Praying with witches… and other summer ministries in New York City
Some context for you the reader, I, Ryan, who is writing this, led this specific trip but I also have worked for Adventures In Missions for the past three years and was responsible for setting this trip up logistically. This blog is about one specific mission trip with a youth group from eastern Ohio in mid-June 2014, but also about the process of how these trips got set up and how God came through and provided so many times!
Brooklyn Bridge – May 2014
As an organization, Adventures In Missions has had trips to NYC for several years. In 2013, the trips were primarily Hurricane Sandy relief on Staten Island but didn’t go so well. The decision was made a year ago to start from scratch for the summer 2014 trips and find brand new ministry partners and new lodging partners.
I was tasked with this project and spent much of the spring finding new partners.
While this was my first time doing logistical planning like this, it actually ended up really well. God definitely had my back on NUMEROUS occasions!
Through someone else who works in the Adventures office, I was connected with Salvation Army up there… and they were a Godsend many different times. I then got connected with an organization called The Relief Bus that ended up being an incredible ministry. And then through a lot of different people I met some guys (who used to be affiliated with YWAM & The Brooklyn Tabernacle) who do a Prayer Station ministry in Brooklyn that ended up being a ministry favorite by many participants.
Our group praying together before heading into the city for a day of ministry.
During this first trip, the group of 15 split into two groups on Monday & Wednesday and worked with two different Salvation Armies and served at their soup kitchens and then helped with their day-camp type ministry.
On Tuesday, we all participated with Pastor James doing prayer stations in Columbus Park in Brooklyn. For over a decade, James and his team have been praying with people in this park as they walk by.
Pastor James and I on the Brooklyn Promenade
It can be quite intimidating trying to start conversations with complete strangers. You definitely encounter the people who want absolutely nothing to do with you, but it’s so encouraging when people genuinely accept your offer to pray with them. It reminds you of the need that EVERYONE has for love and compassion.
Three participants praying with a woman they just met.
It was AMAZING seeing the boldness and fearlessness these kids had! They repeatedly went up to complete strangers and very genuinely met them where they were and asked them if they could pray with them.
Two participants praying for a local teenager in a park in Brooklyn.
One of the coolest stories I heard from our time here at the Prayer Station was from a group of girls who ended up praying for woman who was a practicing witch. Somehow they got talking about Joel Osteen, and the woman was talking about how he is a “pagan preacher” and how ‘they’ (witches) love what he preaches because it’s so similar to what they believe. She went on to say how she was pleasantly surprised by these girls (the participants) because they were the most genuine Christians she’d ever met. She even let them pray for her!
A witch wanted these Christian girls to pray for her! How cool is that!?
Our group praying after a few hours of Prayer Station ministry.
One question that we ask on our trip evaluation, that every participant fills out at the end of the trip is, “What was one way you grew closer to God on this trip?” Here’s what some of them said:
– It made me less shy to share what I believe…
– Praying with people on the streets
– I grew closer to God when I felt the holy spirit in me, telling me to go out and share God’s love.
– I had to lean on him for confidence & endurance
– I was stretched. I had to learn to listen to his leading.
– I felt his presence and could feel him challenging me. …by going out of my way to talk to people that are so different from me.
I don’t have any pictures of it, but The Relief Bus was a very fruitful ministry as well that the participants loved. The Relief Bus is a ministry based out of New Jersey that has two big retrofitted buses that they take into the city 4 or 5 days a week and park them on a street for 4 hours at a time and set up a homeless feeding station and prayer room. They have tables and chairs, resources for free clinics and shelters, a nurse to do basic medical tests and things. An incredible opportunity for relational ministry.
For the other two New York trips this summer, God came through in more really cool ways.
The biggest ways was when, on two separate occasions, two different Salvation Army centers went above and beyond to accommodate our groups on very short notice!
Before the summer started, affordable lodging in New York was the most difficult thing to nail down for these trips. Everything is so expensive up there! Even though it wouldn’t have been ideal, in order to simply have SOMETHING lined up, I booked campsites for all of our teams at a National Recreation Area on the very southeastern edge of Brooklyn. As I found out more info, it became more and more clear how much of a hassle it would’ve been to stay there. Thankfully, because God is cool… none of our three trips had to stay there!
The night before the second trip started, I called up Olivia, one of my Salvation Army contacts that we worked with the first week and asked if our team of 26 could stay at their facility for the whole next week. We had talked about lodging earlier in the spring, but never made arrangements. Almost without hesitation… Olivia said “Sure. We can do that.”
SERIOUSLY!?!? 🙂
The whole group stayed there AND were able to make all their meals there too! Olivia even allowed the women of the team to shower at her apartment next door because the facility only had a converted mop closet as a shower. 🙂 UNBELIEVABLE!!! God came through man!… even in the logistics.
The Salvation Army in lower Manhattan.
So instead of camping in a very primitive campsite an hour and a half away from ministry… the teams stayed for FREE in lower Manhattan!
Then for the third trip, in July, God ended up providing last minute lodging AGAIN, at another Salvation Army in Harlem.
All three youth group trips in New York were a smashing success! Kids grew and were challenged and stretched as God pulled them outside of their comfort zones.
Short term missions can play such a huge role in transforming people’s lives… both participants and those being ministered to.
Another question on our evaluations, “What would you say to someone considering their first mission trip with us?” One response to that question was,
“It’s fantastic! You feel so alive through Christ and it’s amazing, so amazing!”
Lastly, just for fun… I went and found this place during some off-time while I was in NYC. Seinfeld fans will recognize this instantly. 🙂
