Half way done

We are well into our trip in NYC and have made the turn towards the end of the week. 

We have hit the point in the week in which we are being challenged physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually...so pray for us to continue to see NYC through the eyes of God and that we find the strength to push through till the end.

The past few days we have been serving around the city in a lot of different ways.  On Wednesday our groups worked at Food Pantries in the morning, and also sorted clothes at another agency.  In the mid-afternoon we were broken up into groups of 5-6 to have a neighborhood immersion where we  spent about six hours in one area to try and understand what it would be like to be homeless.  Each group was given $2 per person and given the task of finding food for themselves and someone who actually was homeless.  This was quite the experience for our groups and we interacted with a lot of different types of people.  We also had to find where food and shelter could be found in the neighborhood if you did not have access to those things. 

Every group has also had the chance to volunteer with the Green Team, which is a two fold organization that does landscaping around NYC but is also a job-training program for for ex-cons.  By teaching the former prisoners job skills the Green Team helps them jump back into the work force and move towards full rehabilitation into society.  It has been fun to work alongside those who are turning their lives around and see what landscaping is like in a major city.  Many of the pictures below are working with the Green Team.

Today we are again serving in the morning and  be stopping halfway through the afternoon to have our one free night of the week. 

Below are some pictures from some of the different sites.

These 3 pictures are in Washington Heights, where we overlooked the Hudson River to New Jersey, and got to get on the roof of the Apartment buildings we were landscaping.

This is the largest food pantry/soup kitchen in Brooklyn, we served food, organized their library, and packaged food boxes for people.  This agency has over 30,000 clients that it serves on a regular basis and provides 25 different services from food distribution to housing to social work.

We were able to debrief our day as a large group in Sunset Park, a few blocks from our housing site, which is argued the best view of the Manhattan skyline in Brooklyn...

Entering the Subway Station right in front of the Church we are staying at.

Serving with the Green Team in the lower West Side of Manhattan on a rooftop.

Thank you for your continued prayers and support!

We will see you back in Zeeland soon, and hopefully get one more post up before we head home.

Blessings.

NYC Mission Team