A man of faith and strength

44 years after he began his ministry, Ozell Jackson brings wealth of experience and opinions to Moses Lake

MOSES LAKE — The Reverend Ozell Jackson does not think much of the mornings in the Columbia Basin and their 20-degree chill.

He loves the spirit of community that abounds in the area and hopes to contribute to it.

It's a trade-off that has Jackson as the new pastor of the Galilee Baptist Church on Basin Street in this city.

A native of Georgia and a former resident of much more temperate Whidbey Island, Jackson said that his arrival to the city by the lake is part of a calling that began decades ago.

"When the time comes and the Lord asks you to do something for him, you can't say no," he said. "That's the way he moves inside people's lives."

That does not keep him from acutely analyzing his new surroundings.

"There are a couple of things I don't like about Moses Lake," he said. " One of them is the lack of information about things happening in the city.

"We have to have more of where and when things are," he said. "Martin Luther King Day, Veterans Day; it needs to be posted."

The second one is the use of the term "black church" to describe his ministry.

"I don't want to be the pastor of a 'black church,'" he said. "I just happen to be black and a pastor."

The way Jackson sees it, that does not make his churches 'black churches.' In fact, he said that over the years, most of his flocks have been white.

Not everything is negative about his new zip code. He praises the existence of a food bank to help people put food on the table.

Jackson extended his praise to the city's emergency services and fire department, which he termed as "excellent." Same with the English as a Second Language and Basic Skills programs at Big Bend Community College

"If you can assist people, it's a positive," he said.

Somebody who could use a bit of help adapting to the city is Jackson's wife of 47 years, Mary, who still can't find the charm in the chilly mornings of the Basin.

"We haven't seen 20-degree weather since we were in Alaska and that was 20 years ago," he said. "We had to get a new wardrobe."

A new wardrobe is not the only thing new he found in Moses Lake. He now has a new flock of about 30 people, in whom Jackson hopes to create an awareness of the existence of God.

"God is who he says he is," Jackson said. "He is a merciful God, even if we keep screwing up." For Jackson, there is no such thing as a confirmed atheist.

A veteran of Vietnam with five tours of duty in southeast Asia, recalls pulling a soldier out of a downed plane. The soldier had said he was an atheist.

"You could hear him asking God to help him a block away," Jackson said.

The country was at war then and it is at war now, as a military veteran, he pulls no punches and hides no opinions.

"Vietnam was a war we should have won but didn't" he said. "It was highly politicized."

As far as Iraq is concerned, Jackson does not agree with how the war is being fought, although he makes it clear that that is not his call to make.

"When you go to war, you go to win," he said. "Get it over with and come on back home. Instead of trying to install governments, we should be letting our troops loose and telling them to kick more butt." Putting up a government is not America's job, he added.

The old soldier in him cringes at the sight of a military complaining of lack of protection.

"It turns me over inside," he said. "They should fire whoever it is that is responsible for them not having the necessary protection."

At the same time, he condemns those who criticize and punish people for the Abu Ghraib scandals.

"I have been in combat and I know how they treated our people during captivity," he said. "War is war."

Jackson retired from the military in 1974, and went to work for the Washington State board of Community Colleges as director of Action VISTA projects.

The three years as head of VISTA projects, short for Volunteers in Service To America, were followed by a 22-year career as a teacher and administrator at the Coupeville School District in western Washington, until his 2000 retirement.

His time in the classroom went together with eight years as pastor, from 1990 to 1998, in Oak Harbor, and four more as pastor in Coupeville, until 2002, when he retired for the third time.

Never a man of leisure, he spent the next two years doing speaking engagements, which is how he ended up in Moses Lake.

The teachings to his new flock include an emphasis on the writings of the Bible, as well.

"We are a Bible-believing, Bible-teaching church," he said. "We are cross-cultural and inter-denominational."

Jackson's church does not cater exclusively to Baptists, as some of his flock comes from other religious backgrounds.

"Anyone who serves Jesus without regard to denomination, is saved," he said. Christianity may be one the largest religions but it does not mean the other faiths are in error, he added.

"It does not mean all the Christians are going to heaven," he said.