Love thy neighbor

“You can go there, but you’ll never come out. There they kill you and bury you right there where you lie... and the police do nothing.” These words came from a community member talking about a part of their town known for heavy gang activity and violence. I memorized the name of the community quickly and made a note not to stumble into that part of town.

The words echoed in my mind months later as we drove into the heart of the dreaded community only to find that it appeared surprisingly similar to the rest of the city, but with a bit more graffiti.

Pastor Santos is an incredible man with a passion for serving
those in need in his community

The community had asked for help from Pastor Santos’s church a year before, and after praying and reflecting for a whole year, they decided to do something radical--they began treating the young men in that community just like everyone else. They opened up their home garden projects and tilapia fish farms to those who were interested and offered the young men training in order to learn to make unique t-shirts with stamps and organic dyes.

Building 24th Street

Spent two weeks working on a road in Santa Maria with Pastor Santiago and his community... 

Here we are with community members and volunteers after our first week of work on the road

It is always such an honor to work with this humble pastor and his motivated leaders.  I am overwhelmed by the ways they are reaching out and affecting the lives of the people on their street and throughout their community.  To see the road in process, visit my photo gallery and learn how we helped to build the road using 15 easy* steps.

(*well maybe not so easy)