NEW YORK CITY — North Carolina Baptists distributed 8,324 coats while sharing the gospel in New York City over the weekend. About 230 volunteers from 16 N.C. Baptist churches and six South Carolina churches participated in this year’s Coats for the City outreach, held Dec. 5-7. The churches partnered with the Metropolitan New York Baptist Association and 26 New York City church plants to distribute the coats to people in need. 

“Coats for the City is impacting more than just those who need the coats,” said Ava McLamb, a volunteer from Grace in Willow Spring Church.

McLamb, who plans to serve in full-time mission work, was observing the shop owners next door to the location where her team distributed coats. They showed more and more interest in what was taking place. Rodney Baker, lead pastor of Grace in Willow Spring, eventually approached them and asked if he could share something. 

“They listened attentively as he shared the gospel and gave their lives to Christ,” McLamb said. “You never know who might be watching, listening and longing for Christ.”

McLamb recalled another encounter with a woman who was familiar with Christian principles but expressed confusion about Jesus and the Bible after hearing from other people of different religious backgrounds. 

“The Lord faithfully provided patience and wisdom to clarify the gospel and help apply it to her life,” McLamb said. “It was immensely inspiring to see how the Lord visibly worked in her heart during our time together and ultimately moved her to surrender her life to Him.”

N.C. Baptists collected the coats that were distributed throughout 2024. They are also working with Baptists on Mission to distribute coats in western North Carolina, where residents continue to recover from the impact of Hurricane Helene in late September. 

Amanda Collins, another volunteer from Grace in Willow Spring, said she “loved seeing the body of Christ coming together even through language barriers to work together to serve the lost and hurting in the area.… Being in New York City for the first time showed me that we truly are all the same — people created in the image of God, but we just live a little differently day to day.”

Eric Simmons, associate pastor of disciple-making at First Baptist Church (FBC) of Summerfield, returned to New York City for his second Coats trip this year. FBC Summerfield has participated as a church since Coats for the City began in 2011, and provides 800 to 1,000 coats every year. They partnered with Jackson Heights Community Church for more than a decade and now partner with Evangelical Bengali Church.

Simmons and a team member from FBC Summerfield were on a train to First Baptist Manhattan when they started talking to a trial lawyer who was heading to the same stop, and they were able to share the gospel with him.

“This was the first time our team member has ever been to New York, and if it wasn’t for Coats for the City, we wouldn’t have been in New York and wouldn’t have been going to First Baptist Manhattan, which means this interaction may never have happened,” Simmons said. “God is always working, and sometimes we have the privilege of seeing it firsthand. And today was one of those moments.” 

This year marked Grace in Willow Spring’s second time participating in Coats for the City.

“Being the hands and feet of Jesus is what was ever so evident on this mission trip,” said Todd Neal, missions pastor at Grace. “People are hungry for truth.”

Neal said their church plans to carry the momentum from this trip into the new year with more intentional outreach in their local community, like serving at a food pantry or engaging in street evangelism.

“You can serve wherever God has placed you,” Neal said. “The requirement of the believer is to be a light in their home, in their community and on their job.”

Coats for the City started 13 years ago, when one N.C. Baptist church distributed 600 coats across Queens. Since then, thousands have received coats and other winter gear — and the hope of the gospel. The initiative and trip offer pastors, ministry leaders and church members an opportunity to engage in cross-cultural mission work, as churches serve on mission together to meet physical and spiritual needs among communities in New York and New Jersey.

Simmons encouraged churches to recognize local opportunities to reach the nations with the gospel.

“You don’t have to fly around the world,” Simmons said. “The nations are literally in our communities, especially in our urban areas. Sometimes all it takes to open a gospel conversation is to serve those in need in a practical way.”

While distribution takes place every December, Coats for the City is a year-round effort among North Carolina Baptists. Churches can begin collecting coats now for distribution in 2025 and ongoing distribution in western North Carolina. To get involved or for more information, visit ncbaptist.org/coats. To support projects that meet needs across the state, visit ServeNC.com/Give.