New York- Day Three!

Hello friends and family!!!! For the past two days our youth group and parents have been actively involved in God's community here in NYC. Today was, just like yesterday, a day that exceeded expectations and goal-breaking standards. Our 62 missionaries all heavily contributed to the work that God has put before us and on our hearts. Here is a brief overview of all that was accomplished today.

Red/Purple- Today was the last day that the girls were at the Sinai Church. Today they got almost all of the Sanctuary done, started to paint the trim in the staircase, painted the window sills in the classroom which is basically finished, and finished painting the first set of stairs. The pastor was there today and gave the girls a little devotional before they started.

Green- We visited Furnish a Future warehouse today and had an amazing time. Once on our arrival in Queens, we organized and separated thousands of hats and gloves. We moved furniture for the organizers and helped locals pick out furniture for their new homes.

Blue- St. Stephen's Outreach Ministry was our stop for today. We peeled hundreds of potatoes for the local people who are in need of food. Along with the potatoes, we passed out box lunches to the hungry and separated clothes from large boxes. A long day of great work for the Lord!

After our missionary work in the suburbs, we all headed to the same park that we worked at yesterday in Manhattan. 25 sack lunches were given out to numerous homeless people around the park with all teams contributing to the effort. Like yesterday, one of the most spiritual moments came from the park today. Hayley Collinsworth said this about the event:

"There were a few girls walking around with me when we all looked over and saw a woman leaning over on one of the benches like she was in pain. We weren't sure if we should have walked over there with such a small group so luckily we caught up with a larger group. Once we told Daniel Tribble about the woman he and the rest of his group walked over along with us to minister to her. Daniel asked her what her name was and she quietly replied with "Diane". We offered to give her food and water but she wouldn't take it. After rejecting the food we all gathered tightly around and prayed for her. Although there were other people who were around saying " She's fine, leave her alone, you are wasting your time" we just continued. It was a very heart felt moment."

We never said that this trip would come without persecution.

After the park, we all visited Chinatown and were invited to the Eastern side of life. With full stomachs and rested legs, we set off for Central Park. More group pictures followed a long walk to the entrance to the park. Mrs. Dana sure is getting a lot of pictures these days! The park itself was a magnificent display of the Lord's power. In the middle of a hustling, bustling city, a calm and peaceful public park provides an oasis for New Yorkers and other people to exercise, enjoy the beautiful day, and relax. We walked around and had an amazing group devotional in the park.

The man who prayed for us yesterday in front of Macy's sent us an e-mail telling us how much of a blessing we are to this city and how we have set a great example for people all across the city. Just like he prayed for us, be praying for us tomorrow as our teams set out again doing the work of the Lord!

Day Two Pictures

Sorry it took so long for us to get these up and going. Here are somethings we saw yesterday.

New York - Day Two!!

Hey family and friends,

So today was our first full day in the Big Apple of New York City. After our crazy fun-filled day yesterday, we were all eager to do God's work in the city. After a brief breakfast and morning showers, the adults and youth council met with Joey as he filled us in on the day's plans. The 3 different groups went out through the subway system (which we are in the process of mastering now) and were off doing God's will. The three groups accomplish numerous goals, shattered expectations, and represented our church, our youth group, and our God in amazing ways. Here's what we did:

Green- We worked at the Yorkville Food Pantry today. We helped unload and install a large refrigerator and a large freezer, stocked drinks and food, cleaned sidewalks, washed tables and chairs, ate in beautiful Central Park, and ministered to numerous people looking for help at the pantry.

Blue- Today we visited Furnish a Future. Furnish a Future helps people get back on their feet with a place to stay and free furniture. There we moved and stocked furniture in the warehouse and had amazing conversations with the more "open" people of the streets of NYC. We grew as a team greatly today.

Red/Purple- We went to the Sinai Church today to help them paint. We have almost completely finished the classroom and the sanctuary. We completely finished a stairwell. Tomorrow we are headed back to finish. It's amazing how just simply painting a few rooms can make someones day!

After our first day on the job, the boys and most of the adults headed to the park loaded with sandwiches and other food items. The job was simple to pass out sack lunches and spread the gospel to the homeless and needy that reside in the park. Both teams of guys immediately went off for the Lord delivering a total of 20 bags and came back with a boatload of new stories and endless memories. One of the most intriguing and spiritual-grasping stories was described by Daniel Tribble:

"We were just about done with the giving out of our bags when suddenly my eyes caught a man walking beside me. I said hi not thinking anything about it, but the man stopped and looked quite shocked by a mere word that was spoken to him. I continued on with a basic conversation with him and before you knew it, he was telling me that he was about to go beg for money so he could go eat. Our group met back up with met at almost this exact time and I checked to see if we still had a bag left, and we did; one bag left exactly. We delivered the lunch to the man and said goodbye. Not 30 feet later, Joey said 'hey guys, I think that man is crying over there. Sure enough as we all looked back, the same 58 year-old mand who was going to beg for food but didn't have to anymore, was weeping his heart out. That man was so astonished of the love that we shared to him that he broke down in praise and grattitiude to us and the Lord. He even tried to bow at us he was so surprised. That picture of the old man with his lunch in his hands and crying at the same time will last a very long time in my mind."

That amazing story, along with dozens of others, were what our youth experienced today on the streets of New York City.

After our time in the park, we went to the area aroung Macy's. We split into groups to grab a bite to eat and explore. Some of us made it to all 10 1/2 stories. Yes, Macy's has a floor labeled 1 1/2. We all had gathered in front of the Macy's Store for a group picture and a man named Chris randomly joined in! Chris was a member of a church called CMA in Tennessee! After we took just a few shots he asked us to gather around and he prayed for us right in the middle of all the confusion and fuss of New York. Just seeing another man, out of the blue, join our group and end up praying over us shows the power that God has in a place that is unfamiliar to most of the group.


Our last highlight of the day, was visiting the Empire State Building. It was a beautiful site as the sun set on New York.

We are sorry this blog is late. We had some technical dificulties last night.

Day One (NYC) - Travel, Ground Zero, Times Square...

Well, it has been a hectic, busy, challenging, and thrilling day one. We made Andrew webb famous at the Nashville airport, saw a man painted head to toe in gold, got emotional at the WTC site and realized the sauna that is Park Slope Community church!

The day started with a frenzy as we tried to get all 42 of the people on the first flight checked in and onto the plane. We got Andrew in as the last one just a few minutes before take off (thus the notoriety). When the group got to me in newark at 9 or so, they looked wiped. We waited around until the second plane (19 of us) arrived.

We took a Charter Bus and a rental van from Newark to Brooklyn. Our teens witnessed the insanity of NY traffic as Howard (our driver from Hong Kong) navigated the busy streets. We crossed over the beautiful Verrazano bridge and everyone was excited to see the Statue of Liberty greeting us in the distance. We were introduced to New York with a vision of Lady Liberty, like so many travelers have before. Our ace team of adult grocery shoppers met and greeted us at park slope, having spent half our days allotment on fans!!

We quickly dropped off our stuff, oriented ourselves a bit and headed into the city...

The World Trade Center site was a very emotional scene. It is nine years later and you can still tell the damage that was done. We visited a memorial and a fire station nearby, as well as St. Paul's - a church across the street that suffered barely a scrape during 9/11, which seems unfathomable. They are in the process of rebuilding. These plans include two fountain memorials at the base of the original towers, and new towers that are planned to be even taller than the originals! It was neat to see those plans, yet still see the destruction caused. I'm certain that in 20 years, we'll all brag that we were there to see those massive towers being rebuilt!! It was an emotional reminder of that day. There were some tears. And we took the time to sit and talk about what that day meant and what it symbolizes. We talked about how changing NY changes the world. And we have the chance to do that for the sake of the gospel! What a blessing!

After the heart wrenching couple hours at Ground Zero, we went uptown to Times Square. We got a group photo and then everyone split into smaller groups for dinner and exploration. Our teens enjoyed the M&M store, Forever 21, and definitely Toys R Us (which has a ferris wheek inside, a lifesize Barbie House, a huge T-Rex, some massive Lego structures and much more.

We left before anyone wanted to and survived Joey deciding to jump the group off a Subway last minute :)

Back at the church, Rick Comacho spoke to our group about how MissionNYC got started and what they do. They were just normal, everyday congregants who were asked to help out in the immediate aftermath of 9/11. Groups just kept on coming and nine years later they have served hundreds of thousands in the name of Christ in various ministries around the city. We had a quick devotional with some worship music, which was brief, but also had a real palpable sense of significance. We talked next day logistics, got our beds set up, showered, and were ready for lights out by 11:45 - not too bad for day one.

Pray for us as we begin service projects tomorrow. People are already tired. It was so great to hear some encouragement from Rick. I feel that our group is ready and that God is going to move tomorrow. We'd love to know you are there thinking of us. It is quite a sacrifice these teens and adults are making to serve God this week, but the fellowship alone has been worth it. We focus on service tomorrow. There is no doubt in my mind we will have some great stories for you tomorrow night.

For now, goodnight from the city that never sleeps...

(pictures by Hayley Collinsworth and Dana Holtgraewe)

Thanks and God bless,

Joey

Youth Prayer Chapel

There is nothing within the Christian faith (or without it, really) quite as powerful as prayer. God knows our hearts, but the process of intentionally sharing it with Him is a profound and important experience to anyone daring to call themself Christian.

As we get ready to go on our summer mission trip to New York City, the youth ministry is going to convert our youth lounge into a prayer chapel. It will be open during normal church hours starting Thursday, June 24th thru Wednesday, July 7th. We covet your prayers. For our trip, for our teens, for our congregation, for our community, and for our world. We will have the room set up with stations including music, a prayer wall, creative tables, a 'be still' section, and a few other arrangements to help people pray in different and creative ways.

Please consider stopping by the youth lounge and praying. What you pray doesn't matter - that you pray is all that counts!!

Light in the Darkness - Pulse 6/9/10

Last night, we met for our Wednesday night discussion group called "Pulse." It seems like we always end up having a meaningful conversation at Pulse, and yesterday was no different. Our topic was the Biblical concept of light versus darkness. The following is a short glimpse into our conversation...

Light is real. Although we are lost within the darkness, though we stumble and wonder aimlessly, it also provides some cover. We can hide, avoid the deep questions, not face the truth. But when the light gets turned on, everything changes. We can see obstacles more clearly, colors and depth bring life to our vision, and reality becomes bigger than the space an inch in front of us. But that means the dark corners are revealed. Our imperfections and failings, our struggles and embarassing longings are manifested. When that light first comes on, we squint in struggle to adjust to the reality of real perception.

Jesus is the light. Light is true and revealing. It allows us to see things in their fullness. We each have rooms in our lives in which we prefer the darkness. We don't want that reality bothering our dating relationships, how we spend our money, how we are with our friends, etc. But facing the truth is always better than spiraling into the darkness. You pay a steep price for darkness. Let God shine in your life. Stumbling around in the darkness, though a familiar and popular place to be, will get us nowhere. We are wasting time, wasting life, squandering oppurtunity to be who God created us to be, doing what He calls us to do.

"This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Every one who does evil hates the light, and will not come to the light for fear his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly what he has done and has been dopne through God."
- John 3:19-21

Fumc Youth Blog

In 2010, the youth ministry at First United Methodist Church in Lebanon, TN decided that we wanted to be more. More than a social gathering. More than surface-level dialogue. More than games, bells, and whistles. These teens are a generation hungry for God. They are dissastisfied with the world as it has been presented to them. They dare to dream. They long to be challenged. They shudder at mediocrity. They want to be relevant and to make a difference.

Join us as we post (weekly-ish) our adventures on this journey. We hope that you often laugh, are occassionally challenged, and always encouraged by the stories we have to share. There is nothing special or flattering about our group, just a bunch of teens (and a few adult volunteers) stumbling thorugh life - trying to discover truth, celebrate God, and find a purpose. We are imperfect, messy, naive, and unheralded. But that is the kind of people God most often uses. When you throw Perfection into the blender, the result is never ordinary.

"When we are wholly His we will be more ourselves than ever."

- C.S. Lewis