Two women with Athletes in Action help children through Urban Project-Los Angeles in one of the city’s most dangerous neighborhoods.
When Emma Tautolo told her friends she was going to Nickerson Gardens, they thought she was crazy.
Located in the Watts district of Los Angeles, it’s one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in the nation, associated with gangs, drugs and violent crime.
But Emma, a staff member with Athletes in Action, the sports ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ, joined with more than 40 people to visit Compton, South Central, Skid Row and the Nickerson Gardens housing community.
“It was a big self-check of my own thoughts and preconceived notions,” Emma says, “how they can prevent me from loving people the way Christ called us to love them.”
Lisa Kazarian, a student, and Emma were part of the group working daily at the Urban Project-Los Angeles with 20 to 30 children, including Raydeo, a 4-year-old boy with an anger problem. When someone else would shoot Raydeo’s basketball, he cursed, stomped his feet and walked away. During the three weeks of the project, Raydeo (above) began to soften. They didn’t hear him curse, and his pouts of anger became shorter and shorter. He was learning to share his basketball with others.
Lisa summarizes her experience: “I think when we get out of our comfort zone is when we learn the most.”
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