The Gates Church sees youth as world changers now
By Sharon Mager

ARMISTEAD GARDENS, Md. — The Gates Church, tucked in the back of the Armistead Gardens neighborhood in Baltimore City, is intentionally focusing on children and youth — not as the future of the church, but as the present.

“We want our kids and youth to know they’re world changers now,” said Pastor Austin O’Donald.

One expression of that vision is a Child Evangelism Fellowship Good News Club at a nearby public elementary school. Led by O’Donald’s wife, Meryl, along with Austin and trained volunteers, the club reaches about a dozen children each week through games, activities and Bible teaching.

“Many of the children who attend the Good News Club are connected to our church or live right here in the neighborhood, so it’s actually been a discipleship opportunity for many of them,” Austin said.

The Gates Church Youth Leader, John Shafer, who, along with his wife, Trish, also helps with the Good News Club, said he has seen spiritual growth through the ministry. He said, “It is so exciting to have kids tell me about a story I told them last week. And I really like having the older children lead the younger ones with the games.”

In conjunction with the Good News Club, The Gates Church launched “Adventure Camp,” a four-week summer program for elementary-and middle-school students that combines fun, life skills and leadership development. Last year, the camp welcomed 25–30 children, about half from the church and Good News Club and half from the surrounding neighborhood.

Each week followed five rotating themes — Career Exploration, Nature Exploration, Sports, Creativity and Fun Day — with intentional gospel teaching woven throughout.

Because of the church’s location, Nature Day was easy. “We’re sitting on six acres of forest in the city, with a water source running through it,” Austin said. The kids enjoyed exploring the area. One project the group undertook was vacuuming lanternflies, highly destructive invasive insects in Maryland. “The kids loved it,” Austin said. “And it opened up a conversation about how they’re impacting the environment and why that matters.”

Sports Day kept the kids moving. Pickleball was a favorite activity. “We have a small church facility, but we’ve removed all of our pews so that our sanctuary can be multipurpose,” Austin said. When it got too hot, they brought the games inside.

On one Creativity Day, students made piñatas — one of Austin’s favorite activities. “I found out their origin was spiritual. The idea was that the piñata represented sin — almost like a demon — and you’d beat it as a symbol of fighting against sin. When it broke open and the goodies came out, it showed the blessing on the other side of obedience.”

During Career Exploration Day, leaders encouraged students to look ahead. They aim to “instill the beauty of work and career” in campers using games and activities to spark conversations about possible future paths.

Fun Days were, of course, fun and great ways to build relationships. Some of the activities were new to campers. “Many had never ice skated before, and they really enjoyed that,” Austin said. “They also liked catching crayfish at a nearby park.”

Another aspect of Adventure Camp was leadership development and mentorship. The church partners with Baltimore’s YouthWorks program, employing high school- and college-age students from the neighborhood as paid camp counselors.

“These are kids who might not otherwise have a job opportunity like this,” O’Donald said. “It’s a big win to get paid minimum wage for about 20 hours a week for five weeks, including preparation week.”

Additional help comes from churches across the country that send mission teams during the summer.

The Gates Church also launched a winter-break version of Adventure Camp after Christmas.

Throughout all of their activities, sharing Jesus remains the priority.

Transportation has expanded the church’s outreach efforts. Recently, the church received a donated 15-passenger minibus from Rock Springs Baptist Church in South Carolina, doubling its capacity.

Instead of waiting for families to come, leaders now drive through the neighborhood and, with parent permission, pick up children for church events, camps and field trips.

Austin sees tremendous opportunity in the surrounding community.

“There are 700 kids who could walk to us for ministry at any given time, and we want to be one of the important places where they’re going to meet Jesus,” he said.

Visit our BCM/D website to see the many ways we can help serve your church, including kids & youth ministries and evangelism.

Sharon Mager serves as BCM/D Content & Storytelling Editor.