North Atlanta Bible Chapel (NABC) was established in the 1940’s as a home church. In the early 1950’s the assembly erected a building and for many years they ministered in the North Druid Hills neighborhood of North Atlanta, GA. In the early 2000’s, the neighborhood transitioned to a more upscale population and little growth was seen in the assembly. In 2013 the Lord opened a door for us to move to a neighborhood full of apartments with unsaved families in Doraville, GA. After much prayerful consideration, we sold the North Druid Hills building and purchased the property in Doraville. On June 1, 2014, we opened the doors for our first Sunday morning meeting, and that evening we began our inaugural ministry to the neighborhood children with a Vacation Bible School (VBS) conducted by Phil and Edna Guikema from Orlando, Florida. Several of the children who attended that VBS professed salvation and we praised the Lord for His great blessing. Since then we have continued running an annual VBS program.
Following our first successful VBS, we understood that we were to be a missionary local church, and we began trying out different types of outreach into the neighborhood, such as basketball games, fall festivals, and children’s Friday night and Saturday morning programs. The NABC Kid’s Club program on Sunday evenings during the school year became a regular ministry in the fall of 2015. The first year we used Venture Club materials, but in August 2016, we began creating our own materials to suit our particular needs. Each week’s Kids Club (ages 5-12) includes a Bible lesson with the children participating by helping to act out the lesson. They learn memory verses that have been set to music, enjoy an active game time, and spend time in small groups with a leader working on a puzzle page that reinforces the memory verse and previous week’s lesson. We also provide them a meal at the end of the evening. As the children who attended our first VBS in 2014 continued to come, a separate youth group was created for ages 12 and up.
The children are encouraged to return on Sunday mornings for Sunday School and they have come. Many Sundays there are more children in the pews than adults! Breakfast is always provided before Sunday School and lunch is provided following the meetings. This is the result of a partnership with a food ministry organization that allows us to receive food donations from a large Atlanta law firm each week. The amount of food varies, but oftentimes there is enough to be able to send extras home with the kids to share with their parents.
As we began to get to know the needs of the neighborhood and earn their trust, a clothing ministry was started with donated clothing and other household items being given out free to those who are in need. The clothing store is open to the public one Sunday afternoon each month. Flyers written in English and Spanish are distributed each month in the neighborhood to inform families of the opportunity to receive free clothing. We are grateful to many other assemblies throughout Georgia, Florida, and New Jersey who have heard of our efforts and have donated clothing, school supplies, and other items. It was also a great joy to be able to send ten of the neighborhood children to Camp Hope in Dahlonega, GA this past summer for a week of fun.
Through all of these ministries we have seen over a dozen individuals make professions of faith, follow the Lord in baptism, and begin participating in the Breaking of Bread meeting. We know, of course, that none of this could be done without the Lord’s presence and power, the prayers of faithful brothers and sisters of North Atlanta Bible Chapel, as well as saints everywhere.
Our three-fold theme while we wait for the Lord’s return is: 1. Worship Him 2. Work for Him 3. Witness for Him
We are praying for more workers, and especially bilingual couples or singles, who are willing to serve with us at North Atlanta Bible Chapel, so we can also reach the parents who for the most part, do not speak English. The work is not easy, but when we run with endurance the race set before us, we find that our God is faithful and does wonderful things!