The Dyes continued to serve through Inner City Impact until 2003, when Brian had an epiphany. They dated for a year and a half and, in July 2000, married and settled in Humboldt Park. When her second stint ended, Heidi knew that she wanted to dedicate her life to inner-city ministry. However, her culture shock wore off in the final week of the program - enough for her to return the next summer. She walked to and from work in fear, and, in general, experienced stress adapting from small town to big city. Through the first nine weeks of her summer internship with Inner City Impact, Heidi felt like an alien. The town of less than 10,000 people, minimal diversity and one stoplight failed to prepare her for Chicago. The sounds of late-night gunshots were not mundane to Heidi, who grew up in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin. In college, Heidi had developed a burden to serve others - single mothers, AIDS patients and more - but a friend convinced her to try serving in the inner city.
Early in his time there, he met Heidi, then a student at Trinity International University. He majored in elementary education at Cedarville University, but Woodier recruited him to work at Inner City Impact, through which Brian continued to share with kids what changed his life. The experience also matured him into an effective mentor himself. Brian did, and as he dug into the Bible, his faith strengthened. While Terry soon moved to Atlanta, Brian found another mentor at the Christian ministry Inner City Impact - Dave Woodier, who encouraged the ninth grader to start a Bible study for younger children. For two years, Brian watched Terry walk out the Christian faith, whether it be as a husband or at his carpentry job.Īt 14, Brian dedicated his life to Jesus. The first time Brian saw a family eat dinner together happened at the home of Terry, who became the male role model that Brian lacked.
“It was hard to hear that God was a loving father when my framework of what a father looked like wasn’t very ideal,” he said.Īfter Brian turned 12, though, Paul Terry and his wife moved to Humboldt Park and joined Brian’s church. His alcoholic father, however, declined attendance, giving Brian a reason to be apathetic about Christianity. His mother and grandmother dragged him to church three times a week. He refrained, thanks to the guidance of Christian mentors. In Chicago’s Humboldt Park, most of his friends joined gangs. The sounds of late-night gunshots were mundane to Brian, who grew up around violence. Legacy may not exist today in its current form, though, had the Dyes come to a different conclusion that frightening night almost a decade ago. The event is one of the most influential for Christian hip hop, due to the dozens of artists who teach and perform there. Next week in Chicago, nearly 1,600 people will gather for the ninth annual Legacy Conference, which Brian directs. Yet, years dedicated to inner-city ministry would make that difficult.Īfter they reported the shooting to the police, the Dyes spent the rest of the night in prayer. The intruder had given Brian and Heidi a reason to flee. Six months after they moved to West Garfield Park, one of Chicago’s most dangerous neighborhoods, the Dyes now grasped why friends and family had reasoned with them not to live there.
If the bullet had traveled at an angle two inches lower, Brian measured, it would have struck sleeping Heidi. Brian Dye traced the trajectory of a stray bullet lodged in his bedroom wall to a hole in the roof.
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