Archive: After the Storm in Los Angeles
While delegates to the General Conference passionately discussed the causes, effects and aftermath of the verdict of the Rodney King case, United Methodists in southern California were ministering to the needs of riot-torn Los Angeles. Two clergy couples are particularly involved in the restoration effort.
Enterprise United Methodist Church in Compton, California became a Saving Station, ministering to those affected by the riots and devastation. By utilizing professionals from within the church, Enterprise reaches the community by:
- offering hot food prepared by a professional chef and served on tables with flowers and tablecloths; providing food bags which include bread, milk, eggs, beans, baby food and diapers;
- offering medical care through doctors and nurses; and
- providing clothing to adults and children.
Open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., the Enterprise ministry stations have aided more than 3,000 people.
The Rev. Lydia Waters says she has received much prayer and practical support from female and evangelical pastors in the area. “We have felt a lot of love from all of this,” she told Good News, “especially from the people in the Emmaus movement and the prayer chain at the Upper Room.”
In the heart of the destruction of south central Los Angeles, the Rev. Kenneth Waters, her husband, transformed his Vermont Square United Methodist Church into an emergency shelter. The day after the riots began the church became a collection and distribution center for food packages for hundreds of needy people.
“The evangelical response has been outstanding,” he said.
In nearby Orange County, the Revs. Gwen and Todd Ehrenborg, pastors of Spurgeon UM Church in Santa Ana, California, organized the area collection to help the front-line churches in Los Angeles.
“As soon as I heard what had happened,” says Todd Ehrenborg, “I called to see how we could pray, how we could help.” Lydia Waters told him that they needed food.
“We organized the Orange County food drive, because being a Christian means meeting the needs of the whole person—spiritual, as well as physical and emotional,” says Ehrenborg. “To me, this is what it means to be evangelical.”
According to the Waters, the clean-up effort has been multi-ethnic and inter-racial, as businessman and street people work together with shovels, rakes and trash bags. “It is cutting across all of the traditional lines,” says Kenneth Waters.
Waters wants United Methodists to know that “the violence in Los Angeles last week was the result of an overload of pain that comes from institutional violence. The victims live with the denial of opportunity, creative expression, and the security and love of a home environment. The pain has been increasing over the years.”
Despite the pain and suffering caused by the King verdict and the subsequent riots, Waters hope that good can come from the experience: “This should be an opportunity to hear the voices coming out of the inner city.”
Good News Media Service
0 Comments