The first time I met Pastor Anthony, he had just placed a bid on a Methodist church damaged by Hurricane Katrina. I wrote an article about his efforts to plant a church in Uptown New Orleans. After he won the bid, he took me on a tour of the building and then sat on one of the mahogany pews donated to the church to tell me his story.
When Anthony was seven years old, he watched a Billy Graham Crusade on television and prayed for salvation. His heart strayed from God when he entered his teenage years, but he did not have the option of abandoning church. His devout Christian parents never missed a service. When his mother discovered his plan to skip church and spend the evening with a girl, she confronted Anthony with a stern rebuke.
“My mother’s rebuke convicted me of my sin. I went into the bathroom to cry and recommitted my life to Christ.”
Several months later, Anthony met a man who guided him through a one-month discipleship school. The strict, boot-camp-style program demanded exercise, work, Bible study, and evangelism. They met early in the morning to jog and then read ten chapters of the Bible. Bible studies were held morning and afternoon, with manual labor in between. After dinner, they walked the streets sharing Christ and took part in community outreaches on the weekends.
“That experience solidified my Christianity and shaped me into an evangelist, but I didn’t have thoughts of being a minister. I planned to be a doctor,” said Anthony. “I was praying when God spoke to me in a voice that permeated my entire being, calling me to ministry. My father questioned my decision to attend Bible college instead of medical school, but my mother knew I was predestined for ministry.”
During his first week at college, Anthony’s love for evangelism stirred him to join a group of students who ministered at a nearby park. Melanie, a beautiful woman from Canada, caught his eye. He hoped she would become his ministry partner. She later confessed to the same desire. Several years later, Anthony proposed, and they became partners for life.
The Freemans were pastors when they met three ministers with a common dream—a Bible college that offered an affordable education to young ministers. Through much prayer and hard work, their dream became a reality. The New Orleans School of Urban Missions (SUM) opened in 1992, and they launched a second campus in Oakland, California, in 1999. Anthony served SUM for thirteen years, first as a professor and then as president. During his final two years, he presided over both campuses, flying from New Orleans to Oakland and back every two weeks.
Anthony thought he had found his final destination in ministry, but God had other plans. By August 2004, Anthony knew he would resign as the school’s president. A year later, he submitted his resignation while at the Oakland campus. On the flight back to New Orleans, Anthony pondered the decade of service he had given to the students of SUM, and sadness swept over him.
In an attempt to relieve his depression, he joined his four sons in a game of basketball. During the game, Anthony severely broke his ankle. The doctor immediately placed his foot in a cast, which restricted the swelling. The unbearable pain distracted Anthony from the foreboding newscasts of a monster storm heading toward New Orleans. By the end of the week, a flurry of activity to secure SUM and send the students to the safety of the Oakland campus left little time to indulge his depression. He drove out of New Orleans with his family as the feeder bands of Katrina came ashore.
FEMA’s slow response to the disaster forced the mayor of Gretna, a community adjoining New Orleans, to seek help from other sources. The mayor knew SUM had contacts with organizations that could supply food and water. Two days after the storm, he sent Anthony a letter that gave him access through government checkpoints into the city.
Anthony returned to a city in chaos. “When we entered Gretna, it looked like a bomb had exploded,” said Anthony.
He found the mayor in the public utilities building trying to save the city as water pumps continued to fail. He followed the mayor to his office in City Hall. As they entered the building, a group of police officers rushed out the door to help firefighters who were dodging bullets as they attempted to quench the fire set by looters at a shopping center.
The weary and discouraged mayor gladly allowed Anthony to pray for him. SUM became the hub for faith-based groups that came to rebuild the city. Every morning, Anthony met with the mayor and then dispatched volunteers to the areas of greatest need.
As Anthony’s official last day with SUM approached, the Freemans visited Melanie’s family in Canada while they pondered what to do next. They were on the highway between Ontario and Toronto discussing offers from various churches when they heard the Lord say, “Return to New Orleans and start a church.”
The Freemans were undaunted by the lack of a church building. “We decided that you don’t have to be in a church building to worship God,” said Anthony, “so we started the church in my living room.”
They offered a home-cooked meal and Bible study to volunteers surviving on Army-issued MREs (Meals Ready-to-Eat). Volunteers from Pennsylvania, Kansas, Texas, and California accepted their invitation and became the core team that launched All Nations Fellowship.
All Nations Fellowship held its first service on Easter Sunday. The congregation comprised the core team, a few families, and some homeless people until Tofu walked into the church.
Tofu’s story began when Anthony was president of SUM. Anthony helped Tesia, his administrative assistant and spiritual daughter, raise funds to return to Mozambique and work with Iris Ministries. The ministry was baptizing converts when Tofu, a young medical student from Boston, stopped to photograph the event and witnessed people receiving the gift of tongues. When Tesia learned Tofu was on his way to New Orleans to attend Tulane University, she encouraged him to visit Anthony’s church.
Tofu, an Episcopalian, knew nothing about the gift of tongues except what he had witnessed in Africa. When he visited All Nations Fellowship, he questioned Anthony about the experience and expressed a desire to receive the gift.
“I prayed God would give him the gift, and he spoke in tongues for three hours. I got tired of praying with him and left,” said Anthony. “Tofu was a blessing. He brought a lot of students to the church, increasing our membership.”
The gift of speaking in other tongues surfaced more than once as I’ve talked to people from various denominations. A Lutheran informed me that people don’t speak in tongues anymore. That has not been my experience. Some privately confessed to me that they possess the gift of tongues but are reluctant to create problems within their churches. A Baptist told me, “I don’t speak in tongues, but who am I to say what God will and won’t give us? If he did it once, he could do it again.”
The Bible agrees: “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows” (James 1:17).
A Spiritual Gift
The first time I met Pastor Anthony, he had just placed a bid on a Methodist church damaged by Hurricane Katrina. I wrote an article about his efforts to plant a church in Uptown New Orleans. After he won the bid, he took me on a tour of the building and then sat on one of the mahogany pews donated to the church to tell me his story.
When Anthony was seven years old, he watched a Billy Graham Crusade on TV and prayed for salvation. His heart strayed from God when he entered his teenage years, but he did not have the option of abandoning church. His devout Christian parents never missed a service.
His mother sensed something was wrong in her sons life. Her fear was confirmed when she discovered his plan to skip church and spend the evening with a girl. She confronted Anthony with a stern rebuke. “My mother’s rebuke convicted me of my sin. I went into the bathroom to cry and recommitted my life to Christ.”
Several months later, Anthony met a man who guided him through a one-month discipleship school. The strict boot-camp style program demanded exercise, work, Bible study and evangelism. They met early in the morning to jog and then read ten chapters of the Bible. Bible studies were held morning and afternoon with manual labor in between. After dinner, they walked the streets sharing Christ and participated in community outreaches on the weekends.
“That experience solidified my Christianity and shaped me into an evangelist, but I didn’t have thoughts of being a minister. I planned to be a doctor,” said Anthony. “I was praying when God spoke to me in a voice that permeated my entire being calling me to ministry. My father questioned my decision to attend Bible College instead of medical school, but my mother knew I was predestined for ministry.”
During his first week at college, Anthony’s love for evangelism stirred him to join a group of students who ministered at a nearby park. Melanie, a beautiful woman from Canada, caught his eye. He hoped she would be his ministry partner. She later confessed to the same desire. Several years later, Anthony proposed, and they became partners for life.
The Freemans were pastors when they met three ministers with a common dream – a Bible college that offered an affordable education to young ministers. Through much prayer and hard work, their dream became a reality. The New Orleans School of Urban Missions (SUM) opened in 1992 and then they launched a second campus in Oakland, California in 1999. Anthony served SUM for thirteen years, first as a professor, and then as president. His final two years at SUM, he presided over both campuses, flying from New Orleans to Oakland and back every two weeks.
Anthony thought he had found his final destination in ministry, but God had other plans. By August 2004, Anthony knew he would resign as the school’s president. A year later, he submitted his resignation while at the Oakland campus. On the flight back to New Orleans, Anthony pondered the decade of service he had given to the students of SUM, and sadness swept over him.
In an attempt to relieve his depression, he joined his four sons in a game of basketball. During the game, Anthony severely broke his ankle. The doctor immediately put his foot in a cast, which restricted the swelling. The unbearable pain distracted Anthony from the foreboding newscasts of a monster storm heading toward New Orleans. By the end of the week, a flurry of activity to secure SUM and send the students to the safety of the Oakland campus left little time to indulge his depression. He drove out of the city with his family as the feeder bands of Katrina came ashore.
FEMA’s slow response to the disaster forced the Mayor of Gretna, a community adjoining New Orleans, to seek help from other venues. The Mayor knew SUM had contacts with organizations that could supply food and water. Two days after the storm, he sent Anthony a letter that gave him access through government check points into the city.
Anthony returned to a city in chaos. “When we entered Gretna, it looked like a bomb had exploded,” said Anthony. He found the Mayor in the public utilities building trying to save their city as water pumps continued to fail. He followed the Mayor to his office in City Hall. As they entered the building, a group of police officers rushed out the door to help firemen who were dodging bullets as they attempted to quench the fire set by looters at Oakwood Mall.
The weary and discouraged mayor gladly allowed Anthony to pray for him. SUM became the hub for faith-based groups that came to rebuild the city. Every morning, Anthony met with the mayor and then dispatched volunteers to the areas of greatest need.
As Anthony’s official last day with SUM approached, the Freemans decided to visit Melanie’s family in Canada while they pondered what to do next. They were on the highway between Ontario and Toronto discussing offers from various churches when they heard the Lord say, “Return to New Orleans and start a church.”
The Freemans were undaunted by the lack of a church building. “We decided that you don’t have to be in a church building to worship God,” said Anthony, “so we started the church in my living room.” They offered a home-cooked meal and Bible study to the volunteers surviving on Army issued MREs (Meals Ready to Eat). Volunteers from Pennsylvania, Kansas, Texas and California accepted their invitation and became the core team that launched All Nations Fellowship.
All Nations Fellowship held its first service on Easter Sunday, April 2007. The congregation consisted of the core team, a few families, and some homeless people, until Tofu walked into the church. Tofu’s story began when Anthony was President of SUM. Anthony helped Tesia, his administrative assistant and spiritual daughter, raise funds to return to Mozambique and work with Iris Ministries. The ministry was baptizing converts when Tofu, a young medical student from Boston, stopped to photograph the event and witnessed people receive the gift of tongues. When Tesia learned Tofu was on his way to New Orleans to attend Tulane University, she encouraged him to visit Anthony’s church.
Tofu, an Episcopalian, knew nothing about the gift of tongues except what he had witnessed in Africa. When he visited All Nations Fellowship, he questioned Anthony about the experience and expressed a desire to receive the gift. “I prayed God would give him the gift, and he spoke in tongues for three hours. I got tired of praying with him and left,” said Anthony. “Tofu was a blessing. He brought a lot of students to the church, increasing our membership.”
The gift of speaking in other tongues surfaced more than once as I’ve talked to people from various denominations. A Lutheran informed me people don’t speak in tongues anymore. That has not been my experience. Some privately confessed to me that they possess the gift of tongues but are reluctant to create problems within their church. A Baptist told me, “I don’t speak with tongues, but who am I to say what God will and won’t give us? If he did it once, he could do it again.” The Bible agrees. “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows” (James 1:17).
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