It has been reported that the 46 year old George Floyd, who died on Monday in Minneapolis due to Police brutality, was a Christian with ministry work history.
Previously, Floyd stayed in Houston's Third Ward, a center of the city's African American community, and served in ministry, assisting others before moving to Minneapolis around 2018. According to pastor Ngwolo, he was there for a discipleship program, including job placement. "A 'Bricks boy' doesn't just leave the Third Ward and go to Minnesota!" he said. Floyd told Dunn he had plans to return this summer.
According to Christianity Today, Floyd's home town in Houston remembered him as a "person of peace" and a leader and mentor of many young men living in rough areas.
"George Floyd was a person of peace sent from the Lord that helped the gospel go forward in a place that I never lived in," said Patrick PT Ngwolo, pastor of Resurrection Houston, which held services at Cuney.
"The platform for us to reach that neighborhood and the hundreds of people we reached through that time and up to now was built on the backs of people like Floyd," he told Christianity Today.
Friends describe him as a "gentle giant" he was 6 feet, 7 inches.
During his time in Texas, Floyd was a force for good. He led a basketball outreach in the Third Ward, according to The Stream, and helped Resurrection Houston, an up-and-coming church at the time, secure space on a basketball court in the notoriously rough area for worship services.
"He helped push the baptism tub over, understanding that people were going to make a decision of faith and get baptized right there in the middle of the projects. He thought that was amazing," said Ronnie Lillard, who performs under the name Reconcile.
"The things that he would say to young men always referenced that God trumps street culture. I think he wanted to see young men put guns down and have Jesus instead of the streets."
He once taped video pleading young men in the next generation to put down their guns and stop the violence.
"Our young generation is clearly lost, man," said Floyd. "I don't even know what to say It's clearly the generation after us, man, that's so lost."
Floyd added: "Come on home, man. One day, it's gonna be you and God. You're goin' up or you're goin' down, you know what I'm sayin'? That's gonna be it. My heart hurts."
