God is doing a gospel work here,” said Jorge Rodriguez, pastor and planter of Grace Family Church in Rogers Park. “And having the crews come in just brings more light to what God is doing.”
The crews were Southern Baptists from across the region who heard the Chicago version of the Macedonian call—at least for a weekend. Serve Tour deployed workers and their witness to churches and schools and parks all over Chicagoland to bring helping hands, compassion ministry, and the gospel.
“Chicagoland is our state’s largest, and in many ways most daunting mission field, and many of the pastors and churches there are doing truly heroic work,” IBSA Executive Director Nate Adams said.
Serve Tour brought them some back up.
“In just these two days, I personally saw churches feeding the desperately hungry, teaching job and language skills in Chicago’s poorest neighborhoods, serving and befriending local law enforcement, improving church properties to make them more attractive and useful, caring for exhausted and grateful migrants, and in all these compassion ministries, faithfully sharing the gospel and making disciples.”
In Rogers Park, members of Rodriguez’ multi-ethnic congregation teamed up with crews from Cornerstone Church in downstate Marion and a Kentucky church that has partnered with Rodriguez for several years, Bloomfield Baptist Church. They spent Friday preparing New Field School for opening day, assembling furniture, and cleaning the cafeteria, which is also the space where Grace Family Church holds Sunday worship services.
Maria Oke from Nigeria has been a member of the church plant for two years. “Our folks here in the church are just like the folks in Rogers Park—the most diverse group in Chicago.”
She was giving instructions to the work crews and passing out trash bags after lunch. “The people came to help us clean the grounds and wipe the walls and sweep; it is inspiring. We met the principal and the administrators of the school, and it encourages the relationship with the church and the school,” Oke said.
“The principal told me, ‘I don’t know much about Southern Baptists, but I like what you guys are doing,’” Rodriguez said.
For high school student Madison Lee from Marion, her first visit to Chicago was eye opening. “The city is a lot bigger than I thought, and there’s a lot more people than I thought—but I really like it.
“Earlier this summer I had a calling at church camp” to a mission project, she said. “We learned how God is going to call you out of your comfort zone, but it’s all for a reason.” As Madison and the Cornerstone crew scrubbed walls in the cafeteria, their concern for this community at the opposite end of the state from their own was clear.
The teams gathered each morning at one of four ministry hubs: Ashburn Baptist Church Chicago, Chicago West Bible Church, Starting Point Community Church, and Faith Tabernacle Baptist Church. On Saturday evening, they assembled at Armitage Baptist Church for worship and to share reports on ministry.
“I don’t know which encouraged me more—that more than half of the churches participating in the Serve Tour weekend were from Illinois, or that almost half of them were from other states,” Adams said.
He and his wife, Beth, manned a mobile grill and served burgers on the first day. On the second day, they led NAMB Director Sammy Simmons on a tour of work sites.
“I also gratefully watched hundreds of sacrificial Baptist volunteers who, while they were serving, were also able to see up close and personal the ongoing needs and great opportunities of their fellow churches in Chicago,” Adams said.
The Chicago event was one of six in the 2023 schedule, including international outreach in Athens, Greece; Nairobi, Kenya; and Bangkok, Thailand. Planning began more than a year ago as NAMB and its Send City leadership team in Chicago partnered with IBSA and Chicagoland Baptist Association to identify the sites—and facilitate what they hope will be long-term relationships with local churches and church planters.
“I believe we’re going to see long lasting impact from this weekend in Chicago during the Serve Tour,” IBSA Missions Director Shannon Ford said.
Adams agreed. “I believe this weekend will be the beginning of some great future partnerships and ministries.”