The Relief Bus

Hi Hi,

It's now our second week in New York City. We are getting more used to being here and culture shock is minimum. :) Until yesterday we've been doing our own reaching out, like treasure hunting. With Treasure hunting a person is the treasure. You pray and ask God who He wants to encourage, you ask were you can find that person, how he looks like, what is he wearing, colors etc, are there any injuries or a word that God want to communicate. And treasures has been found yesterday! :) 

Today we went  up to Chelsea park in Manhattan area and worked along side The Relief Bus, check www.reliefbus.org ! The Relief Bus is a ministry who reaches out to the poorest people in the City, mainly homeless. They have different places where they come every week to hand out food, as much as they want like soup & hot chocolate, bread & fruit. Today they also handed out toothpaste & socks. When people are interested they give information about different shelters, bible programs & link them with organisations who provide jobs from them. It was so cool to work together with them today and we will be doing this more often during our outreach. We met them at 10.00 AM. We were there a little before and when the bus got at the spot we already saw people waiting in line!!! first we got an introduction about the Relief Bus and how everything worked. Then very quickly we started to work. Some of us explored the spot to see where we could perform & others helped in the 'kitchen'. Handing out food & pouring soup in the cups. It was so much fun! The people who came there are usually just by them self  not talking to anyone during the week. and seeing them at the bus they knew it's a safe place and then we got to see their hearts, so beautiful!! We performed the Lifehouse skit, look at Life House Skit if you're not familiar with it. Silvia was Jesus & Maja was the girl. When we were done a woman came up to Silvia & hold here hand when they walked up to Maja, she hugged Maja and had tears in her eyes! The skit really touched here! It is such a beautiful thing, spending time with people who not always accepted. Just there thankfulness! They are so thankful. After we were done we got to here that we hand out 500 cups of soup and about 200 cups of hot chocolate! And one person gave HIS LIFE TO JESUS TODAY!! AMEN 

So yes we as a team were cold standing outside for more than 4 hours but that's nothing compared to what some of the people we met today are dealing with! And it was more than worth it!! We are looking forward to next week as we will be working with The Relief Bus on Thursday up to South Bronx & Friday to Harlem. Please keep reminding us in your prayers; we would love to perform more skits & use our art to encourage the people also pray that we'll be able to show people the way to Jesus! =D God is so good!! 

City Streets and God's Heartbeat

Today, was a FANTASTIC day!  The sun was shining as we prayer walked from our home in East Village to Central Park, passing through the Flat Iron district, Times Square, Rockerfeller Plaza, and all the way into the park.  God highlighted things and really showed us a bigger picture of the city.  In Central Park, we had some solo time with God, getting His heart for the city and asking Him how He wants to use us specifically.  From there, we set out to have conversations with people the Lord led us to and share Him with these ones.  It was powerful and encouraging as God led us to people to talk with, showing us how much of a magnificent Orchestrater He is!  We got to share God's love, share the Gospel, share testimonies, and share words with these people.  People were touched and encouraged!  Praise God!!  We're discovering how it's not so hard to transition into talking about God, and we are encouraged to continue to press in and reach out!

After our time in Central Park, we went grocery shopping, and were blessed to find a inexpensive store to get our team food at!  SUCH A BLESSING!  And all along our journey home, we had great conversations and were just encouraged by being with one another and traversing this big and diverse city.

New York is wonderful, and God's heart clearly beats throughout this place.  We are so blessed to get to share in the work He is doing here!  AMEN!!

Here we are! quick night update

Currently is 4.57..... I (Paulien) am wide awake together with Anna.... bummer!

So yesterday we got at our new home after 20 hours of traveling. We had a good flight, for some of us it was the first time in a plane with individual screens. So fun!!  When we were landing we could see this beautiful skyline of Manhattan and some meters next to it we saw the statue of Liberty.  On the airport we got safely through customs. 

On the airport we found out that my bag was missing. Luckily I've learned that you always put some necessities in your hand luggage. So when Jena & I went went to the desk reporting my bag missing ;) we got to talk to this wonderful lady. She asked where we're from etc. and Jena got to share why we are in NYC etc. and at the end Jena got to pray for her and she came from behind her desk to hug and kiss us on the cheek, I got real European kisses, 3 is the way we do it in NLD ;) what a nice welcome :) People were very kind to help us!! 

We got on the train to Penn station. Once we got there we got the full taste of New York City. So many people! ;) People playing different instruments, Quote from Mathijs; here are real musicians. After seeing somebody playing on some buckets. People singing Gospel, Opera. We also met some Jehovah's witnesses, got to talk with them for a minute and apparently one of the man came from a country used to be a Dutch colony so he could speak Dutch with Mathijs and me.  

We bought metro tickets and went home. Well, it wasn't really ideal to travel with our suitcases with the metro during rush hour, but he, we made it ;) we got out and many of us recognized the street just from Google maps ;) 

Our host Ivan welcomed us and showed us the church were we are staying. So big!! The building is a 150 years old and they are truly trying their best to let it be it its original state. We have a big living room for us to use, kitchen & a boys bedroom for Mathijs & a girls bedroom for the girls ;) 

After our tour we went outside to get some pizza for 1 Dollar a slice. CHEAP :) 

During our travel through NYC we really got to see NYC how it is. We saw lots of homeless people, I'm so glad that we're able to work with a homeless ministry! At least for me, I need to learn how to reach out and really see these people as people as you and me, not just as people who want my money. 

So yes, I think I will go back to bed now, to see if I can sleep a little more ;) Have a nice day! 

Paulien- NYC 

prep week!

Hi,
So still 4 days to go before we leave on outreach!!
This week is focused on outreach, get prepped and team bonding! fun fun fun!! We all are so excited and getting nervous ;)

Last monday we got together and around 1.30 we got the announcement that we had 15 min to pack and to be ready to stay somewhere else during the night in our outreach team!!

We got a paper that said
Hello New York Team!
We are so excited that you will soon be arriving with your team! we will meet you at Fila at 2.15. We will not be around too much for the first night, but we hope you get along fine with the program we have attached. you´ll have to make your own dinner tonight. in the morning, walk up to Ungdom I oppdrag at 8 and one of our friends will make you some breakfast at 8.30. after that, maybe you´ll have a little time to yourselves before we have to head straight o some ministry opportunities at a local organization. Cant wait to see you, and we hope you have a great time!
- Silvia

So we got at Fila, a church nearby, there we met our ´contact person´ who gave us a folder with more information. We got send to a different house 15 min walk from the church. once there we were aloud to look into the folder. Then we got send back to the Huse house, near the church to stay there for the night in their basement!

Meet team NY, Anna from Finland, Cristian from Switzerland, Mathijs from The Netherlands, Katie From Norway, Paulien from The Netherlands, Jena from the states, Maja from Norway

During our time there we needed to prepare 2 ministries, talking about the teaching we had before we left, spending time in intercession & worship, prep our dinner & clean, play games & in the morning clean up.

Unfortunately we were not complete as a team cause some of us were sick, still we made the best out of it and we had lots of fun. In the morning we got back at the base around 8 & had an amazing American breakfast. after that we needed to do he ministry that we had prepared the day before! What an amazing experience, it really gave a good view of outreach and how it could be like. All of our teams, students + leaders had no idea upfront what was going to happen.......

Our program is coming together :) we will be working with a ministry called Prison Fellowship as said before.. take a look at www.prisonfellowship.org , see what they stand for and get an idea what we will be doing. We will also work with The Relief Bus... The Relief Bus is an organization who distributes food, clothes and other necessities to people who live on the street in New York. Take a look for more information on www.thereliefbus.org

Please continue to pray for us as a team, our travel and ministries!
Well we´ll come back to you once were in New York ;)

Paulien- team NYC

Exciting Updates!

Currently, Paulien and I (Jena) are sitting in the living room planning for outreach!  God is an extravagant Giver, and we have some exciting breakthroughs!

#1.  WE HAVE HOUSING!  We will be staying at a the Ukrainian First Assembly of God church in Lower Manhattan.  We are about an hour walking distance from Central Park and Times Square, or a 15 minute Metro Ride.  Our contact blessed us tremendously by giving us a significant reduction in housing costs, which is a huge gift to our team from the Lord.  Another YWAM team will be staying from the 23rd.

#2.  We've made contact with Prison Fellowship, and it looks like this will be one of the ministries we will be working with!  This is a ministry to inmates in the prison system.  We are beyond excited.  Please continue to pray with us for this opportunity.  We hope to be very involved with this ministry and using our arts here as well!

We are excited to continue to see what God has in store for our team!  Our God is filled with blessing, and we know He's going to craft such a special outreach for us.

We will continue to keep you updated!  Please continue to pray with us and for planning as we get ready to leave on March 4th!  Just about a month away!

- Jena, Team NYC

Getting Ready!

In just a little over 1 month, we will be heading to New York City to see God do some amazing things. A hybrid of cultures, we are longing to see what's on God's heart, feel what He feels.  Though the Western world, how many captives are still here?  How many people still bound by the grip of fear and death?  How many people still needing Jesus!  People from all over the world travel to NYC to "live the dream," come to the states to "be free."  Let's bring them the reality of freedom, the reality of living the dream... Jesus.

Here are some facts about our outreach:

• Leaving March 4th, returning April 27th
• We are a group of seven:  Maja (Norway), Anna (Finland), Mathjis (Holland), Katie (Norway), Cristina (Switzerland), Paulien (Holland, co-leader), Jena (United States, co-leader)
• Using the arts (dance, music, fine art, photography, acting) to reach out to the people of NYC

We are the midst of preparing for outreach, praying through what God has in store for us.  We are waiting for breakthrough in many areas, but we have plane tickets, and we are going!  We have no doubt that God will craft an amazing outreach for us.  We are also excited to see how God wants to use our art in this city.  We need a creative breakthrough of the Holy Spirit on our ministry and creative ideas.

As mentioned, we are waiting for several things to fall into place.  Will you join us in prayer for the following?

• Housing
• Finances
• Ministry contacts
• Breakthrough of the Holy Spirit on our ministry and personal lives
• Protection and peace

We are excited to update you!  Thank you for joining us in this journey.  God is so good!  Let's exalt His name together!  

- Team NYC