Pastor hopes story of gang survival will help youth as church moves to new neighborhood

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    High Point (WGHP) — The congregation with Christ Church of Deliverance is hoping that their presence will make a positive impact on those near their new home in High Point.

For the past year, Pastor Jerome Dumas and more than 100 church members have been remodeling a once vacant building along Hoskins Street in the city.

“The reason for being here,” Dumas said. “You’re trying to clean up an area and bring light to where there’s darkness.”

The fiery pastor and his church prayed for months, asking God where he needed them the most. They had spent several years at a location in Archdale, but felt their mission field was near Washington Terrace Park in High Point.

“People in this community, their minds is just broken,” the pastor said. “Their minds is just broken, where they’ve pretty much just given up. So we are here to say that there is still hope. That we can make it, so let’s make it together, as a family.”

The pastor said they chose the vacant building near the park, around the same time a young man was shot and killed at the park in 2019.

Dumas said he remembers that moment vividly because he was just blocks away when he heard the commotion.

“We heard the sirens and found out that somebody died, just right across the street, in the park,” he said.

While he wants to shore the word of God, he said he also feels he needs to share his story of redemption.

“I was in gangs, I was a gang leader. I got caught up in that world and God brought me out of it,” Dumas said.

The church has begun to hold Sunday services and some community events. The congregation’s endgame is to have multiple Bible study classes, and a youth after school program. They also plan to do several door-to-door prayer services for those who live nearby.

“If we get the children, we can reach the parents. Showing them hope,” Dumas said. “We understood what Jesus did when he fed the 5,000. He gave them food first. You have to reach the human part of them, before you reach the spiritual part of them.”

The church plans to have its official grand opening on April 4, which will also include a health fair for people who live nearby.

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