"Missions Report and Syracuse, NY"

(Mission Team from FBC Briar, TX and PHBC, Orlinda, TN)

      Jeremy Shultz and I spent last week (May 29-June 3) in Syracuse, New York serving alongside Christ Is King Baptist Church. Christ Is King Baptist Church is a church plant started by First Baptist Church Briar in Azle, Texas. Jon Speed serves as church planter and pastor of Christ Is King Baptist Church. Jon had been involved in street preaching and evangelism all over the world for several years; however, God gave Jon a desire to plant a church and to be involved in serving a congregation as a pastor, rather than traveling from city to city preaching. Therefore, in His grace, God gave Jon a burden for Syracuse, New York.

     Since I (Chad) have been a pastor, I have wanted to serve a church that was passionate about evangelism, discipleship, and missions. Why? I believe God is passionate about getting His gospel out for His glory. It was through my relationship with Pastor Randall Easter that I learned about the church plant in Syracuse. Pastor Randall and FBC Briar have the same convictions when it comes to preaching the gospel, making disciples, and planting churches. The gospel is worthy of sending individuals out in places that have never heard the name of Christ, and after my week in Syracuse, it was apparent that it is a very needy place in regards to the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Charlie handing out gospel tracts

     Jeremy and I left for Syracuse after our morning worship service on Sunday, May 29th. We traveled to Cleveland where we stopped and got a room for the evening. On Monday, we continued to travel to Syracuse, which was 4.5 hours away from Cleveland. The scenery along I-90 was beautiful. As we traveled along I-90, you could see Lake Erie to the north of us for around a 100 miles or so. The drive there wasn’t all that bad since we were able to stop in Cleveland to spend the night. We arrived to the bookstore/church around 4 PM and were greeted by Jon, Kim (his wife), Veronica, Samantha, Charlie, and Jonathan (Jon’s four children). Kevin and Carol Colomb, church members of Christ Is King, were also there and graciously allowed us to stay with them for the week. 

     As Tuesday morning rolled around, Pastor Jon took us to Syracuse University to do some open air preaching. We set up to preach on a street corner that was near a bus stop, hospital, and several restaurants. This was a perfect location to herald the gospel because we had several people for an audience. As Pastor Jon was preaching, I had a gentleman walk up to me by the name of Chris.  Chris then told me he was seeing demons, hellhounds, and aliens, and he wanted to know if I could cast out demons. After thirty minutes of listening to his story (I couldn’t get a word in edgewise), I told him that he needed Christ, and Christ was able to remove any demonic and evil spirits from him and set him free. However, he did not seem interested in Christ. I noticed another gentleman sitting by himself on the concrete steps. I approached him, confidently ready to share the gospel. During our conversation, Herman admitted he had anger problems right before he told me he wanted to be alone and didn’t care what I had to say. I asked him if I could pray with him, and surprisingly, he replied, “Yes.” After I prayed with Herman, he opened up to me and confessed, “I was made to go to church when I was a boy and now I don’t want to go.” I sympathized with Herman, gave him a gospel tract and information on the church plant. I then began to preach on the concrete steps where Herman stood up against a tree and listened to my entire sermon. Pray for Herman. As I was preaching, I noticed that there were three ladies who were sitting, talking, and eating lunch.  One lady was a Muslim, and they sat there the entire time I preached. I pray that they heard something that would drive them to seek God in Christ.  I was taken aback at the receptivity of the people at Syracuse University and the freedom to preach Christ.

(Pastor Jon open-air preaching and me speaking with Chris)

      After we finished preaching, we went across the street to the Varsity Restaurant for a slice of pizza and then headed to downtown Syracuse. Upon arriving in downtown Syracuse, I noticed the scenery had changed, as well as the people. I saw homeless people. I saw drug addicts. I saw drunks.  I saw businessmen. I saw businesswomen. I saw children. I saw and met a lot of people without Christ. I met people who were in a hurry and had no time to take a gospel tract or listen to the gospel. After we spent a couple of hours walking around, passing out tracts, and striking up conversations, we started preaching on a busy intersection. Jon, Jeremy, and myself each preached the gospel on the street corner. There were a lot of spectators, a few listeners, and as always, mockers, but the gospel went forth.

Jeremy sharing the gospel

     Wednesday was a full day, as Jeremy led singing and I taught three different Bible studies in three different locations. The men from First Baptist Briar arrived in Syracuse on this day as well. The first Bible study was held in a 23-floor assisted living facility.  Meeting on the 14th floor gave us a beautiful view of the Valley. Afterwards, we had lunch and picked up Jon’s boys (Charlie and Jonathan) and headed to the park, where we spent a couple of hours passing out tracts and talking with people about the gospel of Christ. Again, I was amazed at the receptivity of people when we engaged them with the gospel. After our time in the park, we headed to the airport to pick up the other team flying in from Texas. Our next Bible study was held in another church member’s home in an apartment complex near the church. Once we finished there, we had just enough time to get back to the church for the mid-week Bible study and prayer meeting. It was a great time of teaching, singing, and fellowshipping with other believers.

Bible Study at Christ Is King Baptist Church

     Our last day of ministry was Thursday. Our teams paired up to go out and do door-to-door evangelism. We had gospel tracts and information about the church. I teamed up with Jack, a pastor from Texas, and we hit the streets to tell folks about Christ. The very first door we knocked on led us to a man who introduced himself as a witch. As you can imagine, neither one of us were prepared for this conversation. He was involved in Wicca. In all honesty, I was not even remotely prepared to deal with meeting a witch! However, the gospel is sufficient and we shared the gospel with him. His name is Ronnie. Pray that God would make the gospel effectual in Ronnie’s life. We walked up one side of the street in this neighborhood where we met Universalists, Catholics, Atheists, and Non-Interests. I met one man who had just lost his son-in-law, who professed to be a Christian, and when I asked him if I could pray for him he said, “No.” After lunch, we went back out on the streets for a couple of hours, where I met Jim. Jim is a retired schoolteacher who was raised a Roman Catholic and was sitting on his front porch, smoking a cigar. Once he learned what we were out doing, Jim admitted, “I am a heathen and you are barking up the wrong tree.” Jim seemed to be a very hardhearted man who was quite self-sufficient. He tried to tell me that he was a good guy (even though he used God’s name in vain on several occasions) and that St. Peter would forgive him once he got to heaven. Jack and I confronted Jim with his breaking of God’s law (Ten Commandments) and one of them being using God’s name in vain. You could see Jim’s demeanor change as we began to point out his sin. This opened the door for us to share the gospel with him. Please continue to pray for Jim. As we finished our time going door-to-door, we gathered together for a picnic at the Sherwoods’. The Sherwoods are members of Christ Is King who graciously opened their homes and provided a wonderful time of food and fellowship after our long day of ministry. 

Andrew and Jonathan going door-to-door

     I am reminded of the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Roman believers when he wrote, “I make my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ had already been named, lest I build on someone else’s foundation.” Paul wanted to preach Christ where the gospel had not been proclaimed. Friends, may I say that Syracuse, New York (especially in the Valley of Nedrow) is a spiritually dark place that desperately needs the gospel of Jesus Christ. God, in His grace, has opened a door of opportunity for PHBC to be a part of by praying, going, and giving toward this church plant in New York. It is my desire to see God glorified through the spreading and illumination of the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ in this spiritually dark community. In John 8:12, Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life.” Therefore, Jesus is able to bring light into dark places. How do we know this? Because as believers, we all once lived in spiritual darkness, until Jesus shined his light for us to see. And now, the question may be WHY should we do this? Because Jesus reminds us in Matthew 5:14, “You are the light of the world…” May God grant us the desire and the resources to be a part of getting the light of Jesus Christ into Syracuse for His glory!