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Adree Araujo and Her Story

  • Adree Araujo is quirky.

    Not quirky in a socially awkward sort of way, but quirky in a way that is utterly endearing. One cannot help but to be drawn to her and feel comforted and more care-free simply by being in her proximity. You can’t put a finger on it even if you tried, but she seems to have that rare gift of gravity. Wherever she is, others seem to end up right next to her. Maybe it’s her hilarious self-effacing personality, or Adree’s non-ignorant sense of wonder, or maybe it’s just her distinct sense of style…whatever it is people find themselves wanting to be friends with this glasses wearing, dyed red-head, twenty-something.

    This wasn’t always the norm. She grew up in the Garnet neighborhood an admittedly shy and quiet kid. She preferred hanging out with family, and even though her younger brother was in Solidarity’s programs, she and her sister felt more inclined to stay at home. Then three years ago, Adree went through a trying time with her family. When circumstances and hardship came to a crossroad, Adree and her two siblings came into the community center looking for someone or something to help them. She found people to listen to her and her sister. The Solidarity staff took the kids out, brought them dinner, and prayed for them. Deeper relationships began to build and Adree let more and more people into her life. Ultimately these relationships led her to Alpha an expression of Church in the Garnet neighborhood.

    Alpha was a strange experience for Adree. At first she wasn’t sure what to expect. She walked into a room that was filled with people who didn’t seem like individuals that would normally be in the same place together. It resembled the DMV more than a church. A Jr. High teacher sat next to a young mom and her son, who sat across the room from the bearded pastor that was talking to a kid who flirted with being in the local gang. Yet week after week, as one of the community members taught about Jesus, Adree felt like they were teaching directly to her. God seemed to be tailoring each message to be a voice of hope for different facets of Adree’s life.

    One of Alpha’s four core values is to Love Others Well. Adree didn’t want to hear this and felt intimidated to step out to love others as God loved her. Maybe it was her shyness or maybe it was the trails she had just been through with her family.

    “My heart was hard and every time I came to Alpha I felt like God was kind of hitting my heart – trying to change it – trying to mold it into that thing that He wanted to create.”

    She was able to talk through these raw emotions with her friend Erin who is on staff with Solidarity. Over the next year they got into a discipleship relationship and Erin and Adree looked for good ways to Love Others Well and allow God to truly mold her heart.

    In October 2010, the position of Garnet Community Development Associate opened up at Solidarity. Erin quickly reached out to Adree and thought that this position was one that could allow her to love her neighborhood well – to practice the value she had been reluctantly engaging in Alpha. Adree applied and got the job. At first the position was daunting. She was asked to engage her neighbors, write community newsletters, fly to Chicago (first time on her own) for trainings, and to run community meetings by herself. The shy and quiet kid of her childhood warred directly against the assertive leader that her position was calling her into.

    A year into her position, God gave Adree a vision and a hope for her neighborhood and her role as a Community Development Associate. She saw the change that God had done in her own life in the past few years and knew what He allowed her to experience was really good. She wanted other teens and community members to experience something similar.

    “I want them to experience what I got to experience here with the Solidarity family. I want to see what everyone else has seen in me. I want to see that growth. I want to see how I struggled in the beginning and how I’ve grown to be myself more, and I want to see that for other kids. I want to see their lives transformed and actually see their parents lives transformed because their kid’s life.”

    God continued to work and mold Adree’s heart. She felt like her perspective on God began to change. Once viewed as a superhero with the magic powers to alleviate anything, God became less of a mythical character from a comic book, but became more of a Father that deeply cared for Adree. Her perspective and awareness of God changed.

    “He used to be just the Big Man up there with the cane and the long beard that fixed problems, but now I know that He’s actually here with me. Not here to just solve my problems but to hold my hand and grow with me, and to just love me in every way…I don’t know it’s just beautiful.”

    In the past year at Solidarity there has been an influx of college age students. Adree began inviting her friends to Alpha and they stuck around. Just this October, Solidarity started up a college group which Adree took some leadership. She used her giftedness of gathering and brought everyone together as a small group. This small group meets on Mondays and is a safe environment to ask candid questions about one’s relationship with Jesus. This group excites her, because she thinks God brought them together for a unique reason.

    “We’re kind of like the college group that you [original leaders at Solidarity] guys were, but we’re like the second generation coming in. I really hope to see that we are a tight knit group that questions each other, loves each other, can be family, and that we are growing in a deep relationship with Jesus together. I think that… we might be the next Solidarity group.”

    Even as timid as she used to be as a child, Adree has found a new voice and purpose in God’s plan. She has grown into a neighborhood leader with vision and hope for her community within the greater community. And even though her new role pushes her into situations that are unfamiliar, there is a new willingness within her to push through and be comfortable with the uncomfortable. It is in this boldness that God is bringing forth His Kingdom in the Garnet community.

    Click here to read Adree’s bio!