Day Four - A day late

Fear not! We are very much alive and well. Sorry about no post last night! We had a late night with our Broadway show and a Subway delay, so decided not to post and just get some much needed rest!!!!

Day Four (Wednesday) was another great day. God continues to put people in our paths that need His Love and to be served in his name!

Today, the painting duties at Mount Sinai were passed on from the girls to the boys. The congregation there ordered pizza for the boys. They are so incredibly excited about us being there! They continue to refer to us as an "answer to prayer." Their hospitality reveals their extreme appreciation. The team is really starting to see what a big deal this is for Sinai church and how much it means to them. It is so neat for our teens to have a chance to laugh, fellowship, and serve with this upper west side congregation. With just one day left, their is a lot to be done.

The younger girls (red) helped out at Furnish a Future today. They helped move some furniture around and did some work eith their box of files, as well as unpacking some of the donated items onto the store shelves.

The purple team was at St. Stephens food pantry and soup kitchen. We formed an assembly line to put together the grocery bags for the visitors that came for lunch. some of the girls also got to serve the bags directly to the homeless. I had one of teh girls tell me that she thought NYC was all full of wealth and high rise buildings. We certainly disproved that myth. It is so crazy that this city is diverse enough to house hundreds of soup kitchens, thousands of homeless, Wall Street, and movie stars (my sister-in-law saw Daniel Day Lewis at the park today). The city is a melting pot that provides very unique oppurtinies to serve both suits and rags on teh same city block!!

Its clear to me that this city is reaching out for something. In the midst of all the chaos, noise, and non-stop action of the city, residents are desperate for peace. They want to be seen and connected with in ways that the flying by city does not adequately address. It has to be so strange for so many people to be so lonely with so many people around.

On the Subway today, a few of our teens found themselves sitting next to a woman who was trying to untie a string from her cart that was stuck. The girls helped her cut it off and started talking to her, explaining who they were and why we are in New York. The woman said that she had planned on getting on a different train but did not and wondered if their encounter was more than chance. She told them that there had been a rope around her heart, just like the one that had inhibited her cart. She asked the girls if they could sing a song for her. So our team of red youth sang a few verses of "Mighty to Save." She was moved to tears. Hannah Rountree prayed for the woman and her future plans. The woman was a Christian and was very encouraged by the ineraction with our young girls. And what a powerful image to the other people on the train who witnessed this uniting of the body of Christ!!

In the late afternoon, we handed out lunches to homelsee people at Washington Square Park. There was a man surrounded by birds and a fountain to play in, which our team enjoyed! Because of our late schedule we decided to have our devotional at the park. We discussed out stories from the day and sang a few accapella songs (including Happy Day). The park waqs extremely crowded and we indeed had a few visitors join in with us.

We left the park and went to Times Square for a group dinner at JOhn's Pizzeria, which was amazing!! After that, we sent 5 to Phantom of the Opera, 20 to The Lion King, and 25 to Wicked. Everyone was glowing after seeing the shows. It was really neat to see how much they enjoyed it. And after a great days work, it was the least they deserved!!