NY Pastor Sees United Outreach Giving Buffalo Wings
by Allie Martin
February 16, 2005
(AgapePress) - A minister from New York State says racial barriers among Christians are being broken down in the Buffalo area. Pastor Anthony Burks of New Freedom Assembly of God recently attended an Evangelism Explosion clinic in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and returned home with fresh inspiration and insight to rejoin a community where he says a move of the Spirit is already under way.
Burks says a sluggish economy in the last few years has served as a spiritual catalyst in the Buffalo area and has led many believers to work in concert in an effort to reach out to the community. "It's really interesting to see," he notes. "There are many different groups of ministers that are getting together, realizing that something must take place."
The New York pastor says the city's economy is "on the downswing" and declining quickly. In the midst of the economic crisis, individuals' needs seem to stand in sharper relief, and Buffalo Christians have been moved to respond. "The churches are seeing that there needs to be some spiritual lifting," he adds, "and we realize that the only true answer is the gospel of Jesus Christ."
The unified response is notable in light of the area's history. For years, New Freedom's minister recalls, the community was polarized when it came to relations between different racial groups. But he says gradually the situation has changed, resulting in a new atmosphere of harmony and cooperation. The pastor says his church will soon start doing Evangelism Explosion training for its members, which will provide even more well-equipped witnesses to help with outreach efforts.
"Being that the need is becoming so great, we're realizing that what unites us is Christ," Burks says, "and that is the unifying force that is going to draw us, as Christians, together to be able to be effective in our city." Now, as he watches the Buffalo area emerge from a divided past to move together toward reconciliation and spiritual revival, it does not seem too far-fetched to hope that other forms of revival will follow in a city that could use a lift.
Allie Martin, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
