Church home away from home

Migrant workers attend Easter service where they work

By WENDY DAHLE
Special to the Herald

PALMETTO — Being a long way from her church in Mexico on Easter weekend, migrant worker Teresa Garcia came to the Taylor and Fulton Packing House Saturday morning to worship God.

She was one of more than 100farm workers who attended “Planting the Seed of the Kingdom in the Hearts of Farm Workers,” an outreach event sponsored by the Kingdom Life Christian Church of Bradenton.

While other churches celebrated the holy days with pageantry, this event was all about “demonstrating His kingdom on Earth as it is in heaven,” for Kingdom Life Christian Church, said Don Sturiano, senior pastor.

“What a great weekend to introduce Jesus Christ and the love of God,” he said “The Lord laid it on our hearts to reach out to these folks and love them.”

Kingdom Life Christian Church has been doing the farm worker outreach on Easter weekend at the packing house for three years, Not only do they do it at Easter, but they do it again in December right before Christmas.

Last December they had their biggest turnout of more than 350participants, said Bill Straitwell, one of the pastors at Kingdom Life Church. One of the reasons was the children’s toy giveaway, he said.

“At Christmas they get toys and it overwhelms them because they might not otherwise get toys,” said Straitwell, who is fighting cancer and had to leave the event shortly after it started. “You should see the smiles on the children. That’s what it’s all about.”

As volunteers gathered inside the packing house before the event began, Sturiano asked them to join in prayer.

“The love of God is the most powerful gift here today,” he said. “That’s why we do it. God told us to love these people.”

More and more people started arriving at the loading dock as the morning progressed. Zacarias Calderon Jr., youth pastor of the Community Church of God in Oneco, kicked off the brief praise and worship service with songs in Spanish. Calderon Jr. felt honored to help.

“This is where they make their ends meet,” he said. “What better opportunity than a place where they have to come to work and bring the gospel to them. The Lord took the gospel wherever he went.”

Calderon Jr. helped interpret Sturiano’s Easter message to the mostly Hispanic crowd sitting at portable tables in one of the loading docks.

The crowd applauded when he talked about Jesus, fate in Jeruselam and what it meant to people today.

“I believe when they nailed him to the cross, he could have called an army, but you and I were the joy sent before him,” Sturiano told them.

After worship, the farm workers were served a lunch of fried chicken, rice and beans, and were given free clothing. Dozens of children were given a bag with a Biblical message on the outside and the inside filled with small toys and candy. Earlier they had participated in Easter craft activities.

Arizona Handy, a church parishioner who spent the morning helping migrant children decorate a crown signifying Jesus Christ, the King of Kings, said each year the event gets bigger and bigger.

“This is amazing,” he said as he watched. “This is what God really wants to happen.”