Early morning and the Empire State Building

Guest Blogger - Laura Williams
Photographer - Matt Priestman

     With a 2 AM start to our trip, some late arrivals to the airport, and an almost missed connection in Chicago, needless to say, we were rather thankful and relieved when we finally touched down in the Big Apple. We were met at the airport by Bill and Anita our facilitators and our field coordinator, Bob who took us through the crazy traffic of NYC off to Amityville about 40 minutes away to the church that has become our home for the next week. A lazy evening and an early bedtime were precisely what was called for as we sat around the kitchen table, all of us nearly falling asleep about the time we tried real, authentic New York pizza. 

      The treat of the evening was the announcement that our Sunday was going to be spent with an unexpected trip into the city! A true New York experience was promised and anticipation was great as we headed to bed, exhausted.

     However, the next morning, if we were exhausted when we walked into the church, we were quickly jolted awake by the sound of worship. To say that there was some excitement to worship would be an understatement.  It was epic display of the congregation worshipping God, enjoying the freedom of being able to worship and dance in the aisles if they so desired. The Pastor even had some pretty nifty props including headphones with bibles attached as well as a big SuperSized Cup! Here’s to you, Mayor Bloomberg!

      Then off to the city to experience the hustle and bustle of New York City. First stop, the Subway. Without warning, performers hijacked our subway car to give us a performance. Welcome to New York City was all I could think of. Finally, our ride on the Subway let us off close to Times Square allowing us to begin our tour of iconic landmarks including the Empire State Building, Rockefeller Centre, Grand Central Station, and Central Park. Bonus, we only lost one person for a little while but thanks to some excellent contacts and the wonder of modern technology, we did find him. To complete our day, we ate at a diner with some rather large portions of excellent food and our first real introduction into a New Yorker’s view of Super Storm Sandy as he explained the areas that were hit and the devastation he witnessed. 

      Filled with food, tired but content from our day of walking around, we head back to the church for a night’s rest because the next morning it was time to begin work.

     A floor laid down, walls painted, drywall done, and lots of sweeping, the team came together and worked on several different projects on a church in the town of Long Beach. We met some people from the church as they were wandering around and helping us as we worked. It’s a church that was filled with probably 3 feet of water and the congregation has been meeting in various community centers on Sundays. It’s one of three projects we are to work on this week with two others being homes.

      A long day of working but a chance to share in our highs and lows of the trip allowed for laughter and just celebration already. For me and I think I speak for the group, I’m excited to see what God is going to do and how he is going to move through the rest of the week.