CHURCH—a city set on a hill

By Alessandra Colombini

OUR CHURCH IN São Paulo is located on a narrow street in a neighborhood that ranges from average middle-class homes to poor working-class tenement buildings.

About ten years ago, our membership found that we could try to live up to a Scriptural promise—that if we "let our light shine," we could not "be hid" (Matt. 5:14). Rather, we would be as a "city set on a hill," even if we were tucked away on a side street in an enormous metropolis of [17 million] people. But we would have to be ready for the challenges, as well as the joys, that came with opening our hearts, along with our doors, to whoever arrived on our doorstep.

The adventure started when children from our neighborhood started coming to our Christian Science Reading Room during the day. Initially, these kids felt attracted to the children's books we had available.