A report by Brook Otis
For years The Sentinel Group has followed the scent of God’s presence and power around the earth, providing His church with an account—a testimony—of things we never knew our God was up to. These stories have inspired many to hope and to prayer. It was our great joy to begin documenting within our own nation’s borders the transforming power that has come to a people who have long been marginalized by media and by outsiders decade after decade. It was in the city of Manchester, Clay County, Kentucky, at the Historical Genealogical Society, that I held a copy of a 1938 Courier Journal with an article by the Associated Press labeling Manchester as the “Worst Crime Stronghold” in America. We poured through diary entries of J.J. Dickey, a minister who spent time in Manchester in the late 1800s, remembering the drunken men who would wander the town streets, firing their pistols. Family feuds were responsible for the loss of hundreds of lives and gave the county its reputation which, unfortunately, the local and national media still emphasize to this day.
Not too many years ago, Manchester was a city mired in corruption on almost every level of political and civil service. Cocaine was being snorted on the Mayor's desk; the assistant police chief was running drugs out of the trunk of his car; drug dealers ran the streets and elections were bought. Parents watched as their youth, hopelessly enslaved to the medley of drugs readily available, lost hope of any small chance for a better life. At one time, a local drug dealer selling from a drive-thru window in the center of town, did more business with local citizens than the three nearby fast-food chains combined!
The church operated as they always had—within their four walls, and each denomination in their own way. Many tried to keep their doors closed to what was happening in the streets. Others tried to press into God, standing in prayer for their community, but became discouraged at what seemed an insurmountable obstacle. All that began to change when a local Baptist pastor named Ken Bolin had a prophetic dream. In it the community, led by the churches, marched the streets of Manchester with banners held high rejecting the status quo.
On May 2, 2004 that dream came to pass when more than 3,500 people representing 63 churches, united to march on a soggy, blustery day. Against the wishes of some local law enforcement, and against drug dealers’ threats of personal harm and damage to church buildings, the county-wide body of Christ stood in faith to say “Enough!” So read the headline in the next morning’s newspaper.
The people of this county look back fondly on that day as the moment their extraordinary journey began. It was the day people united under a common cause: bringing pastors into genuine friendships and citizens back into ownership of their community. While not everything has changed overnight, the community simply isn’t what it once was.
Appalachian Dawn is the Sentinel's next DVD and will be released in early Summer of 2010.