I Love New York!

 This Californian had wanted to go to New York City ever since 9-11. I finally got my opportunity in late June (2002). No, it wasn't a vacation -- much better than that! I spent nine days with our church youth group on a mission trip led by my son (Billy). My daughter (Hannah) from Southern CA also joined us. That I didn't know for sure I was going until the day we left just added to the intensity.

The most difficult part of the trip for me was at the beginning when we had to drag all of our luggage for what seemed like a mile. A wonderful man (Pastor Bill of First Baptist Church, Flushing, NY) came to our rescue with his van. He graciously drove many miles to deliver all our luggage to Manhattan Bible Church, the generous church that took us in and worked around us for over a week. Sleeping on the church floor and taking cold showers was not a hard adjustment for the youth but a definite challenge for a "mature" lady who prefers, at the very least, a Motel 6. I quickly fell in line, though, and discovered the joy of one who prefers being a doorkeeper in God's house to dwelling in the tents of the wicked. (That's Psalm 84:10.)

 

We rode lots of subways but walked everywhere in between, probably many miles each day. I've never walked so much in my life. Every subway station had umpteen steps, and even eating at McDonalds meant climbing flights of stairs. By the third day, I was troubled with badly swollen ankles. I finally learned the art of praying without ceasing as I struggled to survive my efforts to keep up with the youngsters. At least I escaped the blisters that plagued some of them!

Standing in Grand Central Station gave new meaning to the exclamation, "This place is like Grand Central Station!" Actually, all of New York City seemed like Grand Central. People were everywhere. With the human hubbub came lots of sirens. One day we walked into a neighborhood in the middle of a bomb scare. That was interesting!

In addition to talking, singing, and praying, we did some service projects, and I even helped clean a few apartments in the government housing projects. Definitely not my gift, but I thoroughly enjoyed it and didn't hurt my usually uncooperative back.

I especially enjoyed the subways, sitting beside other passengers -- business people, gang members, white, black, Jew, and a hundred other races -- getting to know them, sharing Jesus Christ with them. I easily could make this my full-time vocation. I really enjoyed the openness of New Yorkers. Yes, openness. Not only do they still suffer from 9/11, but they suffer from terrible Wall Street scandals and a wildly fluctuating stock market. While God has not caused the present troubles, I believe He is allowing faulty foundations to be shaken in order to bring about a new responsiveness to our sure foundation.

The only trouble I had with anyone was in Times Square arguing with a huge black man who was part of a wildly racist group there called "The Israelites." They think they are the true Jews and the rest of us are Edomites whom God hates, just like "our father" Esau. In the end, all I could do was tell him that I loved him. As I left, I heard him shouting from his group's PA system about the white woman who had the nerve to tell him she loved him. Strangely, I did love him and will continue to pray for him and those his group is deceiving.

We spent time in the Bronx, Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, Harlem, and riding the ferry to Staten Island. Everyone else was friendly. Police officers loved their new roles as heroes and enjoyed stopping and chatting with us for as long as we wished.

I was stunned at the number of people I met who saw the jets hit the twin towers, saw them fall, barely escaped with their lives, or lost friends or relatives in the tragedy. Whenever I told someone we had come to pray for New York City, the response was, "Well, thank you so much; we sure need it." They all seemed genuinely appreciative.