I just got back from spending 6 days with 3 adults and 17 teenagers on a trip to NYC. Lake Pointe Church has a partnership with Manhattan Christian Church (you can visit the pastor's blog here) so we took a group to go work for them. 
We arrived on Wednesday and began our first "job" on Thursday. We were able to paint one of the public schools in the neighborhood (PS 158) that MCC was targeting, this also happened to be the school that the pastor's daughter attends. We spent two days prepping and painting for an organization called Paint The Town.
Just to give you an idea of how hard these kids worked, we were expected to finish 1 maybe 2 rooms, and prep about 3 or 4. We were only there for 2 days and there were 21 people in our group and we were able to completely finish 3 rooms, get 2 rooms half way finished and prep 7 additional rooms. 
We had a HARD working crew and we were very proud.
We also were able to pass out some pocket-size subway maps with an invitation to the church on the back. We were blessed to speak with one man on Sunday morning who came because we gave him a map. The story is actually much better than that, he told our kids that he only took a map because he felt bad because 15 people had passed by without taking one, so he thought he'd just be nice. He looked on the other side and decided he would attend the church service because he hadn't been to church in a while. It was great for the kids to see how God worked in the lives of the people who walked by us on the street. We arrived on Wednesday and began our first "job" on Thursday. We were able to paint one of the public schools in the neighborhood (PS 158) that MCC was targeting, this also happened to be the school that the pastor's daughter attends. We spent two days prepping and painting for an organization called Paint The Town.Just to give you an idea of how hard these kids worked, we were expected to finish 1 maybe 2 rooms, and prep about 3 or 4. We were only there for 2 days and there were 21 people in our group and we were able to completely finish 3 rooms, get 2 rooms half way finished and prep 7 additional rooms. We had a HARD working crew and we were very proud. We were also able to do a lot of prayer walking through the city, that is always very powerful.
Then we did something I have never done, we stood on street corners and read the Word of God out loud! Incredible! I was horrified that I would look like one of the wackos that preaches on the corner and people (even myself) turn and walk away. Instead, I was able to read out loud and completely focus on the God's Word and ignore all fears of what people would think. That could only happen with strength from the Lord. After attending the service at MCC we witnessed the churches first baptism service at the public pool in Central Park. We were unable to take pictures, by request from the pool security, because they were afraid that we
would put pictures of people on the internet (Hm, what would make him think I would do that!). Anyway, we stood outside the pool fence with about 40 people from the church and watched as the pastor baptized three members of his church in from of the hundreds in the pool. It was very moving! I realize Jesus did not baptize people in a public pool, but He did take them to a very public place, which was where we were. The last day we were there we were very close to the building explosion that took place on Monday. We were able to get very close to the sight and pray for those involved. We really had no idea what was going on, only that people needed prayer. It wasn't until we spoke with family members back at home that we knew what actually happened. 
The best story of God's provision and protection was from that morning. We were late getting out of the hotel, and of course most of us were irritated by it. The subway train that the kids were going to be on was headed toward the sight where the explosion was going to take place. We got the on the train at about 8:45am (instead of 8:30am), the ride would typically have taken about 30 min. The explosion happened just before 9am. Had we left when we wanted to our train would have been under the explosion. But instead, God protected us and allowed us to be late. Each day was filled with new struggles and new triumphs.
The best story of God's provision and protection was from that morning. We were late getting out of the hotel, and of course most of us were irritated by it. The subway train that the kids were going to be on was headed toward the sight where the explosion was going to take place. We got the on the train at about 8:45am (instead of 8:30am), the ride would typically have taken about 30 min. The explosion happened just before 9am. Had we left when we wanted to our train would have been under the explosion. But instead, God protected us and allowed us to be late. Each day was filled with new struggles and new triumphs. Trips like this fill me with joy because I know these kids are the future, and they are AWESOME!
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