Long time no update!!!

Hi everyone! I am finally back from being on a mission trip in New York City the past week.

What an amazing experience it was. So many things to talk about, obviously it was great to be able to visit NYC for the first time ever. Being a Chicago guy I have always wanted to visit NYC so that I could say with some credibility that Chicago is better...needless to say that statement is definitely true haha.

This week I was able to help the organization Spreadtruth Ministries behind the scenes and in anyway possible while at NYC.

I drove up 2 Thursdays ago with two guys in a 26 foot Penske truck to bring all the equipment, supplies, food, etc. for the trip. A long 18 hours but a fun ride all the way out there.

For the mission trip there were many areas that you could take part in. We had soccer camps, basketball camps, and Vacation Bible School at the Brooklyn Tabernacle for tons of children. The part that I participated in was the streets and parks section of the trip that was for anyone that wanted to be trained in "The Story" which is a track type little book that talks about the Story of God (creation, fall, rescue, restoration). Then you go out the rest of the days of the week and alternate between doing prayer stations and going to parks for evangelism. The prayer stations consisted of us putting up a signed area at a corner of a certain intersection and we also wore big red smocks (very trendy haha). We had bibles, "The Story" booklet, free bracelets, church listings for the area, and much more. We would basically just have ourselves free to pray for anyone on the street that needed prayer. In some areas it was as simple as prayer for safety throughout the day that people wanted, or prayer for a job was very common. They were prayer stations but this was also a time for us to be able to not only pray for them but also take that opportunity to tell these people about the Gospel.

The other side of this section was being in the parks for evangelism. We would go out to various parks throughout the week and have resources with us again to facilitate us. It was just a great chance to have conversations with people in the park and get to know them more.  Being from the Chicago area, the people were usually really interested in talking to me and letting me know certain places to go to in NYC while I was here. I was able to see where they had come from in life and also eventually be able to talk with them about why I was in NYC and eventually use these conversations to proclaim the Gospel to them. The types of people that I was able to come in contact with was crazy. Was able to talk with a couple visiting from Holland, a man from England that has lived in NYC for 20 years, all the way to a doped up druggy. The amazing thing was the love that God showed through me was the same for all of them, because I was being driven by the Holy Spirit to just tell them about the good news and the great story that God has the grace to put us in!

The second to last day that I was out on the trip we had a prayer station at "The Hub" which was an intersection of like 5 streets, and it was packed with people all over the place. That day was the day I was able to experience Christ using me as a vessel for his word to the point where two people received Christ as their savior. Praise God! A kid that is a little under a year younger than me who had never really heard the Gospel and was just eager to hear more about it and a 40 year old lady that was just broken in her life and knew that there was something that she was yearning for and that was salvation through Christ alone. That day was such a humbling experience to be able to take part in that type of step in someones life and being used by God in such a way is just unbelievable. I think to myself how all these things we have around us and the air we breath every second we do not even deserve being wicked sinful people that we are. But praise God for his unbelievable Grace and Mercy that he has for us new every day, and specifically the Grace he has to work through us, week and broken vessels for Christ's glory.

There was also the tourist side of the trip which seems so little though compared to how Christ used me this week and what he showed me. I was able to see Time Square and also Mary Poppins on Broadway. Went to plenty of good places to eat, along with eating twice in little Italy which was amazing.

Another amazing thing this week was being able to meet so many new people from all over. I was able to meet people from Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, New York, etc. and all of them there with the same purpose to give God all the glory.

Needless to say this trip was all around an awesome trip. I cannot wait till next year to go again and also just this next year to be able to use what I learned and what God showed me on this trip to go and further His kingdom right here in Normal, IL or back home in Gurnee, IL.

This next week is the last week of my internship and I look forward to updating my blog one more time for you all.

God Bless!