Grace Unity Baptist Church
Christopher Udo
Dr. Scales
GEN S150
I do not know where to start, I do not know how to express my feelings. What I witnessed was nothing short of spectacular, welcoming, and all around a lively and energetic community. Since I do not have a car for this year of college as a freshman, I wasn’t sure who was going to take me. Due to parents weekend and my parents being down from Chino Hills, my hometown, they took me. My mom joined me, and my dad had to stay in the car because he did not want to make a ruckus with his intense coughs. The moment I arrived I didn’t know how this church was going to preach the word of the lord. I didn’t know if their method was going to be one individual talking the entire time, or if it was going to be active and engaging. I knew as soon as I entered the church, that my first impressions from the outside were blown away. The wonderful thing was that the theme for that church mass was to wear pink to commemorate breast cancer awareness month and all who have endured breast cancer or are presently going through chemotherapy. There is a blessing about this, my mom is currently a 4-year breast cancer survivor. This made us feel welcomed as soon as we walked in before we were greeted by the usher.
Once we sat down, I felt different. The feeling of being in a new church setting was liberating. I love the church I attend, I just needed to experience something different than my normal crowd. This crowd was a black community. They made me and my mom feel welcomed as if we have been going to this church for our entire lives. As soon as I sat down, I was already being greeted by people. They were coming up to me and shaking my hand. As I looked around, I absorbed the aura that was omitted from everything I looked at. My church has green floors with green chairs and brown wood holders on the backs of the seats. This church had purple floors, with a purple seats and white wood. There was a pink ribbon at the center of the front wall everyone was facing, made of flowers, with the word “HOPE” in pink across the ribbon for breast cancer awareness month. There were instruments and a portion of the wall the ribbon was at that was open. Behind it there was a painting. This picture looked faded in a way. When I would move left, right, up, or down. It seemed like the picture moved as if there was more to the picture than what was seen. I thought this was symbolic, especially after the mass. Since the painting seemed faded, I thought it symbolized that there is more to life than what meets the eye. Since there was more to the painting than what I saw, I also thought that what you might think of a person and what they are going through, is not all there is to someone’s story. This is similar to the top a lady discussed while we were all holding hands, that any situation you are going through, you are not alone, there is always the lord to guide you and bring you back on your feet. How there is more to your situation under the surface and how the lord is always with you every step of the way.
Grace Unity Baptist Church is nowhere near the size of my church, however, the spirit within this church and everyone in it made the church seem as if it was many times larger than my church. We all first sang for what felt like an hour and at that moment right then and there, I was filled with a burst of energy. This energy was nothing compared to what I have normally experienced. I felt the energy of a black community and the warm feeling they give off. Everyone was deep singing. People were sweating and swaying left and right. My mom and I swayed back and forth and clapped along. I wanted to immerse myself into this culture and I am glad I did. This made my experience and time there much more meaningful. At the end of mass, the people who went this mass from school were recognized for being there and coming to the church. They welcomed us and cheered us on as being part of the Aztec family. The pastor told us that we are now “extended family” of the church. I love that!
I am glad I went to this church mass. It really opened my eyes to new opportunities outside my bubble. This culture dive was absolutely amazing and worth it. Being able to watch other people cry because they feel the lord and his presence and that he is cleansing their soul, is beautiful, absolutely wonderful. The man at the end of the mass, Mr. Mitchel, about how he lost his wife to cancer within this past week and how he had to bury his wife yesterday was deep and so sad. If I was to let myself go and feel his emotions, I could have cried, but I didn’t. I cried inside and could feel tears building up from the inside. This proved to myself that I can open up to new and different communities. Thank you, Dr. Scales, for this opportunity of a lifetime. This definitely made my weekend one of the best different experiences and opportunities I have had in a very long time. Thank you for providing me with the opportunity to be a part of a new and welcoming community!
