NYC Newsletter #5

This newsletter was originally send October 3, 2011.

Dear Friends and Family, We wanted to briefly update you regarding what the Lord is doing to prepare us to advance the gospel inNYC and to the ends of the earth.  As we said in our last email, we have begun meeting with a group of prospective church planting team members here inBirmingham who are prayerfully considering planting their lives with us in NYC for the glory of Christ in all nations.  We have attempted to structure our life together as much as possible around the pattern of the early church recorded in Acts 2:42--"They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer."  We have been reminded that God did not choose to use slick marketing techniques and worldly wisdom to create and advance His church.  Rather, He sent out His people in the power of His Spirit to proclaim His Word, and through them He began taking the nations for the glory of His great Name.  We are praying and trusting that He will do the same with us...and we pray that He will do that with you as well. Please pray for us over this time...

Pray for our personal holiness Pray for the personal holiness and unity of our prospective team members Pray that God would assemble the team that He wants to send to NYC to advance the gospel Pray that God would grant wisdom to those who are considering moving to NYC.  Pray that they would know whether this is, in fact, where God is leading them. Pray that we would have wisdom to know how to lead well   Pray that we would continue to develop Kingdom partnerships with churches and individual Christians in NYC Pray that we would be a people formed by the gospel Pray that God would provide the necessary financial resources Some of you have asked about how you can partner with us financially. Currently, our sending church, The Church at Brook Hills, is handling all financial donations.  If God is leading you to give, you can do so by mailing your tax-deductible gift to:             The Church at Brook Hills             Attn: Jean Adams             3145 Brook Highland Parkway             Birmingham, AL 35242 Please make checks payable to The Church at Brook Hills and designate your gifts by writing “Northeast Church Plant” in the memo line.  If you would like to see our prospective budget, please contact us. Thank you for taking the time to read this e-mail.  We would love to talk with you more about what God is doing in NYC and answer any questions that you might have.  We greatly appreciate the encouragement that we have received from so many of you, and we look forward to partnering together in the future for the glory of Christ in NYC and in all nations. Blessings in Christ, josh and traci "Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, now and forever. Amen" (Eph. 3:20-21)

NYC Newsletter #4

This newsletter was originally sent August 18, 2011.

Dear Friends and Family, It has been another busy and exciting month as we have seen God working to advance His Kingdom in  NYC and in all nations.  As we mentioned in our last update, we have been meeting all summer with individuals and families who are praying about joining us in NYC.  The highlight of this past month came thispast Sunday when we met together as a group with these brothers and sisters for the first time.  We had twenty-six adults meet with us here in Birmingham on Sunday and have others from around the country who are asking God if this is how He wants to use them for the glory of His great Name. Over the next few months, we will be walking together as a group through some basics of our philosophy of ministry and what it will look like in NYC.  We will work through the New Testament's teaching on the nature and mission of the church and we will think carefully about how God is calling us to be the church for the advancement of the gospel in NYC and all nations.  We will spend concentrated times in corporate prayer, knowing that we are utterly inadequate to bring any lasting gospel fruit.  And we will share life together, living out the unity that we already have in Christ Jesus. Please pray for us over this time... Pray for our personal holiness Pray for the personal holiness and unity of our prospective team members Pray that God would assemble the team that He wants to send to NYC to advance the gospel Pray that God would grant wisdom to those who are considering moving to NYC.  Pray that they would know whether this is, in fact, where God is leading them. Pray that we would have wisdom to know how to lead well   Pray that we would continue to develop Kingdom partnerships with churches and individual Christians in NYC Pray that we would be a people formed by the gospel Pray that God would provide the necessary financial resources Some of you have asked about how you can partner with us financially. Currently, our sending church, The Church at Brook Hills, is handling all financial donations.  If God is leading you to give, you can do so by mailing your tax-deductible gift to:             The Church at Brook Hills             Attn: Jean Adams             3145 Brook Highland Parkway             Birmingham, AL 35242 Please make checks payable to The Church at Brook Hills and designate your gifts by writing “Northeast Church Plant” in the memo line.  If you would like to see our prospective budget, please contact us. Thank you for taking the time to read this e-mail.  We would love to talk with you more about what God is doing in NYC and answer any questions that you might have.  We greatly appreciate the encouragement that we have received from so many of you, and we look forward to partnering together in the future for the glory of Christ in NYC and in all nations. Blessings in Christ, josh and traci "Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, now and forever. Amen" (Eph. 3:20-21)

NYC Newsletter #3

This newsletter was originally sent July 19, 2011. Wow!  I looked at my calendar today and realized that it has been over a month since I last sent out an update on what God has been doing to bring glory to His Name in NYC and in all nations.  It's been a busy, but wonderful, month.  In the interest of time, I'll just share two highlights: The Nations in NYC In late June, Traci and I traveled to NYC to connect with two short-term missions teams from our sending church, The Church at Brook Hills, who were serving immigrant populations within the city.  It was a blessing to connect with some of our global partners in NYC and to see people from our faith family engaging the nations right here in the U.S.  In a city with over 800 languages and more than 500 people groups, the opportunities for global gospel advancement are truly astounding! Our New Neighborhood in NYC During this same trip, we settled on the particular neighborhood where we believe God is leading us to plant.  If you know anything about NYC, you know that it is a wildly complex city.  You can move five blocks and feel like you are in another country. Out of this vast and diverse metro area of twenty-two million people, we have chosen to focus our efforts in a neighborhood called Astoria, located in the northwest corner of Queens.  There are a number of reasons that we believe Astoria is the most strategic place that we can plant our lives to make disciples of all nations. First of all, Queens County is the most ethnically diverse county in the United States, and Astoria is considered one of the most diverse neighborhoods in all of NYC.  It is estimated that Astoria is home to over 125 people groups.  But while many other NYC neighborhoods are quite segregated by ethnicity, the various ethnic groups of Astoria seem to have assimilated rather naturally, while still retaining their distinctive elements.  We believe that this will allow us to reach people from a myriad of ethnic groups and truly plant a church that is reaching the nations. Secondly, Astoria is considered one of the up-and-coming neighborhoods of NYC due to its proximity toManhattan (only 15 minutes to Times Square) and its comparatively (compared to Manhattan, that is!) low cost of living.  For this reason, Astoria is a popular neighborhood for artists, musicians, businesspeople, and others whose work takes them to Manhattan, but who do not want to pay Manhattan prices.  Many people also consider Astoria a much more family-friendly environment than the more densely-populated Manhattan.  This will provide an opportunity to minister to many of the “culture-makers” who work in Manhattan, but live in Astoria. Finally, Astoria is terribly under-served with the gospel.  In a three mile radius of Steinway Street (the major commercial street of Astoria), we counted seven mosques and Islamic centers.  However, we only know of one gospel-preaching church located in Astoria.  In this neighborhood of 170,000 people from every corner of the globe, we have the opportunity to plant a church that reaches the nations with the gospel of Jesus Christ. How can you be involved? We are humbled and grateful that so many of you have expressed an interest in being a part of planting a gospel-centered, Kingdom-advancing church in NYC.  We are praying that God would raise up individuals, families, and churches to be involved with us in the following ways: Pray First and foremost, we need your prayers.  Our most pressing need at this moment is for God to send out laborers into His harvest with us (Mt. 9:38).  Please pray with us that God would raise up mature, godly brothers and sisters to move to NYC as members of our church planting team.  We are asking God to send us a diverse cross-section of families and individuals to engage NYC with the gospel and to serve their neighbors with selfless love. Obviously, moving to NYC will mean a major life transition for our team, so pray that God would provide for them as they seek jobs in NYC and work through the logistics of relocating.  We will be updating you more on the development of the church planting team and letting you know more specific ways to pray in the near future. Give NYC has one of the highest costs of living in the world.  For this reason, we are praying and trusting that God will raise up individuals and churches to partner with us financially for the advancement of the gospel in NYC and in all nations.  At present, we estimate that the initial phase of this ministry, the first two years we will be in NYC, will cost $398,700.  God has already provided $180,000 of that.  We are moving forward in faith, trusting that He will provide all that is necessary to build His church in NYC. Currently, our sending church, The Church at Brook Hills, is handling all financial donations.  If God is leading you to partner with us financially, you can do so by mailing your tax-deductible gift to:             The Church at Brook Hills             Attn: Jean Adams             3145 Brook Highland Parkway             Birmingham, AL 35242 Please make checks payable to The Church at Brook Hills and designate your gifts by writing “Northeast Church Plant” in the memo line.  If you would like to see our prospective budget, please contact us. Go It may be that God has begun to give you a passion to make disciples of all nations by making disciples in NYC.  If so, we would love to connect with you. We are currently exploring the possibility of partnering with other local churches outside of Brook Hills.  If you think that your local church, or some members of your local church, would be interested in what God is doing in NYC, we would love to connect with you.  Please feel free to contact us so that we can think and pray together about how we might be able to see the kingdom of Christ advanced in NYC and to the ends of the earth. Thank you for taking the time to read this e-mail.  We greatly appreciate the encouragement that we have received from so many of you and we look forward to partnering together in the future for the glory of Christ in NYC and in all nations. Blessings in Christ, josh and traci "Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, now and forever. Amen" (Eph. 3:20-21)

NYC Newsletter #2

This newsletter was originally sent June 19, 2011. Thank You! Thank you for taking the time to read this update and to pray for us.  Many of you have joined our email list over the past month and have committed to praying for us.  The rest of you have apparently not blocked us from your inbox...and for that we are grateful as well! In all seriousness, we cannot tell you how much it means to us to know that we have brothers and sisters who are interceding for us before the throne of grace.  We know that we are unequal to the task of planting a church in NYC for the glory of Christ in all nations.  But we also know that our sovereign God delights in glorifying Himself by answering the prayers of His people.  So please continue to pray.  Pray for God to establish His kingdom in NYC and in all nations.  What have we been doing for the past month? The past month has been crazy...in a really good way.  On June 5, we officially announced our intention to plant a church in NYC to our faith family at Brook Hills.  Honestly, we have been a bit overwhelmed with the response we have seen.  We have been meeting with individuals, families, and small groups who are praying about how they might be able to partner with us to make disciples of all nations by making disciples in NYC.  We have also gotten some interest from individuals and churches in other areas of the country and are exploring the possibilities of partnering with them.  In other words, God is doing some pretty amazing things.  We are not always sure what exactly He is doing, but we are excited to find out! We have also launched our NYC church planting web page that is hosted on the Brook Hills website.  Here you will find a video that some of our communications staff helped us put together about our vision for planting in NYC, as well as some other helpful information.  The address is www.brookhills.org/nyc.   What do the next few months look like? We have learned over the past month that God often has other plans than we at first perceive.  We initially thought that we would be moving to NYC in August.  However, we really feel that because of the tremendous interest we are seeing from our people at Brook Hills, it would be wise for us to stick around for a few more months in order to develop our church planting team here. So, here's what that looks like: Over the next month and a half (through the end of July), we will be meeting with potential team members, speaking at small groups, and traveling to various churches around the country to explore how we might partner with individuals and churches. In early August, we will begin meeting as a group with those who are considering moving to NYC.  Lord willing, after 2-3 months of building the team, Traci and I will move to NYC, and our team members will join us as they are able to relocate.  How can you pray? Our most pressing need at this moment is for God to send out laborers into His harvest with us (Mt. 9:38).  Please pray with us that God would raise up mature, godly brothers and sisters who have a heart for the glory of Christ in NYC and all nations to move to NYC.  Obviously, this means a major life transition for them, so pray that God would provide for them as they seek jobs in NYC and work through the logistics of relocating.  We will be updating you more on the development of the church planting team and letting you know more specific ways to pray in the near future. What else can you do? As you ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest, we would also ask you to consider whether you are one of those laborers that He is sending to NYC.  It may be that God has begun to give you a passion to make disciples of all nations by making disciples in NYC.  We would love to connect with you and explore that possibility. As we stated above, we are also exploring the possibility of partnering with other local churches outside of Brook Hills.  If you think that your local church, or some members of your local church, would be interested in what God is doing in NYC, we would love to connect with you.  Please feel free to contact us so that we can think and pray together about how we might be able to see the kingdom of Christ advanced in NYC and to the ends of the earth. Thanks again for taking the time to read this e-mail.  Please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions you might have for us. Blessings in Christ, josh and traci "Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, now and forever. Amen" (Eph. 3:20-21)

NYC Newsletter #1

This update was originally sent on May 17, 2011. Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, You are receiving this e-mail for one of two reasons.  Some of you have expressed interest in receiving updates regarding how God is leading us to plant our lives in New York City for the glory of Christ in all nations.  Others have not been aware of our plans, but because you have shown yourselves to be such wonderful partners in the gospel in the past, we wanted to take this opportunity to give a brief synopsis of where we have been over the past year and where we believe we are headed...at least in the immediate future. What have we been doing for the past year? This past August, I (Josh) entered into the Church Planting Residency program at The Church at Brook Hills in Birmingham, Alabama under the leadership of senior pastor David Platt.  The Church at Brook Hills exists to "glorify God by making disciples of all nations."  With that purpose in mind, the church began a Church Planting Residency Program with the goal of raising up and sending out men to plant churches in unreached contexts around the world and under-served contexts inNorth America. Why New York City? New York City is considered one of the most difficult places in the United States to plant a church.  And yet, we are firmly convinced that it is one of the most strategic locations on earth that we can plant our lives for the advancement of the gospel to all nations.  The reasons can really be summed up in three words: Under-served (NYC is roughly 2.3% evangelical), Influential (According to the 2010 Global Cities IndexNYC is the most influential city in the world), and International (NYC is home to over 500 distinct people groups and more than 800 languages). Where do we go from here? We are currently in the process of assembling a church planting team consisting primarily of members from our Brook Hills faith family.  As of right now, it looks as though Traci and I will be moving to NYC this fall and our team will follow as they are able to relocate to NYC.  Time and time again, the Lord has demonstrated to us that His plans and His provision for us are better than anything we could have devised for ourselves.  We have confidence that though we are unworthy and inadequate, yet Christ has promised to build His church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it! What do we need from you? More than anything, we need your prayers.  I know that sounds trite, but it is the truth.  We are absolutely incapable of producing any true gospel fruit on our own.  The Bible teaches us that conversion is nothing less than God's Spirit bringing life from the dead.  Certainly, we cannot bring that about on our own, and that is why we need your prayers.  We need God to do His gracious work in the hearts and wills of the people to whom we minister.  Beyond that, we need wisdom for the myriad of decisions, large and small, that we are facing.  We will be requesting more specific prayer in upcoming e-mails, but please know that your prayers are invaluable to us. Thank you for taking the time to read this e-mail.  Please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions you might have for us.  We will keep you updated on our progress periodically and will let you know other ways that you can be involved in making disciples of all nations by making disciples in NYC. Blessings in Christ, josh and traci "Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, now and forever. Amen" (Eph. 3:20-21)

Astoria Articles

Just in case anyone out there would like to learn a little more about our community (and feel intense jealousy), here are a few links:

Top 7 Reasons to Live in Astoria, Queens

Everyone's Invited to This Block Party

If You're Thinking of Living in Astoria

New York's Little Egypt District Welcomes Arab Immigrants

Happy Reading!