July 15, 2012
African-American youth take worship on the road
By Terrence Nichols
The bus was filled with the sounds of joy. Teenagers were teasing one another playfully, fingers were feverishly dancing across cell phones and iPads, music was seeping from headsets, all drowning out the roar of the bus engine. Then, without warning, the mood changed. Silence engulfed the bus like a San Francisco fog rolling over the bay. The face of each young person vividly displayed the fear of what lay before them. We were in Watts—the notorious riot-torn neighborhood of the Sixties; an incubator of gangs and violence today. The windows and doors of the government projects that lined the streets were covered with thick bars, as if to keep unwanted people out while confining those who wanted to escape a vicious cycle of poverty.
Suddenly, one teen’s voice pierced the stillness. “We got to give God the glory tonight!” Immediately, fear was erased and faith emerged.
Read the entire story on the alife website.