Sunday
evening I arrived home after what seems like a whirlwind trip to New York
City. Several people from our church and
a group from The Remnant served with Metro World Child Thursday through
Saturday. It was incredible. (You can learn more about Metro at metroworldchild.org.)
Today
I want to share some moments of the trip and our serving.
Psalm 34:11 NLT
Come, my children, and listen to me, and I will teach you to fear the Lord.
We arrived early Thursday morning after the long drive and getting a bit
turned around trying to get in to the city.
Once we arrived at Metro campus we got settled in. The ladies in our group staying in a large
room over their auditorium, and us guys stayed in their gym that is also where
preschoolers meet for indoor Sunday School every Saturday.
Thursday was spent being part of their incredible ministry called
“sidewalk Sunday school”. Tuesday
through Friday there are numerous teams that go out across New York City in
many directions to have Sunday School.
The group I was with included David Terry, drummer in our church worship
band, Susie from Canada who has been at Metro for over 15 years, a staffer lady
from Cuba and “O” who is an intern from Switzerland (call her “O” because her
same is hard to pronounce).
We did two sessions of sidewalk Sunday school in the Cyprus Hills area
of Brooklyn. The truck would park on the
side of the road or in a parking lot and set up for Sunday school. Over the next half hour or so we would gather
a crowd, place some games and get ready for the Bible lesson. The lesson was very creative and to the
point. Kids heard the Gospel and were so
excited. They were also given candy and
loads and loads of encouragement. It was
an amazing time.
One a side note when I got home I read a newspaper article about an NYC
police officer who was killed in Cyprus Hills early Friday morning. I was told this was a very tough area. The article proved that point and reminds me
to pray for the 100 or so children and their family.
Friday morning stated with staff meeting where we learned about the
ministries of Metro World Child. It
ended with an inspiring message from Bill Wilson who founded the ministry 34
years ago. I will share some of the
message with you at a later time. It
reminded me of why The Community Fellowship is alive today.
Friday was filled with rain as well as several hours visiting children
and their families in East New York.
Each Saturday is indoor Sunday School at Metro’s campus where between
3,000 and 5,000 are bused in for a high energy huge version of what happens on
the sidewalk during the week. Ricky from
our church and myself met Stacy from upstate New York who has been on staff for
over 6 years at Metro. We took the
subway and a bus. Then we walked about 8
miles meeting children as they got out of school as well as going to many of
their apartments or homes. During our
walk we spent time with 2 middle school girls are leaders in the Sunday school
program. Awesome time pouring into these
folks and hearing stories of how God is changing their lives.
Late Friday I met a church planter who is a friend of my brother. Daniel Torres and his wife are planting a
Lifechurch.tv network church called Swerve Church in the Bushwick area of
Brooklyn that is also where Metro is located.
It was so good hearing this young man’s passion to win his home area to
Christ. Daniel explained how the area
was changing which made planting a new church difficult. A quote that I took from our conversation was
this: “the only thing that can bridge ‘hip hop’ and ‘hipster’ is the
Gospel”. What a powerful thought. I love church planters. Pray for Daniel and Swerve!
Saturday morning was indoor Sunday school. There are 6 sessions throughout the day with
up to 5,000 children 3 to 12 years old taking part. Most of those children ride a bus to Sunday
school. All of our team rode buses and
interacted with kids. I was on bus
21. They were great kids, but many of
them were from difficult homes and have a tough life. That was obvious. The ride to Sunday school and back home was
eye opening. Another huge reminder to
pray for kids that live in places and with families who don’t know God. Lots of those kids don’t see hope and are
rarely encouraged. That is heart
breaking.
Indoor Sunday school was a high energy time of singing, games and lots
and lots of fun. It ended with the
Christmas story and a call to know Jesus as Savior. The kids received a Christmas stocking filled
with candy and such as they went home.
It was awesome. Probably my
favorite part was Nathaniel. I sat in
front of him and his 2 brothers.
Nathaniel is about 3 years old and speaks mostly Spanish. He crawled up on my lap a couple times early
in the service. He loved using hand
sanitizer and giving high 5’s. During
the lesson Nathaniel got back on my lap and fell asleep. He heard some of the message, but his
brothers got to listen even more because I was taking care of their little
brother. This was so eye opening.
Saturday afternoon we went in to New York City to sight see. NYC is beautiful, but the rain was
horrible. I enjoyed being with people
from our church. Rockefeller Center and
the Christmas tree where beautiful.
Times square was a mad house.
Bubba Gump Shrimp Company had good eats.
The subway was a great experience.
But what I leave with is an increased sense that I am and our church is
doing what God made us to do. We are to
impact lives for Christ and invite people to get to know Jesus. We are to meet needs and to love people where
they leave while encouraging and inspiring them to reach higher with their
life.
I want to thank Seth Robertson for allowing our folks to be part of this
trip. Some of you might want to consider
taking a trip to New York City and working with Metro World Child. I will be going back.
Acts 4:12 NLT
There is salvation in no one
else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we
must be saved.
Isaiah 45:22 NLT
Let all the world look to me for salvation! For I am God; there is no other.
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