One out of three families in North America live in multi-family housing, according to Nathan Wells, a Grace Brethren church planter in northern Ohio. He says that ten percent or less of those people have a saving relationship with Jesus Christ.
“This is an area of our society and our world that has been neglected long enough. We cannot afford to just keep sittin’ on our hands,” he adds. “We’ve got to take Jesus to these places and saturate them with the Gospel of Christ.”
Enter SEEDnet, a church-planting effort that targets Spiritually, Emotionally, Economically, Developmentally oppressed areas (SEED). It has seen a number of churches planted in low-income apartment complex, bringing light into a world that was once darkened by addictions and abuse and the rampant sin because of lifestyle choices.
Walter, a battle-tested warrior for Jesus, is one of the church-planters with SEEDnet. (That’s him in the photo at right.) He grew up in Lorain, Ohio, lived the street life for years, was in prison several times but Jesus got a hold of him. He has battled addiction, a difficult marriage, and racism but Jesus has not let him go.
He has started working a new apartment complex with the goal of planting a church in it and has made some good contacts. Pray for Walter because he’s a natural evangelist but consistently has to battle difficulties at home and in the streets — not long ago someone pulled a knife on him but God gave him the peace of mind to de-escalate the situation. Praise God for His mighty work in Walter!
(Adapted from the SEEDnet blog and used with permission)
Learn a little more about SEEDnet in this video, which was produced by Grace Church, a Grace Brethren church in Wooster, Ohio (Bob Fetterhoff, pastor).
Getting to know “SEEDnet” from Grace Church on Vimeo.
This story first appeared in GraceConnect eNews. To subscribe to the weekly e-newsletter that includes news and information about ministries in the Fellowship of Grace Brethren Churches, click here.