by carol pipes

Ministering to the city that never sleeps: The Big Apple
The first time I handed a sandwich to a hungry person in Central Park, I knew what I wanted to do with my lifeshow Gods love to people who are suffering.

As director of church and community ministries, Kareem has been assessing the needs of victims families since the collapse of the World Trade Center buildings on September 11. PHOTO BY gibbs frazeur

Kareem Goubrans parents came to the U.S. from Egypt two months before he was born. They settled in New York City where Kareem still lives and ministers as Director of Church and Community Ministries for the Metropolitan New York Baptist Association (MNYBA). Since the attacks on September 11, Kareem and the staff at the MNYBA have been working with the local churches to assess the needs of their neighbors. We are reaching out to the victims families and to local firefighters, says Kareem. We are just trying to survive this difficult time.

Kareem worked as a summer missionary with Graffiti Church, a New York City mission center. He took part in FLIPFree Lunch in the Parka program to feed the homeless in Central Park.

I saw Gods love in action through this outreach, says Kareem. It changed my life.

With a masters degree in social work, Kareem became a bivocational missionary, working with Graffiti and as a social worker with the City of New York. I knew God wanted me to minister in my home townto be a missionary in my daily life, says Kareem.

In 1998, Kareem began his ministry with the MNYBA. His job is to help churches in New York City develop ministries that reach out into the community. Eighteen million people representing many different ethnic groups live in metropolitan New York and the surrounding area. There are 200 churches in the association to minister to this huge group of people.

New York City is very much representative of our pluralistic society, Kareem admits. There seems to be someone on every corner preaching a different message. Its hard to compete. But when we minister to peoples needs, they dont just hear talk, but they see a demonstration of Gods love in action. The needs are all around us in this city. The homeless, drug addicts, prostitutesthey all need Gods love.

Ministering in the inner city is challenging and Kareem recognizes that he cant do it in his own strength. Im grateful to God that He gave me the training I have to work with people who are suffering. Its not easy, but I focus on the fact that God came to us through Jesus Christ. He fed the hungry. He healed the sick. He touched the outcast. He never hesitated to reach out to people in need, no matter where they came from. When we use Christ as our model, we can share His love with those who are suffering and make an impact on their lives.

Someone took the time to tell me that God loved me. My passion is to share that love by helping others.

Introducing girls to missions
Missions should be fun, innovative and hands-on, says Clairann Haney who teaches Girls in Action (GAs) for first through sixth grade girls at Oak Harbor Southern Baptist Church in Oak Harbor, Washington.

My goal is to involve the girls in more hands-on missions projects and give them some challenges, she says. We contact missionaries via the Internet and find out how we can help them. We are in a prayer partnership with a missionary family in Southeast Asia, and we sponsor a young man in the Dominican Republic.

The girls are involved in cultural projects, missions study, Bible memory, Bible study, arts and crafts, service projects, field trips and a yearly mission trip.

The study of countries where Southern Baptist missionaries serve is very applicable to this group of girls. Most of them are from military families who eventually move to other countries. They want to learn about the culture and the people, says Clairann.

In the summer of 2000, Clairann took a small group of girls to Lake Chelan, Washington, to work with a struggling church in a Spanish-speaking area. The girls made bilingual tracts and passed them out at a street fair.

Clairann (center) joins the girls in dressing up to celebrate the different countries they are studying in GAs. She loves to see these girls get excited about sharing their faith. PHOTO courtesy of oak harbor baptist church

Our mission trips are for fourth- through sixth-grade girls who must gain sufficient credits to go, through attendance, memory work, service, scholarship and evangelism.

Last summer they took a day trip to World Concerns Supply Center in Lynnwood, Washington. World Concern is a national charitable ministry that sends needed items to all parts of the world. We took medical supplies, seeds and a check to buy two rabbits for a family in Rwanda, a goat for a family in Haiti and an educational care package for a girl in Ethiopia. We also sorted clothes to be shipped out to Tajikestan and Kazakhstan.

Their missions focus for next year is Asia and Asian communities in the U.S. Clairann hopes to do a mission project in Seattles International District and attend services at a Cantonese-Mandarin-English-speaking church in Seattle.

As these girls move on to other military stations or move ahead into the youth group I hope that their time in GAs will have been a spiritual growth experience that will move them forward with God.

For information about starting a GAs or Royal Ambassadors (RAs) program in your church visit www.wmu.com, www.namb.net or www.kidzplace.org.

Taking the gospel to the street
Jamie Clark was raised by godly parents and attended a Southern Baptist church all her life, but she didnt become a Christian until she was in college. She had never been on a mission trip, but shortly after giving her life to Christ she knew she needed to be involved in missions. I realized that God wanted me to be about the business of growing His kingdom, says Jamie. I knew that if He commanded it I should do it.

Jamie (seated on left) hands out Kool-Aid and visits with neighborhood kids who stop by the center on their way home from school. photo by gibbs frazeur

As a US/C-2 missionary, Jamie is serving in her second year at Montgomery Village Baptist Center in Knoxville, Tennessee. The center is an inner-city haven for low-income children and adults. Jamie helps with the centers community market, which includes a clothes closet and food pantry. Residents from the neighborhood walk through the center and pick out food just like you would in a grocery store, says Jamie.

Jamie also teaches an after-school Bible study for youth. The center provides a safe option for youth who just hang out in the streets when they are not in class. Working with these kids has made me realize how blessed I am to have a family and to have been raised by godly parents.

I want to provide them with some of that stability and love.

Jamie stays busy at the center during the week. There is a worship service on Thursdays and adult Bible studies on Tuesdays and Fridays. I enjoy sharing Gods word, says Jamie. But the people in this neighborhood have a real hardness of heart. I know its God who will change their hearts. I just have to keep reaching out to them and sharing His love.

To learn more about church and community ministries like the one Jamie is involved in visit www.namb.net/ccm.

Giving prisoners real freedom
At the 600-bed transfer facility in Tulia, Texas, inmates are constantly coming and going. Mission Service Corps missionaries, H.L. and Jean Rowell, try to make sure that each man who stays at the Tulia facility hears about the love and forgiveness of Jesus Christ.

I went to the prison to teach Experiencing God about nine years ago. They didnt have a chaplain at the time, so I asked the warden if he would let me set up some programs for the men, recalls H.L. He and his wife Jean have been working at the prison ever since.

We provide worship services in English and Spanish every evening and Sunday afternoons. On Sunday mornings we have a Bible study, says H.L. Several churches from the surrounding area come in to help with the services.

In addition to the worship services, the Rowells spend a lot of their time keeping in touch with the prisoners after they leave the facility. Jean writes letters to them every week.

The Rowells spend much of their time writing letters to all of the men they meet at the Tulia Transfer Center. photo by toby druin

Their keep up with list includes those who were baptized at the facility, sang in the Hispanic and Chapel choirs and those who have been faithful in attending services. More than 1,700 men are on their list. We especially try to keep up with them on their birthdays and when we know a parole review or a release date is coming up, says Jean. I also try to answer all the letters that they send to us. Many of them send beautiful hand-made cards to us at Christmas.

Since the beginning of their ministry, the Rowells have seen more than 1,400 men come to know Christ as Savior and be baptized. The steady transfer of men in and out of the unit makes it difficult to reach them. But the Rowells are determined to introduce them to the One who can truly set them free.

Visit www.namb.net/beonmission/volunteers/msc for information about serving as an MSC missionary.

Prognosis: more medical clinics
There are 40 million people in the U.S. who dont have medical insurance, says Dr. Fred Loper. Known as the working poor, many of these have jobs but dont have the benefit of insurance and cant afford medical coverage or care. One way Southern Baptists are battling this chronic problem is through medical missions.

As a national missionary, Dr. Lopers mission is to help Baptists at the community and state level diagnose the need for clinics in their area and encourage them to start free medical and dental clinics. I really try to encourage Baptists to share Christ through medical missions. Together I think we can really make a difference in peoples livesphysically and spiritually.

Dr. Loper has supported medical missions for 25 years. I first saw the need when I was in medical school.

In addition to his medical ministry, Dr. Loper (left) teaches youth at Trinity Baptist Church. Here he enjoys talking with two of his students at a youth softball game. photo by kent haruille

I volunteered at Good Shepherd Ministries in downtown Oklahoma City, says Dr. Loper. We worked with a diverse group of people in the inner city. That amazing experience really shaped my lifepeople from all over the world coming together in Christs name.

We were always in touch with the medical needs of the people who came to Good Shepherd for help. Our pastor led a group of doctors and medical students into starting a free medical and dental clinic downtown.

Fred Loper (right) and Bill Sisson, director of the Oklahoma City Baptist Mission, take time to check the medication supply in the centers pharmacy. photo by kent haruille

Dr. Loper still practices medicine about one day a week, but the rest of his time is devoted to working with churches and individuals who have a passion for medical missions. I dont want anyone to miss out on what God is doing. As Christians we are required to be on mission and tell others about Christ. Once you get involved in sharing your faith, youre never the same.

Medical missions is a practical way for churches to reach out to their communities. For information about starting a medical and dental clinic contact Dr. Loper at 405-528-7688 or by email at fredloper@compuserve.com.