Yesterday, I had the opportunity to volunteer at a small church called Powerhouse in Watts. If you’re unfamiliar with Watts, it’s a neighborhood in South Central near Compton. I wish I had images to share but given it was my first time and the Powerhouse people weren’t familiar with me yet, I didn’t want them to feel uncomfortable.
Our church did a back-to-school backpack fundraiser which consisted of getting 100 new backpacks and filling them with school supplies for all the low income kids of that church.
Rock Harbor members go to Powerhouse once a month on every 3rd Sunday to help.
Yall… it was such a humbling experience. I had done something similar in Costa Rica where we brought indigenous children tons of school supplies and toys and I just remembered how amazing I felt seeing the smiles on all the kids’ faces – kids whom couldn’t even speak English but wouldn’t stop hugging or wanting to play with us.
So how our day went was we arrived around 11am to set up the backpacks and then joined the church for their service. They had Casey Diaz, a guest speaker come, who is the author of his new autobiography, Shot Caller, a story of an ex-gang leader turned Christian. His story was so fascinating and encouraging (yes I bought the book and I can’t wait to read it!)
Not that being there made me feel bad about myself but it made me realize that we live in such a little bubble. We complain, really, about the dumbest things and sometimes think we’re more self-entitled than we really are. Sitting amongst this group really put things into perspective. I realized 1. I don’t need most of the stuff I think I need to live off of 2. My problems are not serious 3. There is so much outreach and work to be done outside of the OC bubble and it starts with us.
After the message, we set up the grills and served everyone hot dogs and burgers! What I loved was that it was a group effort. All of the little girls from Powerhouse threw on gloves and wanted to help serve chips and cookies to their church members. What I loved most was that, given the church was predominately, and when I say that, I mean 99.9% black, their kids and our (very white) Rock Harbor kids were playing like there wasn’t one difference between any of them. The pure innocence and bliss and the lack of segregation… I almost cried watching them play.
At one point, I walked up to the very top of the church that overlooked the projects. It blew my mind that a lot of folks at Powerhouse had been incarcerated or involved with gang life and this was their everyday norm. A lot of the younger girls at church all had newborn babies with them and this was just another day in their life. However, seeing all these young moms really provoked an idea.
I’m a blogger right, so I get sent tons and tons of beauty products from all types of brands, mainly name-brand brands. A lot of it goes unused and into my “giveaway” pile. I want to round up some sort of Bloggers Give Back situation where bloggers can donate their unwanted, unused beauty products they get sent and donate them to these younger girls and mothers at Powerhouse. A lot of these girls had tears and holes in their clothes so obviously purchasing nice beauty products isn’t within their means. With the holidays upcoming, it would be the perfect chance to kick-start something with Powerhouse to see how it goes. I will keep you all posted.
We discussed in our life group last week the ways to find worth in our life and it was agreed upon that by serving others and not yourself, that is when life feels the most fulfilled.
With the recent shootings, my hope is that people will start spreading more love and treating others with more respect. Laws may help but they don’t fix the underlying issue. WE, as everyday people, how we go about treating others on a daily basis, that is what changes peoples’ attitudes and mental wellness.
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