Anchor Church pastor speaks out about hope and healing in wake of Verona shootings
VERONA, MISS. (WCBI) – It has been five years since The Anchor Church took over the former First Baptist building in Verona. Since then, many hands-on ministries have started.
Among the outreaches is daily tutoring for area students.
‘We have after-school tutoring for kids in Verona, we target the ones reading below grade level, and North Mississippi Children’s Choir,” Pastor David Ball said.
There are also plans to rehab a donated building into a House of Dreams, a place to get kids off the streets and to show them that there is hope.
Pastor Ball says he has noticed a disturbing trend in recent years, working with children.
“When I was coaching years ago, I would go and ask kids, what do you want to be when you grow up, every time I asked, kids would say, I want to be in the NBA, astronaut, they had dreams and now I have noticed since we have been here, I ask kids and they say, ‘I don’t know,” he said.
The pastor says kids without hope often turn into adults who feel hopeless.
‘People who are successful had someone in their life who mentored them, challenged them, corrected them, and disciplined them,” Pastor Ball said.
Pastor Ball says the two shootings in less than 24 hours show the need, not for more legislation, but for restoration, and community and church involvement in people’s lives.
‘Talking about people breaking laws, so you are going to stop them by making more laws? That is like trying to fight drug addiction with drug addiction, doesn’t make sense. At the same time what God wants for us, if you teach a person to love Jesus he will love his neighbor as himself,” Ball said.
Pastor Ball encourages churches to get outside of their four walls, into their communities, to meet people’s physical and spiritual needs.
The Anchor Church had already planned a series of prayer walks next week throughout the community. Those will take place starting at 5 pm at the Church, on College Street, next Monday through Thursday.
