A Word from the President

Pastor Rev. David Beidel,
President of Urban Hope NY:

Urban Promises… There is a long and beautiful road that I use whenever I travel to my old seminary, Alliance Theological Seminary. I’m always reminded that our church was conceived and an “urban promise” was made some 20 years ago on that quiet road. It was the recalling of a prayer request from a young homeless man that God used to break and capture my heart. The young man was temporarily living at my house when he asked a small group of friends to pray for his 10 year old niece who was being prostituted by her step father to support his crack habit. We all sat stunned by his request. A few of us mumbled a prayer, all of us had a similar reaction, our heads were bowed, but our hearts were screaming: “Don’t go there… Don’t let that in… If you think about that too much, you’ll lose your mind.” Who can bear to ponder the unthinkable sorrow of this city? I was heading to seminary to be prepared for ministry and I sensed God saying, “Do you really want to serve me?…You have to go there, You have to let it in, You have to begin to feel what I feel.” I said, “Yes Lord” and I wept in a way I never had before and never have since as I promised the Lord, “Whatever it takes, help me to make a difference in my city.”   God has also given us His “Urban Promise.” His constant promise to us throughout the years has been: “The wilderness and parched land will be glad, the desert will rejoice and bloom.” (Isa. 35:1)   20 years later we have great reason to rejoice as we watch our wilderness blossom and bloom. The Lord has provided, paid for and rebuilt our church facility in a neighborhood that formerly was nicknamed, “Wild Wild West Brighton or Bloody Brighton.” The murder rate in our neighborhood has plummeted 95% since we have moved here. In the past 10 years hundreds of neighbors and children have opened their hearts to the Gospel and grown to maturity in Christ Jesus. Urban Hope NYC has been in operation for 3 years, offering consistent year round hope, help and healing to the children of our neighborhood. We rejoice in the mighty love of God that never ceases to pursue the lost.   

With Promises to Keep,   Rev. David Beidel