DERRICK AND HIS FAMILY
Wilmington, DE is city of contrasts. It’s Center City is bustling with business, new restaurants, and the arts. West Center City, on the other hand, was ranked as the second worst neighborhood in America in 2015 due to it debilitating poverty and pervasive violence. This contributed to Wilmington being called “Murder Town, USA” by Newsweek (Newsweek, 12/9/14, A. Jones).
I recently spent the day in Wilmington doing some training with Derrick Parks, one of our church planters in SENT Network. Derrick is preparing to plant a church in the West Center City section of town. He recently moved with his family from Camden, NJ where he just completed a church planter residency under the able leadership of Doug Logan, Pastor of Epiphany Church Camden. We are excited to partner with them to see gospel-centered churches planted in difficult urban contexts.
Derrick showed me through his home where he and his family are now living. As we stood on his front steps, Derrick pointed to the place on the block where just a few nights earlier, a couple had been gunned down, resulting in the death of the young woman and the hospitalization of her boyfriend.
As Derrick and I looked out over the city of Wilmington from the window of a conference room in the business district, I was moved with his dream of seeing a gospel-centered church planted that brings renewal to the lives of people in the hardest of places in the city. Join me in praying for Derrick as he raises funds, prepares to plant, and shares the vision with others who will be a part of his initial core group. Read more below on his vision in the Epiphany Church Wilmington Vision Booklet.
I truly appreciate your financial partnership that enables us to encourage church planters like Derrick as they reach their cities for Jesus!
For the gospel,
Mark McGeever
Executive Director | Equipper
SENT Network
www.sentnetwork.org