TERRANCE LEVI
At the age of eight, I remember coloring pictures of Noah’s Ark in Sunday School. Raised by the television screen, watching gangster movies and listening to music about hustling and thugging, some very bad seeds were planted into my life. I wanted to live the lifestyle of the rich and famous by any means necessary, which lead me to a life of crime. At the age of twenty-two, I found myself involved in organized crime, a lifestyle that would have appalled the Sunday School teachers from my childhood. Working in a circle of crooked professionals, making mind-blowing amounts of cash, I felt I had it all: money, women, cars, power and respect. But then it all began falling apart as my life entered a downward spiral. I had left my wife and kids and narrowly escaped a lengthy prison term. Even though I felt like a young king financially, I was depressed and empty. Then, one evening in October of 1995, I was invited to a church and that day my life was changed forever. I became a Christian that night, and I pledged allegiance to Jesus Christ. That evening at the altar, God delivered me from that lifestyle and saved me from the penitentiary. I immediately felt an urge to go back to the same streets I used to hustle in to let them know that God loves them, and that He has a better plan for them.I began doing outreaches in the community. We did car shows, basketball tournaments with big cash prizes, we had people jumping ramps on motorcycles like Evel Knievel. We also started a service called “Friday Nite Live”, which featured live rap and R&B performances, hip hop dancing, skits, a live DJ, strobe lights, and a 20-inch disco ball. You may say this is common, It wasn't in 1996! But one thing I learned from my past was that if the scriptures could not be communicated in a relevant manner, then the strobe-lights, DJ’s and low rider bikes would be for nothing. Because I was from the streets I combined preaching with street slang and inner-city analogies, making the for a relevant presentation of Scripture tailor-made for my audience.This ministry formula, which some have called revolutionary, lead to five successful years of Friday Nite Live, speaking and preaching engagements across the country, and media coverage. Our mindset was and still is we are willing to do almost anything that will draw a crowd of people so that at some point during the festivities we can minister the gospel to them. We have seen almost 45,000 people saved in our face to face ministry since we began. Then came a defining moment in our ministry. I asked God one evening while watching Christian TV, “Why are the Christian programs the cheesiest shows on TV?” And He said to me, “Well son, why don’t you do something about it?” So our team began creating a new genre of entertainment, which we have coined redemptive entertainment – music and movies that relay a message of hope and give solutions to today’s societal ills. Our films are distributed internationally and have began to produce television dramas and sitcoms. We also travel the country, conducting seminars, conferences and workshops on how entertainment can be used to initiate positive changes in society. Over the years, my ministry team and I have been committed to creating cutting edge tools for evangelism and discipleship and our mission continues to become more and more effective at harvesting the field of souls which is the family business for all believers. LINKS http://www.streetlifeworldwide.tv/levi.html
