Community ministry finding opposition with Nation of Islam

ATLANTA — Bruce Williamson, a volunteer with StreetWise Ministry, jokingly says he has been called a lot of things in his day, but never an infidel. There’s always a first time for anything, he adds, but he didn’t expect such a term to be hurled his way while doing ministry in Georgia – much less only 20 miles from his home.

Williamson is part of a small group of Georgia Baptists who are working to bring Christ to one of the most impoverished sections of Atlanta. The obstacles – drugs, crime, and general hopelessness – are endemic to the area, but Williamson knows that only Christ can bring peace to broken lives.

That’s why he refuses to be undaunted by the charges that the Nation of Islam has begun making against the ministry founded by Terry and Pat Powell in the low-income housing community.

“For a long time we Christians were able to believe that Christianity was the only game in town but that’s not true anymore. There are many groups out there who are fighting for the soul of America and we need to be more diligent than ever in proclaiming the gospel,” he says.

The Powells, who are members of Hebron Baptist Church in Dacula, are no strangers to inner city ministry. They have worked in some of Atlanta’s toughest neighborhood for nearly a quarter of a century and have been in Bowen Homes in northwest Atlanta for eight years. They ministered in Perry Homes, one of the city’s most notorious communities, for several years until conditions became so bad that the city condemned the neighborhood and had it torn down.

Many of those residents were moved to Bowen Homes, bringing their problems with them. But the Powells have never yet seen a problem that could not be solved through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, they say.

Many of the residents feel the same way. Each Saturday anywhere from 50 to 500 gather in the Bowen Homes community center for the weekly family worship service. The facility was offered by the tenants’ association president who knew the good work the ministry provided while it was at Perry Homes. In fact, some of the congregation’s members from Perry Homes followed it to the new location.

The Powells lead a Bible study at 10 a.m. on Tuesdays attended by up to 80 women. Between 10 and 15 men attend a similar study on Tuesday evenings.

It’s in those studies where the Nation of Islam first made its presence known late last fall and drew a line in the sand between the two groups. And it’s where Williamson and others first heard themselves characterized as infidels.

“This particular evening’s Bible study, which was held just before Thanksgiving, was going fairly well until the individuals from the Nation of Islam showed up. They sat politely and listened but slowly became more vocal. At first they said they wanted us to help them rid the community of drugs and crime and join their Unity Coalition. But before long they began aggressively challenging our teachings.

“They said we were misinterpreting Scripture and that’s when they began calling us devils and infidels,” Williamson explained. The longer the meeting continued, the angrier the men became in their accusations.

“We have been very well received by the community and had no problems until the Nation of Islam began holding what they call a youth Bible study on Thursday nights. It appears to be a study where the youth actually learn to be warriors for their newfound faith,” Terry Powell says.

He confirmed Williamson’s statement, adding that the visitors went a step further and said, in the meeting for all to hear, that anyone who associated with the ministry were also devils and infidels.

“That was a strong indictment against anyone who attended our Bible studies,” he adds.

 

Group not recognized by historic Muslims

Neither Sunni nor Shiite Muslims, the two dominant groups in Islam, recognize the Nation of Islam as a legitimate group; they see it and its American roots as more of a sect. It was founded by Fard Muhammad during the Great Depression of the 1930s in the ghettos of Detroit and fed on racial oppression of African Americans, teaching that Christianity should be rejected since it was the “slave-master’s religion.”

Its Southern Region Headquarters is located in Atlanta in Mosque No. 15 on Joseph E. Lowery Blvd. Today Louis Farrakhan, who founded a splinter group in 1978 using the original name, serves as its leader from its Chicago headquarters. One of its demands of the federal government is that it be given adequate land equal to one state where Nation of Islam followers can relocate and live in peace.

In December, Powell says, the group formed its promised Unity Coalition – a linkage with community service groups and even an African-American Baptist church – to give credibility to its efforts to clean up the community. What residents don’t understand, he says, is those actions are just a Trojan Horse to mask their goals of driving a division between the races.

Powell and his StreetWise volunteers firmly believe that Christ is the only answer and do not plan to abandon Bowen Homes.

“We’ve been growing our ministry there for eight years and we have no intentions of walking away. We’re going to keep serving Jesus and preaching Him because He is the only answer,” he adds.

 

Site of new church start

Powell and the Atlanta Association of Southern Baptists have joined ranks to start a church, called Sanctuary of Atlanta, in the Bankhead area early this year. Associational missionary Lester Cooper said the new church is part of the association’s goal of reaching Atlanta for Christ “one people group at a time.”

The group being reached through Powell’s ministry is identified as being largely impacted by poverty, drugs, and illiteracy.

Most of the association’s new church plants are focused along the Downtown Connector that serves as the spine of the city’s transportation core. Six of those churches are located in Little Five Points, the Kirkwood Community, two in Atlantic Station, and one at the Moncrief Baptist Center. The Bowen Homes effort is a special challenge because the neighborhood will be razed in three years.

“We already know that Bowen Homes will cease to exist at a set time in the future. Our challenge is to grow a church that will live on beyond the end of the community. We don’t know what kind of shape it will take as it and its membership transitions, but we are committed to seeing that the residents have their own church,” Cooper said.

Bowen Homes may one day cease to exist, but a church will remain in the Bankhead area.

 

Ministry under siege

The ministry may be under a growing siege, but it continues to grow. During its annual Adopt-A-Family outreach, volunteers provided Christmas to more than 200 needy residents who provided a wish list to the group. A Birthday Party for Jesus attracted another crowd. Before the season’s emphases ended more than 100 professions of faith were recorded, Powell says.

“The Nation of Islam backed off during the holidays but we’ve noticed they have begun their Saturday marches in the streets. They march just like a military drill team with about 25 young men dressed in their dark suits and white shirts and polished black shoes. Many of them, we understand, come from their mosque in downtown Atlanta.”

Some may be attracted to the group’s teachings but others, like Barbara Allen, make sure they are held at bay. Allen has experienced the love firsthand that the StreetWise volunteers have brought into the community.

“When I joined the women’s Bible study hosted by Miss Pat [Powell] my doctor had just told me I would never see out of one of my eyes. But she insisted I get another opinion and we found a specialist who said it was completely treatable, and now I can see just fine. That’s the kind of people she and the volunteers are; they care about us,” she said.

“I’ve gotten several other women involved in the Bible study and have seen drug addicts and prostitutes get saved when they heard about Jesus. We’ve seen people’s lives changed and you can’t argue with that.

“Terry and Miss Pat are the only two people I would lay my life down for,” she affirms.

“We had some folks one time who were speaking out against the ministry and saying they were up to no good but I gave them a piece of my mind and set them straight. It may not have been the best thing to do, but I told God ‘If you don’t mind, just turn your head for a minute so I can straighten this situation out.’”

Terry Powell and his volunteers are committed to remaining in Bowen Homes because of testimonies of those like Allen who want to see the community brought to Christ. Terri Spinks, who with husband Moe are regular volunteers from Wildwood Baptist Church in Acworth, agree.

“God called us to this ministry and we plan to remain obedient to that call. We’ve seen lives changed and would not think of walking away from those who need Christ.”

 

Ongoing presence for Christ

The ministry at Bowen Homes is more than a hit-and-miss venture. It is a year-round ministry that continues to add new facets as needs are identified. Volunteers have entrenched themselves through not only the Christmas effort but also a Saturday bread distribution, a large Easter program, and other events throughout the year.

“This is a very holistic ministry that is designed to reach the entire person – socially, spiritually, mentally, and physically,” Powell explains.

“The Nation of Islam has told us they are going to adopt Bowen Homes and take it for themselves but we’re not going to let that happen. We’ve told them that this community is not up for adoption, that it has already been adopted and it belongs to the Lord.”

 

Individuals wanting to learn more about the ministry in Bowen Homes can call Powell at (770) 945-2997. The couple also has a long-established clowning ministry, Baskin-n-Sonshine, which can be accessed at www.baskin-n-sonshine.org or by calling (770) 945-5338.

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The challenge of ministering at Bowen Homes
• 90 percent of residents are unchurched
• The average annual income is $8,000; many live on less than $5,000
• 96 percent of those ages 11-28 are unsaved

 

To learn more

Visit NAMB’s website to download a Belief Bulletin on the Nation of Islam. Go to www.namb.net, type in “Nation of Islam” in the search engine in the top right corner, and click on the bulletin from the list provided.