Mere Missions

T he H oly S pirit : E mpower • 65

African Americans.” “Are you sure about this Lord?” As we walked up to the group, my evangelism partner (who was Asian and also hated by them), and I were immediately encircled by several of the Black Hebrew Israelites. This group of “foot soldiers,” dressed in camouflage, faced outwardly with their backs facing us. The leader of the group entered the circled and spewed his hate filled speech for thirty minutes in our faces. At the end of his tirade he screamed, “So what do you have to say about this, you #@&%?,” which immediately opened the opportunity to share the Gospel. The Nickerson Gardens housing project, in Watts, is the largest of its kind west of the Mississippi River. It is the birthplace to the Bounty Hunter Blood gang. “Go start a children’s Bible Club in Nickerson Gardens.” “Are you sure about this Lord?” I made plans and worked things out with the Director of the Community Center located in the heart of the projects. He was an elderly African American gentleman, whose face showed the heartache of violence, drugs, and gangs he must have seen and experienced. I could see the surprise and concern when I entered his office, but he was very grateful that we would do something like that for the children. The first day of children’s Bible Club, while playing games, we noticed we were surrounded on the perimeter by gang members. They were all young, wearing their red bandanas and shades. The children didn’t think anything of it, but the volunteers were nervous, and I needed to calm their fears. I walked over to who I thought was the leader. “Is everything okay?” He looked at me and said, “We’re just protecting the children from any potential rival gang interference.” “That’s a relief,” I thought. We talked a little more, though I can’t remember what about, and then I went back to the Bible Club. The laughter and joy brought smiles to the moms hanging out the project windows. It was like they wished they could have joined in. We left encouraged and looked forward to the children’s Bible Club opening up doors to the adult community and gang members. When we went back