I LOVE NYC!

I left my hotel at 9:45 this morning and just made it back at 11:00 pm....long day!!!!   A lot of the day was spent walking (about 10 miles) and riding the subway.  However, from 12 - 4 I spent time with Tracee from CSM doing my presite visit.  I got a tour of where we will be staying in Brooklyn...the neighborhood is Chinese, Russian, Polish, Arabic and Albanian.  The housing site is pretty nice, two large sleeping rooms and bathrooms with 2 shower heads!!!!  We then went to a middle eastern restaurant and I had a lamb gyro.  Finally we spent some time at one of the locations we could possibly serve.  It mainly works with the elderly population in the neighborhood of Chelsea in Manhattan.  They deliver meals to about 250 people in the area that are home bound as well as serving lunch everyday.  There is also a site that has an ice cream shop that employs teenagers who are recovering addicts.  I really can't wait to take our students to NYC.  After spending the day in New York, looking at it with the idea of serving in the city, I realized how NY is like another country.  There are so many different ethnicity's and languages that are spoken.  I really believe our students will be made more uncomfortable on this trip than ever before and I believe God will really use them and change them through the trip.

After my presite was over, I spent the day as a tourist.  I went to the where the World Trade Centers used to stand and spent some time at the St. Paul Church, which is only about a block away.  This is the oldest building in New York that is still used daily.  It became a hub for those firemen who were spending time trying to find survivors and those who were killed when the towers were hit.  They have some memorials set up for those who were killed and those who spent time serving.  It was really moving to read some of the stories.  I saw one sign that said how the rescuers came there to rest and it hit me, that is one of the reasons the church should exist; to allow people to come in as they are and to find rest in the grace of God.

I spent the rest of the day walking on the Brooklyn bridge, shopping in China Town, getting pizza in Little Italy, taking the subway to the Bronx and looking the New Yankee stadium, walking around time square and down 5th ave, eating a hot dog from a street vendor and finally gettin a chai tea from St. Arbucks and drinking it in Central Park.  I'm exhausted!  I fly out at 6 am...my taxi is picking me up at 4:30 am, that's in 5 hours!  I have to say I had a great time experiencing NYC, but I look forward to next summer and serving in the city for an entire week.  Good Night and see you tomorrow at the Gathering.