This is the story of Reverend Roosevelt Matthews and his beloved wife, Mary, whose work saved many in one of the poorest and most dangerous neighborhoods on Chicago's West Side. But as Roosevelt emphasizes, it's not his story but God's story. In 1952, Roosevelt and Mary came to Chicago from Rolling Fork, Mississippi, as part of the Great Migration of six million Southern Blacks. Shortly after they married, Mary became a sixth-grade Chicago Public School teacher at Faraday Elementary where she taught for thirty years. With his teaching degree and certificate in hand, Roosevelt headed out to the Chicago Board of Education to be assigned the school he would teach in. But God had other ideas. As he walked down his front steps, he heard gunshots and saw troubled youth where gangs and drugs were prevalent. He suddenly came to an abrupt halt; struck with the Lord's call to help these young people. Forgoing a career as a schoolteacher, Roosevelt founded the Albany Youth Center and Albany Baptist Church, which he and Mary ran for the next forty-five years. As one youth center attendee stated, "The gangs in the area did not bother the kids who attended the youth center. They respected the efforts of Reverend Matthews and his wife to make the life of those kids better." With the violence and racism in our country today, the work of Roosevelt and Mary is a big part of the solution. This book documents the "But God" moments where the Lord provided their needs:
But God, when Roosevelt went to buy a defunct factory as a place to put his youth center's outdoor basketball court, the owner looked him in the face and said, "I'd rather burn the factory down than sell it to an N-word ". A few months later, Dr. King was assassinated and in the resulting riots the factory was burned to the ground. The factory then became property of the City of Chicago and sold to Roosevelt for a much lower price.
But God, teaching Interracial friendship by living in each other's homes, Roosevelt established the Friendship Outreach program between white churches and Albany Baptist Church in 1972. White children came to live with Black families on Chicago's West Side and vice versa. In 2018, one of the original exchange students from Minnesota returned to Albany Church with her own children, continuing this wonderful long-term friendship.
But God, Mary got the smooth transition she prayed for after being diagnosed with ovarian cancer. She never suffered from the ravages of the disease. Looking as beautiful as ever, she played piano in church just three days before she passed from her beloved Roosevelt's loving arms to God's kingdom.
But God, as Roosevelt said, "The Lord directed such fine people to help us along the way". One was "Mother" Vera Stephens, who taught Roosevelt and Mary child evangelism. Vera later felt the call to go to Liberia, where she established the Bethesda Christian Mission School that is still inspiring the lives of many children today. In 2011, "Mother" Stephens was posthumously honored for her work by both the president and vice president of Liberia.
But God, while Mary and Roosevelt were not able to have biological children, many former pupils, attributing much of their success to "Mom" and "Dad," still call, send letters, and emails. Several have become Bible teachers and ministers themselves while others include a college president and a corporate executive.