By Ellen Fannon
As Art Wilson walked on the outskirts of the Cabrini Green projects in Chicago, a car gunned its engine and screeched to a halt next to him. Several young men got out and shoved him into the car.
Art pictured being driven out of the city and killed. Images of his family at his funeral raced through his mind. After driving a short distance, the car stopped, and one of the young men said, “You can get out now, Art.”
Barely able to stand, Art asked, “What was that all about?”
“We found out a drive-by (shooting) was about to go down where you were walking, and we didn’t want you to get hurt.” Then they took off.
Stunned, Art realized the Gangster Disciples, one of Chicago’s most feared and notorious gangs, cared enough about him to protect him.
“There is no one so hard that God cannot reach,” says Gang Rescue founder Art Wilson. GANG (Gangs Also Need God) Rescue is an interdenominational ministry showing Christ’s love to gang members nationwide.
The ministry began when Art prayed, “God break my heart for the things that break Your heart.” Before his calling, Art says he couldn’t have cared less about gangs.
The call to minister to the most dangerous and violent in society came one morning after Art dropped his children off at school. As he headed home, he felt the presence of God so strongly that he pulled to the side of the road.
God told him, “I have a plan for gang lives, too. I will go with you and protect you.”
The Lord laid on his heart Ezekiel 2:6-7: And you, son of man, be not afraid of them, nor be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns are with you and you sit on scorpions. Be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, for they are a rebellious house. And you shall speak my words to them, whether they hear or refuse to hear . . .” (ESV)
Art worried about how his wife, Vicky, would react to God’s calling. But she said, “I’m not surprised. I’ve been praying you’d ease up on work and do more in ministry.”
A small-statured, soft-spoken man who runs his own insurance and financial planning business, Art seemed an unlikely vessel to share the love of Jesus with the most treacherous of society.
When others expressed concern about the dangerous ministry, Vicky replied, “Art doesn’t belong to me. He belongs to God.” That’s not to say the mission to which God called her husband was easy. Vicky stayed behind with their three children in Niceville, not knowing where Art was for weeks at a time.
They prayed for several weeks about where Art should go, with no answer. Then, one Wednesday night at church, a couple requested prayer for their daughter, the girlfriend of a gang member named Steven, who belonged to the Hispanic gang Ambrose in Chicago.
Art talked with the girl and knew God wanted him in Cabrini Green in Chicago, one of the biggest and most violent projects in the country—and He was calling Art to go alone.
When Art arrived in Chicago, he spent most of his first evening in prayer. He asked Vicky to let his church family know what was happening and to pray, as well. The next morning, he took the L-train to Cabrini Green. On the train, several people asked him where he was headed. He replied, “Cabrini Green.”
They laughed and said, “No, really. Where are you going?”
When he repeated his answer, they said, “No outsider goes into Cabrini Green and comes out alive, especially if you are white. Don’t you know the Black Gangster Disciples run it? You won’t last five minutes in there.” Then, the conversation ended. They thought Art was either crazy or lying.
By the entrance of Cabrini Green, Art was met by four young men covered in tattoos carrying pistols and knives in their belts. One approached and asked, “Do you know where you are? I wouldn’t go in there if I were you.”
Art struggled for a way to connect with these men. Then God gave him the answer. Spying a pile of worn-out sports equipment, he said, “Guys, some of your sports equipment has seen better days. How about I get some newer equipment and bring it back here?”
They laughed sarcastically, and one of the men said, “Sure you will. Why would you do that for us?”
“Because I care about you and want to get to know you better.” Art made good on his word, opening the door to building new relationships through the universal language of sports.
On his first trip to Chicago, he also met with Steven and his gang. As Art sat alone in Pilsen Park, one of Chicago’s most dangerous and violent places, waiting for the Ambrose gang, he began to doubt God’s calling. Then the gang members approached—and Art sat on their “turf.” Reflecting on this gang’s reputation in Chicago, his heart began to race, and his palms sweated.
But the group leader, Steven, sat beside him, and when Art extended his hand, Steven shook it. Three gates led into the park, and three young men stood at each entrance. When Art asked Steven why the three men couldn’t join them, he said, “Art, we decided if you care enough about us to come in here by yourself and risk your life, if anyone is going to get to you, they’ll have to go through us first.” Steven’s response confirmed the call God had placed in his heart months before.
Later, Steven expressed his desire to leave the gang but was afraid for his family. Art promised to help in any way he could. Nationally, about 70 percent of people in gangs want out, but trying to leave a gang is often a death sentence.
Over the next several years, Art made sixteen trips to Chicago, staying anywhere from two to four weeks each time, helping many young men escape the gang lifestyle. During this ministry, he saw many former gang members come to faith in Christ, move out of Chicago, and start new lives. Two years after beginning GANG RESCUE, Art’s son, Buddy, joined him in the work.
After Cabrini Green was torn down, God called Art to gang ministry in Belize, where he made another sixteen trips to work with gangs in Central America. Now, he devotes his time closer to home, ministering to gang members at the Okaloosa Academy, the juvenile facility in Crestview, Florida, which receives teenagers from all over the state.
Art has been involved in prison ministry for more than twenty-five years. He has participated in several baptisms, sometimes being allowed to transport inmates to his church in Niceville for baptism.
Many people told Art he should write a book about his amazing experiences, but he fought against the idea because he didn’t want the book to be about him. He wanted God to get the glory. But finally, he gave in and wrote a powerful book, Gangs, Guns, and God, which was released this summer by EA Publishing.
He pitched his idea for the book to publisher Cheri Cowell at the Florida Christian Writers’ Conference. She stopped him in the middle of his pitch and said, “That’s enough. I’m signing you right now!”
Gangs, Guns, and God chronicles Art’s spine-tingling journey into the gang world and shows how one man, stepping out in obedience to God’s calling, can be used mightily to impact what seems to be a hopeless situation.
Art hopes the book will encourage people burdened for lost loved ones. He says, “If God can save gang members, enabling them to leave that lifestyle totally changed, there is no one God can’t reach. Take heart. Keep praying. He can soften anyone’s heart.”
Gangs, Guns, and God can be purchased from the link below:
https://www.amazon.com/Gangs-Guns-God-Art-Wilson/dp/1963611578/
