Crossing the Tracks : Hope for the Hopeless and Help for the Poor in Rural Mississippi and Your Community

An inspiring story of how God called one man to “go back and make a difference”

Dolphus Weary knows from personal experience just how harmful racial division can be. Growing up in rural Mississippi, he leared that if poverty, hunger, and disease didn’t kill him, racism, bigotry, or the Klan just might. So when a college basketball scholarship gave him the opportunity to get away from the broken, racially divided city of Mendenhall, he jumped at the chance. But he couldn’t outrun racism.

Eventually God called him back to his hometown--to the city where the railroad tracks not only separate economic classes but also represent a divide in the church. Believing that prejudice is ultimately a spiritual issue, Weary went back to Mississippi and worked to break down racial divides and promote productive dialogue, greater understanding, and ultimately racial reconciliation. The founder and part-time president of R.E.A.L. (Rural Education and Leadership) Christian Foundation, Weary helps ministries and communities realize that a “kingdom mentality” is possible only when we stop limiting God’s work to a denomination or racial group.

Crossing the Tracks offers an insider’s look at Weary’s life and experiences. It recounts both the heartbreaking and victorious events that helped him overcome the odds. Profoundly honest and never more timely, this book encourages Christians to partner together to turn the ugly legacy of racism wherever it is found into a beautiful community of hope.

Dolphus Weary (DMin, Reformed Theological Seminary) became one of the first black students ever to graduate from the all-white Los Angeles Baptist College. In 1971, he received a Masters of Religious Education Degree from Los Angeles Baptist Seminary and a Masters in Educational Administration from the University of Southern Mississippi. He returned to Mississippi to work with Mendenhall Ministries, devoting his time to developing his impoverished Christian community. His autobiography I Ain’t Comin’ Back details these early years. Now an ordained minister, Dr. Weary serves part time as the president of R.E.A.L. Christian Foundation and part time as the major fundraiser for Mission Mississippi. He and his wife, Rosie, live in Jackson.