The Jonah Project is a non-profit, non-denominational Christian organization dedicated to helping the homeless community on the streets of Skid Row in Los Angeles. Reaching out to the poor and brokenhearted was an important part of Jesus’ ministry, and certainly is still a vital part of the ministry of the Body of Christ today.

 In fact, in the first sermon Jesus preached (Luke 4:18); and also again when John the Baptist sent his disciples to inquire as to whether Jesus was the Messiah

(Matt 11:4-5, Luke 7:22), Jesus quoted these verses from Isaiah –

“ The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed;

(Luke 4:18)

The Jonah Project was started by Jeremiah Herrian and Patrick Ersig. Jeremiah and Patrick met while ministering on Skid Row. Jeremiah is originally from Oklahoma, Patrick from Michigan. The Lord has given both Jeremiah and Patrick a burden for lost and hurting people. Jeremiah is gifted with an amazing and wonderful ability to connect with the homeless. Patrick started ministering in the ghettos and inner-city areas of Detroit and was called by God to move his family to California to continue his ministry on the streets of Skid Row. Joining Jeremiah and Patrick are their wonderful wives, Sarah & Mary, along with Patrick’s three children. They are each intrical parts of the Jonah Project and minister regularly on the streets and in the building.

After bringing the Herrian and Ersig families together, the Lord set in motion events that would result in The Jonah Project.

“The Lord opened all of the doors for us! He literally dropped the building into our laps! We didn’t have to do a thing – God did it all and He gets all the Glory!!! Praise the Lord!!!” Patrick Ersig

Why are you called The Jonah Project?

The Jonah Project has a two fold meaning for us. First of all, we find many people on the streets who are running from God in one way or another. Many people know the life that God wants them to live and know the life they are living is in opposition to the will of God. Thus they find themselves in the “belly of the whale”. If there were ever a modern day “belly of the whale”, Skid Row is it! Our greatest desire is to see people turn to God, be set free from the bondage they are in and live the lives God has made available to them through His Son Jesus Christ.

Secondly, the prophet Jonah is unique in two ways from all of the other Old Testament prophets. First, he is the only Old Testament prophet that preached repentance to the Gentiles or the “outsiders”. The Gentiles were outside of the religious establishment of the day, and these were the people God sent Jonah to preach repentance to. We believe this is our calling from God - to take the gospel message to those outside of the churches, into the streets that are home for today’s “outsiders” – the homeless, prostitutes, addicts, drug dealers, pimps and gang members.

Another interesting fact that makes Jonah unique from the rest of the Old Testament prophets is that the message of repentance he preached was accepted by those to whom he was sent. Other Old Testament prophets were rejected by the people to whom they were sent. It is our desire, by the grace of God, to have the wonderful gospel message of Jesus Christ be accepted by those on Skid Row and see the power of God transform the lives of many who are currently in bondage and sin.

How is The Jonah Project unique from other missions on Skid Row and what are the primary goals of The Jonah Project?

The first and foremost concern of the Jonah Project is with the spiritual well being of the people! Our desire is to teach these people how they can be in right standing with an all-loving, merciful God and ensure they are following the narrow path that leads to eternal life and NOT the broad path that leads to eternal destruction. We continue to work diligently to help them remain on that path by assisting them in building a sound, solid Biblical foundation. We do this through personal and group discipleship for both men and women, as well as Bible study and mentoring. Our goal is to have them to grow into strong, healthy spiritual soldiers in the army of God, who can in turn go back into the streets and help reach others who are in the situation that they have come out of.

Most of the people we minister to are in need of physical help, such as food, clothing, jobs and housing. The Jonah Project is committed to helping these people obtain their physical needs as well. We provide meals and clothing, and we work with other organizations to help provide short and long term housing, jobs, drug rehabilitation, and physical and mental health care services. Our ministry is inspired by the words of Jesus:

“Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. (Mat 6:25-34)

Our desire is to help people seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness in their lives, and then watch God fulfill His promise to add all of these things to them.

We been able to accomplish one of our goals of providing a place that is welcoming, “homey” and comfortable for the people who come to The Jonah Project to hear and learn the Word of God and grow in His love.

“We want people to feel like they’ve stepped off of Skid Row and into another place when they come into our building - like they have exited Skid Row completely.” Jeremiah Herrian

In fact, we switched our Entrance sign – so that when you come off of Skid Row and into our building, there is an “EXIT” sign above the door indicating one can escape the dangers and temptations of the streets and enter into a safe haven of God’s presence.

We are also unique in the fact that we are a church with Sunday morning service, men’s and women’s Bible study groups and discipleship programs. God has blessed us with the vision and ability to minister to the many needs of the homeless and brokenhearted.

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