Creative Ministries has always been a faith ministry dedicated to saving the least, the lost and the unlovely in prisons, jails, and on the streets. Our focus has been the deliverance of troubled young men. The ministry was founded on the belief that a ministry faithful to the Word, faithful in the small things and faithful to increase God’s borders upon the earth would not lack God’s support and provision in advance. The ministry has never borrowed a penny since its inception and through solely the faithfulness of God, it has grown and grown, witnessing far more success than we have deserved.
The ministry was founded in 1983 by Winston Menzies, a very unlikely prospect for God’s work. He never went to seminary, was not the son of a preacher or a prophet. Before his calling, he never desired or even ventured a thought about becoming a preacher. His background had been to come up on the rough side of the mountain, having attended a military college (Texas A & M University) and then to become an Airborne Ranger in the United Stated Army. He volunteered for the Infantry and Vietnam, serving twice there as a rifle company commander. During his three year tour in the Army he also served as a Brigade Adjutant and Aide to the Commanding General of the 82nd Airborne Division. After his tour of duty, he resigned his commission as a Captain in the Army to go into business. Once here in the Atlanta area, he started out driving nails in a truss plant and went on to be founder and president of Creative Plan Service, Creative Builders, Inc., Creative Realty, Inc., and Creative Ministries.
Things were going very well when some of his friends kept asking him to accompany them to jails and prisons; which offers, he fended off for some time (having never been to jail or prison before), Then one day he did tag along. Two weeks later he was praying to be sure he was still in God’s will and asking God what he wanted him to do. Immediately, He said “Take your ministry to the prisons and jails.” It was after this call from God and seeing your prisoner’s plight, in 1990 he gave up his real estate company and broker’s license to begin living by faith, preaching one prison service a month in one prison. He went from doing business with the elite in the ivory towers of Atlanta to preaching to the elect in the dungeons and prisons. He went from a very successful company with no debts, a huge inventory of listing and lease income to trusting God for everything including his daily bread. It was not an easy beginning. His salary for the first year was $1500 and it went down the second year to $1250. Even so, 500 men came to Christ the first year and 1,100 the second and it kept on climbing every year. Today the ministry has grown to over a some 40 services a month in multiple prisons, jails, youth detention centers and transition centers, adding two thrift stores, a car donation ministry called Cars for Christ, a food ministry (Manna Ministries), a street ministry (Street Witness Attack Teams or S.W.A.T Teams), the Shepherd’s House Transition Center and a church (Greater Grace Church).
In recent years, the Ministry’s finances, salaries, staffing, fulfillment of its purposes, souls saved, accountability and efficiency were reviewed by a major Christian benevolence trust along with two hundred other similar, non-profit ministries in the north Georgia area. They rated Creative Ministries among the top ten.
The ministry has always endeavored to accomplish its God-given mission totally by faith and creativity. Since inception, we have never backed off from taking stands for God in the community or doing His work in ways that have never been tried before. It is our belief that creativity in ministry stems from a sincere desire to serve others by meeting their need with the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. It manifests itself in ministry when attitude is coupled with experience, education, excellence, enthusiasm and the power of the Holy Spirit. The only goal of this ministry is the advancement of the Kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ.