SpeakLIFE

C.O.F.A.T. Ministries [standing for Come Out From Among Them] was founded in 1999 by CJ Blair. A product of the volatile streets of North West Washington, D.C. and over a decade of incarceration, CJ is well known for his "in your face" approach to life and his passion for the underprivileged, underserved, and left behind.Growing up among prostitutes and drug dealers, the only father Blair ever knew was his mother’s pimp, and he quickly took on the culture of the streets. Driving luxurious European cars, traveling to Vegas, dressing in expensive urban gear, and having plenty of cash at his disposal all before the age of 16, Blair was confident that his life of crime, gangs, drugs, and violence was his only option for obtaining the illusive “American Dream”.But soon, the streets began to reap major destruction in Blair’s life: dropping out of school, fighting with rival gangs, robbery and cocaine trafficking charges against him, family and friends abandoning his side, and loss of all his material possessions.Blair spent the next 12 years of his life in and out of jails and penitentaries. On his final 5-year stint in federal prison, Blair earned his GED, but returned home still hungry for the illegal lifestyle that he was accustomed to.One day in 1997, in the midst of his return to the hustle he should have left behind, God moved mightily within his heart – resulting in his full surrendering to the Lord Jesus Christ. After only 4 months since salvation, the Lord led Blair to preach the gospel before thousands at the Holy Convocation for the Church of God In Christ (C.O.G.I.C.) in Memphis, Tennessee.With the love of Christ in his heart, Blair’s eyes were now opened to see that the church was full of all kinds of people except those that looked like him: the homies from the hood, the prostitutes, the drug dealers, and the strippers. “What about the those with Timberland boots, baseball caps, and throw back jerseys, don’t they need Jesus too?” he said.Based off of 2 Corinthians 6:17, C.O.F.A.T. was born to show people the Truth that lies beyond any learned behavior, compromised lifestyle and socially acceptable comfort zones... and to indiscriminately show that Truth to those both outside and inside of the church.C.O.F.A.T. is the arms and legs of an effort to show people who are disillusioned with church culture and are tired of gimmicks a real Jesus... a Jesus who broke down the very real barriers between us and God that we might have a real relationship with Him.The heart of it is that we're not at all afraid to bring that Jesus to people that many have been hesitant to talk to... people alot like the ones in the hoods we grew up in, the ones weighed down by the exact same things that God's been freeing us from---the things that hold us back from being who we were created to be.So, let's be who we were MADE to be. Who we were BORN to be...Be His. Be set apart.......Come Out From Among Them.