Man Up Program

This ministry is to and for all men, there will however be a focus on African-American Men.

Although this is presented as a men to men ministry, women are also welcome and will be very much included in this movement.

This is more than just another ministry, it is a ministry movement.  The vision for this movement is that the vision will catch fire and spread across the country.

This ministry movement is born out of concern for the survival of the African-American male.  We are losing far too many of our men and boys through the gaps in our society.  All of us in our communities have at one time or another either wondered or questioned what is going on and why are we losing so many men, young and old, through the gaps.  The gaps of violence, addictions, gangs, poor health and poor health practices, unemployment, incarceration, and pre-mature death.  

It seems that the concern is on the hearts and minds of many, but who is doing something about it.  Sure there are many programs that are having very good success rates, but are we doing enough and is the focus in the right places?  And this statement is by no means a discount to all of the wonderful work that so many people are dedicated to.

I find that many programs focus on behavioral changes, emotional adjustments, mental health, changing the man's self-image,  and the majority of these programs focus on men who are in some phase of the system, but who is concentrating on the really deep healing and transformation from the trauma in the man’s soul.  I know we do our evangelistic thing, but what about having those conversations that we normally place off limits, but the ones that we really need to have.

Those conversations on sacred grounds such as the struggles that men have going on internally but will never admit to having. The darkness on the inside that knags at us, that we gloss over.  The deep anger that we act out of, but never address the root of the anger.  The sense of hopelessness and the root of it that we never talk about.  The struggles with our sexuality that we don't talk about.  The deep seated fears that we have but will not own up to.  The low self-esteem and loneliness as the result of abandonment, abuse, violence, negative talk, bad role models, the full spectrum from the effects of the father or father figure in our lives, racism and the residual effects that slavery has left upon us.

We have become masters at masking over these issues and have learned how to be great stuffers, but all of these are struggles that some of us men deal with every day of our lives.  Imagine what if we could be freed of just some of these things, let alone all of them.  Just imagine what one’s life would look like.

Even asking for some people to imagine this is too much of a stretch, for the hurts and disappointments are so deep, that they will not allow themselves to imagine being healed for fear of yet another failure.  But these conversations must take place and they will take place in the Man-Up Huddles that will be taking place all across America.

Man-Up is a unique ministry movement that will address these tough topics and have those difficult conversations and then allow the Holy Spirit and the Word of God to heal those wounds.

Man-Up will help men establish their new-normal after their transformation.  Then to change our attitudes and perceptions about life.

We need men all across America to get involved in this Man-Up movement as both protégés and as mentors.  There is strength in the numbers, so the more men the better.  From these “Huddles”, champions or “Quarterbacks” will emerge to champion the Man-Up Movement it each City.

Men have suffered at the crossroads or the intersection of oppression.  The oppression includes poverty, racism, and domestic violence.  As each one of these vehicles attempt to maneuver through this intersection it crashes into one or more of the other vehicles.  These crashes always leave wreckage, wreckage that includes more violence, domestic violence, gang violence, deep anger, addictions, low self-esteem, unemployment, sexual perversion, pornography, incarceration, poor health and poor health habits, early and untimely deaths.

Who's effected by this wreckage?  It effects our families, causes broken homes, high divorce rate, single parent homes, hopelessness, homelessness, depression, and most importantly it effects our children.