Rev. Roger W. Baker - Who Authorized You to Quit?: Church Growth in At-Risk Communities

A New Developmen tal
Strat egy
to Elevate Pe ople

The person who begins behind in the race must run faster than the person ahead to catch up and win. This suggests two quest ions:

1. How far ahead is the lead ru nner?
2. How far is it to the finish line?

The African American did not start the race at the starting line alongside European Americans. If we use 1619 as the starting point (the year when African Americans first arrived in Jamestown), the Negro did not even enter the race until 346 years later, with the Voting Rights Act of 1965. African Americans, you have been running for only forty-eight years, and you are not authorized to quit!

The historical background of the black women must be shared for us to get a better understanding of the underlying psychological effects suffered by many single-parent females today. That background information may come across to manythe Eurocentric, black elitists who have forgotten they are still Negroes, and many immigrants who may read through these pagesas a militant attack upon them. This is neither the intent nor the purpose of the informa tion.

This information is also for those who feel black people started out in America at the same starting point as others and that they faced the same obstacles and benefitted from the same opportunities as others. Many such people are ignorant of the reason black people are in the deficit they find themselves in. Real black history is forbidden in public schools, and rightly so. It is too gruesome to discuss in a classroom without causing riots and killings in the sc hool.

In the following pages, I lean very heavily on the black church. The black church is the only strategic institution African Americans are cable of claiming in their neighborhood. Sadly, it seems that they have become too heavenly bound to be any earthly good. There is a saying: the same thing it took to get it is not sufficient in increasing its value; it requires more. The black church must get back into the business of developing character, leadership, and entrepreneurial principles in poor people. The time is right to pressure the government and others for financial resources to assist the black churches because the churches are properly equipped for holistic family development. Gang activities and crime of all sortswhich come out of the poverty-stricken at-risk African-American communitiesare affecting this nation severely. In reality, our choices are pay less now or pay much more la tely.

The information in this book is based on the premise that everything from eternity past through eternity future is on Gods divine timeline of history and exists for His purpose. Through faith alone, in Christ alone does God exist, reveal Himself, make sense, and work out His plan for creation. Since humanity is the object of Gods plan, humanity owes God a hearing. In light of that firm belief, I will continue to work on my PhD in personal and human development in the University of Reality, w here

• God the Father is the au thor;
• God the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, is the Creator of all things and the dean of all affairs; and
• God the Holy Spirit is the Counselor, motivator, Susta iner,
• Comforter, revealer, and tea cher.

Also, I solicit your TrinitarianGod the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spiritprayers for a deeper revelation of holistic at-risk family development. The information that follow is true and can lead to profound approaches in reducing at-risk crimes and in developing 80 percent of the socioeconomically disadvantaged within fifteen to twenty years of its implementa tion.