WOODHAVEN, N.Y.—Last fall Jason Philip received a Train Up grant from Regular Baptist Builders Club to supplement his income while serving a church planting residency at All Nations Baptist Church in Woodhaven, New York.
“Though we serve in an area that is part of the epicenter of coronavirus in America, God has also wonderfully positioned me at the epicenter of a low-income, multiethnic region, with many opportunities to reach people for Christ,” Jason says.
Up until the quarantine, Jason had been preaching regularly at different area church plants as part of his residency under the leadership of Dan Shafer, pastor of All Nations Baptist Church. Jason has preached to Christians coming from Jewish backgrounds at Shalom Baptist Church as well as Latino and African-American Christians at their All Nations location in the Bronx. He has also preached at All Nations’ Spanish-speaking service and at a nearby Chinese-American church.
During this time Jason has helped All Nations serve the Woodhaven community through a food pantry ministry, where people receive food packages for their entire family and hear the gospel. Jason says, “Prior to the quarantine, we were consistently serving around 30 families, but during the quarantine we increased to 100–150 families due to the job losses and financial cuts that so many in our community are experiencing.”
In addition to reaching out to the community, Jason says the pastoral staff has been producing resources for All Nations members to stay diligent in Bible study. “I have personally enjoyed putting together a 30-day devotional and Bible study on the book of Hebrews for our church so that they could be encouraged by doing an in-depth study on the person and work of Christ,” Jason explains.
Many All Nations members have relatives who have suffered from COVID-19, and a few members have contracted the virus themselves. To encourage members, the pastoral staff has produced a series of daily devotional videos on the book of Psalms. “I have personally enjoyed teaching on Psalms 8, 14, 16, 42, and 112,” Jason says.
This month the church has transitioned to live on-site services (indoors and outdoors) that are compliant with CDC guidelines. Jason says, “This has greatly blessed people who have really wanted to meet in person.” At the same time, the church continues to stream the services online to help those who feel more comfortable staying at home be connected.
Please pray for the Philip family as Jason finishes his residency this fall in serving All Nations and the Woodhaven community. Jason and his wife, Tammy, have two toddler boys and are expecting a girl at the end of August.
