News

Items of interest including ministry highlights, newsletters, inspiring stories and press releases updated regularly.

¾ CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR QUARTERLY E-MAIL NEWSLETTER. ¾

Holidays Bring Hope to New York

Operation Blessing…NYCRC help bring Comfort and Joy to people in crisis

Last year a local church found Amanda (name changed) in an abandoned car in Centennial Park. She was drunk, beaten and raped. A drug abuser and prostitute, this mother of two had no job and no home and had one child on the way. But thanks to the "Comfort and Joy" program of New York Christian Resource Center, she and her family now have a place to stay and hope for their future.

Located in Lower Manhattan, in offices provided by Living Word Church, New York Christian Resource Center (NYCRC) is the Metro New York outreach center of Operation Blessing International. Operation Blessing is the relief and development affiliate of Christian Broadcasting Network, home of The 700 Club, seen on Fox Family Channel and other stations. NYCRC coordinates a network of one hundred churches, ministries and other agencies throughout New York City, Long Island and Northern New Jersey to impact the lives of hurting people with the compassionate message of Jesus Christ. In partnering with other national and local organizations, NYCRC reaches out with a variety of resources to empower local faith-based ministries to effect social transformation within their communities.

Jim Esposito, director of NYCRC, believes that the holidays are the most effective time to minister to people the world overlooks. "The most important thing we do at Christmas," says Esposito, "is bring joy and the love of Christ to children who are often neglected by society." This year Operation Blessing will empower over 30 community based projects by providing matching fund grants, food, toys, blankets, coats, toiletry kits and other items. In 1998, over 111,000 people were reached during a three-month period (Nov. – Jan.) in conjunction with holiday outreach endeavors with over a half-million dollars worth of aid.

From helping to provide toys for single parent families facing the trauma of domestic violence and AIDS, to providing funding so ministries can expand their holiday food boxes…New York Christian Resource Center and Operation Blessing Metro New York are helping the Body of Christ make a difference. By handing out blankets on a desolate street in Long Island City, sponsoring holiday banquets for the needy in Newark, and providing winter coats for some very special children in the South Bronx…the people of God boldly declare, "Jesus loves you and wants you to come home for Christmas!"

Remember Amanda? Today, she attends a Bible college and is involved in missionary service doing outreach in her community. Through "Comfort and Joy," her church supplied the aid she needed to provide a home for her children. Because of the variety of outreach programs sponsored by NYCRC such as this one, many families have been rehabilitated and are now living productive lives. Stories like this one happen throughout our region thanks to believers everywhere that care. Like so many others, Amanda, once homeless and beaten, now has hope. "Thank God we are off the street and living right," she says, "Because God loves us, I am off my back and on my knees!"

As the Church enters the Third Millennium, be challenged to make a difference in your world singing with "the armies of heaven – praising God: ‘Glory to God in the highest heaven, and peace on earth to all whom God favors.’" (Luke 2:14 The Book)