It All Started in a Texas Death Cell

Fred Jordan Mission was born in a Texas death cell. Stay with us, and I’ll tell you how.

Kneeling in that Texas death cell, my late husband, Fred Jordan, prayed with his boyhood friend, Carl Dobbins, who was awaiting execution by the State of Texas for killing two women while drunk. Fred was in seminary in Fort Worth, and he visited Carl every day for three weeks while he was in South Texas preaching.

On his last visit, as they knelt on the cold, hard concrete floor, Carl grabbed Fred’s lapel and said, “Fred, I’m going to die, and I should, because I killed two women. But Fred, live my life for me. Warn other men and women of the dangers of alcohol and drugs. Promise me, Fred.”

Fred finished his seminary training in Fort Worth, returned to California where he built and pastored a large church, but he never forgot his promise to Carl. So he resigned his church, and founded the Mission to reach the abandoned, the rejected, and the outcasts whom our society would rather forget. In fact, Fred lovingly referred to his friends here on Skid Row as his “Forgotten People.”

Fred also had a passion to see every child of God equipped and committed to sharing their faith, so he opened a school to teach personal evangelism. I came to that soul winning school in 1949, when I was a teenager, and the course of my life was changed. More than 65 years later, my greatest joy is when I am sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ with someone who needs to know Him.

Now I want to give other believers the same opportunity that was given to me, and that’s why we have opened the Mission’s new Center for Evangelism and Outreach here on Skid Row. Churches, bring your youth group, your women’s ministry, your men’s Bible study group, your pastoral leadership team, or your church staff. School, bring your students. Learn to share your faith both in the classroom, out on the streets of Skid Row, or in our Chapel services. Learn to serve the poor by working alongside our staff to prepare and serve food to hungry people, pack and distribute food bags, or through other ministries of compassion and mercy. Phone today, 1-844-FJM-FOOD or visit our website http://fjm.org/donate.

Blessings,

Willie Jordan