God Works in the Housing Projects Too

By Wintrell Pittman

God Works In The Housing Projects Too is the latest book by Wintrell Pittman. This book takes a refreshing look at life in the housing projects during the 60s and 70s. Crushing the stereotypes concerning families living in the housing projects this book gives the reader a comical as well as realistic look at what life was really like for families living in the inner city. The stories are sprinkled with wisdom, comedy and testimonies about the miracle working power of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. You will read true to life stories about how God delivers his children over and over again. This book is one which will give those who are living in any adverse situation strength and knowledge to know that God is still active in the lives of people anywhere and in any situation if they will just call on Him. This book is ideal for young people who seem to think that they have no way out! Read this and be blessed!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Feb 24, 2010
• ISBN: 9781462843336

Wintrell Pittman

Wintrell Pittman was born and raised in the housing projects of Memphis, Tennessee. Mr. Pittman has been writing for well over thirty years. He is also an accomplished artist and public speaker. He is a model and has appeared in fashion shows and looks to go to Orlando Florida this summer to participate in a National Modeling Contest. Presently he is the Pastor and founder of the Solid Rock Missionary Baptist Church in Blytheville Arkansas. Mr. Pittman has an Associate of Applied Science in Human Services from Southwest Community College, (formerly Shelby State Community College). The late Dr. William Herbert Brewster (author of I Am Determined To Be Somebody Someday) saw potential in a young Wintrell Pittman as a child and sought to publish some of his earlier writings. Unfortunately he died before he could ever publish any of Mr. Pittman’s early works. As a youngster coming up in church Mr. Pittman also attended The Herbert W. School of Preaching. He was ordained to preach by Pastor Frank E. Ray Sr. of the New Salem Missionary Baptist Church in Memphis Tennessee and he was mentored by the late Reverend V.B. Brown former pastor of Lake Grove Missionary Baptist Church also in Memphis, Tennessee.

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Copyright © 2010 by Wintrell Pittman.

ISBN:     Softcover     978-1-4500-4189-8

               eBook           978-1-4628-4333-6

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Rev. date: 09/14/2017

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Wintrell Pittman

Contents

Introduction

PART I

Practical Wisdom

Chapter 1 - Don’t Judge A Book By It’s Cover

Chapter 2 - Story 1 These Are The People We Call Friends?

Story 2 Never Trust A Thief

Chapter 3 - Do Your Own Work

Chapter 4 - What Goes Around Comes Around

Chapter 5 - Story 1 Watch The Company You Keep

Story 2 Watch The Company You Keep

Story 3 Marlon Again!

Story 4 Three Strikes And You Are Out!

Chapter 6 - You Can Not Do Everything Everybody Else Does

Chapter 7 - Story 1 Listen And Obey The Next Time

Story 2 Believe Me When I Tell You It’s Hot!

Story 3 You Ain’t Lying To Nobody But Yourself

PART II

Look At What God Did!

Introduction to Part II

Chapter 8 - God Works In The Housing Projects Too?

Chapter 9 - Another Sign From God

Chapter 10 - Story 1 More Evidence Of This Great God

Story 2 Frank Goes To Hell

Chapter 11 - God Just Keeps on Keeping Me

Chapter 12 - Trust Him

Chapter 13 - Story 1 Angels On The Interstate

Story 2 Angels On The Interstate

Chapter 14 - Look What Else God Did!

Chapter 15 - God’s Purpose Discovered

Chapter 16 - God’s Continued Presence

Chapter 17 - At My Lowest God Was There

Chapter 18 - At My Lowest God Was There Part II

Chapter 19 - God Cares About Everything That You Care About

Source Notes

Acknowledgments

IN LOVING MEMORY OF MY BROTHERS

MARVIN JEROME PITTMAN 12/26/57-12/02/92

GARY LAWRENCE PITTMAN 09/16/61-8/31/92

IN LOVING MEMORY OF

MRS. RUTH JOHNSON

OCTOBER 12, 1950

TO JANUARY 2, 2010

Introduction

God Works In The Housing Projects Too is a collection of testimonies taken from the actual life of the author Wintrell Pittman. This book was written with several purposes in mind.

1.  To dispel many of the myths and stereotypes concerning people who live in the housing projects.

2.  To give glory and honor to God for all the wondrous works He has done in our lives.

3.  To share words of wisdom which maybe helpful to anyone who may need guidance and direction in this life.

The book is divided up into two major sections with section one dealing more with practical wisdom which I received from my parents and other adults. The second section deals with actual miracles God did especially for me and my family.

Now there is no need of trying to link the short stories in this book together. These stories are not related like those you will find in a novel. As you read these stories you might be led to think that they are made up; but these are in fact real stories about real people and real events.

I know there are a great number of people who if given the chance could have written a very similar book about the miracles God has done in their lives. Hopefully this book will inspire others to tell the story of God’s goodness. I have sat on some of this information for a very long time. Some of the information in the stories is just filler information; but make no doubt the stories are real or at least taken from real life. The reason for the filler information is that these stories happened a long time ago. I remember what happened but some of the minute details and the conversations have some what faded into oblivion.

We live in a day and age when there are so many skeptics who do not believe in the miracle working power of God. I know many times when we think about miracles we have a tendency to think of miracles only as being worked during ancient Biblical times. I want you to know that God is working miracles every single day! The parting the Red Sea is a miracle; but so is delivering people from car accidents and certain death.

Our family grew up in the Cleaborn Homes Housing Projects located near the down town area and we had many wonderful experiences there. Contrary to what you may see in the movies and read in the news papers, there were real families in the projects. There were those who cared about their apartments, people who kept gardens and whose yards were beautifully landscaped. Rarely mentioned in most main stream publications, there were families in the projects who had a mother and father as well as the children all living under one roof. In the 60’s and 70’s right there in the housing projects there were husband’s who worked while most of the women stayed home to take care of the house and the children. Sure there was crime in the projects, just like it was crime everywhere else. All in all the housing projects was just as good as any place for a family to live.

We had the friendly neighbor hood business which several were Black owned. There was Ballestrino’s grocery store, Mr. Hunt’s Sundry and the Poor Man’s Meat Market. These businesses were well kept and very professional. The most memorable thing about these businesses and the people who lived in the projects back then is everyone knew everyone and everyone was friendly.

It may sound strange but even the guys who hung out at Mr. Hunt’s Sundry were friendly, at least to the adults. Back then I was very young so I did not get the same respect from them as my parents did. But at least they had enough sense to respect their elders. Why they would even stop shooting dice and cussing if an adult showed up.

I can remember lying in the bed at night listening to the boys singing while they hung out on the street corner. Why they sounded just as good as the Temptations or Smokey Robinson and The Miracles. The harmony was just heavenly. I often times think about how gifted these young men were; but because of the environment we grew up in there was nobody there to encourage them to pursue their gifts of dancing and singing. The local Sundry was the place where everything happened and it was also like the newsroom. You could hear who won the Super Bowl or who was recently locked up in jail. The projects at that time seemed to us like the best place in the world to be.

In today’s world there is a lot of emphasis put on the super natural. Many of the latest blockbuster movies glorify the powers of darkness, movies like Harry Potter, Underworld, Legions, Ghost Rider and Twilight are just to name a few. There are television shows which also glorify the powers of darkness, Medium, Ghost Whispers, and Dark Angel. I know that God has done a lot of good things for many people just like myself and it is my sincere desire to share with the world, some of the great things God has done in my life. As you read this book I want you to think about the wonderful things, the miracles and the blessings God has performed in your life as well.

I pray that you will focus not on me, or any of my accomplishments or for that matter any of my sins and short comings; but focus all of your attention on the life learned lessons in this book as well as the miracles done by none other than our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Read and be inspired.

Disclaimer: This is definitely a Christian book; however there is some mild profanity contained in portions of this book. There is not a whole lot of it but there is some. It is not gross or excessive. The reason for the profanity is because I am dealing with real life situations and if I leave the profanity out than it would have compromised the legitimacy of the story. Please proceed with caution.

PART I

Practical Wisdom

Chapter 1

Don’t Judge A Book By It’s Cover

Ray got up early every morning; whether he had to go to work, school or nowhere at all. His daddy taught him that.

Ray remembered his daddy telling him, Early bird always gets the worm. Frank’s voice was kind of deep and heavy. It was not the kind of voice anybody wanted to hear early in the morning. So every morning when Ray heard him say that, it irritated him a lot. Frank’s voice was not only rough; but everything about him was rough. His hands looked like he had worked on the rail road. They were full of dry skin and hard calluses. Why his hands were so rough you could strike a match on his palms.

Now Ray did not know exactly what that meant at the time; but it sounded like a good enough reason for him to get up out that bed. That plus the fact he was holding that belt in his hand which he had used on previous occasions to insure that everybody got up when told to do so.

That was way back in 1977 or so as Ray remembers. Now the others just slept and waited on their daddy to give them a few licks with the belt. They felt like the few extra minutes of sleep in the morning was well worth those few little licks. Pain was not something Ray needed to get up out of the bed, plus that’s not a good way for anybody to start their day.

From that day on Ray still gets up early in the morning. While washing his face, (with the bathroom door opened) Ray asked his father, What does it mean when you say, The early bird gets the worm? Well his daddy answered, it means that if there is a job to be gotten and several other people want the same job, if you get in line first there is a strong possibility that you might get the job."

Now this sounded good to Ray because like most children, he was foolishly anxious to grow up. His father worked and he was a man so Ray equated getting a job with being a man.

Ray’s eyes lit up when his father told him that. It was shortly after hearing his father give him that answer he made up in his mind that he would get up early every morning regardless as to what day it was. Ray was determined to get the worm.

*     *     *

Proverbs 19:13 Love not sleep, lest thou come to poverty; open thine eyes, and thou shalt be satisfied with bread.

*     *     *

Ray continued washing his face; because he knew that in just a little bit his other brothers and their sister would be all knocking on the door rushing him to get out of the bathroom so they could have their turn.

Funny thing about back then, almost every house had only one bathroom and nobody went with out a bath or a wash up. Back in those days everybody learned the value in waiting.

Frank looked at Ray after answering his question concerning the early bird with a bit of admiration. To him Ray seemed a bit more mature than the others even though he had two brothers and one sister older than him. Actually Ray would find out later that his father thought he was the one who was most like him.

Not only did Ray act a lot like his father but they kind of looked alike. Frank had a very light complexion, medium build, slanted eyes and full lips. Ray was just a shade or two darker than his father, but the eyes, lips and the build was about the same.

The thing that Frank admired most about Ray was his desire for beautiful women. Yeah sure, Ray was young; but his father noticed how the girls gave Ray the eye when they were out together at the grocery stores and other places. He also noticed Ray paying attention to the women as they walked away from him. Frank looked at Ray as he was in the bathroom cleaning up as if to say, That’s my boy. Ray looked back at his father and just from looking into his father’s eyes he could sense his father’s unspoken approval of him.

After brushing his teeth, Ray put the towel to his face and dried it off and went down stairs to iron his clothes. While the other children were fighting over who was going to be next in the bathroom Ray was down stairs calmly ironing his clothes. He was beginning to see more clearly that the early bird really does get the worm.

While he waited on the iron to get hot, he mixed some flour and water together and then strained it through a dish rag to make some starch to put on his jeans. In those days you would not dare go out in public with out a crease in your jeans. The jeans also had to be starched so stiff until they would almost cut somebody if they got too close.

It is 7:30 a.m. so it’s now time for Ray to leave the house so that he can catch the City bus down town. Excitement filled his little heart as the thought of searching for his first job filled his mind. He packed a few snacks and carried his bus schedule with him to the bus stop. He felt like God had some divine purpose for him and getting up early was the start of it.

Because of those words his father told him years ago, Ray always managed to keep a job during the summer when school was out. This made him feel self sufficient. Ray would buy his own school clothes and pay his own way to basketball games and even help his sister and brothers with some of their small financial needs.

About a month before school was out, Ray would actually walk up and down the dangerous streets of Memphis to look for a job when he did not have money enough to ride the bus. People were so impressed with this little boy walking up and down the streets looking for a job until they would usually hire him on the spot. If school was in and he found a job than he was allowed to start working part time in the evenings and then full time in the summer.

Some days Ray when he did not feel like walking to work he would catch the bus. Ray was always afraid of not having what he needed when he needed it, so he tried to always make sure that he had enough change in his pocket to catch the bus. It cost twenty five cents to catch the bus and so Ray always got at least five dollars worth change every week.

Ray grew up in the projects and so he was somewhat familiar with the way of the streets. He knew people could be mean and slick and he