Mississippi College Student Drake Terry Interns at New York City Churches

Drake Terry

Times Square, the 9/11 Memorial, Central Park and the Statue of Liberty are a few of the sights for Drake Terry during his summer stay in New York City.

The Big Apple’s many cultural attractions are always a big draw for visitors. But Drake’s desire to help spread the Gospel really brought the Mississippi College student to this diverse city of eight million people.

“Being in NYC has given me the opportunity to see God at work in a context different from any place I have every lived or been to,” says the 21-year-old Madison resident. “Every nation on earth has come to this city; therefore, I believe God has strategically placed and sent his people here to spread His Gospel to the ends of the earth.”

The incoming MC senior is among 15 summer interns working at the Metropolitan New York Baptist Association on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Connecting with more than 200 churches in the greater New York City area that spans northern New Jersey and Connecticut, the association seeks to impact the globe.

On June 16, Drake was multi-tasking: visiting churches in Jackson Heights in Queens where many Southeast Asians live, taking pictures, updating the organization’s website and serving as an office assistant.

Whether the students come from schools like Louisiana Tech, Missouri State, Lee University in Tennessee or Mississippi College, the interns provide a valuable resource, says association partnership coordinator Kevin Cabe.

“The world is coming here,” Cabe says. “The Gospel is going forth in New York.”

In the City that Never Sleeps, there’s always plenty to do for the college interns and staff members.

About 22 million people live within a 75-mile radius of Times Square. There are 230 churches in the NYC-based association and 75 percent are non-English speaking. Church plantings, meeting with visiting mission teams, breaking language barriers, planning major events and spreading God’s love are a few of the many tasks on their to-do list.

Headquartered at West 72^nd Street, the association is part of the Nashville-based Southern Baptist Convention that held its annual meetings in Columbus, Ohio in mid-June.

Since his arrival in the Empire State on June 6, Drake Terry has brought lots of energy and skills to his month-long assignment. “This is a great experience. He’s helping us,” Cabe says. For the entire team of interns, “it gets them out of their comfort zones and they experience ministry.”

Terry first got connected with the NYC-based group through Gary Maze, an associate pastor at Broadmoor Baptist Church in Madison. The MC student frequently travels with Cabe to visit church planters and mission teams in the New York area. His internship ends July 6.

After that, the Madison resident returns to the Baptist-affiliated university in late August to begin his senior year. Drake seeks to pursue a doctorate in either English or psychology and become a college professor in a few years.

Mississippi College classmate Andrew Wilson, 20, of Brandon believes his friend will excel doing the Lord’s work in New York City or no matter where he goes. “He genuinely cares about his faith and that is manifested in his Christ-like approach to life.”

On the Clinton campus, Drake Terry “takes on the role of a servant,” Wilson said. It’s evident when he’s welcoming freshmen as an MC orientation leader, serving as chaplain for the Shawreth Men’s Club or taking on duties as a senator with the Student Government Association.

About 1,000 miles from 5,000-student Mississippi College, the Metropolitan New York Baptist Association is headquartered at 236 West 72^nd Street. The group is part of the Nashville-based Southern Baptist Convention that held its annual meetings in Columbus, Ohio in mid-June.

On the association’s website, Drake Terry and other interns tell their stories in a few sentences. The Mississippian loves good music and reading books, especially literature, but remains “passionate about people. And since NYC is full of them, I figured it would be a great place for me to go.”