Note: When given the chance to tell his story in his local newspaper, Arkansas high school senior and football player Austin McCollum included his time serving with Embrace Baltimore this summer as one of his favorite memories.

The coolest thing I did this summer was probably the mission trip I went on with my church (First Baptist Bentonville ). We went to Baltimore, Md., and did some renovating of churches and inner-city cleanups. We also did an Upward Basketball camp teaching kids how to play basketball.

One might think that the closing of a church would be an occasion for mourning. But for the more than 100 people who gathered at Del Capri on German Hill Road on Saturday, the remembrance of Woolford MemorialBaptist Church’s 67 years of history and the prospect of the birth of a new church were cause for celebration.

“I was talking to one man on Thursday night when 18 kids got saved, and tears were running down his face. He said, 'To see that many people come to Jesus, I'll never be the same.' ” Burke said he had to turn away because he too was overcome with the awesomeness of what was happening.

Samuel Cho and his wife, Young, have had their eyes opened and their hearts broken. The couple is from South Korea, but they've been called to minister to Nepalese people and even started the first Nepal Baptist Church in the United States. Recently, Samuel and Young traveled to Nepal to minister at refugee camps. Over 200 people responded to Cho's messages and accepted Christ as their savior.

Over 60 volunteers, from ages 5 to 77, traveled from seven states to do ministry in 10 churches and four ministries in Baltimore during this summer's FamilyFEST, a hands-on missions opportunity for families sponsored by the Woman's Missionary Union.

Gotham City had Batman. Metropolis had Superman. New York had Spiderman. But who will save Baltimore? The citizens of the third most violent large city in the country are looking for a hero.

Many Embrace Baltimore staffers have left behind family members and friends to come and serve here in Baltimore, MD. These individuals are joined by an even more important group of people who have been born and raised in Baltimore and know much of its history and culture.  Together we are being used by God to make an eternal difference in the city. And we've become a family.

This summer has been buzzing with exciting stories from mission team members who caught the vision to come to Baltimore and how God has blessed them and those they served through their experiences here. Each month in our Embrace newsletter, we would like to share one of their stories with you.

Three teenage boys tried to conceal their interest as they watched a team of 30 middle and high school students renovate an amphitheater. Only hours before, the concrete floor was covered with a thick layer of weeds, trash and shattered glass. But on an 87 degree day at the beginning of July, a team of students and youth leaders from different parts of the country came together to brush away the dirt and debris and make the amphitheater valid and useful again.

What if we decide everyone matters? You may have seen this provocative question on a billboard, a T-shirt, or as an ad on the back of a bus. Maybe you’ve wondered what it meant. This is the question that the Gallery Church is prompting the people of Baltimore to answer.

The latest news from our Director of Mobilization Jaimee LaFave includes recent Developing and Managing People training sessions for church leaders, participating in College Metro 2008 at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, NC, and a new youth pastor here in Baltimore at FBC of Lansdowne.

A soccer ball may not seem like much of an evangelism tool but for Pastor Isaac Moncada, Baltimore Hispanic Church Planter for Iglesia Cristiana de Armistead Gardens, it is often the best way to bridge the gap to reach an unchurched and unbelieving people with the Gospel of Christ.