By Coy Shaw

Most of us see them weekly—beautiful white or brick buildings surrounded by flowerbeds with a grassy lawn and a neatly painted asphalt parking lot. They are the subject of postcards and photography magazines. They are the many suburban and rural churches along the highways of our land. Their imposing beauty gives us a sense of "peace and contentment." However, there is another not so beautiful part of our country—the parts of the asphalt jungle of our large cities known as "the inner-city."

If you do a search on the internet for the meaning of "inner-city," you will find the following:

1) The usually older, central part of a city, especially when characterized by crowded neighborhoods in which low-income, often minority groups predominate.

2) A central and usually older part of a city, densely populated, often deteriorating and inhabited mainly by the poor.

3) The area near the center of a city, especially when associated with social and economic problems. 

Did you note the key words—crowded, poor, problems? Those words are in stark contrast to "peace and contentment." An inner-city ministry will probably never have that beautiful building with flowerbeds, a grassy lawn and a neatly painted asphalt parking lot. It will probably meet in a building with bars on the windows and may even have graffiti painted on the outside walls.

Three BIMI couples, Alan and Sabrina Davis, Dana and Julie Dice and Coy and Nancy Shaw are involved with church planting in the inner-city. All three couples are located in New York City, but the neighborhoods in which they work are diverse one from the other.

Alan and Sabrina Davis are located in the Bronx. Two very different cultures, Blacks and Hispanics, heavily populate the neighborhoods surrounding the Bronx Building Baptist Church. Most of the people live in apartment buildings and many of the buildings can be difficult to access. Brother Davis has been run out of more than one building while trying to do door-to-door visitation.

Since the beginning of their church planting ministry in 1984, it has been necessary for the Davises to relocate numerous times. The first location was a rented two-story house in which the downstairs served as the church and the upstairs served as their living quarters. When the Buildings Department issued a summons for an illegal church, they were forced to renovate the garage so the church would have a place to meet. This facility was very small and had no parking so they tried to purchase a pool hall. Although unable to purchase the pool hall, they were able to rent the property for two years. From the pool hall they relocated to a funeral home. Seven years later the funeral home was sold and the building demolished. The church now meets in what was previously a strip club. Transforming the former strip club into a church building required a lot of work. Brother Davis believes that had it not been for the work of CLAIM, the combined cost of labor and materials would have been close to $200,000.

Bronx Building Baptist Church is praying for God to supply a permanent location. Real estate in New York City is among the most expensive in the nation. At present, rent for the Bronx Building Baptist Church is over $3,000 per month. By faith Alan and Sabrina Davis came to New York City and by faith they press on, trusting God to meet their personal needs and the needs of the church.

Dana and Julie Dice are located in what is known as Jamaica, Queens. Their church is the Gospel Light Baptist Church. Most of the people in their part of New York City are of Caribbean decent and have their own special culture. Jamaica has a lot of one and two family homes which make for easier access than the apartment buildings. However, there are still a multitude of obstacles to be dealt with. Brother Dice mentions two special problems: gaining people's trust and finding people at home. In general everyone is suspicious of everyone else. Also, home is mainly a place to bathe and sleep, but not a place where one spends a lot of time.

The work of the Lighthouse Baptist Church is now eleven years old. Brother Dice and his people meet in a store front which rents for $3,500 per month. There is property available for purchase, but an empty lot costs between one and two million dollars. Add a building and you add another one to two million dollars. It goes without saying that inner-city ministry is a work of faith.

The New Life Baptist Church (Igreja Batista Nova Vida), a Portuguese language church, was started by Coy and Nancy Shaw in 2005. After serving for twenty-seven years in Brazil, the Lord directed them to the large Brazilian population in Astoria, Queens. According to a recent census there are some thirty thousand Portuguese speaking people in Astoria and surrounding area, mostly Brazilians. Fortunately for the Shaws and their people, the good people of the Open Door Bible Baptist Church of Astoria have allowed the New Life Baptist Church to meet in their building.

The ministry in Astoria has many of the same challenges as the ministries in the Bronx and in Jamaica, plus a few challenges that are unique to a specific language ministry. There is the problem of access because about 99% of the people in Astoria live in apartment buildings. There is also the special challenge of identifying Portuguese speaking people. Brazilians are like Americans (a mixture of many bloods) and visual identification can be difficult. The distribution of Portuguese language tracts involves listening to people as they talk to each other or as they talk on their cell phones. Locating close to a Brazilian business, especially a restaurant around meal time, usually makes for productive tract distribution.

Yes, there are obstacles to inner-city ministry, but God works in spite of obstacles. No matter where they live, people need Jesus. C. T. Studd, missionary to China, expressed it so well, "Some yearn to live within the sound of a church bell, I'd rather run a rescue mission within a yard of hell."

Sunday, May 19, 2013

John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Noel & Charlene Shrivnauth -  GUYANA
Raymond & Sharon Shull -  CAMBODIA
B Clayton & Joan Shumpert -  ARM PERSONNEL