Started off with worship service, then a sermon by a pastor of one of the churches participating in the trip.
Shipped out to City Hall Park in Manhattan with our prayer station equipment. In case you are wondering, yes, that is Bill Clinton in the middle with the straw hat and sunglasses. He just won't admit it yet.
We setup the prayer station (in record BAD time...we'll get better, I promise) and spread out along the park entrance sidewalk, and across the street.
Some introductions
Our team from Bethany is split up between folks doing the Vacation Bible School track (Dan, Elke and Elisabeth), the girls doing the soccer track (Jean-Marie and Erika) and the rest doing the Streets and Parks track (Dave, Connie, Charly, Sarah and Kevin). Our streets and park group is called a "Chord". Chords are made up of 10-12 people. So, on Saturday night, we met the rest of our Chord. They are all from a church in South Carolina. YEAH FOR SOUTHER ACCENTS!!
Eventually, we told Connie that the pockets are much more useful when placed on the front of the apron. :-) Connie has turned out to be our rule breaker. She loves to jay-walk, cross lines (green ones, yellow ones...), and put her feet on tables.
The Bethany team hit the streets strong today. Charly was on fire as soon as he hit the pavement in his pretty red apron, and everyone else stuck close to the more experienced team members for the first half of the morning, then went out on there own after that. It is very exciting to see the process that everyone goes through as they reach out of their comfort zones in joy and enthusiasm!
At the prayer stations, the main objective is to get the opportunity to pray with someone, or leave them with literature, such as a tract. This can be more exhausting than walking through parks, because you are running across a much higher volume of people on the streets. It is also more difficult mentally because you are running across many more personalities and attitudes in a short period of time, including alot of rejections. Several folks were prayed with today, and we did gather some contact information for people who would like to be in contact with the ministry in the future.
Immediately after getting back from our various tracks, we headed out to the afternoon service at the Brooklyn Tabernacle. This is the first year the afternoon service was an option. This allowed us to enjoy the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir!
The choir is directed by Brooklyn Tab Pastor Jim Cymbala's wife, Carol.
Next was our first full team ride on a subway together.
A little Italian cuisine.
Tomorrow we will be going to another prayer station, and then exploring Manhattan some more in the evening. We are all already getting very tired in the evenings, and it is only the first day of ministry. Please pray for energy and stamina.
