People's District

Thursday, June 16th, 2011

“I am originally from Trinidad and came to this country to work for a family in Chevy Chase. I was only supposed to stay with them for a year, but stayed for two because it was such an excellent experience. I took care of the children and looked after the house. At the time, I didn’t have my call to preach yet, but I was a born again Christian.

“After staying with the family, I became a nurse and worked at Holy Cross Hospital for 18 years and then the National Rehabilitation hospital for seven years. During that time, I saw that people had so many needs that were beyond just the things that I could do as a nurse. I just felt that the Lord needed me to help these people by spreading his word. Eventually, God spoke to me and told me to be a pastor. When I first got up to preach, I was so scared. All I felt was fear. But, God helped me and now when I am up here, I feel the divine inspiration coming through me.

“I am a member of the Wesleyans, which is a denomination that has over 62 branches around D.C. We believe in the Lord, Jesus Christ. We believe that he died for our sins. We believe that he was buried and resurrected and went back to Heaven. We believe that he has a wonderful plan for human beings. My husband, who is also a pastor here, and I used to attend the main branch in Hyattsville, and then we worked to open the first branch of our church here in Columbia Heights.

“We picked this location on 14th Street because my husband and I used to live across the street. We found some other believers and went looking for a place in our community. It was so hard to find something, but we eventually found a house on 14th St and Randolph St. that we converted into the Capital Wesleyan Church. When we started here, we worked hard to build our community of followers. We worked to teach people life skills and help those in need. With time, we added other ministries to help the community. Since we started ten years ago, our church has grown. We have seats for 62 people, but occasionally we get over 100 in here.

“Through being a pastor, I have met so many people from all walks of life in this city. I have learned to love them all for who they are. What I would like to tell people is that we are all crying out in our hearts for love and acceptance. I pray that people can be respectful and love each other. People just want to feel accepted. At our church, all are welcome and every morning, you will see me out praying with the people. Our faith has nothing to do with color or nationality, it has to do with the love of Jesus. When you are able to connect around Jesus, it is just awesome. I pray that more people in this city will be able to connect around him. It is his love that will make this city even better and help our young people to find jobs, have stable homes, and live free of violence. That is my prayer for the city.”

The Capital Wesleyan Church is located at 3831 14t St. NW.