If you’ve ever flown in an airplane over Manhattan, have you ever wondered how so much stuff can be squeezed into one little island? Millions of people, consisting of innumerable cultures and ethnicities, are stacked vertically and horizontally, interacting, to make this one little island tick, turning it into the greatest city in the world. New York City is one of the most expansive economic, cultural, and social hubs on the planet and that presents Christians uncounted opportunities to build His Kingdom and advance His glory. During his day, the apostle Paul recognized the conquests of the Roman Empire not as an obstacle in preaching the Gospel but as an opportunity. He recognized the economic, cultural and social intersections that the Romans were creating through their empire and strategically planted the story of Jesus at those crossroads. It is partly his grasp of that opportunity that has led us to the Church we have now. Here in New York City, we live with that same opportunity Paul had. Only this time, the intersection is not facilitated through the development of roads and towns, but through fast transportation, fusion restaurants and internet super highways.
When OneHouse was initially envisioned, it involved only a few people at Vision Church who wanted to see Christians come together to praise God outside of a typical Sunday. It was the New Year, 2005. Through after church chats and weekend meetings with regular church members, church leaders and even new comers, it became obvious that the body was thirsting for something more than just a simple praise night. Our hearts were longing to see the churches of New York City come together and draw towards God in unity. There were so many churches in New York City, especially Asian American churches… so we thought, how awesome would it be to bring everyone together and see what God does? Our hearts wanted to inspire the churches of the City to join together in building His Kingdom and OneHouse was to be the spark for that inspiration. To our blessed surprise, our simple event of praise, worship, prayer and speakers drew hundreds of teens, college students, and young adults from all over New York City. After the event, people wanted more, they didn’t want to leave! Things were happening and God was definitely moving hearts.
The following year, when people began to ask, “When is OneHouse?” we began to ask ourselves, “What is OneHouse?” As the original team came together to discuss what OneHouse would be, it became clear that God was moving our very own hearts. Originally, OneHouse was only meant to inspire change, but we found that OneHouse also became our very own avenue for change. Each of the founding team’s members began to realize the burden of Social Justice that fell on their hearts and the unique love that God has for the underprivileged, poor, widowed, orphaned and sick. Each of us had experiences throughout our lives that led us to want to build God’s Kingdom around Social Justice. And what better place to do that than New York City – with social justice not only being an issue we face everyday on the streets and in the subways, but also an issue that would be fought head on globally through the international economic, cultural and social pathways that runs through the City. So, then we rallied again, but this time for “Unity. Worship. Social Justice.” And, again, we saw God moving.
And this brings us here now. What is OneHouse? OneHouse is an avenue for which Social Justice can be inspired as a unified body of believers in Christ. More than praise and words, the goal is to be a movement that not only flows through the city, but more importantly, by the Spirit through the hearts of people. OneHouse seeks to build leadership and inspire action in a body of believers who are compassionate and passionate about God’s heart to see Social Justice.
Will you be a part of OneHouse?
[written by Andy Chen, Founder and Chair Emeritus]
