When Chris and Monica DeLaurentis were delivered from a life of cocaine and alcohol abuse they found that their lives would not continue untouched by the lifestyle they had left behind. While turning their backs on the destruction of their own addictions, they were unable to walk away from the people who were still living that life.

As nationally appointed home missionaries to Minneapolis, Minnesota, Chris and Monica have pioneered inner-city ministries to parents, singles, single parents, teenagers, children, homeless, those with drug and alcohol addictions, prostitutes and pimps, abusers and the abused. Their church ICCM (Inner-City Church of Minneapolis) is seeing phenomenal breakthroughs in the lives of those who would otherwise continue on a downward spiral of hopelessness.

One of the most successful ministries that Chris and Monica are involved in is the Urban Bible Training School (UBTC). This incorporates all the elements of evangelism and discipleship training and ministry that are so much on their hearts. The vision God gave them when they started the church in Minneapolis was to raise up people from the city to reach the city. That dream quickly became a reality as 35 homeless drug addicts were saved at a tent crusade and became the core team supporting Chris and Monica.

Chris remembers, "Their lives were messed up, still screwed up, but how were we supposed to disciple them except by doing the work of God?"

The work of the UBTC is very hands on. Using Global University's curriculum and materials students receive training that equips them for ministry. Intensive Bible training provides a strong foundation, alongside the opportunities they have to get out into the community, to face the realities of a lost world day in and day out. Many of the students know the harsh existence of life without Christ in the inner city. Much of their effectiveness in witnessing and ministering is because they feel called to the people they used to live with. When their friends and neighbors see first hand the dramatic and life changing power of God at work in their lives, they are very much affected and drawn to Christ.

The work that Chris and Monica tirelessly engage in has been recognized within their community at all levels. Councilman Jim Niland of the Minneapolis City Council expressed his gratitude for the impact they are having, "ICCM is a tremendous positive force in our neighborhoods. Chris and Monica have literally worked a miracle with the boarded building they've turned into their church."

Chris and Monica are "natives" to the inner city. Before moving to Minneapolis, Chris came from the heart of San Diego, and Monica ministered in the Bronx, New York. Following their own profound salvations, they were compelled to take their experiences and understanding of life in the inner city and to see the love they had found in God change the lives of the people they empathize with.

Their work extends not only to their own neighborhood, but also to Chicago. A recent church plant is working with people in one of the poorest neighborhoods in America, doing whatever they can to help them practically, with food and clothes, but also introducing them to the love of Christ. The high crime rate and the reputation of the housing project they go into do not deter them. Chris explained, "We are just going into the projects and helping people and loving them."

Edgar and Evelyn turned from a life of drugs and prostitution. Through the discipleship programs of Teen Challenge, the ICCM Discipleship School and the UBTC, both have seen their lives transformed. Their hearts and lives now reach out to hundreds of children each week.

Charlie, a drug user for twenty years was saved at a tent crusade and has gone on through the discipleship school and UBTS to become a full time minister on the streets of Chicago. Chris explained, "Here's a guy from the streets, trained in ministry, knows what to do, and now he's reaching out in the streets of Chicago and working as our number one coordinator for the church plant here. The indigenous church planting principal right there."

These people are missionaries to their own people. Seeing the need, they are walking out their lives in obedience to the great commission of Christ in Matthew 28:19 "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations" and to the specific call of God on their lives. Now the burden and vision they have for the inner city area where they live and minister is greatly respected and admired as they grow with expectation and hope.