Incredible.

Project is already halfway over! I feel like I just got here yesterday, but at the same time I also feel like I have been here for a forever. In just two and a half weeks of being here on mission, I can say it's been the most incredible summer of my life. Not only are we sharing the Gospel, but we're also getting to do "New York" things--Broadway plays, pizza, different culture dinners, and hanging out in the city in our free time.

This past Wednesday, our group went to see The Phantom of the Opera and it was phan(tom)tastic. (Yes, I do realize that was a really lame pun.) Moving on! It was one of the coolest things I have ever seen. I would go back and see it any day of the week. The special effects were great and the phantom was spectacular. It was great to experience the musical live in a theater--the way it was originally created to be seen.

I have found that it's really hard to do ministry here, but at the same time it's good for me. It has helped me learn to be dependent on God. In Kentucky, I have realized that I tend to try and do everything by my own power, which is not the way a Christian is supposed to operate. It's definitely not the way you can operate in New York City.

The people here are normally pretty open-minded, but not necessarily open-hearted. A lot of people seem to think that you're trying to sell them something when you go up to talk to them--understandable because a lot of people have tried to sell us things (including in my discipleship time last week). If you are able to get into a conversation with them, they're usually very willing to tell us their thoughts on God and spirituality, but they haven't been very receptive to the Gospel. It's heartbreaking, but we must understand that our job is to go out and share through the power of the Holy Spirit and leave the rest to God. Just plant the seeds and let God water and grow it.

Sometimes it's hard to keep your head up high when you've been rejected so much, but a couple verses come to mind:

"But how can they call on Him they have not believed in? And how 

can they believe without hearing about Him? And how can they hear without

a preacher? And how can they preach unless they are sent?"

-Romans 10:14-15

Much, much worse than getting rejected is a soul spending an eternity apart from God. We all need to proclaim the Gospel, whether on a mission trip or not, because how can they believe if they don't hear about the Savior? 

New York University

Yesterday was our first day on campus! It was a great day weather-wise as well as being able to talk to people.

Our project covered four different campuses: Queens College, Brooklyn College, City College, and my group went to New York University. NYU already has a Campus Crusade, which will be great for students that we will be talking to this summer. We can direct them to an organization that we know is solid and will give them a place they can feel comfortable and grow in their faith.

Yesterday, our ministry objective was to "decode" our respective campuses. We had questionnaires to fill out, asking questions about the campus. We did this get to know the campus--where the hangout spots are, what the spiritual climate is like, etc. Ministry is going to be somewhat difficult at NYU because you can't physically get into the buildings without a student/faculty i.d. card. You can't even use the restroom at the on campus Starbucks without an i.d. card. I have complete faith in God that He will provide us a good place for great opportunities though!

In talking to these people yesterday, it gave me a good perspective about how many lost people there are on the campus and a small dose of how many there are in the city. The students that we talked to said they think most students on NYU's campus are open to talking about spiritual things. Going deeper though, it seemed that the general student population was already set in their religious beliefs and were mostly just open to having an intellectual conversation about these things where ideas were exchanged, but nothing more was done.

Honestly, it was somewhat disheartening. One girl told us that people didn't want to step on anyone else's toes. She also told us that there was a Muslim Center and Jewish Center on campus, but couldn't tell us for sure if there was a Christian center. Even though it is disheartening to hear these things, it's exciting to be working for the advancement of the Gospel here. We could share the Gospel with a future president, business tycoon, pop star, or any sort of positions that could have a huge influence on people.

Today, we went back to NYU to use one of our evangelism tools called Soularium. This is a survey asking five questions that the person answers using one of the fifty 4 x 6 photographs in front of them. The survey is geared to help you get into spiritual conversations with anyone ranging from strangers to your closest friends. It's a great tool that my roommate Katie and I got to use with several people today.

We asked one girl if she had time and wanted to take our picture survey and she said yes! We went through the survey and found out that she had really been turned off by the church, I think largely due to legalism. We asked her what her spiritual life was like and she said she was just searching for truth. Little did she know, we had The Truth. Through that confession, we were able to share the Gospel with her. She didn't accept it, but I think she is very close. I'm praying that we will see her again and be able to talk to her for a longer amount of time! My hope is that you will pray for her as well. That she will find and accept The Truth.

I'm looking forward to watching and being a part of what God is going to do in New York City the next 4 1/2 weeks!

NYC Tip #1: Don't Turn Right On Red

New York City! It's a completely different place than Richmond, KY. Obviously, it's much much bigger, area and population-wise. You can do crazy things here and no one even thinks about it while in Richmond, you would probably get laughed out of the city. The laws are even different!

One of our first experiences in NYC was getting pulled over by not one, but two police cars. Why? We turned right on a red light. This was such a foreign concept to us and I'll admit it was all my fault. I was telling Ashley (my sister) to go and she was hesitant, but I kept on and so she went and about 5 seconds later, there are sirens. It was hilarious to me, but not so much for her. It was the first time she had ever gotten pulled over. It takes a special person to get pulled over in New York City, Home of the Worst Drivers Ever. ; ) She was a good sport though, and the policemen were as well. No warnings, tickets, or "summons" as they called them.

Monday and Tuesday were days filled with sightseeing, good eats, and ballet. It was really cool to see everything "in real life" opposed to on a screen. The only advantage to seeing it on a screen is your feet and legs won't hurt from walking. In those two days, we walked nearly 13 miles. It was insane. I'm keeping a pedometer on me for the whole summer to see how far I walk. Expect updates! (So far, I'm at 69,483 steps and 24.04 miles.)

Wednesday is when the project began. My roommates are great! It's going to make living here for five weeks a cake walk. Everyone else is great too, including staff! We're going to have a wonderful summer together.

Since then, we went on a photo scavenger hunt around the city to get acquainted with it, took a bus tour, had Crumbs cupcakes, and had training on our different evangelism tools. Monday is when we go out to the campuses and start planting (big) apple seeds! I'm pumped. There are so many lost people here. It's given me a good view of how in need the world as a whole is. I'm really excited to see how the Lord works in the city this summer.

Thank you for any and all support through finances and/or prayer! I really appreciate it.