In 1857 Jeremiah Lanphier led a prayer emphasis for New York City. Soon thousands of people in New York were praying on the noon hour. A revival swept through New York and then the northeast and then the rest of America. It didn't take long for this revival to move from nation to nation across the world. Revival in our major urban areas today could mean another Great Awakening. Could cities like New York, Los Angeles, Miami and Vancouver really become lighthouses of the gospel? All it would take is for Christians to join together in prayer and action to change our cities. What are we waiting for?

When you picture any big city, do you see bright lights, tall buildings and swarms of people? If you've ever been to Times Square in New York City, you know just what I'm talking about. Walking through Times Square is like swimming upstream through a river of people. These few blocks of city seem to light up the entire night as if its the middle of the day. But when you look into peoples faces and think about spiritual lights in the city, the picture starts to grow dim.

Today, 64 percent of North America's population lives in the 50 largest cities. However, only 25 percent of Southern Baptist churches are in those areas. Throughout the years, our major cities have become centers of spiritual darkness. As populations in our cities have grown, the percentage of Christians has declined. Urbanization has been the trend over the past century and is not expected to slow in the 21st century, says Doug Metzger, director of Strategic Focus Cities at the North American Mission Board (NAMB).

The spiritual darkness of New York City is reproduced with variations in many North American cities. The churches in these cities face many of the same challenges. A city by definition means more of everything—more buildings, more traffic, more crime, more money, more poverty and most of all more people. How do you reach millions of people with the gospel? In order to change our cities we first have to identify the greatest needs and then attack those needs through prayer, ministry, church planting and evangelism. As we spread His message, God can bring light to urban darkness.

Plagues of the city
Crime, homelessness, poverty, indifference and immorality are just a few of the ills that plague our cities.

They say that most people are only two paychecks away from being out on the streets. Imagine looking for a safe place to sleep every night. You curl up on a bed of cement, and if youre lucky you have a newspaper for a blanket. Thousands of people live like this everyday in North America.

Cities offer their inhabitants an immeasurable number of unhealthy diversions. There are ads for immoral activities plastered everywhere—billboards, walls, subway trains. A person could drown in the flood of information that engulfs every street. In the city, personal relationships are traded for impersonal anonymity. With anonymity there is no accountability—individuals feel free to live by their own set of rules.

God is urging us to mend hearts and cities, but we have to be willing to reach out to those in need. In Isaiah the Lord urges His people to break the chains of injustice, free the oppressed, cancel debts, share food with the hungry, invite the poor into our homes, put clothes on the naked and be available to our families. If we do this, our lives will glow in the darkness, and the lives around us will be bathed in sunlight.

Mercy in the streets
The church is called to care for the widow, defend the fatherless and to reach out to the poor and unjustly treated. We are called to practice our faith through our actions. As individuals and as a church we need to put hands and feet to the gospel message and live it out in our daily lives.

Not too far from Wall Street, on the Lower East Side, live many of the city's homeless and working poor. East Seventh Baptist Church, nicknamed Graffiti, on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, has developed a very successful ministry in their neighborhood. They provide emergency help for the homeless, offer educational opportunities for children and youth, administer job development programs and engage in Christian discipleship. Graffiti is a lighthouse in the community sharing the good news of Jesus Christ.

The church should be the first place to look for a model of community. People in the city need a place of rest where they can find peace in the midst of chaos. The church should be a place where people are accepted and cared for. It's a place to build relationships and share accountability.

Reach the wealthy?
One of the largest unreached people groups in the city are the urban wealthy. New York City is seeing a decline among the poor and an increase among the urban wealthy as are many major cities in the U.S. "The church has done a good job of providing ministry to the poor, but we haven't kept up with the rise of the young urban professional," says Nelson Searcy, pastor of The Journey. As Christians we are called to be sensitive to all social levels—taking the gospel to the rich and powerful as well as the poor and downtrodden.

Two new churches in New York City have taken the lead in reaching young urban professionals. The Journey is committed to being a church that is as relevant as today's newspaper while holding to the timeless teachings of Jesus Christ. On Sunday mornings The Journey meets in a small theatre on the Upper West Side and Sunday nights in Greenwich Village. Mosaic Manhattan is a church that grew out of Southern Baptists' response to 9/11. The church meets downtown near the financial district.

"We want to be a church that reflects New York City," says Jay Lyons, creative arts pastor at Mosaic. And mosaic is the perfect way to describe New York with its rich diversity.

Both churches provide a casual atmosphere where non-Christians can get answers to tough spiritual questions and build authentic relationships in a non-threatening environment. Christians in New York City will find a place where they can grow spiritually, serve others and make a difference in their community.

In a city like New York it's hard to get people to make church a priority. It's sometimes easier to get people to come out for special events. Both churches have found innovative ways to reach people. The Journey hosts movie nights, coffee houses and athletic groups. A favorite event is Dog Day, a party in the park for dog lovers. Mosaic has hosted events like the recent Comedy Night featuring some of NYC's hottest comedians. Both churches also are involved in servant evangelism projects to minister to their neighborhoods. Recently, The Journey helped New York University students move into their dorms. Mosaic hands out bottles of water on hot days and coffee on cold ones. They've also sponsored block parties and back-to-school events in the neighborhood.

People in the city need a place to gather with other Christians to receive Truth, love and care.

Crossroads of the world
The Lord is bringing together people from various countries and ethnic backgrounds in our urban centers. New Yorkers don't have to cross the ocean to meet people from another country. All they have to do is cross the street. The world is entering our cities at an extreme rate. All major urban centers in North America are experiencing this trend. Vancouver, B.C., is being called the Hong Kong of the West. Los Angeles is the second largest Hispanic city in the world. Miami is becoming known as the Latin capital of the world. The New York City borough of Brooklyn alone is home to people from every country represented in the United Nations.

Internationals are  vulnerable when they first move to a large city. Many come without jobs and don't have the support of family and friends. Language and cultural barriers can make them feel alone and isolated. The church has a great opportunity to impact lives by opening its arms to these individuals.

A lot of our urban churches find innovative ways to make people feel at home. Offering worship services in multiple languages, providing English as a Second Language classes and job training are a few of the ways churches can impact internationals and perhaps even the world. Some internationals will eventually return to their native country. Imagine what will happen if they take the gospel home with them.

Pray for the cities
More than anything our urban centers need prayer. Change in the cities requires a heart change in the people. The church has the power to transform the human heart and therefore transform whole neighborhoods, communities and even cities. Unified prayer is one of the first steps to making a difference in the city. Jesus wept over Jerusalem. How often do we weep over the mega cities in our nation? We need to feel compassion for the millions of people who practically live on top of each other in our urban centers. To learn how you can pray more strategically for North American cities email cityprayer@namb.net.

Urban lighthouses
Historically, most cities were built with the church at the heart of the city. In recent years, the trend has been for urban churches to move out to the suburbs, abandoning the city. For Christians to impact our cities we have to see a resurgence of urban churches. The church will have an easier time impacting the city if it dwells among the city's residents. The church at the heart of the city can change the hearts of the people who live there.

The urban church has a huge task. The church needs to be proactive in researching demographic changes ahead. Lets face it, neighborhoods change. A church can either try to adapt to the needs of the community or it can move out of the city. The successful urban church will find ways to adapt to a changing community. And to adapt to the ever-growing international community, many churches in New York City have started providing space for multi-cultural congregations. One church in New York has as many as four congregations meeting in its facility—English, Spanish, Korean and Filipino.

Churches need to find ways to communicate the Christ-centered message of hope. Urban churches have the opportunity to become beacons of light to people who are lost in spiritual darkness.

For You, Miami
Great food, hot music and beautiful beaches—Miami's got it all. But more than 90 percent of Miami's five million residents do not have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. The city known for its extravagant hotels has the worst poverty level in the nation (32 percent of the population lives at or below the poverty level). Miami is a city of immigrants from 160 countries speaking more than 140 languages—51 percent were born outside the United States and 38 percent of Miamis population is not U.S. citizens. The most common languages are English, Spanish, Portuguese and Haitian Creole.

Miami has been described as a salad bowl. The people who live here bring their own unique style to the mix, but live together in one community.

Only about 60,000 Southern Baptists live in this city of millions and there are only 266 Southern Baptist churches. The opportunities to minister and share the love of Jesus Christ in Miami are endless.

For You, Miami is a Strategic Focus City emphasis to bring the gospel to the Miami-Dade County area. They hope to address the needs of the city by presenting the love of Christ through prayer, physical care, sharing of faith and church growth.

Already, there have been 19 new churches started through For You, Miami—seven English, eight Spanish and four Haitian. Plans are underway to start 16 new churches before the end of this year.

For information about how you or your church can pray for and partner with churches in Miami visit www.foryoumiami.com.

vital signs

New York

• 8 million people in NYC

• 21 million people in Metro New York

• 213 Southern Baptist churches

• 685,000 college students in NYC

• 130 campuses

• 4 campus ministers

Miami

• 3.5 million people in Dade County

• 55-65 percent are Hispanic

• 266 Southern Baptist churches

• 9 languages spoken among churches

Vancouver

• 2 million people, almost half are of Asian descent

• 43 Canadian Convention of Southern Baptists (CCSB) churches

• 22 ethnic churches

• 8 languages spoken among churches