Heroes Wanted by Rodney D. Bullard

Author:Rodney D. Bullard
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780736967778
Publisher: Harvest House Publishers

A HEART’S RESPONSE

There are times when God is shaping our lives toward a point of conviction, like He did in Donnita’s life. Other times we will encounter a need and the conviction to respond will be instant and the momentum from that will move us to next steps. This was the case for two young, resourceful, and compassionate women, Maria Armstrong and Tangee Allen. I met them and encountered their organization Raising Expectations when I served at the US Attorney’s Office, where one of our goals was to figure out how to prevent crime instead of merely punishing criminals.

The justice system is designed to arrest, prosecute, and imprison offenders, but the result has been a catastrophic increase in the prison population during the past two decades. The sobering statistics reveal a bit more of the story. Most of the people who go to prison are young men. Mothers lose their sons, wives lose their husbands, and children lose their fathers. Many of those families suffer terribly from poverty. And too often when the men are released, they haven’t been rehabilitated at all. Instead, their connections in prison have taught them how to be more effective criminals when they get out. Repeat offenders have become the rule, not the exception. This creates a cycle of hopelessness in the families and the community.

To combat this dilemma, we looked for groups that were making a difference. We came across Raising Expectations, the amazing nonprofit organization that Maria and Tangee started when they were students at Georgia State University.

Hoping to short-circuit the increasing numbers of poor, young people turning to crime, this amazing duo provided extensive afterschool services to develop the academic, social, and civic abilities of at-risk children. Their work and their conviction to make a change right where they were has grown their organization and allowed them to work with a number of schools and agencies to provide services for children and families. They have received grants and honors and they have seen a number of formerly at-risk students attend college and break the cycle of hopelessness.

Even while attending college, Maria and Tangee were selfless enough to look beyond their own circumstances to see a dire need and have the conviction that they couldn’t just walk away. They had to do what they could to improve the lives of kids and their families…and they’re making a huge difference!

THE “CON” OF CONVICTION

God can be a very clever leader. He doesn’t always give us the big picture right away. Meet someone who knows this better than most: Pastor Bruce Deel.

His earthly assignment 20 years ago: To close down a dying church in a destitute area of Atlanta called the Bluff, which was known for its unflattering numbers—like stats reflecting the amount of drugs, and the number of gangs and murders.

Bruce was pastoring a thriving congregation in the comfortable suburbs of Atlanta when church leadership asked him to travel into the city for a window of time to bring an end to a run-down church that was years beyond function.

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