SAN ANTONIO — Faruk and Kelli Mamadaliyev met at an orphanage when she on a missionary assignment in Uzbekistan. They became friends and married 17 years ago.
He converted to Christianity at the age of nine. According to Pastor Kelli, Mamadaliyev led his family to Christ as well. As a couple, they continued to work as missionaries in Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam.
Her husband got to see a different side of the United States when the couple came to America.
“We experienced the whole, you know,--oh foreigner marrying an American. Like, what was he hoping to get out of it---kind of thing?” Kelli said.
She said his Russian accent didn’t make things any better.
“And so—a lot of hate for him, for the Russian language here in the south,” She said.
He’s lost the accent but not the impact of how prejudice made him feel. So, as a couple, they understand how being treated differently in America feels.
“He even told family members---you don’t want to come to America. They’re not that nice,” Kelli said.
Things have changed for the lead pastors of Faith Church on Huebner Road. But the bigotry in the county still lives. A swell of support to take down racism after the killings of several African-Americans in officer-involved and other incidents has not escaped the pastors’ eyes.
“We just love God. And from loving God, he’s just given us a heart to love people,” She said. “And, so whatever we can do to let voices be heard. Let people be seen and change people’s destiny—like we want to be a part of it.”
Jermaine Malcolm proposed a platform to make that happen. The San Antonio digital business advocate said the pain of racism from instances across the country led him to fast and pray. The result is an effort called ‘The Church Against Racism.’
“What I’m doing is activating or inviting churches to go beyond the walls,” Malcolm said. “To pick-up the social cause that we are so concerned about right now and the things that’s affecting our country.”
His goal is to sign-up 40 churches in San Antonio, in Texas or across the nation. Malcolm envisions the churches preaching a sermon or discussing racism on the weekend of July 4th.
“You can’t just live your life and not address racism,” He said.
As a native of Jamaica, he doesn’t recall experiencing racism. But his experience in America has put him in situations where microaggressions occurred.
The officer-involved killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, as well as the race-alleged murder of Ahmaud Arberry is fueling an outcry for change. Malcolm hopes faith-based conversations can transform lives.
“As a black person, whenever anything like this happens, you wonder like---what does this mean for me?” He said. “What does this do for my family? How should I talk to my kids?”
According to Malcolm, Abundant Life Church on S. Presa, a church in Colorado, and Faith Church have agreed to have to join ‘The Church Against Racism.’
Churches can post their recorded conversations on the page as a resource for others, he said.
Kelli isn’t sure what their program will look like yet. But she is happy to join Malcolm’s call to action because, as church leaders, they’ve been looking for a Godly way to lead their flock on this issue.
“It’s definitely something you can’t ignore,” She said. “My husband and I have just been very moved by everything. And, we really, really—we just want to be a part of making a positive change.”