War Cry - February, 2016 Page 11

much love and respect," says Payton.

Soon, Friday evening basketball became a highlight. The

gang members did not wear their colors, and no one
carried a chip on the shoulder. All they wanted to do was
play ball. They were happy, aggressive, determined and
serious about their games. They called their own fouls.
They kept the peace.

Payton was afraid of the corps becoming a flash point

of gang conflict, of handling attitudes about who could

come and who couldn't, of
having to deal with hot�head-
ed aggression leading to fights,
of confrontations spilling over
to the parking lot, of dissenting
graffiti on the walls. "In every
manner that I could imagine I
was delightfully wrong!" he
says.

After a few months, partici-

pation by local groups that first
pledged support dwindled, but
the Army and Straight Ahead
Ministries kept it going.

Program leaders looked

forward to the time when rival
gangs would play together.

Just three months after the

program began, leaders from the Crips and the Bloods
came forward to request to play together. "I guess they
didn't like having to wait two weeks to play," Payton says.
"I had about 10 minutes warning that first Friday that
they were coming together. We were nervous but
everything was fine. And since June 2009 mixed gangs
have been playing on mixed teams every Friday."

How could things run so smoothly? Payton noticed

that most of the young men, many of whom were in high
school, simply wanted to enjoy playing ball for a night
without worry, without having to look over their shoulder,

Courting

Peace

The War Cry | FEBRUARY 2016

hen someone in the Men's Fellowship at the
Lynn, Massachusetts, Corps suggested doing
something about gang violence in the city six

years ago, Major David Payton, corps officer at the time,
swallowed hard. There were over 40 gangs in Lynn. It
would be hard to find a solution that would really work.

Fast forward to March 2015, when the corps celebrated

the sixth anniversary of a unique ministry. Rival gangs have
been playing basketball peaceably with each other every
Friday night. Mayor Judith Kennedy took part in the
celebration. She mentioned that the city could raise local
taxes or hire 100 new police officers and it would not
have the same impact as the basketball program. New
England Divisional Commander Major David Davis
congratulated all involved and played a couple of games
with the roughly 40 men
there from different gangs.
Major Payton marveled at the
miraculous journey.

The conversation that began

six years ago did not die out
but intensified. More people
joined the discussion. Straight
Ahead Ministries, a Christian
organization, had been
teaching Bible courses to
gang members in the local jail,
and the corps invited the
leader to join the discussion.
The corps held a meeting in
February 2009 open to
anyone interested in address-
ing the problem. Several non�
governmental organizations showed up, as did a represen-
tative for the mayor.

"Someone looked at our humble gym and suggested

hosting a basketball program for local gang members,"
Payton says. "The idea took off! I had not thought that the
plan to address the gangs would end up involving my own
building! We decided to have members of the Crips and
the Bloods play on alternate Fridays to avoid hostilities."

The Army offered food and drinks during these games.

"The players deeply appreciated the simple gesture of
opening the gym and offering food to them. It gained us

Captain Marika Payton (right) with some of the local officers and
volunteers who make the basketball program work.

Frontlines

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