An Open Letter to RCC

To the saints at RCC,

Grace and peace from your sister and co-laborer in Christ. My name is Christy and I’m a covenant member of your sending church, Imago Dei, in Raleigh, North Carolina. I recently visited Baltimore and was welcomed with great hospitality and affection by many of you. After hearing about the grace God has shown your church over the last three years, seeing it for myself has brought me great joy. Praise God for the good work he has begun in you and will bring to completion at the day of Jesus Christ!

One of the reasons I visited Baltimore was to attend the Christmas party RCC hosted for Arabic-speaking refugees in partnership with the Salaam Center and other area churches. I’m a writer and love telling stories of how God is working in and through local churches, so I came to do this for the organization I work for. But I was unprepared for how God would minister to my own heart through what he allowed me to witness.

My boss reminds our team on every staff call that setting up chairs is part of sharing the gospel. He wants us to remember that though one person may have the microphone and communicate good news to a crowd, many others participate in this worthy work in small but significant ways. I witnessed this on the day before the Christmas party. 

As I entered your building for the first time, it was bustling with activity by a team of volunteers preparing the space and yes, setting up chairs. As views of your beautiful city streamed in from the windows, people carried out their tasks and shared with me their excitement for the opportunity to minister to some of Baltimore’s most vulnerable citizens. I learned that about 100 refugees would gather in your building to hear the gospel, share a meal, and receive presents for their families. RCC’s primary role was that of host, but was hopeful that this event would launch more opportunities for members to serve this marginalized community. 

At 11:00 on Saturday, December 11, your building began to fill with people from the farthest corners of the world. People who look, speak, think, and live differently than you. People with whom the world would say you have nothing in common and therefore, each group should just keep to their own kind. But this is not the way of Christ. 

He came to tear down barriers and to unite what the world attempts to divide. He teaches us to look past that which is easily seen and to look deeper into the unseen. He says in Ephesians 2:12–13, “Remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.”

We have much in common with refugees. We were once strangers and aliens, too. We were on the outside until we were brought in by Christ. And as his people, we get to participate in the eternally significant work of bringing others into his kingdom. When we work together with people of goodwill to bring the thrilling hope of the gospel so the weary world may rejoice, God is glorified and his kingdom advances on earth. God is building his kingdom with people from all tribes, tongues, and nations. Who else would bring Muslim refugees to a Christian church to hear the gospel preached by a Korean pastor and translated into Arabic? 

Seeing your church minister to these people was a great encouragement to me and a divine blessing to them. These are dark times for many, and especially for overlooked and underserved communities, but the light of Christ shines brightly through the trusted presence of local churches—specifically, Redemption City Church. Your neighbors need hope and help this Christmas season, and RCC is divinely placed and purposed to meet this need with good news and great generosity. 

So press on in your good work, dear saints. Never grow weary of doing good and draw strength from Jesus himself. This is his work and his church. He cares about your city and he is drawing many to himself through the proclamation of his word and the deeds of his people. His kingdom is near, and never more so than when his people image his compassion for the vulnerable.

God is creating a beautiful redemptive story for Baltimore, and your church is an essential part of it. Steward your story well, for the good of your city and for the glory of God.

Affectionately yours,

Christy Britton