Men walk in Chester to bring about change
CHESTER » As the group held hands in a circle in a church parking lot, the Rev. Al Motley prayed.
“We thank you for the opportunity we have this day, every day that we take advantage of and we will take advantage of this moment,” he said. “This community will not be the same after today.”
Motley, pastor of Chester’s Way Thru Christ Community Fellowship, was one of 14 men who may have been small in number but were big in spirit as they walked through the city streets Saturday afternoon, with a mission to listen and provide hope to any along their way.
“This is necessary,” the pastor said. “It’s something that we need to do to reach our young people and to make an impact in our city. We must get out of our facilities, outside of our churches to make a difference.”
One of the participants, Ken Boston, said Saturday’s event was a kickoff to more events including a mentoring program at Chester High School that will begin in the fall with discussion forums.
The key for all of the events was sustained connection in other people’s lives.
“The problem is a lot of times we don’t give folks the opportunity to ask their questions and it’s because you’re not involved in their lives,” Boston said. “So what we’re trying to do is become involved in their lives so they can ask the question that we have the right answer.”
On Saturday, the participants divided into three groups, all of whom started at Trinity United Methodist Church at Ninth and Kerlin streets. From there, some went down Ninth Street, others down Seventh Street and yet others down Fifth Street all the way to Memorial Park for a small concert.
Along the way, they handed out cards that read, “Dream with your eyes wide open! No limits; SUPERSIZE! With God, all things are possible ... so Dream!”
“What the card is about is youth and people pursuing their dreams based on talents and abilities that God has given them,” Boston said. “With God, there is no limits so you can supersize.”
Brad Ettien of Media said he’s an example of what faith can do.
“I’m living proof that God can change your direction in life,” he said. “Thirty-eight years ago, I was in a maximum security prison cell.”
It was there, after pleading guilty to a litany of charges from drugs to attempted murder to assaulting a police officer, that Ettien found religion.
“I got saved in a prison cell,” the former Warlock said. “I came from the dark side of the moon.”
He said he had special regard for Chester having lived right outside the city when he was younger and remembering his mom working at a city restaurant.
He spoke of his goal for the day.
“What we want to do is make a presence in the city ... for these people to see and know there is hope,” Ettien said. “These kids don’t have any hope. They don’t have any self-worth. How can they have worth for life if they don’t even care about themselves?”
Another participant, the Rev. Michael Mills, pastor of Honeycomb UAME Church in Media, explained his vision.
“To me, it’s about getting the word out about Christ, number one,” he said. “And, giving people a choice to make a choice basically.”
Motley explained that the walk took examples from Christ gathering his disciples. “The key is each one, reach one,” he said, explaining that you reach and connect with one person then challenge them to do the same.
He recalled a moment from the walk last month.
“The last time we walked, a man, his son was murdered the night before,” Motley said. “We prayed for him and reached out to those who were there.”
Boston added the group was ready for any reaction along the way, although they’ve found one consistency.
“One of the things we have found,” he said, “(is) nobody has thrown away what we have given them.”
The Rev. Charles Shelton of the Body of Christ Church said he saw the walk as a modeling event spreading hope.
“If they see men who have gone the opposite way of going the street way and the way of the world and letting them know there is success, success is what you make not what someone else says it is,” he said. “My thing is to be seen and to be heard and let people know, especially young men, to know that they have hope and there is hope in the city of Chester.” For him, Shelton said all it takes is faith. “There’s dreams you can have but all things are possible with God,” he said.
And, with that, Shelton added, the city can be a magnetizing place.
“I believe that it won’t be a city that you run away from, it can become a city that you want to run to,” he said.