Mennonite Weekly Review

PHILADELPHIA — Every day at school was a kind of mission trip for Keith Pretlow.

Keith Pretlow tutors Jamie Reyes at Crossroads Community Center, a ministry of Second Mennonite Church in Philadelphia.

“I don’t need to go overseas,” said Pretlow, a senior and student body president at Dobbins High School last year, during a missions meeting at Second Mennonite Church in North Philadelphia.

Close to home, Pretlow has learned there is plenty of room to promote peace and reconciliation among the people he encounters.

Pretlow remembers arriving at Dobbins as a freshman ready to get involved. During his second week in school, he began organizing the first blood drive at Dobbins. Later that year, he coordinated the winter coat drive. He joined the Red Cross club, got various Red Cross certifications, including one as a CPR instructor, and participated in Red Cross leadership programs.

Pretlow said his passion for political action began early.

“I always liked politics,” he said. “I would watch presidential speeches and talk with my Aunt Bobby about what they said. I would also run my speeches past her when I had to speak in public.”

Pretlow’s first opportunity for public speaking came when he was the valedictorian of Grover Cleveland Elementary School. He remembers enjoying the opportunity.

Despite these achievements and interests, life has not been easy for Pretlow.

At age 4, during an attempted burglary at his grandmother’s home, his father was shot in front of the child’s eyes. That tragedy has presented Pretlow with an enduring struggle. How does he understand God’s purposes? Should he take revenge for his father’s death? What about the frightening flashbacks he experiences?

In spite of this searing experience of violence, Pretlow today is a committed peacemaker. Even as a child he recalls stepping in between other kids who were fighting. He feels very protective of his 9-year-old brother, well aware of the many wrong turns he can take and where they can lead him.