RoadBlock Ministries is detouring troubled youth in the Tuscaloosa Detention Center, resulting in thousands of professions of faith. Through this ministry, Ronnie Blake and Joel Beard consider themselves missionary evangelists on the battlefield to save adolescents.
Beard and Blake began their ministry five years ago. Beard, who has been preaching since 1983, was the associate pastor of Grace Baptist Church, Tuscaloosa, when Blake visited the church.
“I took a different route on my way to work, and I saw Grace Baptist Church and our family attended the next Sunday,” Blake said. “I went to the altar after I heard Joel’s testimony. I grew up in church singing gospel music with my family, but I got off track in college. I started singing in a rock band, and I didn’t have Christ in my life.”
Both men are now bivocational ministers. Blake recently became the pastor of Little Sandy Baptist Church, Tuscaloosa, and Beard is an evangelist who attends Englewood Baptist Church, Tuscaloosa.
Beard and Blake felt that God was calling them together to do something for Christ as a team. A friend invited them to the detention center, and they immediately felt called to start a ministry for troubled youth. The two had heard a message titled “Setting up Blockades on the Road to Hell,” and this inspired them to begin RoadBlock Ministries.
‘Narrow road to heaven’
“We are trying to take the kids off the broad road and place them on the narrow road to heaven,” said Beard.
Their ministry includes distributing Bibles to each youth at the beginning of the worship service they are allowed to hold at the Tuscaloosa detention facility. Stamped in the front of the Bibles is a toll-free number and the addresses of the two ministers.
“By law, we cannot contact the kids, but they can call us,” said Blake. “We want them to call us when they are released, and we will find a church nearby for them to attend. They need the support of a church family because some of them will go back into a dysfunctional family or drug environment.”
John Faile, administrator of the Tuscaloosa Detention Center said, “RoadBlock has definitely been the most effective ministry at the center. They come every week, and their personal dedication is amazing.
“These kids have had a lot of disappointments and anger,” Faile said. “Somewhere they have gotten into trouble, and unless someone cares and tries to reach them, many will return to the center.”
Faile believes that the success of RoadBlock has been possible because of the respect the youth have for the ministers and the ministers’ successful interaction with the youth. The Bible distribution has also been important in helping youth and even their families.
“Occasionally, a Bible will be left behind, and I will place it in the lobby where a distraught parent will take it home,” Faile said.
Belinda, the mother of a youth who attended the services, is grateful for RoadBlock Ministries.
“I thought I would go insane when my son was locked in detention,” she said. “He attended the RoadBlock worship service and was saved, and he asked if I would attend Bro. Ronnie’s church. I was saved, and eight members of my family have been saved because of these two men sharing the gospel with my son. I am so thankful for RoadBlock Ministries. I couldn’t have gotten through this ordeal without their continual prayers and encouragement.”
Blake and Beard are enthusiastic in their praise for each other as partners in sharing the gospel. Blake provides the worship music while Beard delivers his message to the youth.
“Ronnie’s musical talent is equivalent to nationally-known gospel music vocalists,” said Beard. “He begins the detention service by singing two songs, and the mood of the group is changed immediately.
“One of my greatest blessings was when Bro. Ronnie came into my life,” Beard said. “Whenever he sings, the Spirit of God moves, and it is easy to preach after he has sung.”
Beard is as a dynamic speaker who can get the attention of even the toughest youth by comparing his former lifestyle with theirs, according to Blake.
“He is anointed by God, and I am thankful to be a part of this ministry with Joel,” said Blake.
The two believe that the youth know immediately if you really care about them.
“We pray before each service in the lobby, and we have seen some pitiful situations with the youth,” said Beard. “I preached every week for a month to a boy who would scream when I preached, and another boy proudly wore the numbers 666 on his knuckles. Both accepted the Lord, and later the youth paid to have the tattooed numbers removed. I always tell them that they can’t always blame their problems on circumstances at home, and accepting Christ can change the direction of their lives.”
Beard recalls a voice crying out as he was walking down the hall after a RoadBlock service. “The boy was in lock down and wasn’t allowed to attend the service,” he said.
“At first I didn’t know where the voice was coming from, and then I realized he was on the floor behind the locked door. He said, ‘Preacher, I heard your message from here, and I want to be saved,’” Beard said. “I knelt on the floor where I could barely see him through the small gap under the door, and we prayed together, and he was saved.”
Many of the youth write Beard and Blake after they are saved. “I’ve been saved. I don’t want the drugs anymore,” said one youth. Many of the letters are thanking RoadBlock for caring enough to share the gospel.
RoadBlock has now started a prevention ministry. They are hosting camps for various churches at Camp Tuscoba, where youth groups can enjoy indoor and outdoor recreational facilities, as well as hear the gospel from various speakers.
“We felt there was a great need to reach these kids with the gospel before they get into trouble,” said Blake.
Churches and individuals have reached out and helped the nonprofit ministry with donations to cover the cost of Bibles and other expenses. More than 15 churches send donations monthly.
“We don’t solicit money. God has always provided,” Blake said. “In the beginning of the ministry, we realized that we had to buy Bibles for the kids.
“We went to a discount store to purchase the Bibles with our own money and saw a friend there,” he added. When he heard about the ministry, he donated the exact amount that we needed to buy the Bibles.”
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