NYC Mission Trip 2011

Day 7 July 28, 2011

Our last full day in New York City was the longest day so far!  Sam began the morning by reminding us that while it is Thursday for us, it was Monday for those that are still lost in New York City.  This meant that we needed to be working as though it was our first day, not our last.  There are still people that need to hear about the joy of the Lord’s salvation.   With that, we headed to our last designated ministry area, Bryant Park, in Manhattan.

 Bryant Park was filled with the local business crowd on their lunch break, tourists, and a crowd of people listening to a free concer.  Needless to say, it was packed!  We had an hour and a half to walk around doing one-on-one canvassing in the park.  We did not have our paint board to attract a crowd, or a prayer station that could be a catalyst for telling the Gospel.  Instead, we had a few tracts, surveys, our rope tricks, and most importantly, our Bibles.  This area was extremely intimidating.  Not many people could be bothered to let us talk with them, or to even take a tract.  Those that would talk with us thought that they had a better version of God and “religion” than what the Bible says.  Even though it was difficult, the Lord still opened up opportunities for us to share His word.  We were able to present the entire Gospel 43 times, and one person gave their life to Christ!

After eating lunch in Bryant Park, we began our tour of Manhattan.  We walked through the beautiful Central Park, which was a sanctuary in the middle of the city.  Next we headed to South Street Sea Port to do some shopping and eat dinner overlooking the Brooklyn Bridge.  After dinner we rode the Staten Island Ferry past the Statue of Liberty.  It was a nice time to sit back and watch the sun setting over the water.  On our way to Ground Zero Sam stopped us and told us his first-hand experience during 9-11.  It was eye-opening to entire team, and made the visit to Ground Zero more meaningful.  We ended our tour in the overly crowded Times Square.  We had 45 minutes to run around and do a little sight-seeing and souvenir shopping.  We were so tired by the time we got on the subway, but we had a blast.  We did not get back to church until after midnight, and we could not wait to get to bed!

Praise God that the van was fixed, and we have a safe ride home.  Please keep us in your prayers as we travel home.  The prayer focus for today is Missions.  Pray for all the missionaries around the world and back home.  Pray also for Sam and his Open Air team here in New York.