our history

2017 - 2018

IT GOES ALL THE WAY BACK TO THE FALL OF 2017, WHEN BRYAN O'DONNELL FIRST WENT TO A SOUP KITCHEN ON THE WEST SIDE OF COLUMBUS. IT WAS THERE BRYAN FOUND A PEOPLE AND A MISSION THAT WOULD CHANGE HIS PATH IN THE BEST OF WAYS.

BRYAN STARTED TO GO EVERY WEDNESDAY AND IT WAS THERE HIS LOVE FOR THE POOR WAS FOSTERED AND GROWN.

2019

URBAN ENCOUNTER WAS ABLE TO START DOING MINISTRY ON THE HILLTOP, AS BRYAN O’DONNELL AND DAVID GOODING MOVED INTO A HOUSE ON EUREKA AVENUE. THE GOAL FROM THE BEGINNING WAS TO LIVE AMONGST THE VERY PEOPLE THAT THE MINISTRY INTENDED TO EVANGELIZE. SOON VOLUNTEERS WOULD JOIN AND TEAMS WOULD GO OUT ONTO THE STREETS TO EVANGELIZE TWO BY TWO. THIS METHOD OF EVANGELIZATION IS STILL AT THE VERY HEART OF THE MISSION, AS OUR EVANGELISTS CONTINUE TO PROCLAIM THE GOSPEL ON THE STREETS OF THE HILLTOP.

2020

NOT EVEN A YEAR LATER, BY THE SPRING OF 2020, THE DECISION WAS MADE TO MOVE INTO A BIGGER HOUSE ON SULLIVANT AVENUE. ON A DAILY BASIS THE MISSIONARIES WERE CONFRONTED BY A MAJOR CRISIS. DRUG ADDICTION, PROSTITUTION, AND HOMELESSNESS ARE AFFECTING THE AREA IN A MAJOR WAY. THE HOUSE QUICKLY BECAME A PLACE THAT WOULD BRING “LIGHT IN THE DARKNESS”, AS THOSE IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD WERE RECEIVING THE GOSPEL MESSAGE ON A REGULAR BASIS.

2021

THE FOLLOWING YEAR IN 2021 WE WERE BLESSED TO HAVE OUR FIRST THREE FULL-TIME MISSIONARIES. THE THREE OF THEM STARTED NEW BELIEVER’S AS AN ATTEMPT TO FIND A LANDING SPOT FOR THOSE IN THE BEGINNING STAGES OF THEIR FAITH JOURNEY. IN THE BEGINNING, THE TEAM WOULD HAVE TO GO AND FIND PEOPLE TO COME, EVEN COOKING THE MEALS THEMSELVES AND GIVING WHATEVER WAS AVAILABLE AT THE HOUSE. NOW THE EVENT CONSISTENTLY SERVES 40–50 MEALS, AS THE GOSPEL IS FAITHFULLY PREACHED EVERY WEEK.

2023