Perhaps the one good thing about the coronavirus pandemic has been the way it has shone a line on essential workers — those on the front lines in health care, emergency response, public health and safety, food service and others in the supply chain, and so on — who are helping us all stay healthy and fed (and with plenty of toilet paper) amid the Covid shutdown.
One church in Canby — La Luz del Mundo, or “Light of the World” — wanted to shine that light a little more literally. Every night, they have been lighting their church building in blue as a sign of appreciation for all essential workers who continue to put their health and safety on the lines.
“We just wanted to show our appreciation to the essential workers,” said church sister Azalia Padilla. “It’s been quite a long time, and they’ve been risking their lives every single day.”
Padilla said church members have also expressed interest in lighting their own homes in blue, and they are currently working through the logistics of that. So if you start seeing blue houses pop up around Canby each night, well — you heard it here first.
Church members have also stayed active during the day. Last week, they distributed boxes of groceries and other essential household items to those in need. This week, they did something similar, delivering more than 80 care packages of food, face masks, hand sanitizer and other goodies to health care workers and other essential workers.
“We believe there is a servant of God, who has taught us to be grateful, and there are so many things to be grateful for right now,” Padilla said. “We just want to admire the work that other people do for us and the sacrifices that they are going through, putting their families aside to come and do their job.”
Padilla said the church of about 400 members plans to continue to distribute food boxes to those in need and care packages to essential workers each week. But the real question, of course, is where the heck did they find face masks and hand sanitizer right now?
“I don’t know where he got them,” she said with a laugh. “The brother who ordered them for us — we have no idea where he found them.”
Hear more from Azalia Padilla about the Light of the World Church’s work serving those who are serving us amid the coronavirus pandemic in Episode 166 of the Canby Now Podcast, “LET ME OUTTA HERE”:
Photos courtesy La Luz del Mundo en Canby, Oregon:
