Linda Aristondo was inspired to capture the narratives of marginalized persons and their response to the injustices experienced through COVID-19 and expressed through the Black Lives Matter movement in Harlem. She used grant funding to engage a videographer, and they conducted dozens of interviews with food pantry clients, shelter residents, people experiencing homelessness, and volunteers from her congregation, St. Mary’s Harlem. She has captured hours of high-quality video; a preview is available below and it links to the full collection of videos at the end.
Through her work, Aristondo has come to understand that evangelism is activation of the deeply profound longing to embrace the Good News already inside each human being. She dreams of others hearing and seeing her colleagues in their full humanity, as beloved children of God, and is thankful for the privilege of witnessing their longing to be in community. She will carry their longing for spirituality and pastoral care into her future ministry; indeed, she believes that creating opportunities for the marginalized to be seen and heard in their full humanity will be central to her ministry.
