COMMUNITY OUTREACH
Tags: Faith and Life, Christianity, Covid 19, Church, Community

NAPLES, Fla. — Golden Gate is a small town with a demographic of mainly immigrants of two groups, Hispanics, and Haitians. Culturally the one thing these two groups of people have in common are a strong religious background. There is an abundance of small and big churches in Golden Gate, nine in total to be exact. They are a vital and active part of the community.

Just like everything else COVID-19 made it rather difficult for these churches to be active in the community like they used to, but not impossible. “Just like God is an active part of our lives it is only acceptable that we are an active part of our community regardless of COVID or not,” says Derano Charles, 55, pastor of First Haitian Assembly of Saints of Naples.

First Haitian Assembly of Saints of Naples has been an active church in the community since 2008. “Of course, in these times, we do take the necessary precautions before any decisions are made,” says Charles. The church has been known for using their youth group to have community outings.

“The youth group are a proud group of kids with a passion and energy for Christ. My job is to guide them on how they can use that passion and energy towards helping others,” says Gina Nerline, 24, FHASN youth leader president. FHASN youth do community car washes, but what they are mainly known for is displaying their talent at the annual Christmas Show.

“People of all backgrounds and age are all welcome to the Christmas Show,” says Nerline. Unfortunately, COVID might have put a stop to the Christmas Show this year. “We’re not saying it is not going to happen, but this pandemic caused a few hurdles that we have to overcome if we want to make the Christmas Show happen this year,” says Nerline.

COVID-19 may have taken a way the ability for many churches to assemble like they used to. But one thing that COVID-19 did not take away it is the will and the resilience of church members of Noah’s Ark Baptist Church to find a way to reach out to those in need. “COVID is simply a small set back to our greater goal,” says Odino Joseph, 45, pastor of Noah’s Ark Baptist Church.

Noah’s Ark Baptist Church is one of lesser-known churches in the Golden Gate community. It is mainly a church made up of family member but over the years it has gotten quite few new members. They may be small, but they do have a big heart because they are always ready to feed the community.

NABC food drive

“We take pride in the work that we do, and nothing makes us happier when we do our food drives,” says David Remy, 37, co-pastor of NABC. NABC is known for the food drives that they do through ought the year, usually they would do it at the front of the church but due to COVID they now do it at the Golden Gate Community Center.

NABC food drive

There have been many religious leaders that are pushing back against coronavirus restrictions during the initial first wave of the pandemic. It has impacted them in the way they convene and worship. Some of these restrictions are and not limited to no more than %20 capacity, curfew, limitation of some religious ceremonies/outings, etc.

Even though there was not a direct order for them to completely close, a lot of them saw the restrictions to be cumbersome and thus decided that doing their services online would be more convenient.

For the churches in the community that wanted to find a way to by-pass COVID-19 and still commune were face with back lash.

When these churches/religious leaders got back lash from the public in; they rebuttal by stating that they are just exercising their right to religious freedom and churches should be a safe place in times like these.

But of course, has COVID-19 got worse many of them decided to temporarily shut the doors and did their services online. Their online services mainly took place on Facebook live.

The ratio between what churches stayed open and what did their services online was split down the middle, 50/50.

One the churches that was hell bent on not closing their doors is Faith Apostolic Church “I think more now than ever do the churches to stand up and show the people we are not afraid. Not just

being afraid of COVID but all that the country has been going through,” says Robert Sims, 47, pastor of Faith Apostolic Church.

Faith Apostolic cater to the children in the community, they have made multiple sporting events such as Flag Football, Softball, Kickball, and more for kids of all ages to play and have fun. “We do this to be a form of sanctuary for everyone,” says Sims.

Sims over all point of view is a view that is shared between many of churches in the area. That view is that the churches as a collective should take a quick glance at the bigger picture. The bigger picture is for them to look at all the riots, the heavy pollical climate, and all the hate that Americans have been showing; in turn how do they go about being a light through the darkness.