ATLANTA – Amanda Hambrick believes ministry is about “being there” for people. And, in the heart of New York City, that looks different every day.

It’s comforting a mother worried about her son who was beaten up by other teens. It’s spending the night in a hospital with a scared, sick teen who doesn’t have parents that can do the same. It’s working in a food pantry, clothes closet and leading a youth Bible study. For Hambrick, one of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship’s field personnel, each day is about loving people and being the presence of Christ.

“Jesus cared about people and made it a point to let people know that. My hope is that [through me] people will experience and know the love Christ has for them,” she said.

Since 2007, Hambrick has served as youth and summer camp director for Rauschenbusch Metro Ministries at CBF partner Metro Baptist Church, located two blocks south from Times Square in Manhattan’s Hells Kitchen neighborhood. In this eclectic neighborhood of many nationalities, she works with local teens, providing a safe after school program during the school year and six weeks of day camp for children during the summer.

About 15 youth come four days a week after school to finish homework, play, spend time together and have a weekly Bible study. Hambrick also provides opportunities that expand their horizons, such as a career day and mission experiences in other areas of the city. The teens have also participated in a week-long youth summer camp through Passport, a CBF partner, and in January’s Faith in 3D conference, which the Fellowship co-sponsored, in Orlando, Fla.

Because of the positive influence the ministry is having, now even the teens’ parents are becoming more involved. Parent meetings used to be sparsely attended, but a February “Love Feast” event brought more than 35 people to the church.

“It was a beautiful surprise for me to realize that I’m beginning to gain trust and rapport with the families in the community,” Hambrick said.

One such family is Ben, a 7th grader, and his mother, Linda, who has endured some great hardships in her life.  Hambrick doesn’t have the answers to why things happen, but she finds that “being there” as Linda’s friend is often enough.

“Relationships in ministry, especially in an urban context, are critical,” said Hambrick, who hopes for other long-term workers that will serve with the ministry and build friendships with local people. “Relationships take a long time to develop – building trust is no overnight feat.”

Metro Baptist Church, where the ministry is based, plays an active role as do other CBF partner churches that come regularly to minister alongside Hambrick in New York City. Churches like Tabernacle Baptist in Richmond, Va.; Smoke Rise Baptist in Stone Mountain, Ga.; Deermeadows Baptist in Jacksonville, Fla.; and Boulevard Baptist in Anderson, S.C. have been vital to the ongoing ministries like summer camp.

“The humility and passion out of which these and many others churches partner is a glimpse of how the kingdom should be – a realization that we’re all in this together,” Hambrick said. 

A native of Louisville, Ky., and graduate of Samford University, Hambrick felt a calling to urban ministry while attending CBF partner Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond, where she served in one of the poorest neighborhoods in Richmond.

“I realized that not everyone begins on the same page in this world,” she said. “Some people are born to 13-year-old single teenagers in the projects. Some are born into generations of deep addictions or mental illness, and some are born into environments that don’t motivate, encourage or otherwise empower.

“I feel called to empower people to realize they are loved by a God who created them and to believe that they have a purpose and a plan in this world.”

As with many CBF field personnel, Hambrick is financially supported through CBF’s Offering for Global Missions, which provides for operating expenses, salaries and life-changing ministries.

“I love what I do. I’m blessed to have this opportunity,” she said. “If Fellowship Baptists are interested in empowering field personnel to serve people and places that they themselves can’t personally serve – giving to the Offering allows them to take a very real, practical, and meaningful role in missions.”

To support Hambrick and other CBF field personnel, please give the CBF Offering. Online contributions can be made at www.thefellowship.info/give.  To learn more, visit www.thefellowship.info/hambrick.

CBF is a fellowship of Baptist Christians and churches who share a passion for the Great Commission and a commitment to Baptist principles of faith and practice. The Fellowship’s mission is to serve Christians and churches as they discover and fulfill their God-given mission.