Terry and Pat Powell, members of Hebron Baptist Church in Dacula, were enjoying great success in the business world as executives for Fortune 500 companies. Terry was the security director for Lord and Taylor while Pat was operations director for Godiva Chocolates. However, in obedience to God’s call both resigned their positions and launched out into a ministry to children.

The Powells started out with a children’s church ministry at Galilean Baptist Church in Norcross, where they developed a puppet ministry. The puppet ministry soon became widely acclaimed and the Powells began to travel to other churches to present the Gospel through puppetry.

After several years of success with the puppet ministry the Powells added clowning to their repertoire and changed their name from Sonshine Ministry to Baskin ‘N’ Sonshine. Their ministry eventually took them to the inner city of Atlanta, where they had an opportunity to touch the hearts and lives of hundreds of children in the government projects.

As the Powell’s ministry grew and more and more children from the projects gathered to see and hear their presentations of the Gospel it became evident that the children were at risk because of the street violence and gang influence. Terry Powell thought, “There has to be a better, safer way to reach these children.”

 

Traveling chapel

Terry recalled, “The Lord gave us a vision for a bus. We got a bus, took out all the seats, put in carpeting and air conditioning and had us a chapel on wheels. We started traveling around to different projects in the city and led hundreds of children to the Lord.”

The Powells were concerned about those who received Christ, fearing that they were not being nurtured in the faith. They began to contact churches in the area of the projects where the children lived. When they asked the churches to welcome the new believers in they were not well received. Some of the church leaders commented, “Those children are dirty. They are destructive. They cause too much trouble. We’ll pray for your ministry, but we don’t want those children in our churches.”

Terry commented, “We didn’t know how to respond to the needs of children who were new believers from projects all over Atlanta. We were just going on what God had instructed us to do. But then a door was opened for us to have a ministry in Perry Homes, the second largest housing project in Atlanta, but also the most crime-ridden section of the city.”

Terry and Pat Powell began to pour their lives into the residents of Perry Homes and in two years the area, like the 1991 Atlanta Braves, had gone from worst to first. The project, known for having the worst crime rate in the city, had progressed to the point that it was recognized as the area with the least amount of crimes.

In 1997 the Perry Homes area was demolished and high-income apartments were built. Consequently, the Powells moved their ministry to Bowen Homes, another large government project near the former location of the Perry Homes.

This facet of the Powell’s ministry – called Street Wise, a division of Baskin ‘N’ Sonshine Ministries – was founded to address the many issues of inner-city, low-income living.

This ministry is accomplished by weekly Bible studies for ladies, Saturday family worship services, counseling, parenting seminaries, sports clinics as well as a clothing distribution program. Street Wise also provides a regular bread ministry to the community and helps with basic needs such as food, household goods and toiletries.

 

Seeing and fulfilling the need

Terry exclaimed, “We desperately need to start a men’s Bible study. The men at Bowen Homes think it is unfair to have a women’s Bible study and not have one for the men, but I can’t do it by myself. I need men who will come and encourage the men and support the Bible study with their presence. In fact, we need an established group of volunteers for all facets of our ministry, so that when we can’t be there they are consistent enough to ensure the continuation of what we are trying to do.”

Street Wise provides a complete Thanksgiving meal to all who attend the program. The program includes a well-known speaker and singer or group of musicians. During this time the life-saving message of salvation is presented.

Each year at Christmas, Street Wise holds a Birthday Party for Jesus where an evangelical message is presented and each child under the age of 13 receives a wrapped Christmas gift. In addition, hundreds of families are adopted for Christmas. Each is provided with new clothes, food, and toys for the children.

Street Wise is doing a wonderful work of evangelizing and discipling people in the projects of metropolitan Atlanta. Doors in other housing projects are opening and the field is white unto harvest, but alas, the laborers are few.

There are countless opportunities to be involved in this exciting ministry. For details on these and other events please contact Street Wise at (770) 945-5338.