Life & Work with Hosea Collins of Hawthorne

Today we’d like to introduce you to Hosea Collins.

Hi Hosea, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I was born and raised in Coushatta, LA by teenage parents. My childhood was filled with many contradictions. I was fortunate enough to grow up in a two parent household, unlike most of my friends, However, I grew up in a household that exposed me to domestic violence and infidelity. Gratefully, my parents raised me in church, which provided me with a moral foundation that established a strong understanding of wrong vs right. Because my parents were so young, I spent a lot of time with my grandparents. My father’s mother (Big Mama) was a significant figure in our local church, so most of my time with her was spent in church, or bored at her home because she lived far away from the city in a very rural isolated area. My mother’s mom (Mama Nora) lived in the projects, where a lot of my friends were because most kids my age lived in the inner city with their mom. My mother had 4 brothers, she was the only girl. My uncles lived less moral lives, which exposed me to a lot of immoral activity growing up.

After navigating back and forth from the church to the streets, I chose the darker path after my parents separated. My mom took my little brother and left while my dad was working the night shift, leaving me behind with the promise of sending for me at a later date. As a young boy, barely a teenager, I was hurt, confused, and extremely angry. At that time in my life, I could not understand why I wasn’t able to go with her. Why leave me here alone with the man you’re escaping from? I felt abandoned and unwanted. As a result, I ran to the streets. I begin to make reckless decisions with reckless individuals. Eventually, I left home, moved to the projects, started selling dope for a living, while engaging in a horrible life of crime and violence. With two daughters to feed at the age of 19, I felt hopeless, as if this is what I had to do to survive. Although my parents reconciled, I hadn’t reconciled with the decisions that were made. I was lost.

Eventually, the lifestyle I was living caught up with me and I was being investigated under a secret indictment, while having to watch my back due to some misunderstandings with some other drug dealers. To add insult to injury, the mother of my daughters and I had a very ugly breakup, so I was no longer living under the roof with her and my children. There was still a lot of tension between my parents and I, so I was basically homeless, couch surfing.

One night when I was drinking and getting high with a friend of mine, I heard God speak to me through the lyrics in a song that came on the radio. It was as if this was not for public consumption, but rather a conversation between God and I, but He was doing all of the talking. He was telling me that it was time to come home. But not only physically, also spiritually. He was calling me back to church, back to my family, back to Him. He said everything I’d been searching for was actually in Him. After suffering from suicidal ideations, drug & alcohol addiction, and utter hopelessness, He still loved me, and wanted me.

I called my grandmother (Big Mama) and asked her to come pick me up. I walked a mile away from where I was staying because I was ashamed for her to see me living there. After returning to her house that Sunday morning, I took a shower, got dressed, and walked to church. Not long after, I met a very nice woman who was faithful to her church, and I began going to church with her every Sunday. Eventually, I got a good job as a truck driver and grew closer and closer to God in that truck. Four years later, I married this woman and she gave birth to my first son. Afterward, I accepted my calling as a Minister of the Gospel.

A year later I became the senior pastor of New Hope Baptist Church in Hanna, LA. I went from being a huge part of the problems in my city, to becoming a part of the solution. All I wanted to do was make amends for the horrible things I’d done. My primary focus was on the youth and how our church could positively impact and influence them. As a result of our efforts, we grew tremendously over the next few years and our greatest demographic of growth was young people. I was awarded the honor of becoming the Citizen of the Year in Coushatta, LA. My life had become a true story of redemption and restoration. However, things were just beginning.

After five years of pastoring New Hope, I accepted one of the greatest challenges of my life and relocated to Los Angeles, CA, just because I heard the voice of God say that He had work for me to do in Los Angeles. Reluctantly and fearfully, I left the comforts of the life I’d built in Louisiana and uprooted my wife and three children, and moved to Los Angeles, CA. I went back to truck driving to sustain us, while I sought out God’s ministerial assignment for me there. Approximately, six months later, I joined the City of Refuge church under the leadership of Bishop Noel Jones and started serving there faithfully. By the end of that year, I was ordained as their newly appointed Young Adult Pastor and under my leadership that ministry grew greatly. The following year I accepted the responsibility of leading the children’s and youth ministry as well. After having great success over the next decade, God was about to challenge me again.

In October of 2016, I accepted the opportunity to serve as senior pastor of Calvary Baptist Church of Hawthorne, where I became the first official black pastor of this historical Southern Baptist Church, which was established in 1948. However, the greatest challenge of my life occurred just a little over a year later, when my wife suddenly passed from heart failure on December 14, 2017. After sharing our lives together for 21 years, she was gone. Terrekia Jackson Collins b.k.a. “Precious”, had received her heavenly wings. This was by far the greatest pain I’d ever suffered in my entire life. Again, I was lost, feeling hopeless and confused. For the first time in my life, I found myself in therapy, due to an intervention by a close friend. God used therapy to restore me and help me pick up the pieces. Everyone needs help at one time or another. I had no idea that I was suffering from extreme abandonment issues.

Just when I thought I’d experienced my one true love, God showed His favor upon me and blessed me with another amazing angel that could only come from Him. I am currently happily married again to Dorin Collins. We are faithfully serving God together in His ministerial work. God has blessed me to share his message in multiple ways. I am an author of 4 published books and counting. I am a Southern Soul Artist with several songs and music videos streaming on all platforms. I provide pastoral & biblical counseling to couples and singles. I am a social media influencer. I am a script writer, with one of my scripts already in production for a movie. I am a motivational speaker & life coach. However, my greatest joy is being a proud husband, father, and grandfather. I LOVE MY FAMILY! My life’s purpose is to help others Discover, Embrace, & Become themselves as God created them to be. We shouldn’t just make a living; we should make a difference. Live in a way that glorifies God, edifies others, and you’ll find fulfillment in your days on the earth. Nevertheless, I still believe that the best is yet to come.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I have been a creative every since I was a young boy. I grew up around music and ministry. My parents had a gospel quartet group called “The Imperial Gospel Singers”. My father sang lead and played the lead guitar. My mother sang some lead and played the tambourine. As a child I was traveling with them almost every weekend as they would perform at countless churches and concerts. They rehearsed in our car garage weekly. I learned to play the drums from watching and emulating the band’s drummer.

I grew up in a family of singers and musicians. Naturally, I began singing in church at a very early age. In school, I developed an interest in acting and playwriting as a student of one of my teachers that was a theater major. She would challenge me to write plays and scenes that we would perform at school and I loved it. I sang and dance in many talent shows, because I really enjoyed performing.

Not long after graduating, I became more serious as a song writer and began to record music in the studio. I had dreams of making it big. I performed locally, but never had any major gigs at that time. After returning to my church foundation, I stopped writing those songs and performing at those shows and only performed gospel music in churches or gospel shows.

Pastoring became my number one priority and I gave it my all. Thankfully, my son followed in those musical footsteps and became a finalist on American Idol. Afterwards, his career as a professional gospel artist really took off and he’s been growing more and more ever since. After a very long hiatus as a songwriter and recording artist, God led me back to writing and recording songs again, and I am enjoying this work now just as much, if not more, than I did before.

Additionally, I am also busy writing more books, directing and producing music videos, writing scripts, and creating content to inspire, convict, entertain, inform, and encourage others to live purposeful lives for the better of humanity.

How can people work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
I am always open to partnering and collaborating with others. “Teamwork makes the Dream work”. I can be contacted through any of my social media platforms, email addresses, or through contacting me at Calvary Baptist Church of Hawthorne, CA.

Contact Info:

• Website: hoseacollins.com or cbchawthorne.org
• Instagram: drhoseacollins or _preachermane
• Facebook: Hosea Collins or PreacherMane
• Youtube: @hoseacollins93 or @PreacherMane1