Showing posts with label church. Show all posts
Showing posts with label church. Show all posts
Wordsmith, aka David Derf, doesn’t want money for what he’s pushing. He’s giving away hope for free.The man known as the The Neighborhood HOPE Dealer. HOPE is an acronym for Helping Others Prosper Eternally.School gyms, juvenile halls and gatherings in high-risk neighborhoods are some of his favorite hangouts.
A native of Chicago, Wordsmith arrived in Vacaville before he was a teen.
“I started getting in trouble,” he said.
He eventually got arrested and quickly learned jail wasn’t the place for him.
“I didn’t know who I was,” Wordsmith said. “I cried out to God.”
His prayers were answered and Wordsmith began his ministry in the Solano County juvenile hall.
Visiting juvenile halls can be a tough place as he sees some the same ideas and behaviors he had as a teen. Rather than let that discourage him, Wordsmith said it motivates him to try harder.
When the youth start to question his life experiences, Wordsmith quips, “I have been your age. You have never been mine.”
Preaching is not his style. He chooses to minister the essence of God, he said. While he delivers some messages in churches, Wordsmith, who is a licensed minister, takes his church to the street.
starting off the new year.
Aurora Rodriguez, center, prays with members of the Ministerios Restauracion Ebenezer Church at the former site of the Blue Lagoon Waterslide Park in Vacaville. The Ministerios Restauracion Ebenezer Church recently purchased the land and plans to turn the site into a retreat center.
This image is © 2014 Fairfield Daily Republic and may not be reprinted or used without permission.
becoming a father.
I spent a day with Fr. Ronald Torres on the day he was ordained. Torres officially became a priest at the Cathedral of Blessed Sacrament in Sacramento. He then returned to Fairfield to lead mass at the church he grew up in, the church of Holy Spirit. There, Torres sat in the same seat he sat in as a child and individually blessed everyone after the mass, including a former co-worker at Walmart.
these images are © 2013 Fairfield Daily Republic and may not be reprinted or used without permission.
obedience calls.
The only Kenyan priest in the Sacramento diocese is heading home after almost three years as associate pastor at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Church.
The Rev. Patrick Gitonga Nyaga said he would love to stay in the area but obedience calls.
“It’s home and that’s giving me consolation,” he said.
these images are © 2013 Fairfield Daily Republic and may not be reprinted or used without permission.
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