A Heart for Our Community
Gabriel Gauthier | Prince of Peace Christian Church
I grew up in the West Side of Buffalo. It was much different back then. Now it is such a beautiful and historic part of the city, richer than ever in diversity and culture. From Puerto Rico, to Cuba, to Colombia, and other Latin American countries, to Nepal and the Congo—you can find people from all over the globe walking our neighborhood. The one thing that hasn’t changed is the Mission and the heart that we have at the Prince of Peace Christian Church for our local community and our city. Our mission is to present the Good News of salvation to everyone in our community and city and that they would have an encounter with God’s love through our ministry efforts. We are moved with compassion for the West Side and the City of Buffalo, like Jesus was for the crowds.
“But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd.” Matthew 9:36 NKJV
In the 33 years that Prince of Peace has existed, and now the seven years my wife and I have pastored it, that mission has remained the same. While not everyone that we meet makes a decision for Christ like we hope and pray for, we still believe that they can meet Him through the compassion we demonstrate on a daily basis. We also firmly believe that no child, regardless of religious beliefs, should ever go hungry. During these last two years, we have felt that need in our community like never before. By the grace of God and the generosity of our partners like Kingdom Come, we have been able to help meet those needs.
Our food pantry, which opened in 2020, now runs three days a week and is fully funded by our ministry partners. We host community cleanups where our church walks the neighborhood, cleaning up all garbage left behind, picking up needles and other hazardous items.
Our children’s ministry is one of our greatest shows of compassion. During our weekly Sunday services, our Kids of Peace ministry serves approximately 100 children breakfast and lunch, while also feeding them the Word of God. Our vacation Bible school program ran earlier last summer and served 75 kids on a daily basis from our local community, providing food and prizes. They ate plenty, given that many of their households have limited incomes and depend on programs like ours to feed their children during the summer.
Two of our most attended events that happen later in the year are our Back-to-School Drive and our Thanksgiving Drive-thru Outreach. Our Back-to-School event blessed more than 700 children with bookbags full of school supplies. This includes children from our surrounding neighborhood, and other churches that we gave bookbags to so that they can bless the children in their congregations and local neighborhoods. During the Thanksgiving holiday, we handed out turkeys, warm meals, and groceries to more than 500 families from all around the City of Buffalo.
The Prince of Peace family is on a mission! In the same way that Jesus was there for us when we needed hope, we pray to be that for someone in need—why not our own city and local community? We are thankful for Kingdom Come, the consistent generosity it has shown, and the prayers that we can feel on a daily basis pushing us to be the arms and feet of Jesus in this beautiful city.
The Prince of Peace Christian Church is dedicated to sharing the life-saving message of Jesus Christ to every person we encounter by demonstrating the love of God and the hope His salvation brings.
