Help for Prichard ministry
UM students raise money to buy van for children's outreach in Alabama Village

Courtesy of the Press-Register 2008 ©. All rights reserved. Reprinted with permission.

By ROBERT McCLENDON
Staff Reporter

Photos by Dan Anderson/University of Mobile

John and Dolores Eads run a children's ministry in one of Prichard's roughest neighborhoods, but their duplex-turned-outreach in Alabama Village on Prichard's old north side has earned the respect of many in the community.

After school, dozens of kids from the area descend upon LIGHT of the Village to get help with homework, play basketball and hear the Gospel. Many of them come on foot to the little building, weaving through vacant lots and abandoned buildings on their way. But when night falls and it's time for them to go home, the Eadses have a choice: allow the children to walk home in the dark or give them a ride.

They generally opt to take most of the kids home themselves, but with only three cars between the couple and a pair of volunteers who help them out, it's not easy.

"We make a lot of trips," John Eads said. "A lot of trips."
That tedious system may be in for a change, thanks in part to some help from the University of Mobile.
The students and faculty from the school's Center for Performing Arts put on a praise and worship benefit last week to raise money to help buy a van for the ministry.

Neal Ledbetter, who runs the school's spiritual programs, said the Friday night gathering, dubbed UM United, brought about 400-500 people into the auditorium and raised about $4,800, with most of the money coming from college students.

While the sum raised by the concert may not be enough to buy a van outright, John Eads said he was working with some other donors to get them to chip in as well.

Ledbetter said the university has been working with the Eadses for several years and the idea for the concert was a direct result of that relationship. A small group of students who regularly volunteer at LIGHT of the Village saw the Eadses struggling to shuttle the children to and from the ministry and told Ledbetter about their need for a van.

When he heard the performing arts students were looking for a cause to support with their spring performance, Ledbetter said, he made the connection and UM United was born.

"We talk about being a school that changes lives to change the world and these are people that are actually doing that," he said of the Eadses and their ministry.

During the program, the audience watched a video produced by the Eadses that shows interviews with some of the children and the conditions in the neighborhood.

Ledbetter said it was an eye-opener for many in the audience who have never visited the Village.
"It's kind of shocking that (Alabama Village) is five minutes from our campus," he said. "It's sort of out of sight, out of mind for a lot of people."

Having the Eadses, who brought some of the LIGHT of the Village children with them, come to the concert and share their story was important not only to highlight their need for a van, Ledbetter said, but also to increase awareness of the needs of many in the Mobile area.