As A Child, Pastor Bill Experienced The Pain And ...

As a child, Pastor Bill experienced the pain and hopelessness of abandonment. One day, as he walked down a street with his mother, they stopped to sit for a while. She instructed him to sit there and wait for her to return. He sat and waited for 3 days straight. She did not return. A gentleman who had seen him sitting there for 3 days stopped and picked him up. The man was a Christian.

As part of his commitment to serving urban children, he established the headquarters of Metro Ministries in 1980 in what was one of Brooklyn’s roughest neighborhoods, the Bushwick community, most commonly known for its history of gang violence, crime, drugs, and poverty.

In this community, violence was a way of life and a constant threat. Over the years, Pastor Bill was beaten, stabbed and shot in the face. Yet, he persevered and refused to leave the area or give up on the children growing up in such an environment. After years of faithful service, his efforts began to really make difference, not only in the lives of children but in the community as well. Due to the success of Metro’s programs, President George Bush, Sr. appointed Pastor Bill to serve on the National Commission on America’s Urban Families in 1991. Metro’s influence was also identified as a factor in the noticeable reduction of crime in the Bushwick community and the organization was featured on ABC’s NIGHTLINE currently hosted by Ted Koppel in 1997.

Today, Metro Ministries spans the globe reaching out to thousands of children each week. During its fall and spring sessions, Metro ministers to over 22,000 children per week in New York City and over 20,000 in Manilla, Romania and South Africa - totaling 42,000 worldwide. After 27 years, Pastor Bill, himself, is still driving one of the school buses to pick up kids for Sunday School. His programs, curriculum, and techniques are being duplicated in cities all over the world. (info taken from Metro Ministries website)