Northlake Christian School added a new club this school year called Pura Vida, which means “simple life” in Spanish. The club’s goal is to make a difference through serving people in their own community. The Pura Vida club started in August and had their first service project Saturday, Oct. 13 where they helped pass out groceries to a Pearl River community with New Orleans Mission.

“I really like Pura Vida because it gives [students] a chance to get more involved with people at our school and around our community, while serving and doing anything we can to further the Kingdom [of Heaven] and lead people to Christ,” club member Lauren Allison said.

The club was started after several high school students and teachers, of Northlake, traveled to Costa Rica for a missions trip over their spring break.

On the flight home, two seniors, Mary Evelyn McPherson and Jessie Rhodes, were inspired to take home with them what they had learned.

“On the plane ride home I was sitting by Jessie who was bawling her eyes out obviously because she didn’t want to leave. I said, ‘Hey do you want to start a missions club with me’ and she was like, ‘Yes’. So that’s how it started,” McPherson commented.
The girls wanted to create a club focused on serving the community and giving students an outlet for missions at home.

“The goal is to do inner city or outer city missions and to love the people we encounter like Christ would,” McPherson said.

As a club, they decided to partner with local non-profit organizations and serve alongside them throughout the school year. The club partnered with New Orleans Mission to serve the people of Pearl River. The New Orleans Mission brought a truck load of groceries, which community members could come and pick up for free.

“The community as a whole was very grateful and many received prayer from us volunteers. Overall, it was a very powerful experience being able to see how others live their lives,” Rhodes commented about the first service day.

Not only was the day a huge success for those receiving the help, the day taught club members a lot.

“It blew my mind because I was guilty of thinking that the only area of people with real struggles is on the South Shore in the New Orleans area, but right here on the Northshore there is an abundance of families struggling without money, shelter, and hope. Being able to share the love of God and the hope of salvation with them was incredible,” Rhodes said.

In addition, Lauren Allison member commented on how easy the serving was, but how big of an impact it made.

“Seeing people’s faces light up when they were able to pick out and take as many groceries as they wanted was truly a blessing. It was humbling to see how a simple smile brightened them up and how much they appreciated us being there to help,” Allison said.

Over all, the club has been a huge success not only for students at Northlake, but also for members of the community. The Pura Vida club plans to have a service day monthly.