Sunday Highlight: April 18

Some missionaries get sent to exotic places far from home. But God tells others to stay where they are. We’re praying today for Edwin and Melinda Pacheco, two of our North American missionaries who serve in Brooklyn, New York. Our church supports them through the Cooperative Program.

Both of them were born and grew up in Brooklyn. That’s where they’re raising their two daughters. And it’s not just Brooklyn — it’s the Red Hook neighborhood down by the East River — just across the river from the Statue of Liberty. Most tourists won’t venture into Red Hook, where drugs, poverty and other big city problems sit on about every street corner. This is where Edwin and Melinda have planted Redemption Church. The building is on Hicks Street at West 9th. The church tackled poverty by setting up a powerful food ministry. They’ve gone all out to help the neighborhood.

But Redemption lives up to its name, because redemption is what spiritually hungry people want to feast on, even if they don’t know what that is. It’s Christian redemption Edwin offers the neighborhood through his preaching and on-the-street dialogues. Let’s pray for Edwin and Melinda.