The doors of Rivers in the Desert Community Church opened on December 25, 1999 at the corner of Throop and Lexington Avenues in Brooklyn, New York. Its theme: “Transforming the Community, One Brick at a Time.” Having heard it all before, the residents of the neighborhood/community observed from afar expecting little or no change.

2000 - Pastor, Rev. Ray Ricketts, a former social worker, accustomed to dealing with the needs of the people now backed by the vision of the Lord, spearheaded the opening of a food pantry. Determined to walk in the footsteps of Jesus, wherein He met the physical and spiritual need of the community, audio tapes of Sunday sermons were included in each bag. Since this was a clear violation of the separation of church and state law, that first year, the pantry was funded solely by the tithes (1/10 of all income) of the congregation. Still untrusting, the recipients of the bags of grocery, which consisted of fresh, not canned vegetables, chicken parts, rice, powdered milk and a few other necessities, had to be convinced to accept the bags of grocery. The pantry continued to operate one Saturday a month and as the word spread, this quickly became too infrequent.

2003 - The list of recipients having grown to over 250 members and the pantry operating twice a month, the congregation of twenty-five (on a good day) had its hands full. The formerly wary community had spread the word far and wide. Registrants came from Staten Island, Long Island, and Bronx just via word of mouth and the average number of bags being prepared was 100 – 130 on any given week. In addition, through congregational donations and donations solicited from others. Special distributions were made for Thanksgiving and Christmas. On or around Thanksgiving, each family registered by the cutoff date, received a bag containing a turkey, apple pie and other goodies and before Christmas, age appropriate toys and books for the children up to age 17.

In addition, through (2001) Beyond Food Coalition of New York, Inc. the Pastor, Rev. Ray Ricketts began assisting other churches in the borough of Brooklyn to set up and/or streamline their food pantries and/or soup kitchens. He and his team assisted in filling out 501 (c) (3) free of charge, conducted seminars about setting up and running effective pantries and soup kitchens. Not only is this congregation concerned about the hunger in this country, it also participates in Feed the Children’s ABC Program and Project Zawadi.