New York is awesome, like, it's crazy fun! The city is pretty cool. Everybody's getting along great! It's awesome going through the city and engaging in other people's lives. It's hard to start up a conversation, but once you get going, people really wanna talk and it's fun getting to know them. Yesterday Abby and I got to meet this lady in Riverbank Park. She was playing one of the pianos randomly placed throughout the city and we got to help her learn and it was fun. God's doing great things too. Also in the park a few of us got to play soccer w/ some guys and afterward we got to share the Gospel. It was really neat because they all made decisions for Christ!!!! Today we went and did homeless ministry. It was a real eye-opening opportunity for me. We met this man named Joe and he was so a real inspiration. He was so selfless. We asked him if he would like us to do anything for him and the first and only thing he asked was for us to pray for a boy he knows with cancer. It was so cool and such an awesome experience. We also went to Chinatown and shopped! lol ha ha. It was fun! We ate icecream too! Then we went to Times Square and that place is soo fun at night. That is all. Peace out!
J Kildal :)
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Day 4
We had a great day yesterday (Tuesday). After our morning worship and challenge, we grabbed lunch and headed to Port Authority bus station, armed with brown bag lunches to give to homeless people. We had a really great time of serving people and spending time hearing their stories. We have been challenged all week to look at people the way that God does and I believe we are seeing our teens begin to really do that. We have some great stories to share and we'll try to have some of the team share some of those for the blog update tonight.
After our afternoon of ministry, we came back to the hostel, ate supper then headed to Chinatown. After much purse, t-shirt, and souvenir purchases, we had ice cream at the famous Chinatown Ice Cream factory (the best ice cream in New York City according to some) then headed back to Times Square to experience it at night. It was a great night of team building and connecting. The guys enjoyed having Moses, our CitiVision leader, stay with us in our room last night because we got back so late and he had another 45 minutes to get home. We're trying to figure out how we can get Moses to come back with us to Dayton!
With our partners from a church in Seattle ready to board the subway for homeless ministry.
Brooks with his new friend Joe.
Jamie, transferring the contents of her old purse to her new purse from Chinatown...this girl does not mess around!
Times Square at night.
After our afternoon of ministry, we came back to the hostel, ate supper then headed to Chinatown. After much purse, t-shirt, and souvenir purchases, we had ice cream at the famous Chinatown Ice Cream factory (the best ice cream in New York City according to some) then headed back to Times Square to experience it at night. It was a great night of team building and connecting. The guys enjoyed having Moses, our CitiVision leader, stay with us in our room last night because we got back so late and he had another 45 minutes to get home. We're trying to figure out how we can get Moses to come back with us to Dayton!
With our partners from a church in Seattle ready to board the subway for homeless ministry.
Brooks with his new friend Joe.
Jamie, transferring the contents of her old purse to her new purse from Chinatown...this girl does not mess around!
Times Square at night.
Monday, June 28, 2010
Day 3
Today our main opportunity was park evangelism. Some of our group had the chance to play soccer with a group of guys while the rest of us walked around talking to people. After the soccer game, our CitiVision staff leader Moses (what a great guy) asked the guys who were playing soccer to come sit down and he was able to share the Gospel with them while our group gathered around and prayed. I believe 4 of them trusted in Christ and it was neat for our group to see that something like a soccer game can help build a bridge for the Gospel to be shared.
It was again a very hot and muggy day, but we kept everyone hydrated and healthy. Tomorrow we will have the opportunity to do some homeless ministry which should be a great experience for the team. Tomorrow evening is our free night and I think we will be heading down to Chinatown for some wheeling and dealing!
Moses leading us to our first subway ride.
We survived our subway experience (sorry for the blurriness).
If you look closely you can see a rat running through the subway tunnel.
Our team on top of the Rockefeller Center with the Empire State Building in the background.
Evangelism at Central Park.
Moses sharing the Gospel with our soccer friends.
It was again a very hot and muggy day, but we kept everyone hydrated and healthy. Tomorrow we will have the opportunity to do some homeless ministry which should be a great experience for the team. Tomorrow evening is our free night and I think we will be heading down to Chinatown for some wheeling and dealing!
Moses leading us to our first subway ride.
We survived our subway experience (sorry for the blurriness).
If you look closely you can see a rat running through the subway tunnel.
Our team on top of the Rockefeller Center with the Empire State Building in the background.
Evangelism at Central Park.
Moses sharing the Gospel with our soccer friends.
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Day 2
It is Sunday night and things are going well. Here is a quick recap of our trip so far.
We arrived Saturday around 2pm, without any problems. It was fun to hear and see the team's reactions as the skyline of New York came into view and then as we drove through the Lincoln Tunnel. We unloaded our gear, ate some pizza, got settled in our rooms and had an orientation with the rest of the groups who are here. There are youth groups from Seattle, Washington and Lancaster, PA as well....about 100 people total.
We are staying at a youth hostel at the corner of 103rd Street and Amsterdam Avenue on Manhattan's upper west side, just a few blocks away from Central Park. Basically its a giant college dormitory, with bunkbeds in rooms and shared bathrooms on each floor. All the guys are in one room and all the girls are in another. There are several hundred young people here as well as it is essentially a low-cost housing for traveling students and other young people, many of who are from around the world. There are several recreation/lounge areas, as well as a courtyard and a small grassy area.
After our orientation yesterday, we headed down to Times Square by subway, a first for many of our group. In Times Square we split up into groups of 2 or 3, and using an informal survey, began to engage people in coversation about where they were from and a little about themselves. This gave everyone an understanding of just how big the world is as people from just about every country can be found in Times Square and how we really have the world coming to us...what a great opportunity to share the Gospel with the world!
After this experience we grabbed dinner at a hamburger joint, then headed to the top of the Rockefeller Center and were able to get great views of the city as the sun set. We spent time praying for the city and for the ministry that we will have this week. We got back to the hostel around 10pm, and had an evening session with worship and a great challenge from Tom Mahairas.
This morning after breakfast, the kids had some individual quiet time with God, then we had a morning session challenging us in our view of the Gospel and a challenge about the importance of engaging our culture with the right world view. Then we had a quick lunch and headed to Central Park for some evangelism. The park was very busy with people relaxing and playing and we were able to have a few conversations with people with the focus on trying to get to know people. We will be doing more of this everyday with the hopes of steering conversations toward spiritual things. After we got back from the park, we had dinner, evening worship and a challenge, group debrief time, and finished up with walking to a nearby store for some ice cream.
Everyone seems to be doing well, adjusting to all the walking, the crowded subways and the heat. We look forward to heading to Times Square again tomorrow to continue engaging people in conversation and sharing the love of God. Pray that we get a good night's sleep tonight so we'll be ready for the day tomorrow.
Dan (for the team)
P.S. I promise to have pictures on tomorrow's update!
We arrived Saturday around 2pm, without any problems. It was fun to hear and see the team's reactions as the skyline of New York came into view and then as we drove through the Lincoln Tunnel. We unloaded our gear, ate some pizza, got settled in our rooms and had an orientation with the rest of the groups who are here. There are youth groups from Seattle, Washington and Lancaster, PA as well....about 100 people total.
We are staying at a youth hostel at the corner of 103rd Street and Amsterdam Avenue on Manhattan's upper west side, just a few blocks away from Central Park. Basically its a giant college dormitory, with bunkbeds in rooms and shared bathrooms on each floor. All the guys are in one room and all the girls are in another. There are several hundred young people here as well as it is essentially a low-cost housing for traveling students and other young people, many of who are from around the world. There are several recreation/lounge areas, as well as a courtyard and a small grassy area.
After our orientation yesterday, we headed down to Times Square by subway, a first for many of our group. In Times Square we split up into groups of 2 or 3, and using an informal survey, began to engage people in coversation about where they were from and a little about themselves. This gave everyone an understanding of just how big the world is as people from just about every country can be found in Times Square and how we really have the world coming to us...what a great opportunity to share the Gospel with the world!
After this experience we grabbed dinner at a hamburger joint, then headed to the top of the Rockefeller Center and were able to get great views of the city as the sun set. We spent time praying for the city and for the ministry that we will have this week. We got back to the hostel around 10pm, and had an evening session with worship and a great challenge from Tom Mahairas.
This morning after breakfast, the kids had some individual quiet time with God, then we had a morning session challenging us in our view of the Gospel and a challenge about the importance of engaging our culture with the right world view. Then we had a quick lunch and headed to Central Park for some evangelism. The park was very busy with people relaxing and playing and we were able to have a few conversations with people with the focus on trying to get to know people. We will be doing more of this everyday with the hopes of steering conversations toward spiritual things. After we got back from the park, we had dinner, evening worship and a challenge, group debrief time, and finished up with walking to a nearby store for some ice cream.
Everyone seems to be doing well, adjusting to all the walking, the crowded subways and the heat. We look forward to heading to Times Square again tomorrow to continue engaging people in conversation and sharing the love of God. Pray that we get a good night's sleep tonight so we'll be ready for the day tomorrow.
Dan (for the team)
P.S. I promise to have pictures on tomorrow's update!
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Day 1
We got the bus fixed in one hour. Josh shared the gospel with the mechanics. We are on our way.
Friday, June 25, 2010
We made it to Harrisburg, but...
We left church around 9am and had a good trip to the Harrisburg, PA area, arriving around 6:30 this evening. Got checked in to the hotel, then headed out to grab some dinner, when we discovered the our "cargo" van wouldn't start. We believe the starter is bad. Thankfully we found a garage nearby and they will look it at first thing in the morning. The best case is that they can fix it an a couple hours and we will be on our way in plenty of time to make it to NYC by our desired arrival time of 2pm. The worst case is it takes longer to fix, so we'll send the team in the mini bus with a minimal amount of stuff and I will stay back with the van and rest of the stuff until it is fixed. If the problem with the van is more than we suspect, we may need to rent a van for the week.
We are thankful to the Lord that we didn't break down somewhere on the highway and that we have found a mechanic who seems eager to want to help us. These little setbacks are good reminders about who is in control and give us opportunity to trust Him more. We'll keep you posted. Thanks for praying.
Dan (for the team)
Friday, June 18, 2010
Welcome to our team blog!
We will try to keep this blog updated with a daily report about our activities while in NYC. We'll also post pictures and give you some ways to pray for our team. We are partnering with CitiVision, a ministry based out of Manhattan Bible Church that seeks to empower people to reach the cities of the world for Jesus Christ.
We leave in less than a week! I know everyone is excited, not only to experience the Big Apple, but to see what God is going to do in each of our lives.
Thanks to all who have given and prayed for this trip.
We leave in less than a week! I know everyone is excited, not only to experience the Big Apple, but to see what God is going to do in each of our lives.
Thanks to all who have given and prayed for this trip.
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