Citylight’s mission is to multiply disciples and churches. Our Family intentionally sends some of our most gifted, trained and equipped leaders, elders, and pastors out to pioneer and plant new churches. We are committed to generously supporting church planting and multiplication. Just as God provided for us, we want to send each church plant with the resources they need to run after God’s mission.
Several years ago, Citylight Omaha sent a faithful team member Cliff McCray, West City Group director, to Florida for a church revitalization. That revitalization then became seeds for a new Citylight Family church plant, Radiant City Church. Before any of this, Cliff and Ben Hamilton, Director of Care at Citylight Omaha, were close friends and confidants. Having met in 2015 (see pic below) in Orlando where Ben attended seminary, their families quickly bonded before each were sent on separate kingdom trajectories. Ben aided some church planting efforts in South Carolina and then trained and worked as a hospital chaplain, and Cliff came to Citylight upon the opening of West to lead City Groups in 2017. A few years later in 2020, when Ben felt called back into local church ministry, Cliff was instrumental in connecting Ben to Citylight to fill the need for pastoral care at Midtown. Jump forward to this year, Ben received a text message from Cliff with a message that hit deep in his heart. Looking back, he knew this text was different from all the others Cliff sent. It was the Spirit of the Lord convicting and moving Ben and his family to go.
“In January of this year, Cliff and Radiant City were celebrating their 4th year as a church,” Ben shared. “Cliff texted me a photo (see below) of the church gathered on stage after the service with the words “We need the Hamiltons to come build with us!” My heart shifted from standoffish to ‘yeah, why wouldn’t we do this?’ Leading up to this moment, the invite had been on the table for us to consider coming, but we had some unfinished business here in Omaha, including an international adoption process we were in to bring our daughter Liki home from India. Now she was home, and everything just seemed to click.”
Ben sought wisdom and prayer from trusted leaders and members at Citylight Omaha. They encouraged Ben to explore the opportunity more seriously. This past June, Ben and his wife Joy and their family spent a week in Boca. They spent quality time with the McCray family, visited neighborhoods, parks, grocery stores and went to church at Radiant City. Immediately connections were made that lead to sweet moments of ministry and solidified a vision for life on mission in South Florida. Coming back, they prayed and processed more with leadership and put their yes on the table to become Radiant City’s co-lead pastor.
“Radiant City averages around 100 people on Sundays with kids,” Ben described. “They have already raised up deacons and lay elders (see pic below) and the whole church is passionate about proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ in words and actions. Boca Raton is home to Florida Atlantic University (FAU) which has over 30,000 college students. This year Radiant City launched a college ministry partnered with A1:8 called A18FAU. The name A18 refers to Acts 1:8, where Jesus promises the Holy Spirit will come and empower his people to live as witness where they reside and to the ends of the earth. It has a very similar DNA and philosophy as the Salt Network, Citylight’s college partner, but is more concentrated in the Southeastern part of the country. Cliff also serves as the chaplain of Florida Atlantic University’s football team. They have seen several student athletes profess faith in Jesus and we are excited at what feels like a rare opportunity to reach this demographic on campus along with the rest of the student body. I am excited to serve as the co-lead and come in to compliment Cliff’s gifts and strengths. Cliff is a recruiter, visionary, builder, connector, and mobilizer. I’m a shepherd and a cultivator of spaces where people can go deeper in their faith and relationships. I also have teaching gifts to awaken passion for Jesus and His glory.”
The goal of going for Ben and Joy is to inject new life and a renewed vision at Radiant City having gone through some challenging transitions the past couple of years. The Hamiltons are ready to be “all in” for Radiant City Church. Ben will be full-time at the church to help stabilize, grow, and strengthen the church. There’s much to celebrate and the opportunity to come alongside the Hamiltons is now offered to Citylight Church and the Citylight Family.
“I’m celebrating direction and calling right now,” Ben described the current wins. “You know, a few years ago, God provided the sense that I was supposed to pastor a church, but I really desired to stay in the Citylight Family. We also as a family were praying to get back down to the Southeast area of the country. Joy is from there and it feels like home. With this opportunity to become part of what God is doing in South Florida and through Radiant City Church, God seems to be answering all these prayers. The doors are wide open and the need there for us and our family is clear and compelling. That feels really good. There have been other seasons of transition where we didn’t have that. We know how hard that can be.”
With this calling, the Hamiltons also describe another challenge and opportunity to lean on God presented to them.
“We have built a really comfortable life here in Omaha,” Ben described. “We now are giving up a lot and having to start from scratch. This tugs at my pride and my insecurity. It creates a little bit of anxiety. It certainly creates grief. We are having to step out in faith. While we know this is a good and Godly thing, sometimes it is hard. We have little kids, one with special needs, and all the things.”
Church Family, would you please join us by praying and supporting the Hamiltons as we send them to revitalize one of our family member churches? Ben and Joy described their needs below:
“One of our obvious needs is financially. We are seeking to raise support to cover my salary for 2 years so we can be all in at Radiant City and not take anything from her and so Joy can continue to homeschool our children. The cost of living is significantly higher where we are moving but we are trusting the Lord will provide what we need to focus on ministry and establishing our life there.”
Joy adds, “We’d love prayer for transitioning our family with little kids. Our family has deep friendships here. People we love and treasure. Our children have deep friendships. It’s already been a big transition this year adding Liki to our family. Pray that we’d support each other and adjust well.”
For Ben – “Pray that God would confirm over and over again in the small ways and in the large, that he is with us, and that he is leading us our portion in every way. But also, pray we’d have the energy when we arrive to go and jump into a fast-paced church plant world. I’m a slower-paced guy, which will bring balance over time, but I don’t want it to cause a whiplash for Cliff or the church. I want to run alongside my brother, Cliff, as best I can, but also be true to how God has shaped and formed me as a pastor. Lastly, it is undeniable that God is building his church down there and invited us to be a part of it. Pray that he would be glorified in every little bit of this story as it unfolds.”
The last question asked to Ben and Joy was about their Citylight Church Family. If they were sitting with all the people who have become family the past five years, knowing the great distance that will be in-between, what would you say to them? The response came effortlessly and full of clarity and love.
“We love you deeply. God called us to Omaha to do life with and provided a sense of God’s care for them. We have so much gratitude and awe for those who trusted us, who opened their lives and their story with us, whether this was in our home or with me (Ben) in my counseling office. You trusted us with your pain and struggles and let us enter into it with you. It has truly been such a privilege and honor to sit in those places with you, share tears and fight for hope and curiosity about what the Redeemer is doing. I know God is at work building his church in Omaha, and at Citylight. I would encourage them with this … If we planted or watered any good seeds, to keep working those in deeper and continue to press into Christ and trust that he will bring forth beauty and goodness in due time. We have so much love and gratitude for you all for how you have walked alongside us. Thank you for allowing us to share our lives with you. So many of you rallied around us the past two years of this adoption process, and we treasure your support and friendship. It has been so beautiful to be a part of this family. It is so hard to leave. Since we are remaining within the Citylight Family, we take comfort that annual trips to Omaha will be possible. It certainly will be a goal for us to continue returning to this place and to the people we love, and where we know we are also loved.”
Please follow and support the Hamilton’s through their website: https://citylightomaha.org/hamiltons/
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