Some Pictures!!

Yeah NYC Family!  Here are some pictures of our fun times... and our fun places.  

Our 72nd St. Station... but I think B stands for "bummer" cuz you always have to wait for so long

Meg, Colleen & Erica enjoying the subway!

Andy Warhol at The Met

Carmine's

Giant coffee cup... it's bigger than her head!  

Amy & Caitlin @ the statue

More coffee. . .

Class in Bryant Park. . . In the rain.  

Love of People

June 7: Posted by Feelup (as they say in Europe or in NYC),

Talking, eating, talking, tea, walking and walking, talking. This has been my last week. I have had the amazing opportunities to talk and meet some amazing Indian Muslims. As I have sat and listened to their stories of coming here to America, or growing up here in America I have really been challenged. The people we have been talking to are some of the most dynamic and caring people I have met. I have been seeing such amazing traits in the different Indians I have been talking to. As I have been interacting with different Muslims and going to different mosques my heart has been growing for those I have been interacting with. Seriously, if you ever meet an Indian Muslim.. sit and talk, you are in for a treat, they will most likely feed you, give you tea or coffee and bless you with stories of their lives and thoughts about God and life. I regret having to leave so soon... there are many friendships that have begun that I wish I could continue; sometimes it is through loving friendships that Christ can be seen the clearest.

Who knew that New York City was such a mix of people? I never realized that I would hear other languages more often than I heard English, or would meet more people from other countries than I do from the United States. It is quite the place to be I must say. Sure it is hard having noise all the time, but at the same time it is great to be having diversity all the time. O how the Lord loves diversity, as I have been thinking about this truth more and more it has taken a new meaning for me here in New York City. The Love of God is here. Praise Jesus.

O, and the New York Public Library is a good place to write; I tell you, your IQ goes up at least 100 points by just sitting in this aparatus of knowedge. I think Indian Jones was filmed here.

Erica Fronsoe - June 6

I stand, I stand in awe of You!

I stand, I stand in awe of You!

Holy God to whom all praise is due,

I stand in awe of You!

God has been so faithful to me in this week and a half! He has been opening doors that I couldn't have imagined on Wednesday as I sat crying, overwhelmed by it all. Dottie Peoples sings, "He's an on-time God, yes He is. He may not come when you want Him, but He'll be there right on time." Boy, has God shown me that in a powerful way in this class.

On Monday, Rachael and I had no contacts. We had some good leads as to hang out spots and we had identified a Panamanian restaurant (Kelso's - I highly recommend it!) and a grocery store, but no real contacts that we could go back to and get information from. Finding Panamanians is a tough job. For starters, many of those who have immigrated to the U.S. look a lot like people from the Caribbean and West Indies. They may or may not speak Spanish and they tend to be more suspicious of outsiders. You can see why we would have a hard time nailing down who is a Panamanian and who isn't. 

On Wednesday, the Lord blessed us to make contact with two people. The first person was a woman who lived next door to the address we had for one of the Panamanian organizations in the Brooklyn area. She gave us some good information and she even told us where we could possibly find the CEO of the organization we were looking for. In fact, she directed us to his home! Rachael and I went over there (we are not stalkers, just excellent researchers!) and guess what... He was home! In fact, he had just gotten home from Panama! I don't know about you, but I totally see God's hand all in that. 

Today, God opened up even more doors for Rachael and I. Yesterday, when I was doing some online searches for Panamanian organizations, I found the website of one particular one that gave the names and numbers of all those on the committee. I called those numbers today, and everyone that I made contact with was very willing to help us with our research. There were even people who were willing to refer me to other people and give me their contact info. Wow! I just feel like we've had a major breakthrough... it's great!

We met up with the rest of the group at 6 for dinner... well, actually it was only about half of the rest of the group, but whatever...

We went to an Italian restaurant and had some amazing Italian food. Our next stop was Yogurtland. It was my first time there and I absolutely loved it... man, I can already see that if I told you all of the fun things that happened tonight I'd be writing for a while... I don't want to bore my readers...

I'll just wrap it up by saying the rest of the night was filled with laughs and theological discussions. I am so amazed at the peace of God and how He orchestrates things in our lives. To God be the glory for the things He has done!

Where's Waldo New York Style!

Colleen Van Houwe - May 31st

Today we were sent on a Scavenger Hunt all throughout Manhattan, the Bronx, Queens, and Brooklyn. Instead of being competitive like the other teams, we decided to take it easy and enjoy the city! While searching for the items on the list, we ran into the real heart of New York...the findings next to our highlighted destinations! This event allowed us to see the "behind the scenes" look at NYC. Not just the tourist sights, but the residential and cultural life. It represents the people of the city, not just its accomplishments and boasts. My team's favorite part of the day was leaving the crazy busy vibe of Manhattan and entering the more relaxed and carefree area of Brooklyn. We sat under the Brooklyn Bridge at the Old Fulton Pier and ate butter pecan ice cream! What a good day! Definitely needed before we jump into the crazy week of research and little sleep!

A couple days ago. . .

This blog post is meant to represent the happenings of yesterday, which is Monday. Currently, I am sitting at the Hotel Chelsea, in Chelsea, which is a huge gallery scene in Manhattan (my group is studying the artist community in NY). It is 1:40 in the morning, and I feel that it is difficult to define what happened yesterday, as each day become more exciting, more interesting and more thought provoking.

Perhaps I will come back to this to add, but basically this has been an incredible time of meeting people that I care a lot (a LOT) about, while forming friendships with people who share similar passions.

So much has happened since the blogged experience of our arrival, and Tuesday is such a small example, although it ranges from subway mishaps gallery hunting, chicken feet in Chinatown, the loss of a hacky sac (sp?) to subway rails, and egg custard tosses.



WOW.

Billy McMahan: June 1st

Hey everybody!  Today was definitely an interesting experience for me.  We went to church at the Times Square Church in New York City.  Times Square is famous for all of the extravagant lights, the gaudy billboards, Broadway theater, the Rockin' New Years Eve party, and some of the most expensive property in the world.  Now, take that image and put a church in the middle of it.  What does it look like? 

Times Square Church is an old broadway theater.  When you first walk up to the church it looks some what normal.  After you go through the front doors you can tell that this is not a typical church.  It has sculptures on the walls and on the ceilings, very detailed murals on the walls, and very classic looking wallpaper.  

It was really crowded and everyone was trying to find a seat.  They had ushers running all over the sanctuary trying to fill every last seat with people.  They did not want to make anyone stand or be turned away.  When the usher came to our group and asked us how many people we had, Dmac said fourteen.  The lady looked at him like he was crazy and said we don't have that much room.  He then told her that we were from Los Angeles and really wanted to see what the church was like.  She went back into the sanctuary and tried again to look for seats.  She came back and led us to a row that was third from the front in the balcony.  I don't know what she did to make those seats available but it was awesome.  I think that some regular attenders moved and gave their seats so we could have some.  

After sitting there for a few minutes we these massive red velvet curtains went up and a huge gospel choir started singing and dancing.  It was unlike anything I have experienced in a long time.  The message was about laying down your hurt and forgiving others so that we can better minister to people who don't know Christ.  It was a really powerful sermon and lots of people responded at the end of the service.  

New York City is an amazing place with lots of diversity!  I'm excited for the next week and a half!

Planes, trains (Subways), and automobiles...and lots of luggage

So this is a story of my adventures from three days ago, May 29, (well as best as I can remember it). This is a true story, and although there may be a few exaggerations (due to a faulty memory on my part) most of what your about to read is as close to the truth as possible...

After everybody from the group arrived I learned a very valuable lesson about navigating in New York: it doesn't matter how many people are in your group, how much luggage you have, or who you are waiting for; don't stop moving! Everybody has somewhere to go and something to do, and if you stop then you prevent them from reaching their destination (in a timely manner) which results in "nasty comments" or "friendly reminders" (depending on whose perspective you see it from) basically saying, "Move out of my way tourist." If you have to stop take my advice and make sure you stop as close to a wall as possible to stay out of the way of others.

The objective of May 29th was to reach Hephzibah house with all our luggage and the entire group still intact (this was quite a lofty goal considering that there is 14 of us, and between us all we had at least 30 pieces of luggage--some luggage weighing well over 100lbs [Erica]) P.S That might be one of those exaggerations I mentioned.

On the first leg of our Journey we followed our fearless leader, Caitlyn, through the airport and on to the airtrain from Newark to Penn Station (by the way, 30 large pieces of luggage is no picnic on the small airtrain...I have a vivid memory of a fellow passenger laughing at me as I tripped over a bag into my seat). But Caitlyn successfully got us all to our transfer point where we met up with DMac, our "Big Kahuna" who led us through the crazy subway systems and streets of New York (dodging pedestrians and taxis) all the way to Hephzibah house...did I mention we had at least 45 bags each weighing 150 lbs.

Anyway after a long day of travels we finally made it to Hephzibah house, which is probably the most amazing house in all of New York. It is a historical house which used to be a house for a bishop, then became an all girls school, and is now an awesome hotel/bed and breakfast. I am on the fifth floor in a room by myself...with an amazing view!

In the midst of all the craziness I can tell that God is really going to show up on this trip. I can't wait to see how God is going to work in all of our lives! Before I went to bed I read Psalm 67, its an incredible Psalm about God receiving praise from the nations (if you haven't read it and want to be blessed I suggest giving this psalm a look)

-Brenden