Urban Ministry 102

“I feel like I’ve been fishing the same pond my whole life. Now there’s thousands of other fishermen fishing this pond, our lines are getting tangled, and and we’re starting to fight over stupid things. If one guy tries a new lure and he catches a new fish, we all have to try his method. I just kind of feel like, what are we all doing here? What would keep me at this pond? Well, I’ve built a house on this pond, and all my friends have houses on this pond. We don’t really fish that much. We just go out to talk and play. I don’t want to leave my friends, but what if I heard of a lake 5 miles away that no one is fishing, and the fish are biting on everything. If my calling is to fish, and no one is fishing over there, why wouldn’t I go” - Francis Chan

Hey, my name is Kyle Peacock, and I am the Program Coordinator for Urban Reach NYC where it’s our mission to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ within “Urban Settings.” This blog is here to highlight some tips and tricks we’ve learned along the way, in hopes of helping you become a more efficient Christ Centered Community Servant. My grammar is notoriously awful, so apologies in advance for that, and my “ministry successes” have only happened because of the hundreds of failures leading up to them. I fully understand that I’m no expert, and I don’t wish for you to view me that way either. I’m just a follower of Jesus trying to figure out how to love people better.

With that understanding, let me share my journey of defining Urban Ministry in this 3 part blog.

Part Two…

“Follow me and I will make you fishers of men” - Matthew 4:19

What do you think about when you think about fishing? Well, I grew up in The South, but didn’t really fish that much. I have just a hand full of fishing memories with my dad and/or grand dad, in a few different South Georgia ponds. In hind sight, I see that God knew I was not going to grow up to serve Him in “the country” so He didn’t place “country boy” desires in me.

Fun Fact: As a “Die Hard” University of Tennessee football fan, most of my fishing memories involve Bill Dance Bloopers. He is also a Tennessee fan who had a fishing show, and I felt the need to watch him, just to support a fellow Vol fan.

Although I did not have the desires to fish myself, I grew up surrounded by fishermen. A decent percentage of the student body at Pigeon Forge High School wore work boots, super tight jeans with a mountain dew bottle stuffed in their back pocket, a tan colored Carhart jacket, camo shirt, and a FORD hat with a fishing hook on the bill. As I grew up with them and did life with them, I started to pick up a few “tricks of the trade” when it came to fishing. Come to find out, there’s A LOT of strategy when it comes to fishing.

These guys would wake up hours before the sun came out, make sure their gear was stocked and ready to use, run through a check list to make sure their boat was solid, and made sure they ate a good meal before a long day of fishing. They would arrive at the lake with a plan already mapped out where the fish would bite and what time they were biting!

By now you see where I’m heading, right? Jesus calls us to fish for people with the vision of making disciples who make disciples, and the more planning and strategy you use, the more effective you’ll become

Side Note: I understand that Christian Education is important, and going to school to learn how to more efficiently dive into The Word of God is highly recommended, but there is no college degree on this Earth that can replace an open AND available heart guided by a biblical mindset. So next time you go “fishing for The Kingdom” ask yourself, am I ready to reel someone in through Discipleship once they’re hooked?

Kyle, what’s so special about fishing within Urban Ministry? Glad you asked!

Let’s just look at the numbers. We’ll talk about the diversity within these number in Part 3

By 2050, two out of every three people are likely to be living in cities or other urban centers, according to a United Nations report, highlighting the need for more sustainable urban planning and public services. That’s 2.5 billion MORE people moving to urban settings over the next 30 years.

We already know that NYC has over 8 million people, but some experts say if you add the undocumented residents, the number is actually 10-14 million. On top of that number, a lot of the work force commutes into the city every day from surrounding cities and states, meaning at any given time during a 9-5 work day, you could have over 21 million people in NYC.

I come from The Bible Belt, so growing up in Tennessee, you would have to search far and wide to find someone who did not claim Christianity, or at the very least believe there’s some sort of God who controls things. That’s not the case in NYC, over 24% of New Yorkers are more than happy to tell you they have no religious affiliation, and depending on the model you’re looking at, only 4-9% of New Yorkers claim Jesus Christ as their Savior.

We have Discovered a place with a ton of fish, and we hear more are on the way. As Fishermen, it would be a smart strategy to anchor our boats here, prepare to reel in fish through Discipleship in order to train them up and then Deploy them back on to the pond as fishermen.

Because if you think about it, every fisherman within The Kingdom was once a fish swimming around, lost in darkness.

To Be Continued…