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!