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D’Juan Hopewell

hopewell-djuan.jpg“The message I took from the CCO was that Jesus plants the children of the Kingdom in the world— and the field is the world!” says D’Juan Hopewell. “The Kingdom of God does not exist only in the confines of the church. Rather, the Kingdom is in and among us. The CCO helped to affirm that belief in me.”

D’Juan first connected to the CCO’s ministry when he was an undergraduate student at The Ohio State University. “I was involved in an initiative to unite Christian ministries on campus,” D’Juan remembers. “At that time, the university had well over 40 Christian student organizations on campus. My concern was that none of those ministries seemed to be working together to accomplish common objectives. A good friend of mine by the name of Kristen was working with me to do this, and she introduced me to Minister Mike Mattes of the CCO. Kristen persuaded me that Mike not only shared our heart for Christian unity, but also had wisdom and ministry experience that would be valuable to our success.”

This proved to be true. “Mike worked alongside us, helping us to successfully provide leadership to the mission of unification. As time went along, Mike began to share with me the CCO’s heart, mission and methodology. What most impressed me was that, unlike so many other campus ministries, there was a definite strategic plan for ministry and discipleship geared toward college students. I began to see that the CCO was serious about ministry, not merely numbers.”

Mike invited D’Juan to attend the Jubilee conference, with the promise that “the teachings I would receive at the conference would encourage my faith, inspire vision and bring clarity to Kingdom concepts.” D’Juan was skeptical. “Once I got to the conference, however, I found that the things I was told were indeed true. That conference helped me gain a much clearer perspective of how we, as followers of Jesus, are to make the Kingdom of God relevant in our world. I was challenged to make that Kingdom Jesus taught about a reality in the 21st century.”

D’Juan is doing that today in his work as an entrepreneur in Atlanta, Georgia. “Currently I am working on an initiative to create a model of economic development and community empowerment in poor neighborhoods. This is a lifelong work and I am committing myself to this until death.

“I view ministry and organizational life very differently today than I did as a student. I attribute that directly to the lessons in organization and ministry practice I received from watching the CCO in action. I understand now what it means to be intentional in that regard and how vital organizational health is.” D’Juan is also serving in a Congressional office, assisting senior staff, and he remains committed to parachurch ministries “that cater to the homeless, oppressed and those most marginalized.”

“One of the most significant contributions of the CCO to my student experience was exposure to believers of other cultures,” D’Juan says. “As a black male, I can testify that isolation and segregation are tangible realities for us as a people. Historically speaking, the black church emerged because blacks were not welcomed in white worship. Having developed in that context, black religious life often remains isolated, having never truly been pursued and coveted by the dominant culture. In my work on campus, I began to work with people like Mike Mattes. That foundation was the basis of other fellowship opportunities I experienced later.”