Meet the people in LET THE CHURCH SAY AMEN.

Pastor Bobby Perkins and Reverend Dr. JoAnn Perkins
Pastor Bobby Perkins works full-time as an electrician for the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Transit Authority. He runs World Missions for Christ Church with his sister Rev. Dr. JoAnn Perkins, who founded the church 26 years ago. Pastor Perkins preaches to the congregation, basing many of his sermons on his past struggle with drug addiction, while Rev. Dr. Perkins runs the church’s extensive outreach program, feeding and clothing the homeless and educating some of the city’s poorest children. Her experience with the D.C. school system, rated one of the worst in the U.S., led her to create a tutoring program to give underprivileged children a chance for an education. Pastor Perkins, meanwhile, often conducts services on the sidewalk, because, as he explains “We’re a street ministry, so we got to be in the streets.” He goes into the crack houses and shooting galleries where he ministers to those who suffer from the same addiction that he once had, and preaches with the support of his wife Gail and their two sons.

Brother Ceodtis Fulmore, or Brother C
A Vietnam War veteran, Brother C has a fantastic singing voice and gospel music ministry. His dream is to record a musical and spoken word CD called The Word. As his plans progressed in LET THE CHURCH SAY AMEN, he and his wife Joyce were shattered by their son Cion’s death from a stabbing just a few blocks from their home. Frustrated at the local police department’s failure to arrest his son’s known killer, Brother C gave a moving and personal public testimony at a Town Hall meeting with the support of his church. The meeting was organized by community leaders working to publicize D.C.’s number of unsolved homicides—the highest in the country.

David Surles
Surles has struggled with drug addiction for many years. He lives in a faith-based shelter, Central Union Mission, where he also works as a counselor for new guests and as a night supervisor. Studying to become a minister, Surles preaches for the first time as a minister-in-training at World Missions and at Central Union Mission’s evening services. He dreams of leaving the shelter and finding a stable home to live in with his children.

Darlene Duncan
A single mother of eight children, Duncan juggles the challenges of raising her family while attending school to become a nursing assistant, completing the program with honors. One of her daughters, ten-year-old Qubina, is fiercely religious, and preaches in the church. Duncan's son Robert is also a talented artist, who, for lack of better materials, makes elaborate drawings on cardboard.

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