SEATTLE - Pastor Jamaal Cole's prayers are often for those not in church. They are for the ones who come to him at midnight, strung out, doped up, in trouble with the law.
It breaks my heart, he said.
Pastor Cole feels a burden for his community, where a plague of crime has erupted. Over the weekend, a man died in an unsolved hit-and-run. Last week, a suspect pulled a gun on a deputy and a chase followed. Last month, an innocent 12-year-old died, gunned down in crossfire. And last fall, a teen killed his pregnant girlfriend.
Now, a community publicly appeals for help.
Seventeen-year-old J.D. says Skyway desperately needs good role models.
There's hood cats out here, so there isn't anyone good to hang out with, it's easy to fall into temptation, he said.
Antonio Williams is a living example of temptation's toll.
For a year I just smoked crack and lived on the street, he said.
Pastor Cole says in many respects, teens are trapped into living out a stereotype of gangs and violence.
A lot of these guys play out what is pumped into them, he said. They feel stuck. They feel like they have no hope because they have no avenues to get them to the next level of their life.
But Pastor Cole doesn't just preach reform. He's lived it.
I ran with gang members. I was affiliated with a gang, he said.
He preaches a message of love in a community where he says love is not the answer, just the beginning.
That's probably one of their biggest complaints - where are the people who say they love us? he said. When you truly love someone, you have to be willing to put yourself in harm's way and say 'I love you, I love you enough to stop you from self-destructing.' And that's when they get it. That's when the light comes on.
Pastor Cole says what Skyway desperately needs it resources and opportunities, such as internships, to help provide options for kids.
Meanwhile, there are no suspects in this weekend's fatal hit-and-run. Also, police have not made an arrest in last month's shooting death of the 12-year-old boy.
