Transforming a Neighborhood Inch by Square Inch

East Garfield Park has historically been a low-income neighborhood in Chicago. Crime is rampant. In 2020 a drug market sprang up on a busy street.

But right around the corner, Resonate Global Mission and the Christian Reformed Church helped to start a church that worships in an old storefront.

“We needed to find a way to stop the violence and the drug activity, or at least give some pushback,” said Pastor Moises Pacheco, the church planter.

Pacheco and his family have lived in East Garfield Park for many years. Within a month, three people were shot in front of their home. But even while thousands of people have moved out of the neighborhood in the past few decades, Pacheco and his family have decided to stay. They wanted to start a church that would spread God’s grace in the city.

Pacheco sought support from Resonate and the Christian Reformed Church.

“One of the things I was really encouraged by when getting involved with the Christian Reformed Church was the idea that every square inch falls under God’s kingdom,” said Pacheco.

Resonate was able to work with Pacheco and Hope Christian Reformed Church of Oak Forest, Ill., to plant Grace in Garfield. The church started by worshiping in backyards, and they soon developed a plan to connect more with the community. They found a more permanent location in an empty building around the corner from a drug house that had started up in 2020. A Resonate grant helped to make it possible for the church to move in.

Inch by inch, God is transforming the neighborhood through Grace in Garfield. Grants from Resonate have helped make it possible for the church to host community gatherings that have drawn people from throughout the neighborhood, including a trick-or-treating event for Halloween and caroling at Christmastime.

And Pacheco is not only a pastor. He also works in real estate, which helps him to support himself while pastoring a small church and to work at reclaiming the neighborhood. He purchased four houses, renovated them, and sold them to people who would make those houses homes and give back to their community.

“My street is a safe street again,” he said. “My kids can play outside again. It’s really appreciated and noticed by all the community residents. Even people who don’t have a very fond idea of what church is—or Christianity, period—kind of see our church as a group that’s doing good and seeking the benefit of the community."