Giving kids a place to worship starts a statewide program

June 21, 2005

LYNSEA GARRISON/Frontiersman reporter

Siccila Smith, 2, clutched her yellow Baby's First Bible and tugged on Rafael Ortiz after he said the final prayer during her first church service for Sunday School in April 2004.

"What happens when the snow comes?" she asked. "Do we have to stop?"

Her family, friends and neighbors didn't know what to say. They didn't have a church nearby in Big Lake to go to and because of the high gas prices, they couldn't afford to drive into town to attend services. All they had was the tent outside, within which they held the children's first Sunday School. All they knew is they didn't want to take church away from their children.

"The parents were the ones who thought we should think this through," said Patricia Ortiz, Rafael's wife. "They believed that you can't give something to a child and then take it away. The children here have been through enough as it is."

Ortiz, who is a building contractor, set to work to build a small church in the area. The first blueprints slated the church to be a 10-by-10-foot facility. But more and more children wanted to be a part of the church, and along with them came their parents. Finally, she settled on 12-by-36-feet for the church.

For the next four months, the community helped build the small church out of clashing sideboards donated from various businesses in the Valley. They used old tiles and created a design of a cross on the wall behind the alter, which is a small, wooden desk. About eight chairs and four benches are lined up on the sides of the walls. In the back is a mural painting with the children's hand prints who attend Sunday School, including Siccila's, whom Ortiz said inspired "this whole thing."

Rafael, who was a priest in training in 2004, still gives the sermons for the light blue church every Sunday morning, and afterward, Patricia teaches Sunday School. However, the two haven't stopped there.

Even before getting involved with building the church for the community, Ortiz was helping disabled or financially unstable people refurbish and restore their homes.

"We've loosely been doing projects in the Valley for two and a half years," she said. "We've done things like simple paint jobs, replacing tile in bathrooms, rebuilding porches and widening and fixing doors."

But Ortiz and other volunteers wanted more out of the situation.

She requested from Bishop Mark MacDonald, of the Episcopal Diocese of Alaska, to become partners with her to create an official program for the projects that she, friends and other volunteers where taking on. He accepted the offer last December, and since then, the program has been called Beacons of Hope Ministry.

"We're helping them spread the concept and idea of this program and they're helping us as a congregation," MacDonald said. "The scope of this program is unlimited. Its building a connecting point for businesses, friends, families, churches and others to weave back the community we've lost in a modern world; this reweaves the community in such a way that business's personal generosity can touch someone else's personal need. I think that's the genius of this idea, of bringing people together."

Ortiz, who is the program's director, said the program will help disabled and financially incapable people of improving their living conditions without being afraid to ask for help.

"People are afraid they'll be forced to move if people see that they can't take care of themselves," she said.

Ortiz plans to acquire the resources for the program to be self-funding. As Beacons of Hope Ministry is still in its infancy, various fund-raisers will start this summer while the weather is good. The funds raised will be kept at the Diocese, where they will be used as needed for various projects in the Valley.

Beacons of Hope Ministry projects don't include additions to houses, major plumbing or electrical undertakings, or projects without the signed permission of the owner.

According to a press release Ortiz wrote, projects will include three levels of volunteer status. The first will be the support group, which will help by making coffee, food, picking up trash and transporting supplies. The second will be the project gofers, who will get the materials and supplies at the work site to the volunteers using machinery and tools. The final group are the skilled volunteers. These are the individuals who will use power tools, saws and other equipment for the task. All individuals who work for the program are not paid.

Several businesses in Mat-Su have donated supplies to the Beacons of Hope Ministry or have given them materials for a discounted price.

Even community members have donated supplies, according to Ortiz.

"There's a lot of businesses who have given us materials," she said. "It's not in top condition, but we'll use anything. Even families of people we've helped want to contribute."

Ortiz and MacDonald said Beacons of Hope Ministry is a way for everyone in the community to give to others.

"I mean, charity has been a part of everybody's life," Ortiz said. "Charity is getting your hands and feet dirty and laughing all the way through. It's what your hoard and convert to something that's a greater good."

Ortiz then stared at a sign that hangs on the wall of the small blue church. She smiled as she read the words "The Lord Provides."

"I strongly believe it, it has never failed," she said. "Everything we need to help people is right here, the question is do we see that? If there is a need, everything we need is with us, it's just a matter if we are prepared to do anything about it."