https://img1.wsimg.com/isteam/ip/6e1e2c99-b94e-434e-a59e-7d3b4fefc03c/thumbnails/thumbnail-1c12ca7a-1eb3-49bb-8c24-a1e7336fc151.png

We're Moving To New York City!

God has called our family to leave the small Oklahoma town we have called home our entire lives and step into NYC as our new

Get Involved Today

We're Moving To New York City!

God has called our family to leave the small Oklahoma town we have called home our entire lives and step into NYC as our new

Get Involved Today

About The Martins

Our Story

In 2021, God unexpectedly began stirring our hearts for the 8.8 million people of NYC.
By late 2025, that stirring became a clear call—to leave the small Oklahoma town we’ve called home our entire lives and step into NYC as our new home and ministry hub.

After a decade of experience serving as a lead pastor in a church-planting context, God has prepared and equipped us for this next season.

This is the most daunting calling we’ve ever received—
but we move forward with deep confidence in God’s calling and faithful provision.

Planting Vision

Since 2015, God has placed a clear call on my heart to see new churches planted. Over the past decade, I’ve had the privilege of training and developing dozens of church planters and leaders sent out across the world. These experiences have shaped a vision to continue this work in NYC, with the goal of helping launch a new church every five years.

Challenges and Prayer Requests

Family Transition

Isolation and Community

Relocating a family of four is never easy, especially when we’ve only ever known one place to be home. Moving from small-town Oklahoma to NYC only heightens that challenge.

Isolation and Community

While we are excited to join a new church family, we are leaving a church we’ve loved for 10 years and six family households that currently live within a mile of our home.

Cost of Living

The cost of living is about 3x higher than what we currently know. A modest 2–3 bedroom, 1,000 sq. ft. apartment will likely cost $5,000–$6,000 per month in rent.

Lack of Salary

Cost of Living

Because the church is a young plant in one of the world’s most expensive cities, I will need to raise my salary through Christian individuals and churches for the foreseeable future.

*We are not eligible to receive NAMB funding due to our church not being a brand new church plant.

Why NYC?

Gospel Access

NYC’s 8.8 million people include fewer than 6% evangelical Christians actively engaged in a local church.
Within 75 miles, 23 million people are served by only ~500 evangelical churches.
(By comparison: Oklahoma has 1,700+ SBC churches serving 4 million people.)

Global Influence

NYC is one of the most diverse cities in the world.
Reaching New York means reaching the nations—people from across the globe live, work, and raise families side by side.

Everyday Proximity

Millions of neighbors share daily life through subways, sidewalks, parks, and shared spaces—creating constant, natural opportunities for relational gospel presence.

Gospel Momentum

Everyday Proximity

The Northeast is seeing some of the strongest gospel momentum in the country, with higher baptism rates per attendee than any other region.

Frequently Asked Questions

Please email me at kblakemartinnyc@gmail.com if you cannot find an answer to your question.

ABOUT OUR CHURCH

Hope Community Church is a young and growing church in Brooklyn with around 40 members and a steady stream of visitors who consider it their church home. In the past few months, 10 people have been baptized—about 20% of the current membership—while 5–8 people each week are actively exploring faith in Jesus for the first time. In the midst of this gospel momentum, I am joining the team as a Pastor with a primary focus on preaching, vision casting, and leadership development.

Located at the southern tip of Prospect Park—Brooklyn’s most iconic park—and surrounded by an estimated 75,000 people within just two square miles, the church sits in the heart of a community rich with gospel opportunity and ripe for harvest.

UNIQUELY NYC

If Oklahoma were as densely populated as New York City, it could hold nearly 2 billion people—about 25% of the entire world’s population.
The NYC subway carries millions of riders every day — roughly 5–6 million daily trips on a typical weekday.
45% of NYC households don’t own a car — compared with ~10% or less in most of Oklahoma, making public transit and walking the norm rather than the exception.
In much of NYC, only ~25–30% of apartments have in-unit washers/dryers — meaning most households use communal machines or laundromats, a lifestyle quirk unfamiliar to us.
On a busy NYC block, 5,000–10,000 people can pass by in a single day — more than the entire population of many Oklahoma towns.
New York City is home to more than 800 languages, making it the most linguistically diverse city in the world — all within a few miles of where we’ll live and minister.

The Martins

We're Moving To New York City!

We're Moving To New York City!