We were able to put the finishing touches on Bob's new office on our final day in Newark. Once our service project was completed we traveled to Flatbush, Brooklyn and met with Reverend Desmond Wedderburn who is senior pastor and founder of Calvary Crosses Church. He has planted a church in the housing projects of Flatbush with the mission of serving the poor and oppressed through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The amount of energy and passion flowing through Desmond was incredible. He has such a heart for the Lord and such a desire to make Jesus known in his community. As Desmond walked us through his neighborhood we had the opportunity to see what an impact he is making and how much his community loves him. He introduced us to several people he knew that just happened to be walking by us on the street. The love that he felt for those members of his neighborhood was so apparent. He shared with us the dark and violent history of Flatbush and said that God is really changing the community for the better. Desmond does not have a physical building for ministry but instead utilizes the local park as a place for outreach. He is known as the hip hop pastor who puts on community worship services. He serves about 60 children through these outreach events which are complete with a DJ (Desmond himself), pizza, open mike, and reading the word. Desmond was incredibly touched that our team traveled to meet him, shared a meal, and encouraged him in his ministry. He was very transparent with us and let us know that his urban ministry is extremely challenging at times and said he struggles with maintaining a consistent team of people to do outreach and ministry with him. He asked that we would be praying for his perseverance and that we would pray for God to send the right team of people to support him in this great ministry in Flatbush.

Although this outreach trip was designed for our team to support and encourage World Impact and their partnering ministries, we are so thankful that in the process we were encouraged and inspired in return. The urban community has such an opportunity for an abundant harvest. We are thankful for and encouraged by the missionaries who are planting seeds in this area and will continue to pray for them and their ministries.

A special thank you to Bob Engel and his family for hosting us and sharing your vision with us. We are so thankful and looking forward to sending more teams in the future.

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We travelled to Newburgh, New York today and met with Guytrell Johnson and Father Andrew Wyns. They are part of Bridges of New York, a rehabilitation center for Men on parole who are overcoming drug addiction. In addition to Bridges of New York, Father Wyns is the priest at Christ the King Church in New Paltz, NY. The Lord has faithfully provided an additional location for Christ the King Church in Newburgh, NY. Our team spent some time walking around the neighborhood letting them know about the new church location and about a vacation bible study available to the local kids. This gave us a great opportunity to start conversations and pray with several people in the neighborhood.

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This evening we had the opportunity to share a meal and hear testimonies from Keith Wilks of World Impact, Pastor Rick Greene of Metro Christian Media, and Marvin Cratch of The Power of One 3c Foundation. Pastor Rick's focus is creating video and printed media in order to spread God's word. Marvin Cratch has a focus of community redevelopment and relationship networking and has created Unity Day which brings all denominations together. Their love for Christ was so evident as they shared their vision of seeing Newark unite as one body of Christ. We will be joining them in prayer asking the Lord to continue to bless their work and to open doors and hearts of the community of Newark. 

 

 

 

Today was a work day. We stripped a bathroom, moved office furniture, and started painting Bob's new office. A great day of service and fellowship. 

 

 

 

 

Our morning started on the rooftop with breakfast and a welcome from Bob and Chris. After a few subway transfers we made our way into Bushwick Brooklyn to meet with Pastor Daniel and his wife Melissa from Swerve Church. Daniel and his wife graciously invited us into their home where we had lunch together, prayed together and heard about the great things God is doing through Daniel and his church plant. He shared with us his desire to see his hometown of Bushwick transformed for Christ. We will be supporting them in prayer as they prepare to take a new step of faith by quitting their jobs in order to do ministry full-time. 

 

 

After our time in Brooklyn we headed into New York City and did lots of walking and sightseeing. Standing in the middle of Times Square we couldn't help but look around at the thousands of people around us and wonder what their life stories were all about. It was great to see the diversity of God's children.

 

 

Yesterday was a successful travel day for our team. We met at ABC around 8am, loaded up into 2 cars and headed to San Francisco for our flight. Our original flight had our team taking 2 separate flights but after several changes by United we all ended up on the same flight. God is good!  Bob Engel graciously met us at the airport at 11pm and helped us settle in at the World Impact center. In our short drive from the airport to World Impact we had a small glimpse into the street life of Newark. We are excited to see how God will use each of us on this trip to encourage Bob & his family and to learn about urban ministry from those directly on the front lines.

As we prepare for our outreach trip to Newark, New Jersey we would ask that you please keep our team in your prayers. Below are some prayer requests for our team. Thank you for your support!

* That the team would continue building relationships with Bob Engel and other local church planters.

* That they would serve in humility and with the love and compassion of Christ.

* That our team would understand the spiritual needs of Newark and personally consider their outreach involvement.

* That Bob and Susan would be encouraged in their ministry and their walk with Christ.