2001

Terrified, Shundreka faces a caseworker from the Department of Human Services at her family’s front door.

Even at the age of 8, Shundreka knows the secret is out, and her role as the family’s primary caregiver will end after three years.

“Could I speak to your mother?” the caseworker asks, and Shundreka wishes she could. Her mother, a drug addict, has been absent for weeks, a frequent pattern.

Shundreka experiences the worst fear of her young life, even more terrifying than watching her mother’s face being pushed into a mirror while her stepdad pulled a gun.

With a realization that she has nothing to offer the caseworker, Shundreka runs into the bedroom and holds tight to three of her siblings, the toddlers she cares for.

A short time later, Shundreka enters the first of two dozen foster homes and breaks the promise she always made to keep the family together.

* * * * *

During a season when DeYmaz is praying for God to reveal a new calling in his life, a stylist named Precious cuts his hair.

Precious loves to tell DeYmaz stories while she trims his hair at Supercuts. In between comfortable chitchat, the subject of segregation comes up.

An African-American who grew up in Little Rock, Precious agrees the problem manifests greatest in the church.

“Precious, do you think there is a need in Little Rock for a diverse church?” DeYmaz asks. “One where individuals of varying backgrounds might worship God together as one?”

When Precious responds with a longing, she asks a question in return. “Do you think it could happen here?”

A chill passes through DeYmaz’s body, the same sensation of being startled in the dark. He recognizes it as a specific calling.

On May 17, 2001, DeYmaz and his wife commit their family of six to plant a multiethnic and economically diverse church—appropriately named Mosaic—in 77204.