April painting in Guadalupe

Spring, and God, showed in Guadalupe, Arizona.  Again.  I like to write about Guadalupe because I like Guadalupe.  I do ABCD coaching work in a number of places around Phoenix Arizona but Guadalupe is where I feel the most at home.  I have worked with my friends in Guadalupe for many years and it is always a real joy to see God there.

 

This time God showed up at our first big community painting in Guadalupe.   We joined forces with another community we work with in South Phoenix, Barrio Nuevo.  The leader there, David Bennett, has house painting down to a science, having done about 60 houses in the last five years.  He brought over some of his friends from south Phoenix and some of his friends from outside the community.  Out little community of folks from Guadalupe doing basketball and tutoring joined them, along with some of our friends from outside the Guadalupe community.  Altogether, we have about 80 people, with about 30-35 of them from Guadalupe.

 

We painted two houses – Francis’s house and Linda’s house.  It only took the morning, starting at 8:30 and finishing about 11:30.  And in that three hours wonderful things happened.  People met people and worked with them to make the community a little better.  People smiled.  People got to know a little bit more about each other.  People shared work, paint, food, water and fun.  Relationships grew.   God was there.

 

This was another great step, on a number of levels.  We were able to do a joint activity between a couple of our neighborhoods and the people who live and relate in them.  It was the first time we reached out into the Guadalupe community to do some painting as chosen by the community and with the support of the community.  And we combined many different people, from many different places to do the painting.   It was fantastic.

 

In May, we are planning another such event.  This time, we will paint in South Phoenix, Guadalupe and Central Phoenix.  We will add in another community and another 100 people.  And we will see what God does.