The neighborhood is not unique. In fact, it’s like many others in towns all across the state. Most locals drive by it every day without so much as a second glance.
About 275 families call this neighborhood home. Most of them live in single- or double-wide trailers. Many struggle economically, and some don’t speak English. This is the neighborhood to which God has called two churches to cooperate and reach people with the gospel.
In 2013, Wayne Ellis, pastor of New Hope Baptist Church in Orangeburg, along with another pastor, Stephen Broome of Highland Baptist Church, talked about how their churches could become active in a nearby community. Ideas abounded, but the pastors quickly realized it would help if there was a place where volunteers and residents could meet one another and build relationships. The idea for the Dream Center was born.
“The Dream Center is an anchor in a transitional community,” Ellis said. “We are working to live out the concept that we are the church and that we need to share Jesus every day where we live. This center is an opportunity to live missionally, to be the church in the community, to engage people where they are and [to minister to] the real problems they have.
“We are working hard to build relationships and share with others the difference Christ has made in our lives,” said Ellis. “Hopefully we are planting seeds about what He can do in their lives as well.”
A lot of work went into creating the center. It started with obtaining permission from a landowner to place a portable classroom on an empty lot. The churches rented the land and purchased a 24-by-30-foot building from a private school. Grant money from the South Carolina Baptist Convention helped move the building to the community, and other volunteers donated supplies and services to build a large covered deck. First Baptist Church of North donated materials for the deck, and a group from First Baptist Church of St. Matthews built a ramp.
Churches began establishing relationships as soon as the building was placed in the community, even though the first ministries did not start until summer 2014.
The Dream Center kicked off its outreach with a block party to engage residents and then hosted a summer reading program in conjunction with existing federal programs. Other church ministry teams hosted a Vacation Bible School at the center, and one group distributed donated clothes as a way to reach out to the community.
Some ideas have worked better than others, Ellis said. An English-as-a-second-language class, for example, wasn’t well attended by the target group of young mothers. But an after-school Homework Huddle ministry on Mondays has taken off.
A variety of volunteers from several area churches help with the homework ministry, including retired teachers and an 83-year-old man who has formed a bond with one student. “Our most senior church member, helping with Homework Huddle, comes each week to work with a young boy who has reading issues,” Ellis said. “The volunteer sits and reads with the boy and helps with words when the boy needs it.”
Another grant from the convention’s evangelism group is helping the Dream Center purchase materials for its next ministry, Mats2Men, a mentor-based wrestling club for boys. Ellis also hopes to use the mats for a future tumbling class for young girls.
Other ministries at the Dream Center are still forming. Churches are looking into offering employment assistance, including job training, interviewing skills and GED courses. In a few weeks, a group will start studying First Place, a faith-based weight-loss program. Ellis says there is also interest among several gardeners in the churches to find space in the neighborhood where they might start a community garden.
Nearby Highland Baptist has worked to connect families from the community to their Sunday church services. Ellis says there is also potential for a church plant to meet at the Dream Center one day.
Ellis says the mission center concept is so simple that any church can do it, even without a building. All it takes is an interest in reaching people where they are.
“When people ask why we are there, we talk about Jesus,” he said. “When they say, ‘You’re a good person to do this,’ we share with them that it’s really because of Jesus. The Dream Center is a way that we can share Christ and what He means to us.”