Summer in Sunnyside!
Greetings friends!
I wanted to take some time to give you an update on what ministry has been like up here in Sunnyside Queens!
God has opened up some incredible doors for us here in the neighborhood! I have said numerous times to many people that I feel like we’ve got a great skeleton of a church. God has given us favor with a local school, community organizations, political leaders, and individuals. We’ve also been able to sustain a weekly Bible study throughout the Summer where we saw quite a few members of the community attend. This favor is exactly what we need to continue sustainable ministry of sharing God’s love for all people here in Sunnyside!
So much credit for these first few months of fruitful ministry goes to the group of interns and mission teams God has led to partner with us here in Sunnyside! In all honesty, I feel like we hit the jackpot with the group of college students who served with us this Summer! They were active in the community by building relationships with business owners, playing a lot of basketball in the park, reorganizing TONS of books in a local school library, helping lead mission teams, and having attitudes like Christ to serve anyone and everyone!
They were a huge encouragement to us and extremely effective in helping us meet our neighbors!
Mission Teams
In addition to our amazing interns, we have been grateful for the partnership of so many churches who have traveled to participate in ministry efforts here in Queens! In all, we’ve hosted five churches, two college ministries, and a group of Alabama high school students! By the end of the Summer, we will have had nearly 100 people serving with us here in Sunnyside Queens!
Mission teams are vital because they provide us with the ability to be introduced to exponentially more individuals than what we’d be able to do on our own. Our goal this Summer has been to utilize these teams to meet new people in the neighborhood. Our teams have primarily done three tasks: (1) Small acts of kindness like trash pickup or handing out waters at the train station; (2) Pop-up family outreach events with free snow cones and games; (3) Building renovations that have helped three other local churches!
Philippians 2 describes how Jesus came to us as a servant and calls us to share that same attitude. We have found that when serve, even in small ways like picking up litter on sidewalks, we’re able to communicate God’s love in a simple and meaningful way. Our goal through these projects is not to beat people over the head with our belief. Instead, we hope to give people an accurate picture of who Jesus is and create space for a conversation.
In addition to these opportunities in the neighborhood, we are so grateful for the efforts of FBC Orange Park, FL, Jersey Baptist Church from New Albany, OH, and Ocklawaha Bridge Baptist Church from Silver Springs, FL for their work in renovating our ministry space. God opened the doors for us to utilize this incredible space that happened to be on the same block as where we live. It is a church that is owned by Iglesia Bautista Nueva Vida and is utilized by their congregation (Spanish), Global Mission Church (Nepalese), The Bridge Fellowship (Korean), and now our church in English. The efforts for Gospel partnership between these other churches have been incredible! These teams were able to complete renovations of replacing lighting throughout the church, repairing drywall, painting throughout the building, laying new flooring downstairs, and installing new air conditioning in the building! We’re thankful that this investment by these churches will produce fruit for multiple churches in our neighborhood!
Future Strategy
The next several months are going to be crucial in the life of our church. We are calendaring regular opportunities that can serve as on-ramps for members of our neighborhood to join with our church. Each month, we’ll have one fellowship oriented event for families and one service oriented event to partner with our community. We’ll also have numerous pop-up events that are designed to meet neighbors. We’re also praying toward having at least one preview service to generate interest in the community for an English speaking church centered around worship and teaching from God’s Word.
In addition to these efforts in Sunnyside, God is opening doors in the broader NYC Metro for the potential of launching multiple churches throughout the region! This would be done through establishing a community of churches that share resources, administration, and governance. We are currently praying through this with other leaders and would love for you to be praying alongside us!
As we step into these new opportunities, we would ask that you consider partnering with us financially. We would love to bring on additional staff members, purchase equipment for ministry, and get the word out to more in Queens about what God is doing. Our mission is bold and costly and is made possible because of the generosity of God’s people.
As you consider what you or your church are able to do, know that we have some individuals that give $25/month and others that have given thousands. Each gift helps sustain the ministry here in Queens and New York City. The more you’re able to give simply provides more opportunities to reach more people with the Gospel! Please know that we are so grateful for you and your partnership for Gospel ministry here in NYC!
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Jacksonville, Florida Event! Sunday, September 5 @ 5pm
The Church of Eleven22, Baymeadows Campus
8133 Point Meadows Dr,
Jacksonville, FL 32256
If you are in the Jacksonville, FL area, we’d love to invite you to join us on Sunday, September 5 at 5p! During this evening, we’ll share stories about what God is doing here in Queens as well as ways you and your church can partner with us! Invite your family, small group, Sunday School classes, Pastors, and churches to join us for what is sure to be a great night!