Participants:
Series Code: UBR
Program Code: UBR000274A
|
00:01 Stay tuned to meet a couple
00:02 that is dedicated to impacting the outcome of our youth 00:05 in the Orlando area. 00:07 My name is Yvonne Lewis-Shelton 00:09 and you're watching Urban Report. 00:36 Hello and welcome to Urban Report, 00:38 you caught us having a little fun here. 00:40 Our guests today are Jacquelyn Ross, 00:43 president of the Orlando Chapter of Operation Reachback, 00:47 and Pastor Dennis Ross, consultant and advisor 00:50 to the Orlando Operation Reachback. 00:53 Welcome to Urban Report. 00:55 Thank you. Thank you. 00:56 We are delighted to be here. Oh, thank you. 00:58 It's so great to have both of you. 01:00 Good to be here. Thank you. 01:01 So I've had the privilege 01:04 of really knowing you guys for years. 01:08 I think I knew you before you got married. 01:10 That's right. Right? 01:11 That's right. At Oakwood. 01:14 And my dad had gone back to college. 01:17 Yes. 01:18 He was considerably older than you guys, 01:20 but he went back to college later in life. 01:22 Steven Nida. Yes, indeed. 01:25 He sang on. He did. He did. 01:28 And then my grandmother impacted your life. 01:31 Tremendously. 01:33 Very much. Praise the Lord. 01:34 Rosely Jones Yes. 01:36 She was quite the Bible instructor. 01:37 Right. 01:39 My husband talked often about her 01:40 and her commitment to the people, 01:44 the new believers. 01:45 Yes. Right. 01:47 And... 01:48 What a blessing she has been, and particularly to me, 01:52 I thank God. Oh. 01:53 We praise the Lord. 01:55 I can't wait for Resurrection Day. 01:57 Oh, hallelujah. 01:58 To be with her, my dad, my mom, everybody. 02:00 All of our family that... 02:02 Yes. 02:03 Our family, both biological and spiritual. 02:05 Yes. Right. 02:07 So we look forward to that. 02:08 She'd be so pleased to see you sitting in this chair. 02:10 Oh, she would, she would. 02:13 Praise the Lord for that. Praise God. 02:15 And she would be happy with the work 02:17 that you all are doing with Operation Reachback. 02:18 She would reach not. 02:21 Now why is that, Pastor Dennis? 02:24 Well, if I can just take a few moments, 02:28 I joined the Adventist Church in 1959, 02:32 18 years of age as a young person. 02:36 And I came from a very, very volatile 02:41 and difficult neighborhood in Harlem in New York. 02:45 She understood that and she would not allow me 02:50 to go home by myself. 02:52 She would drive me home. 02:55 First of all, she invited me 02:56 to be a part of the New Believers choir. 02:59 Yes. 03:00 And then she would drive me home after this, 03:04 after the rehearsal. 03:06 And so very encouraging 03:08 and so she would be shocked. 03:12 She would be pleasantly shocked. 03:14 Pleasantly, pleasantly. 03:15 Praise God. That's great. 03:17 The work that you two are doing is so incredible 03:21 with Operation Reachback. 03:23 Give us a foundation about Operation Reachback, 03:27 what is it? 03:28 Well, historically, pastor is more prepared 03:32 for the historical part. 03:34 But it's an outreach 03:37 to boys of color 03:40 that are marginalized to the inst degree 03:44 that have devalued themselves and society has devalued them 03:49 because of the way they behave or what they look like, 03:52 you know, the draggy pants, to whatever, whatever. 03:56 And we have found that 03:59 those boys are 04:02 diamonds in the rough. 04:05 Unpack that a little bit for us? 04:08 Well, you know, when I think of the boys 04:11 that we first started with, 04:13 they were not, you know, people say, 04:15 well, you start when they're little 04:17 and you have more impact. 04:18 It just so happens that we started with kids 04:20 that that were 16, 17, 18, 19 years of age. 04:25 And they had formed a lot of bad habits already 04:28 when we met them. 04:30 We would meet with them in the home of a lady 04:35 that would help me sometimes, and she had these three boys 04:40 and I fell in love with them. 04:43 And they were in high school, 04:48 they were smoking weed, 04:51 they were doing what guys in the streets do. 04:53 So a part of Operation Reachback, 04:56 we had a curriculum 04:58 where we would do health and wellness, 04:59 all kinds of stuff, life. 05:01 Is it a school? What is it? 05:03 It's not a school. 05:05 Well, that's one of the reasons that we... 05:07 I'm glad you asked. 05:11 Because we need a home. Okay, okay. 05:14 Okay. 05:15 But we go from pillar to post, 05:17 we go from community center to community center in areas 05:22 that need a lot of help. 05:25 The city of Orlando has partnered with us 05:30 because they see what we're doing 05:31 and they see results, evidence. 05:33 And you've won awards. 05:35 We won awards, yes. Praise the Lord. 05:36 We won awards. 05:38 We've won two or three major awards, 05:41 the city just, September proclaimed 05:45 Operation Reachback day, the mayor's office, 05:50 we were honored, 05:51 I didn't know 05:53 we were being honored at City Hall 05:56 as an operation that helps kids 06:00 that are really out in the streets 06:02 doing nothing with their lives 06:04 and bringing them into a place of actualization, understanding 06:09 how important they are. 06:10 And so we got this award down at City Hall 06:13 and they called Operation Reachback name 06:14 and we were shocked, they didn't prep us, 06:17 they didn't tell us what was going on. 06:19 You didn't even know you were getting the award. 06:20 We didn't know that we were getting award. 06:21 Oh, nice. 06:23 And someone called Miss Ross, why aren't you downtown, 06:26 they're giving you guys an award. 06:28 Lisa Early who is a friend of ours 06:31 and she's over the recreation department 06:35 for the city of Orlando. 06:37 I think that she forgot to get in touch with me. 06:40 Oh. 06:42 But she, nonetheless they recognized us 06:44 and you know we take it like almost like a grain of salt 06:48 because we know that if God is not with us, 06:51 we know that anything that we do 06:53 has got to reflect His goodness, 06:56 His greatness, His power. 06:58 And so we don't get too excited about that, 07:03 we get excited when the boys show an upward climb. 07:07 Yes, look at what God is doing though. 07:10 He's acknowledging through human means, your work. 07:15 And so what you're doing is you're, yes, 07:19 you're placing value on lives on these boys 07:24 and this particularly boys. 07:25 Particularly boys, 07:28 we are letting the girls come in 07:30 because they're good with robotics. 07:32 So, but you know what, Sister Yvonne, 07:38 we must go to the history a little bit. 07:41 Pastor needs to tell us how this good thing started. 07:45 It's phenomenal. 07:46 And if you would, honey, please. 07:48 Sure. 07:50 Operation Reachback as far as Orlando is concerned 07:55 is just one area of a larger organization, 08:00 Operation Reachback 08:02 was really started by Dr. Calvin Rock. 08:06 Yes. 08:07 Who was a former president of Oakwood University 08:11 and vice president of the General Conference. 08:14 It was Dr. Rock's vision 08:18 for Operation Reachback. 08:21 And the purpose was simply 08:23 to reach young men of color 08:27 who did not have a father in the home. 08:32 As you know, 70% of black homes 08:37 are without a father. 08:39 And so it was his burden and his vision 08:42 that these young men 08:45 could still be inspired 08:49 and could still be focused on what they, 08:52 with the help of God. 08:54 Once they get an idea, concept of God in their lives 08:59 then they would be motivated for excellence. 09:03 Then so that was Dr. Rock's concept. 09:06 And as a result of that, 09:09 the Operation Reachback chapters 09:12 have exploded one time for the six chapters. 09:15 And with one arm Operation Reachback 09:18 would reach internationally. 09:21 And with the other arm 09:22 it would reach nationally in America. 09:25 And so we are a part of the larger organization 09:31 of Operation Reachback and have function to reach out 09:35 to young men of color and have been blessed 09:38 as the result to see these young men develop 09:43 and have a better concept of themselves. 09:46 Once were on the wrong track 09:48 and now they are productive young men. 09:51 So we thank God for Dr. Rock's vision, 09:54 and thank God that we are a pot. 09:57 Thank you, God. Yes. 09:58 Yes, yes. 10:00 So again, again, this is, this is so, 10:05 so much a part of what Dare to Dream is about. 10:08 Yes. 10:09 It's about placing value where people feel like 10:13 they don't have value 10:15 and showing them they're loved by God, 10:18 and that there is a divine plan for their lives. 10:21 And God has a better way. 10:23 That's right. 10:25 And so what you're doing is, 10:26 it sounds to me as though you're taking, 10:29 you know, young people 10:31 who would ordinarily feel as though they have nothing 10:34 and showing that they are somebody in Christ. 10:37 Absolutely. 10:39 And in many cases, society has given up on them. 10:44 Many of these young men, 10:46 the teachers and people in society 10:49 did not see the value of these young men 10:53 and they themselves did not see it. 10:56 Tell us about a specific case? 10:59 Well, we have a young man that we have worked with. 11:02 As a matter of fact, his teachers 11:06 have given or had given up on him 11:09 and counseled other students 11:11 not to associate with this kind of young man 11:14 because he was not only a troublemaker in school 11:18 but he was very heavily influence 11:21 with the wrong crowd as far as a weed smoker, 11:25 a very heavy weed smoker, 11:27 and God opened a door for us 11:29 to be able to communicate with him 11:32 that there is something better that God has for your life. 11:38 And he cannot tell the rest of the story. 11:41 Sorry. 11:44 In this same home with this lady, 11:48 he started coming, he was a friend of her sons. 11:52 And the funny thing about it when we would go there, 11:56 we did it on Friday nights, 11:59 that was our character building time 12:01 because as I said, we did, we did have a curriculum 12:03 and when we go to the community centers, 12:05 we would do a multi plethora of stuff, 12:08 trying to teach them about life and hygiene. 12:11 And with just basics stuff, you know. 12:13 Yes, life skills. Life skills, precisely. 12:15 We've taught them how to drive, 12:17 put them in our car and taught them how to drive. 12:19 Pray, pray, pray, Lord, have mercy. 12:21 But he came, he would come and, Sister Yvonne, 12:26 there were times when he came, he was stoned. 12:31 He didn't know he was in the world. 12:34 And many of the boys were. 12:37 Pastor would, we would get the Bible 12:40 and because we've been in evangelism 12:42 for lo these many years, 12:44 and we've seen what God has done. 12:48 It didn't fazed us, you know, 12:50 I mean, if the enemy thought that 12:52 we were going to be side tracked 12:53 or you know, scared. 12:55 Yeah, yeah. No. 12:57 And so we would keep on talking about Jesus 13:00 and teaching them how to find the books of the Bible 13:02 and teaching them about, you know, main subjects like, 13:05 for God so loved the world and how much God loves them 13:08 and yada, yada, yeah. 13:10 They were excited. 13:11 They... 13:13 Now where is that 13:14 our main verse was Philippians... 13:17 4:13. 4:13. 13:18 Oh, yes. 13:20 "I can do all things through Christ 13:22 who strengthens us." 13:23 And so when we pray at night and we, you know, 13:25 put our hands on top of each other and we would say, 13:27 I can do all things through Christ with strength. 13:29 We just kept pounding into their heads. 13:32 And well, of all the guys, 13:35 one of the boys and I get so excited. 13:37 I'm trying to stay calm. No, no, let it go. 13:40 Let it go. Our viewers love it. 13:41 Let it go. 13:43 But one night, it seems as though 13:49 the Holy Spirit got through to him. 13:54 And so we started taking them to church. 13:59 And one of these Sabbaths, 14:02 Joel took the walk down the aisle. 14:05 Oh, come on. His name is Joel Joseph. 14:08 Okay. 14:09 And Joel was baptized. Praise the Lord. 14:13 Hallelujah. Yes. 14:15 And then he went to... 14:17 We sent him to Oakwood. 14:18 We've picture of him up on the screen. 14:19 Yes, that's Joel. That's Joel. 14:22 Hey, Joel. 14:24 That's Joel. 14:25 Now that's the two of us taking him to Oakwood. 14:30 Okay. 14:31 We stopped, we got a free night at my daughter's place 14:36 and we took him from 14:39 Oakwood to Atlanta, to Huntsville. 14:44 We did not allow him to go there by himself. 14:47 And so another of the board members 14:49 there were three of us, 14:50 we took him and we introduced him 14:52 to a lot of people in yada, yada, yada. 14:53 But he had some bumps in that first year. 14:58 Lots of bumps. 15:00 The same young man 15:02 that the teachers did not have confidence in 15:07 and he was failing, 15:10 we took him to Oakwood 15:12 and his first semester 15:15 his GPA was 4.3. 15:21 The first semester? First semester. 15:23 Wow. 15:24 He himself did not know 15:27 how brilliant mathematically he was. 15:29 He's a math genius. He's a math genius. 15:31 Wow. 15:32 And the Lord just blessed him. Look at God. 15:35 The same weed smoking, 15:39 the same person that the teacher shied away from, 15:44 that was out on the street corners. 15:46 God said, I have a plan for you. 15:48 Yes, yes. Praise the Lord. 15:51 Praise God. 15:52 And this same young man, he's in his second year. 15:56 But prior to the start of the second year, 16:00 he decided to go colporteuring. 16:04 And his first week, he didn't think he could last. 16:09 He wanted to come home. He wanted to come home. 16:12 But by the end of the summer, he was a top seller. 16:16 Wow. Ain't that amazing? 16:19 What God does. Look at how God works. 16:22 Yeah, what God does. 16:24 You know, it's so interesting to me 16:25 because the enemy's plan is to, of course, you know, destroy. 16:29 That's right. Right? 16:31 Kill, steal and destroy. That's right. 16:32 But God's plan is to give us life 16:36 and to give it more abundantly. 16:38 And that's what He's done for this young man. 16:40 That's right. Thank you, God. 16:41 And it sounds like the kids in this program, 16:46 it's like they're on a journey. 16:48 Yeah. 16:49 This is not just to give them skills. 16:52 This is really to introduce them to Christ 16:55 with the selections. 16:57 And that is wonderful. 16:59 Landing them on the sea of glass, 17:00 submit to God. 17:01 Yes, yes. 17:03 And to let them know and to visualize themselves 17:08 as what God can do in their lives 17:11 if they will connect with Him. 17:14 Oh, that's wonderful. We have some pictures. 17:16 Let's show some of those pictures 17:18 and just tell us... 17:19 What we're looking at. What we're looking at. 17:22 Okay. Who's it? 17:24 Okay, now you're looking at two young men 17:28 and there the mother of the one on the left. 17:31 This is our robotics program that we're running. 17:34 We have a phenomenal robotics program, 17:38 what we have seen, 17:40 you know, how you evolve as an organization. 17:43 And you see 17:44 where you're going to land to see if it really, 17:46 what's going to really connect with the young people. 17:49 And robotics, there's a gentleman in Orlando 17:54 that I taught when he was in the eighth grade 17:56 by the name of Robert Hindley. 17:57 Oh, yes, he's a friend of ours, too. 17:59 Yes. 18:01 And he was determined 18:03 to get this community group 18:04 Operation Reachback into robotics 18:07 because of his own personal testimony 18:10 with his son. 18:11 And a lot of the kids 18:13 that are problematic in the classroom 18:15 are labeled ADHD, ADD, 18:19 attention deficit students. 18:21 And so what we have found, Sister Yvonne, 18:26 is that these kids are shining like stars. 18:30 Oh! 18:32 Now this is a brother and sister 18:37 that comes to us 18:39 at the Forest Lake facility 18:43 because again, we don't have our own 18:45 but we are borrowing the facility there. 18:49 And there are some homeschoolers. 18:52 We're teaching homeschoolers and that's, 18:55 this is a younger group, 18:56 she is, Jordan is about eight years old. 19:00 And I'm not sure 19:01 the age of the other young lady. 19:02 But they are building the Lego robotics 19:05 and explaining them with expert explanations. 19:09 I mean, it's just amazing. 19:11 Girls are shining with robotics. 19:12 Girls are shining. Great. 19:14 In America, 19:16 we are lacking women engineers. 19:21 Yes. 19:22 And so we're trying 19:24 to not only teach the students about Jesus 19:27 and His love for them, 19:28 but prepare them to take their place 19:31 on the world stage in the area 19:35 of engineering robotics to perform surgeries 19:39 and to deliver goods, 19:42 and robotics are part of the infrastructure 19:46 now in America. 19:47 But women have been lacking and black boys 19:51 are almost non-existent in the area. 19:53 So we're on two fronts. We're trying to help that. 19:58 Now you have some pictures of young people 20:03 around the robotics table. 20:04 Okay, here we are with Joel 20:08 at Oakwood University 20:10 with other young people 20:12 that were having some challenges. 20:14 And this picture is one of my favorite pictures. 20:19 This is robotics now for us, we're doing it eight months 20:24 and three times per week. 20:25 But here was part of our summer robotics class. 20:30 And the kids, these are little people, 20:33 8, 9, 10, 11, all up to about 15, 16. 20:38 They were phenomenal. 20:41 As I look at them, their faces, they were just so excited. 20:46 And I think we have a picture of their parents 20:48 that came to the closing ceremony. 20:54 This is back at Forest Lake. 20:57 This is a mother and her son, 21:00 Miss Nerdley and her son Joshua. 21:02 Joshua is so precious. He is learning robotics. 21:05 In fact, Joshua is able now to teach other kids, 21:11 peer to peer tutoring is very important 21:14 because they learn so much. 21:15 And people of color, 21:17 we have got to get our kids into higher thinking skills. 21:22 Critical thinking? 21:24 Critical thinking, you know, 21:26 when I first met Dare to Dream, 21:29 first of all, the title is phenomenal. 21:32 Praise the Lord. 21:34 Yeah, the title is a God given title. 21:36 And when I think of what Dare to Dream does 21:38 on the 3ABN network, you fill a phenomenal place. 21:44 Praise God. 21:46 Just, you know, 21:48 as we are trying to fill with Operation Reachback 21:52 because we're... 21:54 The kids with whom we work are so needy. 21:57 Yes. 21:59 The families, 22:00 there's a lot of mental health situations 22:03 going on, lack of it. 22:05 And in Operation Reachback 22:09 we provide certified 22:12 mental health counseling. 22:15 Oh, that's wonderful. 22:17 So it's not just robotics and stem and this or that, 22:21 we try to feed the whole person. 22:24 That's incredible. 22:25 Because there's got to be a lot of depression or anger 22:29 or it's all the above. 22:31 You're absolutely right. 22:33 Most of the kids that we work with, 22:36 they are, they have a tremendous anger deep within 22:42 for the simple reason that they, 22:45 some, most of them have never seen their father. 22:48 They're mad. 22:49 And we had a session with about 10 young men 22:55 to just open up and to listen to them. 22:59 It's just heartbreaking, 23:00 one young man told us that when he was five, 23:04 Christmas Eve, his father said, 23:07 "I'm going to get you a gift and I'll be back." 23:10 And he said, that was 20 years ago. 23:12 Oh. 23:14 And can you imagine the deep seated anger. 23:18 And so we have to direct them to the fact that yes, 23:22 your father failed you 23:23 but your heavenly Father will never fail you. 23:26 That's right. 23:27 And give them a purpose and value in their lives. 23:33 But you're absolutely right, 23:34 there's a lot of subtle anger 23:38 that has to be dealt with them. 23:40 With our mental health specialist, 23:44 they're so good. 23:45 They're non-condemning, no judgment. 23:48 They are wonderful 23:49 how they move through the issues 23:52 with the boys. 23:54 And the boys are not even aware that they're opening up, 23:57 they're just doing it, you know, it's not scripted, 24:00 it's just happening. 24:02 Right. 24:03 And that's our older kids that we, 24:07 that we do the mental health with. 24:09 It's not that younger kids don't need it. 24:11 But that first group of which I spoke earlier, 24:17 when we did that with them, 24:19 it was a revelation to themselves 24:22 that they had that in them. 24:24 Yes. 24:25 You know, they are not aware. 24:26 So again, I have to say that 24:31 the Dare to Dream opportunity, 24:34 we are asking these boys dare to dream to be great. 24:38 That's right. That's right. 24:40 Dare to dream to own your own business. 24:42 That's right. That's right. 24:44 You can do it. You can do it. 24:46 I can do all things in Christ. 24:48 That's right. That's right. 24:50 The thing with Operation Reachback 24:53 and the robotics 24:54 and seeing them as entrepreneurs 24:56 and doing surgeries with robotic assistants 25:00 and all of that. 25:02 For us that's just the way we talk. 25:03 We expect it. Yeah. 25:05 That's so good. You know, we expect it. 25:07 Which is probably unusual for a lot of these boys 25:09 because the bar 25:12 was probably so low for them before 25:15 and now you expect great things from them. 25:17 We expect it. 25:19 All right, two things because our time 25:20 is almost gone, I can't believe it. 25:21 Oh, my goodness, it's almost gone. 25:23 Oh, my goodness. 25:24 But what we have to do is find out 25:25 what your needs are and how to reach you. 25:27 Okay. 25:29 Two things. Well, multiple of things. 25:31 But the two things that come to mind 25:34 that we spoke of prior to coming on 25:37 is that we need a home for expansion. 25:41 Okay. 25:42 When you say a home, you mean... 25:43 A location, a location that is ours. 25:47 A facility, yes, a facility. 25:51 We have a dream, dare to dream, we have a dream. 25:56 That's right. That's right. 25:58 And the dream has to do 26:00 with a 7,000 square foot facility 26:04 where we can do robotics, have a couple of rooms, 26:08 what, you see for robotics you need a room 26:10 for the computers where they do cladding. 26:12 The cladding is where they make their prototype 26:14 on the screen. 26:17 They see what they wanted to look like, 26:19 what they wanted to do because I've done cladding. 26:21 Okay. Okay. 26:24 Mr. Hindley talked to me through the whole thing. 26:26 Okay. 26:28 And then to be able to take it from the screen 26:31 and make it a real device, 26:35 a real robot and then programming. 26:38 So you need the room for the computers. 26:39 And then you need the room for the actual tables 26:43 where you make and build the robots. 26:45 So you need funds? 26:46 We need funds, we need funds. 26:48 Funds to cover facility, equipment... 26:49 Facility, equipment, computers, all of that. 26:53 And we also want you to know 26:57 our email addresses and our website addresses 27:01 so that you can get in touch with us. 27:03 Good. What's your website? 27:04 Our website is 27:05 www.reachbackorlando.com. 27:11 Okay. 27:12 That's www.reachbackorlando.com. 27:17 And then follow us on Facebook, 27:22 on Instagram and Twitter. 27:25 Okay. Three. 27:26 You got your social platform all way out, 27:29 that's awesome, that's awesome. 27:31 And since this is such an important project. 27:36 Thank you. 27:37 Because you're making such a difference 27:38 and you're impacting the city, 27:41 the residents of the inner city for Christ. 27:44 I mean, this is so important. 27:45 Thank you so much for being. 27:47 Our time is up, I can't believe it. 27:49 Thank you for inviting us. God bless you. 27:52 Thank you for joining us. 27:54 Join us next time 27:56 'cause it just wouldn't be the same without you. |
Revised 2018-12-24