Dangerous ground transformed by church

Posted: 5/12/06

Dangerous ground transformed by church

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

HOUSTON—Ruth Ollison ministers on dangerous ground—at least it used to be.

When Ollison and her husband pulled up to a duplex eight years ago in central Houston, she didn’t want to get out of their car, let alone consider purchasing a building the city already had stamped “dangerous.” The drug house in front of her seemed to be in total disarray and needed complete restoration.

The same could be said for the neighborhood. Litter and debris lined the streets. Dealers sold drugs nearly around the clock in a lot across from the duplex. Gambling took place in the boarded-up house next to the duplex.

It’s the kind of neighborhood where Jesus would hang out, she concluded.

Ollison soon realized God “assigned” her to minister in this neighborhood. She bought the duplex and started Beulah Land Community Church.

The congregation began as a “ministry of presence,” she said. Where others shied away from the drug dealers, Ollison addressed them—and the rest of the community—directly. She walked the streets, meeting people, inviting them to church and initiating conversations about spiritual matters.

The church’s first service lasted 12 hours and featured pastors from around Houston. The event marked the beginning of change.

“That invoked the presence of God,” she said. “The presence of God has been here ever since.”

One by one, people are turning their lives around and committing themselves to God, she said.

Spiritual changes have led to outward changes, Ollison said. The Holy Spirit is affecting every aspect of people’s lives, she added. Much of the litter is gone from the neighborhood. Most of the homes are painted. Lawns and empty lots are manicured.

Drugs have been curtailed. Beulah Land now owns the buildings where drugs were sold and illegal gambling operated.

People are more friendly and approachable now, Ollison said.

The neighborhood “was amazingly dreadful,” she said. “But there’s been a lot of transformation. There’s enormous potential, that’s the thing—potential. It’s all here. There’s no difference in this dirt, this grass and these trees than the dirt, grass and trees in the most expensive neighborhood in town.”

As the community has changed, Beulah Land has grown. The church renovated the dilapidated duplex. The congregation meets every day at noon—for prayer during the week and for worship on Saturday and Sunday. The church soon will move into a new building and already has enough people to fill it.

Ollison’s approach has not changed, however. She still walks the streets of central Houston every day, meeting and inviting people to church. She just has a little more help now. More than 60 people who attend her church also are engaging people in spiritual conversations.

“I think if Jesus was here now, this would be a lot like the neighborhoods that he was in,” she said.