www.masbakersfield.com

Kids for Christ ministry reaches out to prevent bad choices for Delano youths

DELANO — Giving hope to at-risk kids in Delano is Raul Gonzalez’s driving passion.
    
Three years ago, the 43-year-old husband and father of four wanted to do something more for kids he worked with on a daily basis.

Gonzalez works for Community Action Partnership, going to various school sites in Kern County to help behavior-challenged children become successful.

“There’s only so much you can do in the schools, we’re very limited,” he said. “I decided I wanted to be bold and that I would go out to the park on Saturdays to work with these kids in the way I wanted to work with them, get to the root of the problem.”

As a member of New Life Assembly in Delano, Gonzalez went to his pastor, the Rev. Ray Mejia to see what could be done.

The result? The ministry, Kids for Christ, was started as a branch of the church’s other ministries.

“I said, ‘Sure, anything to reach out to these people,’” Mejia said. “We want to handle the root of the problem; the root is at home.”

At rallies held on Saturdays at Valle Vista Park, Gonzalez uses his own life experiences to share with the kids the reality of making bad choices.

“When I speak to the kids, I’m speaking to myself,” he said.

Gonzalez tells the people who attend to eliminate secular music, pornography and even some cable television out of their lives.

“It does bad things to the mind because the mind is like a tape recorder — even when you’re not watching it, it plays over and over again in there,” he said.

According to Mejia, Gonzalez is “out in front” because of trauma he has experienced in his life, including a brother who was addicted to cocaine and a mother who left the family.

The experiences allow Gonzalez to relate to people in a unique way, Mejia said.

“There is so much chaos and crises in Latin and Hispanic homes,” Mejia said.

Over the last three years, the ministry has slowly grown. Now they have a flatbed truck they take out to the park and use as a stage.

Gonzalez also began to notice that a lot of adults were showing up to hear the message of hope, encouragement and positive thinking.

“I saw that there were bigger needs, so I went to my pastor and my church for ideas,” he said.

The ministry has also partnered with the Children’s Hunger Fund— based in the San Fernando Valley and Save Mart— so they can distribute food to people in need. The program feeds around 500 people every month. Every other Saturday, they gather at the church to get food and encouragement.

The program provided Candida Olivarez with food, milk and diapers, for which she is grateful.

“It is a good program,” Olivarez said in Spanish through a translator.

However, there is more to the ministry than fixing immediate and physical circumstances, according to Gonzalez.

“I want to get to the root of the problem as far as their situation and not just give out food,” he said. “I want to see families get to think positive, have their home restored and see the streets and neighborhoods cleaned up.”

In addition to receiving basic necessities, Olivarez has benefited from church teachings. Olivarez now attends New Life Assembly every Sunday.

“They help spiritually and mentally,” she said.

Many Delano residents have grown up with predominantly Catholic backgrounds, according to Mejia. Those involved with the ministry stick to basic doctrines agreed upon by the Christian community at large, Mejia said.

“We don’t push a specific denomination and religion because it isn’t about that, it’s about a relationship with Jesus Christ,” Mejia said.

New Life Assembly’s Kids for Christ ministry will host their next event at 6 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 23. There will be a raffle at 711 18th Ave. in Delano. Prizes include a 2006 Chevy Uplander donated by Delano Family Motors.

For more information, contact the church at 725-3357.