LaTonya Gates Johnston: Walking Through Redemption

Sometimes, before anything officially begins, God lets us see why it matters.

Ahead of City Serve at Westside, LaTonya Gates Johnston walked through the PawKids house, now being restored after once being a former trap house. But this time, something felt different. The space was no longer marked by pain. It was filled with people preparing, praying, and leaving behind handwritten messages, scriptures, hopes, and reminders of what God is doing.

As she moved from room to room, reading those words for the first time, it began to sink in. This wasn’t just renovation. It was redemption unfolding in real time. A house once marked by pain is now being covered in truth. A place once forgotten is now being reclaimed with purpose.

And just next door, the weight of history remains, bricks laid by enslaved hands, a reminder of the deep and complicated story woven into the fabric of Atlanta. Yet here we are, years later, watching God redeem even that. The same ground that once carried injustice is now becoming a place of restoration, community, and hope.

In that moment, LaTonya shared:

“I was feeling down this morning, but today I got a chance to walk through the unfinished PawKids house and something came over me. It was like, maybe God is holding this up. As I looked at the words, scriptures, and affirmations written on the exposed 2x4 beams, I felt a fresh wind blow over those words and saturate the house. I saw Walter Henegar's message for the first time. I had never noticed it before. Then I saw Liz Irwin and Anne Shear’s words of encouragement. These are the same people who, a decade ago, decided to transform a block. And when you look at the bricks that were laid by enslaved hands to build this block, and now you see redemption on the west side of Atlanta, we are really living out the mission of the church. And I’m just honored to be a part of that.”

This is what City Serve is about.

Not just projects, but people. Not just showing up, but stepping into a larger story of redemption that God is writing across our city.

As we gather for City Serve, we invite you to be part of it, to step into these spaces, to see what God is doing, and to take part in the ongoing restoration of our neighborhoods.

Come be part of this story and many more on April 18 from 8:00a to 1:30p.