World Impact Associate Marvin Hall

Greetings! My name is Marvin Hall, and I am pastor of Starlight Community Church (SCC). I live and work in a neighborhood called Bayview-Hunter’s Point. It's a high crime neighborhood located in southeast San Francisco, where we continually deal with violence, poverty, homicide, broken families and drugs. But our ministry is strong, as we see are seeing more and more people looking for hope and healing!

Bayview-Hunter’s Point was not always such a rough place. It was once a flourishing shipbuilding community. During the Great Migration, many blue collar African Americans moved across the country to live and work in thriving industrial areas. Bayview-Hunter’s Point was one such place. In fact, it was there in 1867, where the first west coast “dry dock” was constructed to build ships. For the next 100+ years, shipyards and naval defense testing filled the east bay employing tens of thousands of San Franciscans. But in the late 70’s and early 80’s, the shipyards began closing due to environmental regulations. Sadly, this heavily populated African-American community never fully recovered. As the ship companies moved away, drugs and crime took their place.

Our little church plant exists primarily to draw others to Christ. But once they find God, we assist them in their growth so they can be beacons of light in their community. There’s no greater testimony than a life transformed by the love of God’s Word. Our church services are held on Sunday evenings, followed by a community meal. Bible study for the community is offered on Saturday evenings, and we recently partnered with Bay Community Fellowship Church (BCFC), headed by World Impact Bay Area director Pastor Curtis Flemming. There, we prepare community breakfast every fourth Saturday for the residents of West Oakland. Starlight and BCFC are very similar. Both are small churches doing big things in tough places.

We look forward to the work God has for us in Bayview-Hunter’s Point. By partnering with World Impact and becoming an Associate, our ministry can become more effective. Our relationships in the community stay the same, but we’ll be equipped to do more. Some of the things we look forward to implementing once I become a World Impact Associate include: homeless outreach and evangelism, clothing and food drives, Bible studies in drug rehabilitation programs and mentoring those who are called to be Pastors and leaders. World Impact and SCC are working together, modeling the one body in Christ, and manifesting God's Kingdom on earth as it is in Heaven. God bless you and we thank you for your support and prayers.