This Man Is Changing The Bronx in Ways the Police Could Never Do
A New York City church planter is on a mission to transform the Bronx through what's called the ABC Movement. ABC stands for "A Better City."
Israel Kelly is living out his vision to plant neighborhood churches in every one of the Bronx's 25 zip codes, Baptist Press reports.
"The authorities haven't been able to change the city," Kelly said. "But the Gospel is able to."
Originally from the Dominican Republic, Kelly started the ABC Movement in the heart of the New York City borough -- zip code 10458. It has a population of about 79,000 people.
The North American Mission Board's Send Cities initiative helps Kelly in his efforts. Send Cities' goal is to move churches and people into strategic locations in more than 30 of the most populated areas in North America.
In the Bronx, Kelly is concentrating on building faithful disciples who will then lead others to Christ in their individual neighborhoods.
Kelly has had to be patient. It took four years of reaching out to the community before they baptized their first three Christians. Two more years passed before they baptized four more.
However, Kelly refused to give up. In January 2015, nine people were baptized. Today, 75 committed Christians make up the church. Kelly now plans to baptize people every three months.
"All our effort is being put into the Scripture and we connect with people outside to bring them into this culture of discipling that we are building," Kelly said. "This kind of church takes time and a lot of prayer, a lot of obedience."
"I say to people, 'I don't want to bring you information.' It's not about knowledge. The Gospel brings transformation," he continued. "My main concern is to evangelize the entire Bronx, so they know about Jesus."
