Photos by Billy Rutledge
Buddy Osborn, pastor of The Rock-Calvary Chapel Kensington, has dedicated his life’s work to using his boxing knowledge to lead many inner-city youth to a relationship with Christ.
Please pray for the health of Buddy Osborn. He is the senior pastor of The Rock-Calvary Chapel Kensington, in the heart of Philadelphia, PA, where drugs and addiction are rampant. The Lord had previously led him to start Rock Ministries to the Philadelphia youth many years ago, using boxing as a tool to give them direction in life and to lead them to Christ. The ministry has impacted several generations of inner-city youth.
Buddy has worked with several young boxers who have climbed to boxing heights while giving their lives to Jesus.
Buddy recently experienced a stroke, could not use his legs at first, and needed a wheelchair. He has progressed to a walker and now is using a cane. His underlying issue is mitral valve prolapse, likely needing surgery to repair or replace the valve. He is hoping to have surgery the second week of December. Buddy is thankful for the great medical team and the surgeon ready to move forward.
The Beginning of the Ministry
While leading a Bible study at Philadelphia’s House of Corrections years ago, Buddy recognized a young man who walked into the room. Buddy had coached him in boxing and helped him prepare to compete for a national title. Now the young man was facing a murder charge. Buddy remembered all the time they had spent together in the gym and realized he had never told him about Jesus. That encounter helped shape what would become The Rock, a ministry that brings free boxing lessons and the Gospel to young people in Philadelphia’s Kensington neighborhood, where Buddy grew up.
To the weak I became as weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some. Now this I do for the gospel’s sake, that I may be partaker of it with you. I Corinthians 9:22-23
Each year, Buddy shows off the skills of the boxers while sharing the love of Christ with the onlookers.
A Philadelphia police officer looks to Buddy for direction on some of the areas of concern where drug use is overwhelming a neighborhood. Buddy and the police work well together.
Raised there by a single mother, Buddy first walked into a boxing gym at 13. He went on to win the Pennsylvania Golden Gloves and compete with the U.S. national boxing team. After leaving boxing, he worked as a union roofer, became involved in organized crime, and served five years in federal prison on a racketeering conviction. After his release, a friend began sharing the Gospel with him. In 1995, Buddy repented and put his faith in Jesus Christ. He began attending Calvary Chapel Philadelphia, where Pastor Joe Focht suggested that he might one day return to Kensington to preach the Gospel. Buddy remembered saying to himself, That is never going to happen.
Pastor Joe encouraged Buddy to join a mission trip to Russia, where he ministered to young men in prison camps. Back in Philadelphia, Buddy began teaching the Bible to young people in custody. Seeing his former boxer there made him think about how much earlier he could reach kids through the sport he already knew how to teach. He recalled asking himself, How can I be more effective on the street block, so they don’t end up on the prison block?
In 2003, Buddy started Rock Ministries in Kensington. The arrangement was simple. Kids could learn to box for free, and the training included a 20-minute Bible study. One of his early students, Juan “Johnny” Rivera IV, came for the boxing and considered himself an atheist. For about a year and a half, he kept coming, listening to Scripture as he trained. In time, he put his faith in Christ. Years later, Rivera was back at The Rock as a coach.
As the boxing outreach grew, Buddy and his wife, Lucille, saw an opportunity to serve the families of the kids they were getting to know. Calvary Chapel Kensington grew out of that work, and Pastor Joe ordained Buddy in 2012. In an unexpected turn, the building that gave the congregation room to gather was donated by a man who had testified against Buddy years earlier in the racketeering charges. Buddy had once wanted revenge on him. After they crossed paths again in Kensington, Buddy shared the Gospel with him and led the man to Christ.
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