The Power of the Broken Road: Pastor Terrell & Brandi Scott, The Malachi Project, and the Mission to Father a Fatherless Generation

Game Changers
Nov 10
4 min read

Updated: Nov 10

By Game Changers Magazine |

They tore down an old dope house and raised a sanctuary for sons and daughters.

That’s not a metaphor—it’s the origin story of Malachi House, a 6,000-square-foot, debt-free headquarters in McDonough built by Pastor Terrell and First Lady Brandi Scott to do one thing with relentless focus: father a fatherless generation. The project springs from a road few would choose and even fewer survive—a road of drug trafficking, armed robberies, prison walls, and, ultimately, a Damascus-level encounter that turned a neighborhood “terror” into a neighborhood father.

This is the Power of the Broken Road: when the very street that wounded you becomes the place God uses you to heal others.

From Drug House to Malachi House

Years after running the very blocks he helped destroy during the late-90s crack era, Pastor Terrell moved his family back into the community. The Scotts purchased a run-down drug house, tore it down, and—brick by brick, prayer by prayer—built Malachi House: home base for The Malachi Project, a faith-driven mentoring movement designed to reconcile fathers to children and children to fathers (Malachi 4:5-6).

The building is more than a facility; it’s a declaration: the curse can be broken and a generational blessing can begin.

The Conversion, the Call, and a Courageous Forgiveness

Halfway through a prison sentence on a trafficking charge, Terrell received an unexpected visitor: Brandi, the very woman caught in the fallout of one of his armed setups. She walked in carrying what the streets never could—the Gospel and forgiveness.

Her words—“You’re not called to be a crime boss”—cut through a calloused conscience and sparked a Saul-to-Paul turn. Terrell shut down the operation, repented, and began following Christ. Brandi’s forgiveness was not naïve; it was costly obedience. Their marriage later became a living curriculum for couples battling trust issues, trauma, and transformation. Today, the Scotts call that message The Power of the Broken Road—a testimony for anyone who thinks they’ve gone too far to come home.

The Malachi Project: Fathering as a Model, Not a Motto

What began organically—popsicles on the sidewalk, homework at the kitchen table, jump-ropes and pickup ball in the cul-de-sac—grew into a structured mentoring ecosystem:

Kingdom Kids & Mentoring Labs: Academic support, character coaching, and life-skills framed by faith.
The Father’s Blessing: Every gathering ends with Numbers 6:24-26 spoken over each child—breaking word-curses and planting identity.
Leadership & Volunteer Engagement: Retired teachers, business owners, college athletes, pastors, and neighbors are trained to mentor, read, tutor, coach, and stay.
Neighborhood Transformation: Presence precedes preaching. Groceries, grace bags, consistent visits, and weekly rhythms built trust with moms, grandmothers, and guardians.
International Ministry: The same blueprint is now alive across Africa, India, Pakistan, and Central America—proof that fathering scales when the heart is right and the hands are ready.

The results speak: once-struggling students becoming honor-roll kids, athletes earning scholarships, and former mentees stepping into management and ministry. The Malachi Project isn’t a program—it’s a movement.

Why Fathering Matters Right Now

Walk any block where poverty, addiction, violence, and absentee fathers overlap and you’ll find the symptoms listed in Deuteronomy 28. The Scotts answer with the remedy in Malachi 4: reconciliation across generations. In practice, that looks like:

Consistency over campaigns (showing up every week, not just for photo-ops)
Mentorship over messaging (trusted relationships that correct and encourage)
Blessing over blame (speaking life that rewires identity)
Local roots with global reach (McDonough as Jerusalem—and the nations beyond)

Budget, Team, and the Next Stretch of Road

Malachi House has given the work a home; now the vision is scaling:

Weekly Reach: From ~50 kids to 150+ mentored each week
People Power: Hiring new employees—directors, classroom leads, and case managers
Volunteer Corps: Readers, tutors, coaches, prayer teams, and event support
Monthly Partners: Sustainable giving to stabilize operations and expand programming
Prayer Warriors: Cover the house, the staff, the children, and the neighborhoods

This is a practical invitation: If you can’t be on-site, you can still stand in the gap. $25, $50, $250, or $350/month turns lights into literacy, hallways into hope, and classrooms into covenants.

The Marriage Behind the Mission

Before there was a crowd, there was a covenant. The Scotts steward their home like they steward their city—vision retreats, accountability, and purity. You feel it when they bless a child, train a volunteer, or bootstrap a construction phase by faith. It’s why Terrell Scott Ministries, Passion Life Church, The River Refuge, and The Malachi Project knit together so seamlessly: one heartbeat, many lanes.

Where to Find Them & How to Help

Visit: Malachi House, 312 Rogers Street, McDonough, GA
Learn & Invite: The River Refuge and Terrell Scott Ministries (book: The Power of the Broken Road)
Volunteer / Pray / Partner Monthly: Join the Malachi Project family as a mentor, Kingdom Kids classroom helper, prayer partner, or sustaining donor.
Media: Catch their full story on Game Changers Media Network via the Voices of the Village podcast.

Final Word: What Broken Roads Can Become

On October 31, twenty-two years after surrendering to a trafficking charge, Pastor Terrell celebrated a ribbon cutting with law enforcement, educators, pastors, and families—some of the very people his old life once opposed. Tears fell, not for what was lost, but for what God raised: a house that fathers.

If you’re wondering whether your road is too broken to matter, come stand on the concrete where a drug house used to be. Listen to a second-grader read out loud for the first time. Watch a teenager bow his head as the Father’s blessing rests on him. Then you’ll understand:

The broken road didn’t end you.It introduced you to your assignment.

Pastor Terrell & Brandi Scott Appear on VOTV