Community
A Place of Safety It is important to be part of a particular community for the simple fact that one must feel welcomed by someone or something to live in prosperity. The Christian community has not played a major part in my upbringing; to me it is the most significant community. Belonging to this church has taught me several values such as living a moral life and being generous with time and money. Before becoming a part of the City of Refugee church, I found myself lost, which is the way most people feel before finding comfort in a particular community. Like the Christian community, communities are formed to feel accepted, learned from right and wrong, and find forgiveness. For example, throughout life, everyone desires to be accepted in any possible way. Our church’s name is called City of Refuge. Cities of refuge in the Bible were designated places where someone who accidently killed another person was welcomed to escape the vengeance of outraged relatives or friends. There, they could safely await trial to officially determine their guilt or innocence. They were not places to escape justice, but rather places where justice was done. Like the Bible, our community accepts all humans to escape form whatever their struggles are until they find grace and faith. Why? Because we believe every living body needs to be accepted by their friends, their spouse, boss, and society. In “The Barrio”, Robert Ramirez explains the closeness between people in the Barrio as, “The feeling of family, rare and treasurable sentiment, pervades and accounts for inability of the people to leave.” (392) Of course, like in most communities, earning the close family feeling comes after acceptance. After about a year in my community I learned that the City of Refuge values every life and soul of every living person regardless of their past beliefs. The church and its community is a place where an individual can be loved and encouraged. We all have troubles, dilemmas, and disappointments