ANAHEIM : Mobile Ministry Praying Out Loud

As the sun began to set over the city’s Jeffrey-Lynne neighborhood, a brown Chevy truck slowly cruised the crowded streets.

A handful of young men walked slowly beside the creeping truck with a public-address system on top of the cab.

But the men weren’t seeking drugs or causing problems for the residents--they were praising the Lord and asking others to do the same.

“Let me tell you,” the voice over the loud speaker began, “you give up drugs, it’s easy. Turn to Jesus.”

The men are members of On Fire Ministries, a Santa Ana-based church that recently started looking for the members in Jeffrey-Lynne, an improving but still crime-ridden apartment area near Disneyland. They spent almost two hours Thursday night passing out flyers in English and Spanish, and talking with those who would listen.

“I was raised in a neighborhood just like this one,” said Rick Escamilla, 32, a church member who said he was a recovered heroin addict. “We need to help the kids, we need to go out there and tell them about Jesus.”

The church, which holds services three times a week, claims about 350 members.