The Making of the Book Episode 2

I didn't get to choose the subject of the book we're writing for class, but if I did, chances are good I would have chosen something like KidWorks.

KidWorks is a flourishing after-school mentoring and tutoring program planted in the barrio of Santa Ana. It was founded to give hope to kids whose only role models were in gang wars and didn't even consider graduating high school.

Today, I interviewed Larry, who started KidWorks in 1993. Larry, who is of Mexican descent, said he grew up trying to fit in with American culture as much as possible. His parents tried to speak only English to him so he would assimilate better; to speak Spanish and identify as a Mexican would be to cut himself off from opportunities.

Larry overachieved -- he didn't just become the first person in his family to attend college; he actually got a PhD.! But ironically, God called him back to those Latino roots that he had shied away from for years. He and his wife started a humble Bible study called KidWorks in a heavily-Hispanic neighborhood and the rest is, well, history.

Hearing Larry's story was inspiring. He has a heart for ministering to urban communities, and even cooler, a heart for encouraging and reviving the people doing urban ministry.

I'm looking forward to finding out more about this project he started, and how God can work so acutely through delicate things like a person's cultural identity.