by Adam Miller, posted Wednesday, November 14, 2012 (11 years ago)
CHICAGO (BP) -- "I was raised in a place where there's a Baptist church on every corner," Sissy Franks said during a visit to Chicago.
"When I come here and I see this, then my heart is reminded that we have much to do," said Franks, a trustee of the North American Mission Board.
NAMB photo by Susan Whitley
"To see the work of a church planter in places where they leave their home and family and come because of mission, vision and passion for sharing the Gospel reminds me there is much to do -- and everybody needs to be involved," said Franks, a member of Philadelphia Baptist Church in Deville, La.
Franks and other North American Mission Board trustees, in conjunction with their trustee meeting in Chicago on Oct. 10, saw firsthand the great need for churches and missionaries to reach the United States' third-largest city for Christ.
Among the 8.7 million people in metro Chicago's 77 neighborhoods, there are only 308 Southern Baptist Convention churches, one for every 32,000 residents.
Trustees dedicated a day to visiting three SBC church planters who have recently begun new congregations in Chicago. In places like Wicker Park, the University District and Northlake, trustees saw eclectic and impoverished boroughs often within several blocks of each other. Read More
