It's been an incredible day in New York City! Before we begin with some highlights from the day, we'd like to give a little background information on how our groups are organized. Our partner organization, CSM, does a great job of providing small group experiences in a big city. In order to do that, our group of 48 students and 10 staff/leaders has been divided into 5 separate "serving groups," each consisting of 9-10 students and 2 leaders, plus one CSM host. By dividing into these smaller groups, each individual student is able to really engage at the specific ministry sites and connect with the people we are serving. Whenever possible, separate serving groups will try to connect at meal times to share dinner and stories from the day.
Now that our terminology is clear, we'd like to report on each serving group's activities for the day.
To begin the experience, serving groups 3, 4, and 5 all started their week with a prayer tour of the city. The prayer tour is not just a great way to center our hearts and minds on Jesus, but also gives our groups some wonderful exposure to the entire city and many of the ministry sites we'll be partnering with throughout the week. Several students commented about the incredible diversity they noticed throughout NYC: economic, racial, cultural, and spiritual. The children and leaders in these groups are excited to really engage in these neighborhoods, at these ministry sites, and with these people that they prayed for all day.
Meanwhile, serving group 1 started the day at a site called "God's Love We Deliver," an organization that delivers meals to terminally-ill and disabled individuals. The students spent the morning brining blessings, in the form of food and smiles, to over 15 different people. The group found the experience extremely rewarding to be able to meet this very real and tangible need. After eating lunch in Central Park, the group headed to City Arts, a ministry that seeks to empower youth and foster community involvement by restoring parks and other projects. Your children got to touch up a mural that was in great need of a fresh coat of paint, so that their artistic touches will encourage the youth in that community long after we leave the city. After painting, the group ate dinner at a wonderful Polish restaurant before heading back to the housing site.
Serving group 2 left the earliest this morning to serve at St. John's Bread of Life, a high-tech food pantry and soup kitchen that seeks to "bring food to the poor as they accompany them on their journey to wholeness by providing necessary services." The group was awed by the dedication of a core group of year-round volunteers who really make the organization run. We prepared meals, sorted food, and helped clean dishes and the dining area, while also engaging with the "clients" and learning more about their joys and their struggles. After helping with both breakfast and lunch, the group had a little bit of down time to process their experience before heading to CAMBA, a ministry at Mt. Paran Baptism church that provides a shelter for 11 men. Our group prepared a delicious home-cooked meal for the men, and got to sit down and enjoy it with them, sharing stories and our loves of sports and movies. It was great for group 2 to connect so much with the people we're serving as it helped us remember that we are really not very different at all. Because group 2 was out fairly late, they had a short debrief time on the subway ride back to the housing site.
Groups 1, 3, 4, and 5 all met together this evening for an incredible first Porch Time. ("Porch Time" is our term for our end-of-day team debrief, which consists of four parts: first, "Remember That Time...", an opportunity for students and leaders to share funny or interesting things that happened throughout the day; second, "I Saw Jesus...", a time for the team to discuss where they saw Jesus in the flesh during their serving experiences; third, a time of worship, to give us an opportunity to praise Jesus for all that He's doing in us and through us; fourth, a short talk where the staff gives some more biblical context to what we're doing on this mission trip.) Craig led an awesome Porch Time where many students shared incredible things about our first day out in the field.
We thank you all for your prayers and ask that you would continue to lift us up throughout the day. Tomorrow (Tuesday), groups 1 and 2 will be participating in a prayer tour, while groups 3, 4, and 5 all begin serving at individual ministry sites. Please pray for safety, energy, and focus as we begin day two of serving in New York City.
