NYC Mission Trip: Day 3
Gray skies are gonna clear up, we’ve put on a happy face, Dust off the clouds and cheer up, we’ve put on a happy face….
Who would have thought so much happiness could have been brought about by clear skies and NO RAIN…Yeah, Woo-hoo, (insert thunderous applause and cheers from the crowd!) That’s right folks, today was a dry day, a beautiful day, a long beautiful dry day! It started earlier today than any of the others, but we were in walking distance to our lodging. We met the interns at 7:30am at Stuyvesant Park to hand out morning newspapers to commuters. Again, assigned dedicated corners to hand out our freebies and cards about Forefront. Mark, to answer your question about what did the cards say…it simply states on one-side:
We hope this small gift brightens your day just a little bit.
It’s a simple way of saying that God loves you.
Underneath that phrase it has information about Forefront’s locations and church service times. On the other side it has a saying Forefront uses: “Trust God. Love People. Serve the World.”
So, we handed out 300 USA today newspapers and met back with the interns for debriefing and devotional time at Forefront’s office. Brandon gave a great devotional message about being encouraged and not growing weary from the work but striving to keep on while being an encouragement and blessing to others! We were then directed to make three peanut butter and jelly sandwiches each, not for our lunch but to provide lunch for a few homeless folks that would be at the Union Square Park. So back on the concrete and up a few blocks we came to a large city square where there had been an art and food market taking place. We were instructed to go in and instead of handing out large quantities of freebies, to go and talk to the homeless and spend time with them…get to know them. If you’re wondering about this specific task in thinking okay, you were assigned only three sandwiches?…man that is not a lot of food. It’s because this task wasn’t about quantity. It was about quality…quality time with folks who are usually not even given the time of day.
As we braved the park, some of us prepared and comfortable to talk to the homeless and some of us not…we went out in search of a willing party. It was certainly an experience for each of us and it added huge perspective to how often our homeless friends are totally disregarded. After about an hour, we met back at the George Washington Statue to grab gloves and trash bags to clean up the park. We got to work picking up cigarette butts, plastic wrappers, water bottles, you name it, it was on the ground. After working up an appetite like that, it was time for lunch to re-fuel. We added another 735 water bottles to our list of handouts and they went like absolute HOTCAKES on this warm, sunny beautiful day!!! It was cool to see even cab drivers that slow downed and waved their arms out the windows to get a free water, service delivery men hollering from across the street for a free water, and even vendors selling great things left their station for a free bottle.
We concluded our day of work with a prayer walk around Union Square. Today was our early day done so that we had a bit of free time to do a little bit of sightseeing. We were thankful for Ryan, Rob and Linda to experience going into the Empire State Building and seeing the city from such a view! Ryan enjoyed it tremendously. Marty and Sam got to visit with their daughter which turned out to be a great visit. Meanwhile Jessy and I took a stroll down 34th street and Broadway taking it all in. The team (minus Marty and Sam) had dinner at the Hard Rock Café for a great dining experience, then it was on the subway back home. We’ll be back up on the Upper West Side tomorrow as we continue to spread the word about their new service location. So we’ll talk to you tomorrow and please keep praying for us and the requests and praises shared.
Thanks again for all the great comments you’re sharing with us. It’s been so encouraging to the whole team to hear from you and know that you are praying for us and with us through this trip.
Blessings,
Rob, Linda, Marty, Sam, Ryan, Jessy and Nylsa
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What a privilege it is to read this here. Thank you for spelling out the reactions and rewards of yall’s simple acts of Love in Jesus’ name. Funny Jessy, I thought I’d miss you more but thanks to these updates I see you are right where you should be:) I love you all and pray God’s mercy on your health and energy to keep up with the mighty works he is doing through you there for his people. ~Peace, Dawn
Wow, sounds like yesterday was a success and much drier!!! Serving the homeless is right up my alley! I wish I was there with you guys. Also, glad to hear you are carving out some time for sightseeing and relaxation. You deserve it!
I love your updates and the opportunity to stay connected with you during your stay there! Modern technology makes it so easy!
Keep the faith! Love you guys!
Mark
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