Our team partnered with a tiny church in the Bronx called Mott Haven to reach out to the local community. Their Youth Minister, Ezzy, has a huge heart for building up some trust with the local kids and teens in the neighborhood and inviting them to be a part of what God is doing in their church. She wants desperately to bring some light into what can be a really dark place for the local youth. 

She took the team on a prayer walk around the neighborhood and each of our students prayed for the community as they passed homes on each block. Ezzy explained that the run-down area of the Bronx they were walking through is the poorest congressional district in our entire nation. 

We were there to be a part of something great. And sometimes great things happen very subtly...

Several of our days in the Bronx were spent hanging out a local park and starting up games with kids as they came by. Kids from 7 to 17 slowly joined in and ended up showing us how they like to have fun... Handball. Lots and lots of handball. Our teams were exhausted from spending the day in the sun running up and down a court and smacking a ball around, but the purpose prevailed.

At the end of each day, we invited anyone we had met to the cookout happening Wednesday night with church. We encouraged the local kids to come and we were sure to mention the free food. ;-)

Wednesday, many of those kids did come out and join in for the barbecue. This was a great opportunity for Ezzy and our students to hang out and have fun with the community on the sidewalk over some hot dogs.

During our debriefs, we got to reiterate how important relational ministry can be. Sometimes it seems like just standing around and chatting with people. Sometimes you may not even mention Jesus. But it matters. It really, really matters. 

Our mission wasn't to ride in on our white horses and save the day. We didn't do construction and build a church or lead a hundred lost people to Christ. We were a bridge. We helped the long term missionaries there, the church, to cross that awkward barrier that is creating a youth group from scratch in a dry, difficult area. Ezzy and the rest of Mott Haven were so thankful for the time we invested in their neighborhood. Because of those games of handball and that day of hanging out and eating hot dogs, the church made connections with kids in their community that will continue long after we are gone.