On April 28, four Northeastern churches collaborated their efforts to minister to the needs of 200 men staying at an assessment shelter in Brooklyn, New York. The Atlantic Men’s Shelter, located across the street from the South Brooklyn church, serves as a temporary stopping point for men by providing short-term accommodations while they are considered for housing elsewhere. Some men battle drug addiction and have mental health issues, and many are asylum seekers who have recently arrived in the United States from countries such as Venezuela and Ukraine.
Church members from Bethel church provided a lunch for the men, and Avery Wedderburn, a youth from Lighthouse church, delivered an inspirational message. Hugo Pemberton, a deacon at South Brooklyn church and a former resident at the Atlantic Men’s Shelter, shared his testimony of how God delivered him from homelessness and drug addiction. His personal story of deliverance gave life and hope to those present.
South Brooklyn and Lighthouse church members distributed care packages filled with toiletries and undergarments. Members also tucked personalized notes with words of encouragement into the bags.
Residents participated in a drawing to receive free MetroCards. The volunteers also provided a QR code for residents to scan for information about benefits and resources available to them. Jose Ortiz, an elder from the Primera Hispanic church in Yonkers, New York, and some additional members provided Spanish translation for the many residents who did not speak English; and members from the Northeastern Conference Medical Cadet Corps assisted with crowd control.
Earlier that Sabbath, Esdell Abrams, an elder at South Brooklyn church, preached a sermon that set the tone for the day. It emphasized three keys to success: prayer, frequent communication with God, and reading and sharing God’s good news with others. Volunteers had the opportunity to utilize all three keys while serving the men at the shelter and testified of the incredible blessings they received.
A resident shared with a volunteer that, although he doesn’t subscribe to formal religion, he still felt that the volunteers were very welcoming and genuinely cared for him. Other residents wanted to know more about the Seventh-day Adventist Church and planned to visit.
In the book Welfare Ministry, Ellen White wrote: “The suffering and destitute of all classes are our neighbors, and when their wants are brought to our knowledge it is our duty to relieve them as far as possible. . . . First meet the temporal necessities of the needy and relieve their physical wants and sufferings, and you will then find an open avenue to the heart, where you may plant the good seeds of virtue and religion” (p. 118).
_____________________________
—Angela Hugee, Adventist Community Services director, South Brooklyn church
