Taking It to the Streets

Down and out. Justin Lopez knows what that’s like.

“I was incarcerated for a lot of my life,” Justin says. “My mother passed away of a drug overdose while I was incarcerated. That was the thing that humbled me enough to begin to look at life and think . . . I can't do this on my own anymore.”

In 2008, Justin was still two years away from being released. “I cried out to God,” Justin continues, “and for the next two years, all I did was read the Bible, pray, and try to focus on God.”

During that time, Justin began to think about his life after prison. “I was praying and talking to the Lord like, ‘What can I do to live, and how am I going to survive?’ I can’t live the way that I've lived my life so far, but I don't know any other real way to live.”

He worried about not being able to find a job and support himself. “I’ve got a lot of problems in my background. So it was like— no one's going to hire me, you know?”

Little did Justin know the important plans God had in store for him—vocationally and spiritually.

Walking into a new life

As he prayed, two ideas repeatedly filled Justin’s thoughts: lawn work and cross bearers. One would have to wait a while, but the other seemed like the answer to his immediate need for a job.

“Lawn work just started coming to my mind,” Justin says. So did the names of his twin sons, Alexander and Angel.

In February of 2010, Justin walked out of prison and away from his old life. “Glory be to God, I’ve never been back in trouble or incarcerated,” he says.

Not long after, he started a lawn care and snow removal business in Rockford, Illinois. With a nod to his twins, he named it A & A Lawn Care.

Grateful for the fresh start God had given him, Justin wanted to use his business to help others find a new road too.

“A lot of the employees that I have, they struggle,” he says. “Some of the guys that work for me have had exceptionally hard lives. For some, their mother was a prostitute or drug addict. Most of these guys have experienced drug addiction, street violence, prison, jail, and so on.

“We try to give them a chance and give them a little bit of a hand up but not a complete hand out. That kind of forces them to know they must work, and that's part of playing your role in society.”

Step of faith to Moody

Along with giving these men a job opportunity that allows them to support themselves and their families, Justin assists with other skills and resources.

“We've helped a number of guys get their driver's licenses,” he says. “Through working with me and through our business, we’ve helped them get bank accounts and other things.”

Justin wanted to be able to impact not only the financial needs of the “down and out” in his community but also their spiritual needs. For that, he knew he’d need more than business management skills.

“I wanted to go to Moody to get a better foundation of the Bible, to understand God's Word, and then hopefully, in so doing, begin to understand Him,” he says. “I just believed that my calling was going to be more on the side of ministry leadership.”

In the fall of 2017, Justin began online studies at Moody. “I loved the classes. I loved the study. I learned so much about God's Word! One of my favorite classes was Cultural Dynamics of Congregational Ministry with Dr. Frank Beatty.”

Taking the gospel to the streets

As Justin continued to build his business over the years, he never forgot about the second image that often filled his thoughts when he was behind bars: cross bearers.

“My theme Scripture is Luke 9:23—And Jesus said to them, ‘If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, pick up his cross daily, and follow Me.’”

During his time at Moody, Justin and a few friends began taking the story of God’s love to the streets of Rockford. “Every Friday, we go into the streets, and we preach the gospel and hand out Bibles,” he says. “We call it Cross Bearers Ministry.”

Justin calculates that in the five years he and his team have been sharing the good news, they’ve handed out more than 3,000 Bibles.

‘He had a little vision for me’

Another Moody class stood out to Justin, and the course’s teacher still plays an important role in Justin’s life. “It was called Communication of Biblical Truth with Dr. Bill Patterson. That was one of my favorites,” he says.

Still part of the adjunct faculty at Moody and teaching Communication of Biblical Truth, Bill Patterson calls the course one of his signature classes.

“The focus of the course is to be able to present the Word of God to people, Christion or not, in a way that you can be understood and not be misunderstood,” Dr. Patterson says. “That last part is the most difficult.”

Justin and Dr. Patterson met together in Rockford several times, and Justin expressed his desire to share the gospel with so many in his community who needed to hear it. It was Dr. Patterson who first challenged Justin with the possibility of literally splitting his time and his business space with a gospel outreach.

“He had a little vision, a little plan for me,” Justin says. “He literally drew a plan. I still have the paper to this day. He said, ‘I see this thing splitting.’ And it's so interesting. That was four years ago or more, and the building I'm in now is split. About 60 to 70 percent of the building is being utilized for ministry, and the other 30 to 40 percent is for the business.”

Dr. Patterson, who pastored in Rockford for 20 years, remembers those meetings with Justin.

“I would visit with him, give him books, and we’d talk. We have a lot of homeless in Rockford, and also a lot of gangs and drugs. Justin would insert himself into the street culture and seek to share Christ with people.”

‘Justin seeks to live out his faith’

Dr. Patterson applauds Justin’s desire to serve God through his business. “Sometimes Christians have a false dichotomy of thinking it’s ‘spiritual versus business’. When you live as a Christ follower, your focus is on how you glorify God wherever you are and whatever you’re doing. Justin seeks to live out his faith. He wants his life to be guided by the Word of God. He’s hardworking, and he supports his family. And he does that while living for Christ.”

Justin completed his Bachelor of Science in Ministry Leadership with Moody Online in May of 2022. In the past few years, he has begun leading a Bible study on Tuesday evenings and Friday mornings at his business location. In November of 2023, he started Sunday morning services there.  Some who attend met Justin through his street evangelism outreach.

From time to time, he speaks at the Rockford Rescue Mission and the Salvation Army, sharing his testimony and telling others about the depth of God’s love and mercy. “He is extremely merciful—above and beyond mercy,” Justin says. “He loves His sons and daughters. He's also a God who disciplines, who brings correction. And He's a holy God. His holiness is something we teach here in the ministry.”

As Justin’s reach extends beyond his business and into the lives of those in need around him, he’s grateful to the God who reached into his prison cell in 2008 and redeemed his life. He sees the hand of God still working daily in his life.

“The Lord is still dealing with me and healing me and correcting me and cleansing me. And I am so grateful to have been given the opportunity to be called His son.”