A Passion for Sharing Hope

Ronnie Adams shares story of God’s love among people living with HIV/AIDS

 

Ronnie Adams leads weekly Bible studies for those living with HIV. “My great passion and privilege is to work with the HIV community, providing pastoral care and helping to the be the presence of Christ,” he said. Carla Wynn Davis photo

NEW YORK CITY – It’s a Thursday night and Theatre Row Diner is packed.  Squeezed into seats a few tables in the middle of the restaurant is a lively group of seven men who look like they’ve known each other for a long time.
 

They laugh. They joke. They talk about what’s happening in the world. All the while no one around them knows the bond that has brought these men together. Six of them have HIV or AIDS, and “Rev. Ronnie” is their Bible study leader, encourager, supporter and most importantly – friend.

Ronnie Adams is also one of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship’s field personnel. Since 1995 he’s been serving in New York City, and it’s hard not to notice the compassion he has for these six men he calls friends.

These six men have shared a lot – the side effects of medication, feelings of isolation and the unpredictable nature of the disease. One day they feel great; the next they aren’t able to get out of bed.

One night every week they come together to talk about their struggles and how faith can help them in the journey. In these Bible studies, Ronnie talks about God’s love, forgiveness, possibility and most importantly – hope. Because that’s what they need most.

Sharing hope among those living with HIV/AIDS

Milton was diagnosed with HIV at 22 years old.  After he nearly died, doctors told him he wouldn’t live to see 30. He smiles when he admits he hit that milestone nearly a decade ago.  For several years he’s found Ronnie’s Bible study encouraging and uplifting.

“It’s very difficult living day by day,” Milton said. “Ronnie helps us get through a lot. He has helped me overcome so much.” 

Sometimes Ronnie helps a person cope with family issues related to an HIV diagnosis. Sometimes he lends a listening ear or offers a word of hope. And other times he provides pastoral care to those in the hospital. 

Stewart remembers the first time Ronnie visited him in the hospital. Stewart’s immunity was so compromised that hospital visitors had to wear protective clothing to reduce his exposure to life-threatening germs.

“At first I didn’t recognize Ronnie because he had the mask on, the hat on, the gloves on, but he had the Bible in his hand,” Stewart recalled. “Then I knew who it was.”

Becky Lynch, a member of Boulevard Baptist Church in Anderson, S.C., has seen Ronnie’s ministry firsthand and knows the difference it makes in the lives of people who so often feel isolated because of their illness. 

“When they are sick, Ronnie gets a phone call. When they’re in the hospital, he is there at bedside. He is with them in their last hours. He provides their memorial services,” she said. “They have experienced the love of Christ through Ronnie.”

And like the message of Christ so often does, it spreads to and through people who never knew God could love them.  

On the day Cresenki became a mother, she learned she had HIV and had passed it on to her newborn daughter. Because she didn’t know what else to do, she ran – away from the hospital, her daughter and to drugs.  The way she saw it, not even God could forgive that.

But years later on a Mother’s Day in New York City, Cresenski heard a different story – a story of a loving, forgiving God who was full of grace and second chances. That message from Ronnie was something that stuck.

Over the next few years, Creneski became one of the city’s great ministers among those, like herself, living with HIV. And when she died two years later, Ronnie spoke at her memorial service, where there were few people who didn’t know the change Christ made in Creneski’s life. One 12-year-old girl especially: “That’s my mommy,” she told Ronnie after the service. “I got to know her the past two years.”

Cresenki – a person who once thought herself hopeless – became “a beautiful story of the hope of Christ and what God’s love in someone’s life can do,” Ronnie said.

Coming together with common passion, purpose

 

Greater Restoration Baptist Church in Brooklyn is led by pastor Kenneth Bogan’s vision reach the community and “to love God … and love your neighbor as yourself.”  Every summer CBF partner churches are part of Greater Restoration’s summer day camp for children. Carla Wynn Davis photo

Most of Ronnie’s days are spent at Metro Baptist Church, a small CBF partner congregation in the Hell’s Kitchen area of Manhattan. The congregation bought its building in 1984, when Hell’s Kitchen was one of the city’s more difficult neighborhoods. The then-pastor prayed that God would only give them the building if they could use it nonstop for community outreach. And for more than two decades, the congregation has done just that.

 

Church members started Rauschenbusch Metro Ministries, which serves the community in many ways. There’s a food pantry, clothes closet and English classes. Children have an after school program called Page Turners and a day camp during the summer. Teenagers flock to the afterschool teen center and numerous summer activities. And through Ronnie, the church provides pastoral care to those living with HIV/AIDS.

“This congregation is a group of people that believe our faith in God should have an outpouring into the world,” said Metro’s pastor Alan Sherouse.

Since 1995, Ronnie has been a resource for Metro, helping develop and support outreach programs. More recently he connected with Greater Restoration Baptist Church, a congregation in Brooklyn that had a similar desire to begin meeting needs in the community. 

As these congregations have reached out to struggling populations in their midst, CBF partner churches have connected with these ministries, finding an opportunity to engage their passion for urban ministry. Each summer many congregations send teams of church members to the city to participate in a hands-on way.

Boulevard Baptist Church in Anderson, S.C., learned about Ronnie’s ministry in 2005, when he spoke about his ministry during a Sunday worship service. When missions leader Becky Lynch arrived home from church that day, there were already phone messages from church members asking how they could support Ronnie’s ministry.

In the years since, the church has collected toiletries, school supplies and other needed items. Mission teams have also traveled to New York City to help with summer camps for children and youth at Metro and Greater Restoration churches.

“I feel my calling is working with children,” said Jenean Thomason, a Boulevard Baptist member. “So when they gave me the opportunity to come up here and work with kids, I just jumped on it. And ever since then I’ve been coming up here to help.”

Investing in God’s mission

During a Saturday morning food distribution at Metro Baptist Church, Jean Bagwell, a member of Boulevard Baptist Church in Anderson, S.C., provides hope and encouragement to a resident of Hell’s Kitchen, the neighborhood where the church ministers. Carla Wynn Davis photo

These stories, ministries and relationships are made possible through individuals and churches that give to CBF’s Offering for Global Missions, which funds Ronnie’s ministry and many others throughout the world.

“I think it’s part of God’s will for every church and every Christian to be on mission and to support missions,” Lynch said. “The Offering for Global Missions is a wonderful opportunity for churches – to give them the privilege to be part of this work.”

As important as giving is, CBF field personnel like Ronnie also need individuals and churches to become involved, discover a passion for ministry and join God’s mission in the world.

“Our greatest need is to have churches that would come and partner with us and be a part of what’s happening here in New York City,” Ronnie said.

By Carla Wynn Davis, CBF Communications