One of the big questions surrounding a church is how that church is going to have a positive on that church’s surrounding community. For many churches this looks consists of programs like soup kitchens, homeless shelters, or other volunteer organizations. While these are all excellent programs, Evangel Ministries, which is located in one of America’s most broken cities, has a different outlook on Christian outreach.

Evangel Ministries is located in the heart of Detroit, Michigan, one of the most dangerous and poverty-stricken cities in America. Head pastor Christopher Brooks began his role in 2004, and began to build on the church’s 30 year history of creative and entrepreneurial outreach in the community. This began with the concept of community, and Brooks said that the solution to all of Detroit’s many problems were the people themselves. This began with outreach classes, where pastors would teach members of the community about financial literacy; these classes ranged from teens aged 14 to adults aged 40.

After attending these classes, many of these kids became interested in starting their own businesses and becoming their own entrepreneurs. Evangel Ministries then set up the Chosen School of Impact, where juniors and seniors in high school  would spend a few weeks learning about how a business operates, how to manage a checkbook, and other basic functions that are crucial to a business.

The church then partnered with business owners in the community in order to provide many of these high school students opportunities for employment in companies that were focused on providing a benefit to the communities that they are in. This has created a meaningful impact in the community because many of these high school students would have joined gangs or lived in poverty without these opportunities. These young adults now have the opportunity to make a sustainable living, while providing a beneficial product or service to their community.

Evangel Ministries has created an amazing school of entrepreneurship that teaches kids not only how to run a business effectively, but has also led many of these kids to a real faith in Jesus Christ. This is an incredibly project and is a real, tangible example of how the church and entrepreneurs can combine to create something truly amazing and impactful.

Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3xXI-W11YI