by Danny Garrido, member of Compass Church in Colorado Springs, Colorado
Colorado Springs is known for its beautiful mountains, captivating landscapes, and iconic sights. Many people visit this city for vacation and end up moving to the region. Several Christian ministries, including The Christian and Missionary Alliance National Office, are located here as well. I have no doubt this is a wonderful place to live.
However, that isn’t the case for everyone. As in many cities around the nation, there seems to be a “forgotten region” within the town. Park Hill is one such neighborhood.
Located in the southeast side of Colorado Springs, this community is home to many families and individuals who live in a state of survival. Within a 1.8-square-mile radius and a population of 9,985 is a heavy presence of low-income African-Americans, Hispanics, and Caucasians. The percentage of single-mother homes, among all households, is nearly 17 percent.[1] The percentage of people who do not speak English well—or at all—is about 7 percent.
In this area of Colorado Springs, about 29 percent of children receive less than a high-school education; at least 85 percent of students at the two major elementary schools receive free or reduced-price lunches. Many of these kids live with guardians other than their parents because one or more of their parents has been in trouble with the law.
There seems to be no hope—no way to break the cycles. All odds are stacked against the families of Park Hill. They lack confidence, love, encouragement, empowerment, and self-worth. And, yet, it’s this type of people for whom Jesus came!
A new C&MA church plant called Compass Church has listened to God’s call and made this area of town its front lines for Jesus.
Cultivating Trust
Compass Church started like many other church plants—out of the pastor’s living room. Last April Compass started using the facilities of Crossing Church, a Spanish-speaking Alliance church near Park Hill. Since then, we have hosted many outreach events for the neighborhood to demonstrate Christ’s love and to cultivate relationships and the community’s trust.
One such outreach is to a local elementary school. Compass began engaging the school in August 2015. We discovered it had no Parent Teacher Association (PTA) and saw this as an opportunity. The church started by providing food and coffee at parent conferences and teacher work days. After a relationship developed, Compass went further and started to engage the school’s students. With the principal’s blessing, Compass Church decided to provide an after-school soccer camp for all grades.
The camp met on Fridays for six weeks, and the turnout was far greater than anyone expected. God gave us an open door to love the children who participated.
We decided to have the camp’s theme reflect the school’s values: respectful, responsible, safe, and kind. Week after week relationships with the kids grew stronger, and opportunities to speak the gospel into their lives became easier. At the end of each camp we reinforced a specific value and tied in Bible stories that reflect Jesus.
God’s Providence
For the last day of soccer camp, Compass decided to host a final game at the park across from the school. We wanted to bridge the gap between us and the parents, through the children who attended the camp. We sent each kid home with a flyer announcing the final day of soccer camp and encouraged the parents to come and watch their kids play and see what they had learned.
While we planned the event, God showed His providence by connecting us to the chaplain of the local professional soccer club, Switchbacks FC, who is an Alliance pastor. He brought two players (who are believers) to the event to speak about how Jesus and the values we concentrated on at the camp play into their lives both on and off the soccer field.
Pictures were taken. Every kid smiled from ear to ear. And Jesus was definitely there. The conversations with the parents were amazing and helped the church further understand the needs and types of situations in which these families live.
The next step is follow-up. We will hand-deliver the photos taken from the event to the homes of those who attended and have more conversations about Jesus.
Compass Church has a huge heart for Park Hill’s children and families. Will you please pray for us to have wisdom on how to evangelize this “forgotten region” of Colorado Springs?
[1] Stats from City-Data.com on the Park Hill neighborhood in Colorado Springs, Colorado.