Called to the Fire

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The last place on earth young Charles Johnson wanted to go was Mississippi during the heat of the Civil Rights Movement.

“Me and the Lord had a talk all the way all those miles. ‘Lord, I have seen those dogs eatin’ those people up! I have seen them lock the doors, Lord.’ When I got there I looked for black people to be hangin’ from street lights!” With deep faith and firm conviction he followed the call of God on his life and journeyed straight into his greatest fears.

This is the true story of Dr. Charles Johnson, an African American preacher who entered Mississippi in 1961 during the summer of the Freedom Rides. Fresh out of Bible School Johnson hesitantly followed his Call to pastor in Mississippi, a hotbed for race relations during the early 1960’s. Unwittingly thrust into the heart of a national tragedy, the murder of three Civil Rights activists, he overcame fear and adversity to become a leader in the Civil Rights movement.