WS Chronicle

By Busta Brown

What I admire most about my Person of the Week is his unshakable commitment to God’s word, his family, and to make Winston-Salem better and safer for our children and their families. I’ve heard many people say the term, “By His grace,” but when he says it, you can feel a shift in the atmosphere. His presence creates a space free of all doubt and negativity. This Monrovia, Liberia, native is no stranger to the world at large or the local Winston-Salem community. He’s truly a man after God’s heart. Let’s learn more about him.

You’ve earned several degrees of higher learning as you’ve pastored several churches in various conferences. Which is the most important title?

“Well, I believe that the most important title that I cherish most, would be a child of God. All the other things such as Bishop, Doctor, Reverend, those are only manifestations of God’s grace, God’s blessings. But I believe that what I cherish the most is the relationship that I have with God.”

When you begin and end your conversations, you always say, “by His Grace.” And whatever I was dealing with at that moment seems to disappear. Why do you believe there’s so much power when you speak those words?

“We moved from Elizabethtown, North Carolina, to Winston Salem, and at the time my position was such that I had responsibilities for all of America and Jamaica. My employer at the time was Bishop Speaks. And so, it was not long until he retired and so many of my friends began to suggest that now that he had retired, I would be out of the picture, and then it would be the end of my existence. All of this high-profile position will be no more. One morning praying and trusting God, the spirit of God spoke to me, saying, the same God who brought me here, is the same God who will keep me by his grace. So, it was then that I began to trust in the fact my growth … was not based upon people, but it was all by His grace. And I began to say that initially, knowing that every aspect of my life, every day, every moment, was all by His grace.”

Tell us about your latest project, TR105 Total (Total Reduction 105).

“When we look at Winston-Salem and Forsyth County, we know that this community has many wonderful things happening in it. We were able to go from being a textile and tobacco economy and as a result, we – like any other cities or counties – are wrestling with the issues of crime, of violence, and of theft. If we do not curb or reduce these things to a point of manageability very soon, life could be very, very unbearable.”

What is TR105 Total’s plan to fix this?”

“We have over 300-plus different groups, we have over 250-plus churches right in the city of Winston-Salem. And when you add the county, you’re talking of several hundreds. What we intend to propose is this: While there are many wonderful programs in the community, we desire to identify who is doing what, and how effective it is being done. We must be prudent and wise about how monies for programs are impacting and transforming our children, our young adults, our families, and our communities. Nobody buys food to find everything purchased …  everything you purchased is either outdated or spoiled. You want to buy what is excellent to keep you healthy. And that’s what TR105 Total (Total Reduction 105) is all about. How can we close the gap? How can we raise funds to assist organizations while at the same time focusing on impact? Whether it is in athletics, whether it’s in education, whether it’s in economics, whether it is whatever it is, every child needs to have the best possible chance to be able to provide the best possible outcome in his or her life. Our first go-round, we want to enlist at least 130,000 advocates. They’re going to be champions and chain breakers of crime, of violence and poverty in our community. And by the grace of God, we intend to do that.”

The church must play a huge role in making this work. How do you intend to make that happen?

“The church must play a huge role. We call this portion The Love at Work Division of TR105 Total (Total Reduction 105). The church will no longer be an insulated entity looking only within its organization. Through Love at Work,  we are asking the church to look outside of its community, not just members of your church, but members and people around your church who are marginalized. Who are the people around your church that are economically challenged? Who are the people around your church that could stand some help? Not just bring me some old clothing and bring me some food at Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas. But who are the people around your church that you will be able to incorporate into your ministry and walk with them until they become strong enough to get on their feet? To become contributing citizens of the community. Bishop Sir Walter Mack of Union Baptist and Pastor Kyle Mercer of Two Cities Church of Winston-Salem, they are going to spearhead that particular portion of this work to bring other churches to the table so that we’re no longer just concerned about who’s in our pews, but who are those that have been left by the wayside. Who are those that thieves have beaten up and left for dead? Jesus gave the parable of the Good Samaritan, and interestingly, in that parable of the Good Samaritan is what I see happening. The people that are supposed to really take care of the wounded, the bruised and battered, the injured, and not walking away from them. And it is the good Samaritans like the Busta Browns of the world that are coming to the rescue of the children and their families.”

You are asking youth to sign a petition to end violence in our communities and schools. Tell us about how that came about.  

“Busta, I thought about your youth organization, The New Cool Movement, and the amazing things that you’re doing with our youth. When you look at most of the changes that have occurred in society, whether it be in South Africa, whether it be even here during the days of the civil rights movement. You saw that when children spoke up, it made a difference. Job, the 2nd chapter, verse 28, where God said on the last day he’ll pull out his spirit. And if you look at that text, it is the old, the young, the women, the men, they all were in the same place to experience the power of God. And any time we move away from God’s plan of action, we will always have problems. And so many, many of the problems the world is facing today is because we have chosen to exit God’s realm of governance and do it our own way. So we’re saying to politicians and all of those older people, younger people, whoever it is, whatever you are doing, remember – children need you and you need an opportunity. They need a safe place to live. That’s what that petition is all about.”

 I heard you speak about the importance of a discipleship culture. Tell us about that.

 “Let’s talk about the need for continuity of leadership. For example, if you don’t mind taking you for example. I was with you one day at Carver High School. There was a young man that you introduced by the name of Jeremiah Jett. And what I observed was that you had coached, taught, guided this young man, as to the experiences that you have had in terms of what is the best practice in order to put you in the best position to make the best contribution to society. I observed you doing that to that for that young man. That’s what discipleship culture is all about. Where we are good at finance, we can find others of influence and begin to mentor youth about finance. If you are in administration, whatever it is that you’re in, you need to always have people around you that you are impacting because when we fail to do that, people are left wondering what to do next. Let’s go back and look at a classic example: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I have a dream” speech. What if after him, there were individuals to take up the content and keep pressing forward? What if after that particular group who took it on, passed it on? Jesus took 12 individuals and he coached them. He mentored them. He discipled them. And as a result, we have over 2.3 billion people today who call themselves followers of Jesus Christ. If Jesus did it, we can do it and transform our society equally. That’s what discipleship culture is all about.”

What is the Neonatal project?

I was at a function not long ago and one of the people in attendance shared how a young mother dropped her newborn on the side of the road and went about her business. The person who was talking said (the mother) could have easily taken the child to the hospital, a fire station or the police station and dropped the child off there and go on about that business and there would be no issue about it. But those young parents didn’t know a thing about those kinds of opportunities. And so, the fear factor got in the way and they dropped the child on the side of the road. Imagine dropping a baby not even quite a week old on the side of the road! What if an animal had come? What if a dog had come and some horrific things happened? Such are the results of not knowing the benefits, opportunities, privileges and even resources that are out there. And so, the Neonatal project is where when a young person gets pregnant, they become a part of that community. And what we do, we teach them all of the resources that are available. We teach them all of the opportunities that are available and the fact that you have entered a new arena of responsibilities. But here are the obligations and the opportunities so that you can bring this child to a full term and not have to do anything crazy.”

I really love your Fatherhood Network. Tell our readers about this amazing program.

“The role of the father is extremely important, yet there are many, many homes without a father. As a matter of fact, from the statistics, there’s something like 18.5 million homes in America without a father. The Fatherhood is one that focuses on how to equip men to understand the role of fatherhood. It’s important for fathers to connect with their children through prayers, so if they can’t visit due to divorce or other personal issues, we encourage them to pray with them through text. Ask your child how they are doing, or text words of inspiration. That’s number one. Number two, we connect men back to their families, because some of the issues we are facing are that fathers are no longer attached to their families. The format will be like that of Alcoholics Anonymous, where we find churches with areas where groups can meet and be trained and educated in the Fatherhood Network program.”

Tell us about the Global Prayer.

“We do that Monday through Friday from 12 to 1 p,m. Our goal is to identify 197 congregations who will each pray for a particular nation in the world. They’ll be praying for peace. They’ll be praying for unity. They’ll be praying for harmony. They’ll be praying for the end to human suffering. They’ll be praying for the end to wars because we see war as another pathway to enslavement and the practices of slavery. And not only that, but we also teach, preach and encourage people to do good works because the Bible says it is not enough just to say Lord, Lord, but we must be about the business of doing good works, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, giving water to the thirsty, visiting those in prison, and those that are sick. And we know that all of these things are possible as we are empowered by the Holy Spirit.

“By the end of the year 2028, we are hoping that we can have over 7 million people around the world. Seven, because there are seven continents and we like to see a million persons praying for each country and continent around the world, so that there will be peace, there’ll be harmony, there’ll be unity, there will be the end to human sufferings and the end to war. We believe it because God said in His Word, if my people are called by my name, if they will seek His face, humble themselves, and turn from their wicked ways, He will heal the land. God wants to do the same on earth, but it’s going to take his people to stand in the gap to make a difference.”

My Phenomenal Person of the Week is Bishop Seth O. Lartey. “We must leave this world better than we met it. It is for all of us, no matter what is happening in our society, in our communities, that each of us can participate in making a difference. Nothing happens until something happens.”

For more info or to contact Bishop Lartey, visit sethlartey.org, https://www.youtube.com/@sethoLartey/videos, Seth O. Lartey International on Facebook, or send an email to Solartey@aol.com.