the faith to come before Him boldly to ask and believe He is my provider. So, in faith, I bought a one way ticket to LAX. I had no idea where I'd be living, with who, or how, but all I knew was that I had a flight to get on in just three weeks and God was going to provide one way or another. However, a few days during those three weeks, I began to fast and pray believing that if God truly wanted me in California, He'd have to close all the wrong doors and open ONLY the right one because I had no prior knowledge of how to search for an apartment. During the fast I believed God would provide if it was His desire for me to be here. Then the very last day of my fast, I got a notification from the City Year Facebook page from a City Year member that they had a room available. Amazingly, it was everything I was praying about for a housing situation. I write this to share that often times the breakthrough God has for us is just around the corner or at the very end of the pressing, we just have to keep looking to Him to the very end and not lose heart. So, God provided me a housing situation about two weeks before my scheduled flight. In all of this, I am amazed at how God literally kept every door shut, except this one. I reached out to other individuals to check if they had other housing situations available, but each time none of the opportunities worked out, except this one. How God moved so miraculously is such an assurance that I know for a fact that I am supposed to be here! It's a blessing to be exactly where God destined me to be for this season of life. 

I also, want to thank everyone that helped get me here through their prayers, words of encouragement, and generous support. I am so grateful how God provided me with encouragement and courage through others around me, even at times when I feared I was not ready to start this Los Angeles journey. Strangers, people close to me, and even people I only had a short conversation with, your support and prayers mean so much to me and I want to say THANK YOU! 

-Brittany Prada 

Below are some of the people that helped get me here. Not everyone is pictured, but you know who you are and so thankful for all of you. 💛