We Need Each Other

“I love walking around the neighborhood and seeing how it has changed. How much it’s improved. I always know Boston Project is having an impact,” shares Kevin Baird, a pastor at Hamilton Congregational Church. Kevin first visited The Boston Project ten years ago. “I remember sitting around this big long table with Paul and Keith, back in the day, and just catching the vision!”

Ten years later, we are still dreaming together over a cup of coffee. However, the people around the table have changed. Now Liz and Ben Cressy are talking with Kevin. Liz first met Kevin when she was a teenager at Hamilton Congregational. It was during her teenage years at this church that Liz made a commitment to follow Jesus Christ. Today, she is serving full-time with The Boston Project in part because of the relationship this church had with the ministry.

After catching up with Liz and Ben, Kevin asked his big question; “What’s next for The Boston Project Ministries, and how can we be involved?”

What a great question! We love it because it is a relational question. How can we support one another? How might we serve together? What work is God already doing that we can join?

Kevin recounted the first time he brought his youth group to our Summer Mission Program. It was a little risky because his church had a short history with us. There were some challenging external circumstances we faced in that first week. “But we handled it well together, and I appreciated the strong leadership and wisdom Boston Project staff provided,” said Kevin. After seeing the positive impact on his youth that first summer, he and Hamilton’s youth have returned every year.

Kevin has even learned the BP language (BP = Boston Project). “Yeah, whenever you say ‘TNT’ I know you mean Talbot-Norfolk Triangle, the neighborhood where Boston Project serves. I want everyone to know what TNT is all about.” What began as a summer youth trip has expanded to Saturday service days, an annual spring missions trip, and church members of all ages volunteering, praying, and giving.

We love partnerships. Partnerships are key because we know BP cannot do this work alone. We need each other. There is joy in putting all our gifts and talents on the table and asking God to multiply our offering into something great for Him.

This fall we added two new members to The Boston Project team, Damaris Taylor and Kristi Ellens. Their work under Volunteer Engagement is to strengthen relationships with new and long-term church partners and interested individuals and families. Contact them at volunteer@tbpm.org if you would like to learn more.

This past spring, Kevin and teenagers from Hamilton were serving with The Boston Project during their school’s spring break. On Monday, teenagers were at sites throughout Dorchester when the bombs detonated downtown at the Boston Marathon. The shock and uncertainty settled in quickly. Everything paused. But as Kevin recalls, “the first thing our students did after the act was serve the city. This was a powerful reminder for me of our purpose in God’s kingdom.”