MARION AND TAMIKA MASON Some people step out on faith; Marion and Tamika Mason are taking a running jump.

Marion, 27, and Tamika, 23, have answered God's call to "plant a church" in the Jamaica Plains/ Roxbury section of Boston, Massachusetts, a city where only 2.5 percent of the area residents attend church regularly.

The church, which will be established under the auspices of the Evangelical Free Church of America (EFCA), will be known as the Heart Change Fellowship.

One reason the Masons and their partners, Jua and Regina Robinson, are targeting Boston is the fact that over 250,000 college students attend over 100 colleges and universities each year in the Boston metropolitan area including Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Berklee College of Music, Tufts University, and Boston College.

"We are going to Boston to serve God by starting a ministry that will reach future leaders of the world - to provide a church environment that will enable them to develop a passionate heartbeat for Jesus Christ and teach them how to give back to their respective communities," said Marion. "We envision God using us and Heart Change Fellowship to reach the world through Boston."

He went on to say that he and his wife were invited by the Robinsons to join the new church's core leadership team during a time when the Masons were fasting and praying about opportunities to serve in a complex urban environment.

Marion will be the strategic leader as well as a teacher pastor at the church.

The young missionary is the son of Marcus and Mary Mason and the grandson of Welcome and Rubye Mason and Bertha S. Murray, all of Lincolnton, and the late Willie T. Murray. As a child of the military, he was reared primarily in Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and Fort Belvoir, Virginia.

Like Marion, Tamika's father was also in the military. She was born in Fort Ord, California, but spent her childhood in California, Georgia, Florida, North Carolina, Germany, Turkey, Missouri, and Virginia. Her parents, Garland and Donna Lockhart, now live in Manassas, Virginia.

The couple met at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville where they were both on the track team. In fact, Marion was the captain of the track team for three years and still holds the college's indoor long jump record along with Tiki Barber, who currently plays running back for the New York Giants. He was also an ACC top-five finisher in the hurdles and the long jump.

Marion graduated from UVA with a Bachelor of Arts in government and foreign affairs in 2001. During his college career, he had the opportunity to work for the CIA as a co-op student

"It's not like 'Mission Impossible,'" he explained, "but I did gain a better understanding of the value of our intelligence community and its ability to remain cutting edge and provide a safe environment in which to raise our families."

Following graduation from college, Marion earned a Master's Degree in public administration and non-profit management from George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. While at George Mason, he served as a graduate fellow in the office of the secretary of the District of Columbia. "I spent half of the year with the district secretary, and the other half at the Center for Social Justice at Georgetown University," he noted.

During Tamika's senior year at the University of Virginia, Marion enrolled as a student at Liberty Theological Seminary in Lynchburg, Virginia. To pay his tuition, he worked as an assistant track and field coach for Liberty University, a Division I school located adjacent to the seminary.

After Tamika graduated from the University of Virginia with a Bachelor of Science in systems engineering in June, 2004, she and Marion were married on September 4, 2004, in Manassas. Upon graduation, she began working as a bank manager for Wachovia.

For the past year, Marion has served as the director of youth and family life at the YMCA of Central Virginia. Also, in May of this year, he was awarded his Master of Arts in religion from Liberty Theological Seminary.

Both he and Tamika plan to seek advanced degrees from GordonConwell Theological Seminary in Boston.

As for the new church, there is a great deal of work ahead for the Masons and the Robinsons.

According to Marion, "Our strategy is to spend August through February identifying the needs of the community, training our core leadership team, raising financial support, developing key partnerships within the city, conducting home Bible studies, sponsoring events for both young people and adults, seeking out other families to join our launch team, and serving as tutors, mentors, and coaches in our immediate service area. In other words, we will be working hard to adopt our new community."

The group plans to hold its first worship service in February or March of 2007.

"Since this is a brand-new ministry, we will not have a church building at the start," Marion continued. "In the beginning, we will meet in an auditorium or a gymnasium. Then, as the congregation grows to a selfsustaining size, we will seek to invest in the purchase or construction of a multi-functional facility."

In order for their ministry to bear fruit, Marion and Tamika have turned to friends, family members, and churches for prayer, encouragement, and financial support.

"As we work to develop this ministry, we are taking on the role of missionaries," Marion stated. "We are now in the process of raising the financial and prayer support that will allow us to penetrate the Boston culture. We believe that raising our salaries on the front end of the development will afford us the opportunity to focus on ministry full time."

In conclusion, Marion said, "This is a huge step for Tamika and me. We have left our jobs and have moved away from friends and family. Our sole purpose is to answer God's call on our lives."

Those who are willing to help support the Masons through prayer and/ or financial contributions may contact them at 1-434-221-6465.