On April 24, the Moody Bible Institute Student Council (StuCo) joined with Puente, a Moody student group dedicated to ministering to Chicago’s Hispanic community, and organized a workday in La Villita, a predominately Hispanic neighborhood located on the west side of the City. “Our goal was to get the student body actively serving the Lord in a very practical way. To get out of the bubble and give back to a community that needs to see the light of Christ,” said Kenny Alvarado, junior pastoral studies major and president of Puente.

Last year, about 100 Moody students went to La Villita to make lunch for day-laborers, wash cars, participate in yard work, pick-up trash and clean a church. This year, the goal was to paint over graffiti on the streets and provide extra resources to enable local churches to do the same. Due to an increase in gang-related violence, children in La Villita often walk to school past walls of graffiti and neighborhood residents want to send a message that gangs will not be tolerated in this community. 

To help combat the problem, churches in LaVillita have committed to repainting any gang graffiti within 24 hours after it has been reported, and have assigned churches and individuals to repaint certain streets and sections.
 
Service projects such as this provide students an important outlet for serving communities in need. As Alvarado said, these projects give students the chance to “Come along side of Puente and StuCo to change the face of La Villita, and bring the glory of Christ to a neighborhood that needs our love.”

Modified Article by Chandler Mulder. Courtesy of The Moody Standard, Volume 75:10, April 13, 2010.