A ‘Sweet’ Message at Los Angeles ACLC Prayer Breakfast

Contributed by Susan Munsell; Photos by Matt Ishizuka

An 83-year-old woman who exemplifies “living for the sake of others” was the keynote speaker at an ACLC prayer breakfast held in the South Bay area of Los Angeles.

As the theme of the April 1, 2017, prayer breakfast was “Restore the Community,” based on 1 John 4:20-21—which affirms that “whoever loves God must also love his brother”—it was fitting to have as the speaker “Sweet” Alice Harris, a woman who has truly exemplified this Bible verse throughout her life.

The founder and executive director of Parents of Watts, “Sweet” Alice is a community legend in Los Angeles, where she has dedicated her life to mentoring youth and providing assistance to the disadvantaged and underserved.

The program began with Evangelist Blinky Williams warmly welcoming everyone to the True Vine Baptist Church, in the city of Inglewood, “in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, on behalf of True Parents and the American Clergy Leadership Conference.” Immediately following this, musicians from Sadoc Christian Peace Family Church in the city of Compton unleashed the power of the Holy Spirit with praise and worship.

At this point in the program, a newly appointed Youth Ambassador for Peace, Tené Kishan, electrified the audience with a rap entitled “Change the World.” Tené is the founder of Proud Community, an after-school program that mentors and tutors third- and fourth-graders.

In an effort to have us understand more of Sweet Alice’s foundation of victories for God in the Los Angeles community, Dr. Nicholas Benson, the co-chair of the Los Angeles chapter of ACLC, effectively led a series of questions and answers for the keynote speaker.

Following the collection of an offering for Parents of Watts, we watched a short but inspiring video about ACLC.

Then Rev. Grover Durham, a member of the Crisis Response Team of Los Angeles, testified about an ACLC seminar with Archbishop George Augustus Stallings, the ACLC national co-chair, which he recently attended at the International Peace Education Center (IPEC) in Las Vegas.

Dr. Austin Williams, the senior pastor of True Vine Baptist Church, closed the meeting in prayer.

Special thanks to Katsuko Pierce and her team of volunteers, who prepared and served a terrific breakfast!

Upon reflection, Sister Peggy Briggs from Christian Light Baptist Church exclaimed: “Today was a great day! The food and fellowship were very good! ‘Sweet’ Alice was so kind and informed us of what is needed to help our future. The Holy Spirit was there! I look forward to the next one. I think I speak for everyone: It was a blessed program!”