Church of the Harvest: History

History of Church of the Harvest

Pastor Darryl Baker established Church of the Harvest on Oct. 31, 1999. He thought that it was poetic that the light of the gospel would be preached on the celebration of the darkest day of the year (Halloween). Having a burden for souls and a zeal for evangelism, the ministry was birthed in his spirit. As he prayed fervently and waited on the Lord God dramatically emphasized a scripture to him, John 4:35: "'Do not say four more months and then the harvest,' open your eyes and see the fields are ripe for harvest", and thus was birthed Church of the Harvest. The emphasis has always been to see a church built on fruitful fellowship, evangelistic engagement, diligent discipleship and spiritual service. These fundamentals are the core of who we are.
Church of the Harvest has always had as its mission to reach the lost and transform them into "living stones". These stones are what make up the body of Christ. We endeavor to reflect diversity at each level regardless of racial, social or financial status. To this end we have made it our mission to proclaim the gospel through every medium and in every venue that the Lord allows us to move into. We've seen God's hand already move miraculously in our short existence as He opened the door for us to go on the radio (106.3 FM Every Wednesday @ 6:30 PM) after only our first year. He has also given our pastor the opportunity to travel to other areas and preach the gospel at the request of others. Our pastor truly believes that a church filled with the Holy Ghost can do any and everything that God called us to do!

Pastor Darryl is pictured below with his wife, Sis. Patrice "Treasy" Baker.

From our pastor's desk:

"Moving from where we were in October 31, 1999, till today, March 26, 2003... What God has done in us, first off, is God has matured us and has taught us�and is still teaching us�but has taught us how important it is to have a fervent prayer life. �That, to me, is�one thing that I�ve seen this ministry develop��a hunger for God. Especially, and one thing that really encourages me as a pastor is...across the board I want to see people pray, but there�s a subsegment of the population...when I look at our young adults�when I say �young adults� I�m talking early- to mid-twenties�I am jubilant, ecstatic, just awed by the hunger of that population� Because that�s the population that really, a lot of times, struggles in their Christian walk because they�re on that teeter-totter where they�re trying to decide, �Do I live for the Lord? But all my girl friends or my fellas are hanging,� and the party scene is what�s happening And I can state that, honestly, because I remember being that age. ...I�m mid-latter thirties now, more established in my family life and career and things like that... So you tend to have less time and energy to put into those things anyway. But when I see our young adults�both singles and married�who are saying, �Let�s get together and pray,� or �Do we have to end right now?�, showing up ready, excited, to call on the name of the Lord...expecting, and not just going through a ritual but expecting Him to move... And when I see the manifested presence of God (especially) on Wednesday nights, like we have the past few weeks, where people are unashamedly crying out to God, unashamed about saying, �This is my situation�will you stand with me, will you intercede for me in this situation here?� and then not just cry out to God but then praise Him before they even see the results of the requests, then that, to me, tells me that there�s something happening here� I often tell my wife at home, I wish I had spiritual goggles to see into the spirit realm and to see what God is doing, but I know that He is doing something, and I know we�re doing battle in the heavenlies when we are down on our knees. And that comprehension of understanding the dynamics that our battle is not with flesh and blood and that we�re not in a natural warfare is the most exciting thing that I think God has done in this ministry. I think it�s a direct result of not just us teaching but also hearing testimonies of God having done things.
And then�I think the opportunity we had to visit the Brooklyn Tabernacle and to experience firsthand what God is doing elsewhere in response to His people crying out to Him has impacted us. I know when me and the brothers went last year and we came back, I know something happened in our prayer lives and in the congregation�s prayer life that has carried over. And that�s why I�m really looking forward to us as a congregation being able to take the trip this summer together out there and go to a whole new level� Not that we�re trying to duplicate what someone else is doing, because God�does unique things in unique situations. But we can learn and at least see and hear what great things God is doing that will encourage us even more to go and seek God�s face.
Secondly, that I�ve seen God do in this ministry is raise up some young people�when I mean �young� I mean teenagers and preteens who are growing in their walk with the Lord. I�m seeing our youngsters invite their friends to church. I�m seeing them actually weep as they pray for the salvation of friends, of parents. ...A lot of times you look at kids...church�that�s something that they�re forced to do. But when I see and hear our young people say, �I look forward to Wednesday night.� Or when I hear them say, �You know, in my school planner, when I write down my things to do, I put it in highlight, 'Wednesday night bible study/prayer'. ...And it really struck me a few weeks ago when we had the snowstorm, and we had our first service ever canceled, and just in my household to hear my kids saying, �I hate we can�t go to church. I wanna be in church today! I wanna be in the house of the Lord! I wanna be with the saints.� So I see God melding and molding and making us into�even more of a family� We�re understanding that our strength comes not only from God, but from being in close fellowship with one another. And so we�re understanding what it means not to forsake assembling ourselves together� ...And that my prayer is that even more would begin to grasp that. I see God bringing in more visitors who are teenagers and young singles who, I believe, God has raised up in this generation�if I could say, a Joshua/Caleb generation�who are saying, �We�re not gonna wander in the desert for 40 years. We�re gonna get a hold of what God has for us today. And we�re pressing in and we�re going and we�re claiming our mountains. And we�re going and we�re taking what God has already said is ours, but we�ve gotta take it by force. And we�re gonna take it and lay a hold and lay siege of what God has for us already.
I think that my desire to see us built into living stones is being seen in many cases, where we are truly becoming more than just churchgoers. And I say that based on not just Sundays but more importantly on Wednesdays. As I often mention, the barometer of the church is the prayer life the church. Granted, I would like to see more saints come out, but I am thankful for the ones who are here, because those are the ones who are committed to the Lord, and those are the ones (from whom) I�m hearing testimony of what God�s doing in their lives. And so I want the others to come so they can experience the same blessings that God is doing. Don�t just come and hear what God�s doing for someone else�come and get in! Get in the water! You know, you gotta wade in the water sometimes. Sometimes we sit on the shore; we gotta get in the water... When God stirs that water we can get in there and get our blessing and not just hear what God is doing in someone else�s life. So that�s really what God is doing: He�s teaching us how to walk by faith. He�s teaching how to incorporate not just the word but the Spirit. As the saying goes, if you have all word and no Spirit, you dry up. If you have all the Spirit and no word you blow up. But if you have the word and Spirit combined together you grow up. And that�s what I�m seeing and that�s why I�m excited about seeing saints of God grow. And for me as a pastor that�s the most important thing: 1) to see people get saved, but then, 2) to see them grow in their faith and walk with the Lord in the grace and knowledge of who He is and what He has for them."

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