Photograph courtesy of City of Refuge
In 1997, Bruce Deel and his family moved to Atlanta to start a new church. Within the first few weeks, a young woman in a crisis situation walked in and asked for help, which the Deels gladly provided.
This woman then brought a friend who also needed help, and soon word spread throughout the area about the Deels and their new church. In the first four months, they helped more than 100 individuals dealing with addiction, homelessness, trafficking, and other personal and family crises. “This is when my wife and I decided that helping the people in this community was our calling,” says Deel.
They founded City of Refuge, a faith-based nonprofit organization that serves individuals facing some of life’s most difficult circumstances. Their innovative approach is grounded in dignity and trust, helping lead to healing, stability, and long-term transformation. “The people we help have had their dignity stripped away from them,” says Deel. “We have the mentality that we will trust them until they prove that we can’t.”
The story of the Deels and City of Refuge has now been told in a brand-new documentary titled The Greatest of These. The film is directed by Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Nick Nanton and produced by Emmy Award-winning producer Katie Tschopp and Abundance Studios.
Photograph courtesy of City of Refuge
Since opening in a repurposed warehouse in Bankhead nearly 30 years ago, City of Refuge has helped more than 50,000 people with services ranging from education, healthcare, and anti-trafficking initiatives to housing, workforce development, and youth programs.
Deel says he was approached a half-dozen times the past few years by filmmakers wanting to tell the City of Refuge story. “We declined them until we spoke with Nick and Abundance Studios. We’re a faith-based organization and they are people of faith, so we thought there was good alignment. We felt the timing was right and that we’d found the perfect partner to tell our story.”
Photograph courtesy of City of Refuge
The City of Refuge story stood out to Nanton as an urgent reminder of what compassionate leadership can achieve. “At a time when social divides can feel overwhelming, the work happening at City of Refuge is a powerful testament to human dignity and radical hope,” he says. “Bruce’s philosophy of trusting first and restoring dignity challenges conventional models and shows how transformation truly happens through relationships and community.”
The Greatest of These is now available for rent or purchase on AppleTV, Amazon Prime Video and streaming on Documentary+.
