A couple of years ago, Wilson Ramsey got a trailer to move his son’s furniture from Mississippi to Illinois.
And when he got back home, he was trying to figure out what to do with it.
“Someone suggested, ‘Why don’t you use that trailer to move people and make some money?’ And I said, ‘No, I don’t want to do that; I don’t think that’s what God wants me to do,’” Ramsey said.
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At that point, he had been serving for about 20 years as pastor of Lord of Glory Baptist Church in Lyon, a small town in the Mississippi Delta. Around the same time, Hank Lee, association missions strategist for North Delta Baptist Association, told him that he was planning on shutting down the association’s ministry center, which functioned as the only clothes closet in the area.
The move was strategic, Lee said.
“People would come to the ministry center and say ‘this is my church’ because we had a devotional there, and I thought, ‘Well, that’s not right’ — they would come maybe three or four times a year,” he said.
Lee really wanted a clothes ministry that could be connected to a local church so the tie was more natural for people to get involved.
And suddenly Ramsey had a trailer — and a word from the Lord.
“The Spirit came to me and said, ‘Make a chapel out of it. Go to different communities and drive from one community to the next, open up and give out clothing in any neighborhood that will allow us,’” Ramsey said.
Meeting needs
So that’s what he did. He — along with his wife, Laura, and other volunteers — started taking the trailer into the community twice a week, setting up folding tables and spreading out clothes and shoes for people to look through and take what they needed.
Inside the chapel, Ramsey offered prayer and Bible study, and over time he started taking a trough with him so that people could be baptized.
“They’ve said, ‘We’ve never had this before; people don’t come to us. But you’re bringing the church to us, and you’re helping to meet our needs,’” Ramsey said. “So that really has been a blessing.”
He said he’s been surprised at how much the ministry has grown.
“We had no idea it was going to go to this point,” Ramsey said. “There have been some really emotional times with the concerns people have who come into the chapel. I’ll ask, ‘What are your needs?’ and some of them break down crying telling me these different things.”
As they began to meet more needs, more people in the area donated clothes to help out. It wasn’t long before Lord of Glory Baptist needed more space for the ministry, so they bought a small storage building to put beside the church.
They call it the Station, and it’s open every Tuesday and Thursday for anyone to “shop” for free clothes. Sometimes the church has tables set up under the trees with food, and Ramsey’s granddaughter sets out toys to entertain the kids while their parents look for clothes.
“A lot of time people come, and they don’t want to leave. They shop and talk and pray,” he said. “It’s becoming a family.”
Faith and determination
And as the ministry grows, they’re in need of even more space and looking to get another storage building as God provides the funds.
“We don’t have a lot of money, but we have a lot of faith and determination, and we have a great God,” Ramsey said.
Lee said it’s been encouraging and challenging for him to watch the Ramseys be obedient to what God has called them to.
“He and Miss Laura, they hear God’s voice, and that’s where they go and they follow,” Lee said. “And God is blessing them. It’s been exciting to me, and other pastors are excited to hear what’s going on.”
