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)