...one night that summer (1993)...his nephew, Charles Harper, was beaten at a party. At the hospital, Clay found the teen clinging to life. They recognized him by his shoes.
'He was disfigured,' Clay said. 'It was a level of violence I wasn't familiar with.'
Clay reacted instinctually -- he went home, grabbed a baseball bat and went looking for his nephew's attackers, he said. But as he neared the house where his nephew was jumped, Clay's car phone rang. It was Harper's step-dad.
Clay recalled the conversation: 'He said, 'I know what you're doing, and I want to do it also. But God spoke to me. He told me this is our fault. We've been so busy inside our churches that we've neglected our children.''
Clay pulled over, turned off the engine and began crying. Sitting in the car, he prayed, Clay said. And he struck a deal with God that night to never again neglect the people who most need him.
Weeks later, the first Imani class -- 30 kids and three teachers -- met at Clay's house...
Imani Christian Academy graduated two seniors nine months later and still is thriving.
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