DETROIT, MI – Victory Fellowship Community Church and Pastor Darryl Gaddy are reaching their part of a very tough area of Detroit. Gaddy says, “We’ve been challenged to have a broken heart over the broken walls of cities like Detroit. The way that we try to reach this community is, by first of all, being the hands and feet of God to them.”
In addition to his role as pastor, Gaddy also serves as a church planter catalyst for the Baptist State Convention of Michigan (BSCM). For nearly two years, Gaddy has been mentoring Stephan Murphy to be a church planter with Victory Fellowship as his sponsor. So it was surprising to many when Gaddy and Murphy began to plan to start a new church not in another one of the economically hard hit areas of Detroit, but in Madison Heights, a more well-off suburb. Gaddy says, “The folks in the surrounding cities of Detroit need the gospel as much as the folks right here in the city. When you move out into the suburban communities it doesn’t look as tough. And that’s because they have the resources to hide the hurt that looks bad here in the city.”
Madison Heights is the community where Murphy graduated from high school, and currently coaches a high school track team. Murphy says, “My life has become intertwined with the Madison Heights community, and so the Lord said, ‘Why not Madison Heights?’ Murphy and Gaddy are taking the opportunity to model the call to plant churches in Michigan regardless of the circumstances or challenges. Gaddy adds, “We need to be sharing and showing that light across our communities, across our state of Michigan.” With the assistance of the Frances Brown State Missions Offering Gaddy and Murphy will continue punching holes in the darkness.
The 2016 goal for the “Sharing the Light” State Mission Offering is $90,000. Please consider your gifts to the offering to help support more church planters like Stephan Murphy. For more information and resources to promote the offering, visit bscm.org/smo.