Atlanta Dream Center

We were in a big red truck.  We being myself another ministry colleague named Steve and Pastor Paul.  Pastor Paul runs a ministry called the Atlanta Dream Center located over on Linden Street.  As the big red truck pulled through the old fourth ward just blocks from the church, Paul had his window rolled down and he called out to the people we passed.  “Hey Lennie, Hey Mike, Hey Donnell!”  On and on we went and he knew everybody and everybody knew him.

And these weren’t just anybody’s.  On one occasion he leaned over and said “that’s Donovan, he’s a dope dealer, runs this block over here.  Hey Donovan!”  To which Donovan nodded and waved back.  So why take the time to know the drug dealers?  As he explained to me, the drug dealers control the neighborhoods and money and power is there motivation.  Pastor Paul doesn’t care about that.  He cares about the kids suffering through the consequences of those things.  So he reaches out to the kids and builds enough of a relationship with the drug dealers to keep them from interfering with the ministry.  In fact part of his to do list while we drove around was to build support for a lunch he was going to host for the drug dealers in the neighborhood.  That class isn’t offered in seminary, but I’m pretty sure that’s approved ministry by Jesus.

But the most compelling experience of the day was with a street prostitute.  I can’t remember her name, but Paul knew it.  He lovingly chided her to come out of the lifestyle.  The ministry could help her get her life together.  She deflected the statement with a smile and polite rebuttal that she was doing just fine.  He leaned back over to me and said “she has money in her purse and drugs she’s ready to smoke.  Life is good for her right now.  She’ll come to us the next time she gets beat up.”  This exchange had occurred at the corner of North Avenue and Boulevard.  We pulled into the little strip mall parking lot at that corner and went inside the laundry facility.  Paul introduced me to the manager, who was a former major crack dealer among other things before she had turned from the lifestyle.  She spent about 3 minutes telling us how she used to be a part of the problem and was now leading a productive life thanks to the ministry.

We thanked her for her time and story and went back outside only to be told by a bystander that the prostitute had been mugged. We found her around the corner crying and bleeding from her face.  Paul told her to get in the truck with us and we take her back to the ministry office and get her cleaned up.  We pulled into the office on Linden Street and she went inside to the bathroom.  Her eye was swollen shut.  He gave her a pair of sunglasses to cover it up and then we prayed for her.  She then went back on her way.  He said “she’ll eventually get tired of this and come away from that lifestyle for good.  This helps build the trust so that she’ll know where to come when its time.”

On my way out of their office, another former prostitute came up the street and gave him a hug.  She was clean almost a year and in school.

Not everybody is called to ministry like this.  Pastor Paul has a clear annointing and protection from God to build the relationships he has built.  However, he and his ministry are our neighbors and we will be looking for ways to partner in the future.  I came away from my time with him truly inspired and motivated that with God involved any situation can be redeemed.