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Hope Mississippi
A bimonthly podcast educating Mississippians about the needs of fellow citizens, encouraging residents to work together to change the trajectory of our families and children, and sharing success stories.
Hope Mississippi
Rev. Carlos Wilson | Hope You Can Touch
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A quiet Navy office. A Gideon Bible. A young man searching for more.
In this episode of Hope Mississippi, Pastor Carlos Wilson shares how a private spiritual awakening became four decades of public service, and a ministry rooted in hope you can actually see and touch. From rural Mississippi to Hattiesburg’s east side, faith looks like fresh paint on a weathered porch, new roofs over old homes, and a park where families gather under open sky. If you’ve ever wondered how calling turns into community change, this story offers blueprints, not platitudes.
Carlos reflects on meeting Flo, his partner in life and ministry, and the steady courage that grows from a marriage built on patience, prayer, and persistence. We explore contentment as a learned strength in a state where too many children go without, and why joy doesn’t wait for perfect conditions. From Pride to the East Side to Power of the Hour, he shows how small, consistent acts of service can restore dignity and rebuild neighborhoods one win at a time.
We unpack the origin of Chain Park, the setbacks, the near-misses, the unlikely partnerships, and how collaboration between churches, neighbors, and city leaders turned vision into common ground. Mentorship surfaces throughout: preachers who shaped his voice, the decision to value clarity over performance, and the daily discipline of encouragement, texts, handshakes, and simple hellos that keep people going.
We also step into the sacred work of racial reconciliation through Mission Mississippi and shared worship across congregations, learning to listen across styles, rhythms, and histories without losing what makes each tradition sing. This is ministry that uses every tool available, saws, songs, spreadsheets, and smiles, to build belonging.
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Let’s keep turning hope into places people can stand.
Join us for new episodes on the 1st and 15th of each month as we continue sharing stories of transformation from across Mississippi. Each story reminds us that when we contribute our unique gifts, Mississippi rises together.
Hope Mississippi's Mission: The sobering reality remains: one in four Mississippi children lives in poverty, and one in five experiences food insecurity. These statistics aren't just numbers—they're our collective challenge. Through these conversations, we discover that Mississippi's transformation occurs through individual commitments to mentor, encourage, and be present for others. The small acts of hope accumulate into the broader "miracles" we celebrate.
Hello and welcome to another edition of Hope, Mississippi. I've been waiting all day to visit with this next guest, Pastor Carlos Wilson from Ebenezer Baptist Church. Welcome, Pastor.
SPEAKER_00Hello and welcome to you, Sister Beam.
SPEAKER_01Well, you know, I I struggle with what to call you because you're like a brother to me, but I certainly want to acknowledge that you're a pastor of a flock, and one of my favorite things to do is to visit your church.
SPEAKER_00Well, thank you so much. And you don't have to be particular about calling me certain things. I tell people all the time, you can tell me anything, you just can't call me overpaid.
SPEAKER_01Well, I I say you can't call me fat, so I am reminded when I first met you, I was on the campaign trail, and my good friend Judge Williams and Representative Percy Watson said, You gotta go to Ebenezer. And I think you thought it was gonna be a one and done. You'd never see me again.
SPEAKER_00I certainly did think that, and I even said that. And uh boy, how wrong I was and how wrong I've been. We've had a wonderful relationship for quite a few years now.
SPEAKER_01Amen. We've had you and Miss Flow in our home. Stephen and I just love you as brothers and sisters in Christ, and that's really what the body of Christ is all about, isn't it?
SPEAKER_00And the people should know that you can cook as well.
SPEAKER_01Well, that is important in itself for women to be able to cook.
SPEAKER_00Absolutely.
From Rural Mississippi To A Navy Calling
SPEAKER_01So let's just tell a little bit about you, Pastor Wilson, your story growing up, where you grew up, education, what you like and don't like.
SPEAKER_00Actually, I grew up in uh rural car county in Quitman, Mississippi. And uh my story that I've told for years is that I come from a Poe family. We didn't have much, but the Lord has been good to me. Went to Quitman School, graduated from Quitman High School in 1978, despondent, lost, didn't see a bright future. Uh, joined the Navy after high school, left home uh December the 20th, 1978. Joined the Navy to see the world. My idea of seeing the world and God's idea of seeing the world turned out to be something totally different. I only spent about two years in the military, found myself right back in Mississippi with a calling to reach, teach, and preach what I discovered while I was isolated on a Navy ship, USS Simon Lake.
Isolation, A Gideon Bible, And Faith Awakens
SPEAKER_01Well, boy, did God ordain and give you a gift. Tell me about how you were called to pastor.
SPEAKER_00I hate to be uh clicheus, but uh when I talk about the USS Simon Lake, it's a submarine tenant that really didn't go out to sea. It just stayed in port. Again, I was lost, totally lost when I joined the Navy. I was looking for something that I just didn't have in my life. And lo and behold, on that ship was a Gideon Bible. Lo and behold, on that ship, I was designated to be a DK, which is handling payroll. And so we had an office because I was isolated on the ship, didn't know anybody, didn't go anywhere. Uh, I took that Gideon Bible and just began to read and read and read, and I discovered that many of the things that I've been taught and told, or wasn't taught and told, that was in the Bible became very real and very alive to me in a very real way.
SPEAKER_01It surprises me that you were alone because you are a people person.
SPEAKER_00Well, that's the appearance that people say about me. Now, I I love people, I love being around people, I love helping people, but I think when God is trying to speak to you, He puts you in isolation. He even moved all of that so that you can then come out and engage people in a very real way. And so it happened to me, and it happened to Moses, and it happened to a lot of people before they became public. They had to do some private sessions with God.
The Power Of Rest And Stillness
SPEAKER_01I'm reminded even Jesus wandered in the wilderness, and I can only imagine the conversations he had with God about the plans that he had for him. But resting is important. Stepping away, being still and know are so important. When we talk about hope for Mississippi, we all as Mississippians need to slow down a little bit and pray, guide my path, show me how I can make a difference. Now I was talking about you being a people person. I'm reminded of one of the Mobile festivals that I went to and how the crowd just parted like the Red Sea when you walk through. How long have you been serving Ebenezer and investing in that community?
SPEAKER_00Listen, I've been at the Ebenezer Church. This is my twenty-ninth year. My family and I moved to Hattiesburg in nineteen ninety-seven. In nineteen ninety-seven I had pastored my home church in Quitman, Mississippi for 14 years. And so now we have looked like going on the 43rd year of continuous pastoral ministry. I tell people all the time, there's not a day in the last 43 years that I've not been somebody's pastor.
SPEAKER_01Well, let's talk about your sweet wife, Miss Flo. What a blessing the two of y'all are together. You're just a team.
Decades Of Pastoring And Partnership
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Miss Flo and Miss Flo, that's a whole nother entity all by herself. Of course, Flo works in the public at a bank and retired from that bank, decided she couldn't sit home, went right back to work, but all her constituents were just praying and hoping and praying that she would come back. So she's a jewel in her own right.
SPEAKER_01I love watching her at church because she's a huge cheerleader for you. She believes in you and supports you. And you know, aren't God's plans perfect that his plan was for men and women to marry. To me, with Stephen, we're so much stronger together than we ever would have been by ourselves.
SPEAKER_00John had to say it a whole lot in front of her, but life wouldn't have been the same without Miss Flora. She has certainly enhanced and supported and been a cheerleader and a forgiving spirit of all of my faults and failures. So you're absolutely right. I think God knows who you need if you're gonna walk a certain path and go down a certain journey in life.
Meeting Flo And A Marriage Built On Faith
SPEAKER_01We're on the hills of Valentine's Day, even as we're recording that. And if you're sitting there, know that God has a plan for you. I'm reminded how God sent my husband right to me and at the right time. And I just had to say, your plans are perfect, God. I wanted to argue with him about the timing of it, but his plans are perfect. How did you meet Miss Flo and a little bit about your relationship?
SPEAKER_00Oh, you're going off on the deep end. So I'm in Quitman, Mississippi, and there's not a whole lot of people in Quitman, Mississippi. And I said, I need a wife, and I don't see her. I didn't see her in my immediate vicinity, and just so happened a classmate of mine called me way down in the country woods. I mean way back in the country wood. I was MCing a program for them. And Flora lived in Waynesboro and her church and her choir was the guest choir. I didn't see Miss Flora that night. Miss Flora saw me and she inquired, said, Who is that young man? And a relative of hers told me about Flora and Flora and I talked on the phone for months and I didn't know what she looked like, didn't know exactly who she was in terms of her physical appearance. And I said to her one day, I said, Send me a picture. Now this is before phones, this is before internet, this is before uh text messaging. Flo put a picture in snail mail and sent it to me. And I opened that picture. I said, I'm gonna marry this girl right here.
SPEAKER_01Miss Flow is a knockout and you knocked it out of the ballpark when you married her. She is just a beautiful person. And I I thank God for relationships and for his perfect plan. And if you're listening today and you've not found that special person, we want to encourage you. God's plans are perfect. When he talks about in Proverbs 5 and 6, trust him, and that he will make your path straight. He'll lead you right to that person, Money.
SPEAKER_00Absolutely. Because again, I had no idea who Flora was, no idea where she came from, no idea that we would have a chance happening meeting at that program that night. But it worked out just according to God's plan, and we've had a wonderful journey. We're working on 40 years now. Yeah.
Community Needs And East Hattiesburg Renewal
SPEAKER_01What a blessing. What a blessing. One of our intersections was the what if event at USM, the a what if we worked together as a community to address the needs of Hattiesburg and kind of dreamed a bit. Let's talk a little bit about the challenges that we face in our communities and also the opportunities as children of God are called to be his hands and feet. When I was hungry, you fed me, when I was naked, you clothed me. Let's talk about it first in your life, how God has used you to change the community.
SPEAKER_00Again, when we got to Ebenezer, which is the eastern side of Hattersburg, it is about as far east in Hattersburg as you can go. Only thing to separate us from Petal is the Leaf River. And so when we moved to Hattersburg, what we saw was a rundown community with dilapidated housing, with with the indigent poor. And and so from day one I kinda understood this is the task, this is the challenge, clean up the neighborhood, reurbanize, do some facade on houses and painting and remodeling and renovating. And so that has been one of the biggest ministries that that has come out of my leadership while serving at the Ebenezer Church. And so we see a tremendous difference now.
SPEAKER_01I see Bobby Chain Park, and I know that you must have had some influence with that, but that is just a lovely area for families to come together and to celebrate. And family is so important. All of us need someone who believes in us and encourages us. Let's talk a little bit about who encouraged you.
Chain Park’s Origins And Legacy
SPEAKER_00Oh wow. Backstory is once again, when I got here in 1997, I don't even know how, but I met Bobby Chain. And Bobby Chain said, we would give the church, I believe it's 20 acres, if you would bill a park. And I'm thinking, well, how do you do that? I'm from the country. Believe it or not, about eight guys and I took out Power Sol, and we were determined to build a park with our hands. Unfortunately, even though he offers us the land, gave us the land, gave us five years to solidify the deal, our trustees at that time never moved to actually receive the property. So after five years, took the deal off the table, gave that property to the city, and then he and the city and other political figures lobbied to get the money to build Chain Park. But uh Chain Park is um as as a part of the Ebenezer Church as as it is a part of the city of Hattersburg.
SPEAKER_01Absolutely. And it's a wonderful place for folks to gather. I know the 4th of July is always a fun time at that park, but just a huge testament to your leadership in that community. And I want to acknowledge that family is important. And when you can come together out there and play basketball or have cookouts and things like that, it builds community. It builds family, it builds memories for kids, it lets them know what belonging is all about. Okay, now I'm gonna go back to my question. Talk about your life. And uh none of us got here by ourselves. I I can make a a list a mile long of people that have encouraged me and helped me to be the woman that I am. Let's talk about you.
Mentors, Ministry Growth, And Style
SPEAKER_00Absolutely. Uh once I received the calling, God put some people in my life, my home church, as a matter of fact, and that's another whole story. There was nine people who called me to that church. Nine people who were single citizens, nine people who were on fixed income, and they embraced me and gave me a chance to lead and show what I was made of, and uh we did tremendous work for 14 years in Quitman. We towed down that church, rebuild the church, we bought property, we bought a bus, and the church grew from nine to like a hundred and sixty-seven members in fourteen years. And then it was just time to move, so things happened that let us know that it was time to leave Quitman and so I landed here in Hattersburg. Other pastors and preachers has been a great guide for me. I've I became a member of the National Baptist Convention in nineteen eighty-eight. My first Congress of Christian education was in St. Louis, Missouri in nineteen eighty-eight. Twenty twenty six. We'll be going back to St. Louis, Missouri for the National Baptist Convention. And so to get there to glean from older pastors and preachers who have been pastoring for years and years and years has been my hope and inspiration. One guy who stands out in particular for me was a gentleman by the name of A. Lewis Patterson. He pastored the Concord Baptist Church in Houston, Texas. If you're a black Baptist preacher, you need to be able to sing and hoop. And I was uh handicapped with both. A Lewis Patterson saved my ministry because I never heard him sing and he really couldn't hoop. And so his his big pull, he could keep you mesmerized for 45 minutes with his gift of alliteration. And boy, no one could do it better than A. Lewis Patterson. And so I sit here all these years later with a shout out to to A. Lewis Patterson.
Joy Amid Poverty And Self-Help Ministry
SPEAKER_01I have heard you preach many a time, and you are so upbeat and encouraging, and and to me that's hope. Oftentimes I go to your church if I'm down or I need some encouragement and I get that hope, and I feel like your people do too. One thing that always humbles me, and one reason why I like your church is because not everybody has a lot of money. We live in a state where one in four of our kids lives in poverty. One in five are food deprived, and certainly the area around your church has a lot of poverty and a lot of opportunities to share. And yet, when y'all come to church, y'all worship, y'all run and stomp and praise the Lord, that is what a relationship with God is all about. I don't believe in Christianity where everybody's rolling in the dough, you know, and that he's just gonna throw it at you. Right. I don't I don't I don't need him to throw it at me, and oftentimes money's the root of all evil. Right. And just because you're poor don't mean you aren't happy.
SPEAKER_00Absolutely. One of the things that matter of fact, while sitting waiting on the interview, I've been joting down some notes, but I I think when it comes to community, uh one of the strong points for us has been creating self-help ministries, something called the power of the hour, something called Pride to the East Side. Because I grew up in the background, I grew up poverty. Our mother had a philosophy is that even if you're poor, you don't have to be nasty. She would mop her wooden floors or she would mop floors that had torn linoleum on it. And she just instilling us that there's some things you need to do for yourself and you can't cry about whatever state you're in. You just gotta do the best you can. And so I brought that with me to Hattersburg and tried to share with others that self-help is one of the main things I believe Jesus tries to teach us uh through the word of God. Absolutely.
Gifts, Trades, And Giving Back
SPEAKER_01And to be thankful for what we we have. I love a song that y'all sing about if you've got food in your belly and things that God has been good to me and He has been good, and I don't understand poverty. I I don't, but I know that God's plan is for me and you and those listening. If God's been good to you, you need to give back.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Well, poor don't mean pitiful. Yeah. You can be poor and not be pitiful. You know, the Bible teaches uh Paul, as a matter of fact, he talks about uh being able to s come to Beam Law Farm and and explore all that the law firm will offer, but he also says I know how to operate in the ghetto. I I've learned that whatever state I'm in to be content. And so contentment is just one of those things you have to learn to embrace and be thankful for. When we came to Ebenezer, we was living in the parsonage. Did I like the parsonage? No. Was I satisfied in the parsonage? No. But I didn't complain, my family didn't complain, my children didn't complain. But I just said, Lord, if you will just let us be able to have something better. So we lived seven years in that parsonage, and after seven years I was able to build the house that you went to and took the flower, but of course you realize we don't live in that house anymore.
SPEAKER_01I didn't know that.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
The Ministry Of Encouragement
SPEAKER_01Oh, you done pulled one on me. We'll we'll talk about that when we get off of here, okay? You know, I'm reminded you do have a gift of carpentry that helps you to see some things. Let's talk to the folks out there. Everybody is not called to be a preacher. Everybody's not called to be a lawyer, but everybody can do something. Let's talk about that about the body of Christ and how important everyone out there listening.
SPEAKER_00One of the things that could improve every church tremendously is if the members of the church could recognize what I call that God given gift or that god given talent. For me, it was Saul's and the ability to make wood do what you can make wood do. I've been doing it since I was fourteen years old. And so one of the things I try to share, whether it's carpentry, plumbing, electricity, cleaning, whatever it is that you have a natural bent to do, you can indeed make a good living out of it. But in the church, I believe you ought to just give back at least some of that talent that God has given you. And so my bent has been that particular talent. I've never known how to charge for it. And when we're doing that kind of work, it's just us giving back to the community what God has given to us.
SPEAKER_01Can we talk about another gift that you have? You have the gift of encouragement. I don't know how you know whenever my life gets difficult, but I get a sweet text from you just telling me to look up, to trust God, to keep on moving forward. That that is a gift to be an encourager. And a lot of folks sitting out there, they just need to open their eyes to that opportunity to encourage.
SPEAKER_00Probably in that study and those academics, one of the things that just stick out to me is that everybody needs to be touched, physically touched. And I worked for a little while with Wings Mental Health, and I worked with uh geriatrics, I worked with Alzheimer's and dementia people. And I discovered that if you engage them, they would engage you back and sometimes smile and sometimes bubble up with life. And so thank you for thinking that I'm an encourager. I'll take that. But what I know is life is better if someone says hello, how you doing, have a good day, or it's gonna be all right. So certainly I like doing that for people. And I'm discovering now that people like that I do that for people.
Mission Mississippi And Racial Reconciliation
SPEAKER_01Well, we all need that encouragement along the way. None of us are in this alone. And so I sincerely appreciate that. Let's talk in the final minutes. I'm reminded that you've been very active in Unite, Mississippi. Is it is it Unite Mississippi? It's what is it with Nettie Winters?
SPEAKER_00Oh, Mission Mississippi.
SPEAKER_01Mission, Mississippi. Let's talk about Mission, Mississippi. Boy, we've have some folks that have come ahead of us, like Dolphus Weary and uh my good friend Dan Hall and and so many folks that the idea behind Mission, Mississippi is to bring the body of Christ together across racial lines. And I'm told that one of the most segregated times is Sunday morning. So let's just talk about that. What do you see as the challenges in Mississippi and how we can all work to better come together and unite because our challenges are so great. We we don't have time to work in silos. We need to come together.
SPEAKER_00Nanny is still calling me about Mission Mississippi. Nanny still comes by and check on me and see how I'm doing and all that kind of stuff. Mission Mississippi was just another one of those organizations that I got involved in or got involved with me when I first arrived in Hattiesburg. So I think racial reconciliation, building relationships, strong relationships, healthy relationships are certainly needed throughout Mississippi and throughout this nation. And so I've been able to build a lot of friendships behind that and just be open and honest and transparent. And I think whenever you come to the table, if we could be patient enough to hear one person's view, even if you don't necessarily agree with it, you can hear someone's view and then you can share your views. We all leave the table at least being able to hear and consider the angle that someone is coming from in life. And so from that standpoint, Mission Mississippi has been a great asset for me.
Worship Across Cultures And Shared Services
SPEAKER_01I think it's important that we be intentional. It's easy to just say, Oh, that's the way it's always been. But God's plan is for the body of Christ to unite. And so we can't do that when we're not communicating and understanding everybody's needs and and trying to work with that. So I thank you and your church for allowing me to be a part of it. I see folks in Lowe's or whatever, they say, Oh, I remember you, you go to Ebenezer sometimes, and I do. And the music there and the spirit there is so encouraging to me, just like your church has been accepting of me. I hope that as we tr strive to make Mississippi better and to build hope, that those barriers come down.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. I think those barriers, when we talk about segregation and church and Sunday morning, just like I thought I wouldn't see Don Bean back as a political candidate, I kind of thought, Don Bean gotta be a special person to deal with our culture and the way we carry on in church. And so but when I look at it from across the table, it it is somewhat of a cultural thing as well. Our rhythm, our cadence, our beat is a little different, just a little different than other people. And so I understand if people need to be comfortable in that own environment when it comes to that. You know, we also have a fellowship with First Presbyterian, where we come together every so often and worship, and then what you see there beneath and is not what you see when we go to the first prayers. You know, I I at that point I have to be like Paul. I I went on with the Romans. I just love you. I become as a rumor that I may gain some, and so to have that flexibility is always a plus, whether you're a preacher or minister or singer or whatever. So yes.
Closing Gratitude And Call To Build Hope
SPEAKER_01If you are in the Hattiesburg area on a Sunday morning, you will miss a treat if you don't run by Ebonese or church and hear this godly man. You know, we're all brothers and sisters in Christ, and experiencing that diversity has just been a huge blessing to me, and I thank you, brother, for being open to that. Thank y'all so much for joining us. Preacher, thank you so much for being here and for being my friend, and thank you for making a difference in Mississippi for building that hope.
SPEAKER_00Well, thank you, and thanks, Stephen. I met Dr. Beam maybe before I met you. And so both of you all have been a constant and true to who you are and what you do, and so we just shout out to you and say thank you, and you keep doing what you're doing to serve the community as well.
SPEAKER_01Thank you, brother. I hope you take something away from this podcast that you'll do what you can to build hope in Mississippi, to make a difference. And I promise you, there is joy in that. Have a great day.
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