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TOP JOBS

By KENNETH DEAN
Staff Writer

Once he carried a gun and did the bidding of a mafia lord, now the 49-year-old ordained pastor carries a Bible and spreads his message of “choices and consequences” to prisoners, troubled youth and schoolchildren as he glorifies his new Lord.

Pastor Frank Bower of the Family Prayer Center Rehab in Overton told the Tyler Morning Telegraph during a recent interview he uses his life story and how he once was reputed New York Mafia boss John Gotti’s (the Teflon Don) personal bodyguard, and his extreme fighting career in the martial arts to reach those who otherwise would not listen.

Bower said since he was last interviewed in 2004 by the newspaper that the FPC has grown and the community has shown its support and he is thrilled to see God’s plan unfold.

“If my past helps others, then that is God’s will, and I will follow his direction,” he told the newspaper in the earlier article. “I am His tool now and I feel compelled to help young people on the road I went down get their lives in order.”

The holder of black belts in four different martial arts said that feeling has not changed, but has grown stronger as it spreads his message across the nation and as he watches his ministry in Rusk County blossom with more members and the largest thrift store in Henderson.

Bower has spoken at 92 prisons, 50 high schools and several universities and tells each audience about his early years when he hated God and how he ended up working for Gotti. He also tells the audiences he was arrested on 14 attempted-murder and 12 aggravated-battery charges in his 10-year career with the Gambino family.

In 1983 and 1985, he shot undercover police officers who did not identify themselves and who Bower said were robbing the Gotti businesses of which he was in charge.

One officer later died, but his death was never linked to the shooting.

The hardened mobster served time in prison and kept his mouth shut, which earned the respect of the Gambino royalty and a job as the man to protect the Don.

Bower said many are enthralled with that message, but to capture others’ attention, he uses the fact that he has recently fought in 14 mixed martial arts competitions and won 12 of those heavyweight bouts.

“I find it a way to reach a whole different variety of people than you find in church and guess what! It works,” he said.

Bower said growing up, he believed it was his destiny to break the law and subsequently serve time in prison.

“I had no fear of prison because most of my family was there, but if someone would have pulled me aside and showed me what it was really like, then that may have been a deterrent to help me go in a different direction,” he said.

Expansion is in the air at FPC and the grounds and buildings have taken on a grander look from just four years earlier.

Walking the property, Bower explained his plans to house more people needing rehabilitation from drugs and alcohol and where he wants to put up a 60- by 200-foot building donated to him to house the youth offenders.

“A lot of what you see here has been donated and we have some of the people going through the program who are talented at laying tile and other crafts that have really got this place looking good,” he said.

Bower said he is working with federal authorities to bring the 30 youths from juvenile detention centers from several states to begin the youth program.

“I’m seeing that there is just not enough out there for these kids and we need to reach them and teach them of the consequences of their actions,” he said.

He says in most programs the youth are not given any type of structure, but simply serve time. Time, he says, where they learn criminal skills from others being held in the facility.

“What we want are the first-time offenders who we can show the choices they made and how those choices got them here. We want to make a difference and I believe they need God, structure and exercise. I think that many are just crying out for that to some extent,” he said.

Bower said he was excited about the prospect of helping more youth and he is confident the community will continue to support the ministry.

“When we first opened our doors and people found out who I was, they were a little leery about having us here, but everyone has warmed up and we really love this place,” he said.

Not only does the ministry have the church and treatment facility, but also the FPC thrift store where furniture, appliances and clothing are sold to put back into the ministry.

Bower said the thrift store, located at the traffic star in Henderson, serves the entire area and is the largest such store in the county at 4,000-plus square feet of items.

“We have all kinds of stuff at the thrift store,” he said, and pointing to his shorts, added, “These even came from there. We have some quality items including toys, knick-knacks and tools; we are able to pass on to our customers because of the donations we are getting.”

Bower said some of the female participants in his 90-day program work in the thrift store and he said the business has taken off after the building was sold to him at a reduced price.

“This community has been good to us and every time we have a need God makes sure there is a door that is opened,” he said.

Looking back on the past few years, the bodybuilding preacher said he is pleased at how far the ministry has come in such a short time.

“If you just look around, you can see the people that are here are happy to be here. Some of the views are just incredible and the fresh air, well you can’t substitute for that,” he said as he stopped to check on a young mother and her infant.

Bower points out the FPC is not surrounded by a fence and everyone in the facility is free to leave at anytime they want.

“Oh sure, we have those who leave in the middle of the night and some have even come back later, but we can’t make anyone stay. That is their decision and we just hope that we can help them face their demons and get back to a normal life,” he said. “We do not want some compound feel. We want a family feel.”

Bower said since opening the ministry earlier this decade, the success rate of those beating alcohol and drugs and staying out of trouble has been about 37 percent out of the 730 who have been through the 90-day program.

“I would like to have a 60-percent success rate, but we are averaging better than most programs out there and I believe that is a testament to God and His purpose here at FPC and I want to continue helping and serving others,” he said.

Standing in a garden area of the FPC as members harvest fresh vegetables, Bower looks to a pen holding a rather large pig.

“There is the proof that there is a God,” he joked. “I was once a mobster; now I preach and teach God’s word and I own a pig and not just any pig, but a huge pig.”