Spare Change September 2017
This summer we took our high school students to Chicago for a mission trip. We worked with church planters in the area. There is so much good work being done in the Chicago area; however, there is also a lot of lostness still to combat. The North American Mission Board (NAMB) selected Chicago as one of its “Send Cities” a few years back. This means they are targeting this region with resources and personnel. They have developed a strategy to plant gospel-centered, Bible believing Southern Baptist churches in every neighborhood throughout metro Chicago.
This is a gigantic task, since Chicago has 8,792,970 people in its metro area; which means there is only 1 Southern Baptist church for every 34,348 people. As you can see there is a lot of work to be done. We partnered with Bryan Coble, who is a church planter in the Irving Park region; Bryan is bi-vocational-- he manages a Honey Baked Ham store. He has been having a weekly Bible study in the community center of a local park. He has a great opportunity to reach over 50,000 people in Irving Park alone.
We helped Bryan get the word out about his church by passing out water bottles and church flyers. We also served the park by picking up the trash scattered throughout. We went to a local foster care center where we cleaned and played with kids. We really enjoyed our time working in this part of the city. It gave a us a good picture of the everyday lives of people in Irving Park and helped us capture the vision Bryan has for his church plant.
Chicago is a unique, sprawling city that is crowded and bustling; however, within the larger scope there are these little neighborhoods were church planters can do their work. One church planter and Regional strategist, Chris Wright, has seen how his church is able to reach out to young professionals that are simply looking to connect with others. Even in such a populous area people are lonely and need other people to befriend them. The church, powered by the gospel, can be that connection people are looking for.
We need to be praying for all the Send Chicago church planters. You can see their profiles at www.namb.net/send-cities/chicago. You can also see a plant map and get regular updates on what is happening there. I would ask you to pray specifically for Chris Wright as he coordinates the planting effort in Chicago and for Bryan Coble as he plants in Irving Park.
We are exploring a partnership with Send Chicago, which would mean we would send resources and people to assist church planters. More information about trips will be available if this partnership develops. Please pray about this matter and pray for the heart of our church to be on fire for missions in Chicago.