American Baptist Churches recently has affirmed NEW LIFE 2010 as a focused outreach to transform both ourselves and our ministry in the next century. In focusing on the NEW LIFE 2010 goals, American Baptists have the opportunity to address the realities of the 21st century. Church planting and evangelism are charter goals of The American Baptist Home Mission Society. We are responding to the challenges of the future by reshaping what we have done best in the pastand what we believe God continues to call us and inspire us to do. New churches allow us to reach new people groups, often appealing to generations who have hostility toward or little experience with the traditional church.
Many new churches are immigrant churches.
These churches attract refugees from different faith backgrounds who are seeking cultural identification and social support. The Rev. Carlos Lomby saw a man living under a bridge in Ft. Lomby approached the man, a Cuban exile named Miguel Garcia, and invited him to a meal and a hot shower in Jesus' name. Lomby and Garcia felt led to an American Baptist Haitian congregation. The Rev. Dieuseul St. Jean and First Ft.