Serving Servant Leaders

There’s so much to celebrate in Detroit. Since that first scouting trip in October 2008, God has opened so many doors.

New Beginnings Fellowship began Easter Sunday 2017 and has grown under Tonweya and Judy Sherman’s leadership. While Tonweya didn’t grow up in the city and had never planted a church before, God is using his family to grow this unique expression of the Body of Christ in a very needy place. When Tonweya came as an intern to Detroit in 2014, we talked about the possibilities. It is amazing to see those dreams become reality!

Joe Reimann was my very first intern in Indianapolis in 2004. Even then it was evident that this thoughtful, disciplined young man was going to be a disciple maker. Joe’s resilience over the years has amazed me; he just keeps pushing ahead when others around him have quit. He has found ways to use what he enjoys (like playing basketball) to connect with inner city young men. He has evangelized many of them across the past 15 years of ministry in Cincinnati and then discipled them in their faith. His life is filled with people in whom he has invested deeply. While his full-time job is being a school teacher at Aldersgate Christian Academy in Cincinnati where his children attend, his life’s work is to make disciples wherever God leads him.

Martin Barnard moved to Chicago to serve a congregation on Chicago’s south-side. Since moving there to serve an aging congregation, all but one of the church’s members have moved to warmer climates or gone home to heaven. With the church in transition, Martin and the remaining congregants felt that joining EFM’s Urban Ministry Division would help them to navigate the challenges and opportunities of the next few years. With people of various nationalities surrounding the church and a growing group of community people attending, there are tremendous opportunities here, but we all recognize that the changing situation will require a fresh approach to ministry here. Martin and his family have made a long-term commitment to this place, buying a home and making plans to continue when the financial resources of the church require them to serve bi-vocationally.

It is young leaders like Joe, Martin and Tonweya who are on the front lines of city ministry, building churches that will impact these tough urban places. But they are not doing that work alone. Together we are stronger. The UMD’s vision of creating a network of interconnected city ministries is happening. Developing strong, self-supporting churches in the heart of our U.S. cities takes time and resources, and it is a lot like raising children. It requires an investment, but the returns are priceless.

As I sat visiting with Pastor Edy, the pastor of the Indianapolis Hispanic congregation I helped to plant eighteen years ago, I was reminded of that fact. Hearing his stories of families being saved and discipled, talking with him about their search for a permanent location for worship thrilled my heart. This is a growing church pastored by a family that was saved here just a few short years ago. This church not only pays its own bills, but they are training a whole new generation of bilingual leaders who will bless the church for years to come. Is city ministry worth the investment? Absolutely!

I am honored to be able to serve alongside these young leaders. The lessons that I learned from my experiences planting two congregations in Indianapolis has enabled me to support and to guide them. As we continue to look to the future, scouting new cities and recruiting new leaders, I believe that the best is yet to come. Thank you for your investment in the mission field that is at our own back door.