Helping Plant Churches in Central New York State

I grew up in Western New York State. What I saw there was a region largely devoid of the gospel. In fact, most of the northeastern USA is like this. Although there were church buildings in every city and town, only a small percentage of those were proclaiming the biblical gospel. Even fewer were reaching out to their communities with the good news of Christ.

Even though I now live in Savannah, I remain burdened for the people of upstate New York. Because of this, I was pleased last year when our local association decided to partner with the Finger Lakes Baptist Association of central New York. Churches from Savannah will be traveling to New York on a regular basis to assist the churches there in reaching out to their communities. We will also be helping church planters in that association.

Just to give some perspective, the Savannah Baptist Association is made up of 75 churches in three counties. By contrast, the Finger Lakes Baptist Association covers eleven counties but has only 17 SBC churches. Many of these 17 churches are still in the church-plant stage.

This morning I was happy to attend the first of several organizational meetings for an association trip to central New York. The trip is scheduled for July 16th-24th. We will be primarily involved is two activities: construction and vacation bible school.

I look forward to this opportunity to meet people in central New York. I look forward to sharing the gospel with those who don't know Christ. I thank the Lord for this gift from Him to us.

Below is a short video about the Finger Lakes Baptist Association. The numbers are eye-opening.