Shawn and I spent July 3-7 on a mission trip to the suburbs of New York City helping out with a church trying to get rooted in the community. We went with a team of 7 from our church and had a great time getting to know the others and helping the church make a difference in the small communities they are trying to impact. We started out by going to 3 different July 4th festivals giving out water bottles and sunscreen (a grand total of 1200 contacts that day!). On Saturday, we were supposed to do a gas giveaway at a local gas station. Totally foreign to us, though, was all the rules and regulations regarding gas in New Jersey, not the least of which is that it is illegal to pump your own gas.
After about an hour of trying to find a way to do our event and still follow the rules, we ended up calling it a day and we all headed to NYC to be tourists for the afternoon. Shawn and I kept busy at The Bodies...a really cool exhibition showing dissected human bodies, as well as trips to Rockefeller Center, Times Square, and just people-watching in the city. Our ride back on the New Jersey Transit was very interesting...it involved a slightly "off" older man and a drunk couple. I thought there were going to be punches thrown...but fortunately they all calmed down before it came to that. Sunday we spent the morning prayer-walking around the different communities and then helped set up/participated in church that evening. One cool thing...a woman that received a water bottle and information about the church on July 4th ended up visiting on Sunday night with her 4 kids! It was great to see some of the fruit of our labor. Monday we got up at the crack of dawn and handed out 800 breakfast bars to commuters at the train stations. Then, to make up for the gas giveaway problems...we got $1250 in gas cards ($25 increments) and gave them out in a local grocery store parking lo
t. It was very neat to see the reactions of people when they believed us that there were really getting $25 in free gas and didn't have to do a thing to get it!! We had a great time and would go back to help the church again if the opportunity presents itself. While it sometimes seems intimidating to sign up for mission trips, it is always a blessing and a way to really grow and mature in your faith.
Shawn and I spent July 3-7 on a mission trip to the suburbs of New York City helping out with a church trying to get rooted in the community. We went with a team of 7 from our church and had a great time getting to know the others and helping the church make a difference in the small communities they are trying to impact. We started out by going to 3 different July 4th festivals giving out water bottles and sunscreen (a grand total of 1200 contacts that day!). On Saturday, we were supposed to do a gas giveaway at a local gas station. Totally foreign to us, though, was all the rules and regulations regarding gas in New Jersey, not the least of which is that it is illegal to pump your own gas. 
After about an hour of trying to find a way to do our event and still follow the rules, we ended up calling it a day and we all headed to NYC to be tourists for the afternoon. Shawn and I kept busy at The Bodies...a really cool exhibition showing dissected human bodies, as well as trips to Rockefeller Center, Times Square, and just people-watching in the city. Our ride back on the New Jersey Transit was very interesting...it involved a slightly "off" older man and a drunk couple. I thought there were going to be punches thrown...but fortunately they all calmed down before it came to that. Sunday we spent the morning prayer-walking around the different communities and then helped set up/participated in church that evening. One cool thing...a woman that received a water bottle and information about the church on July 4th ended up visiting on Sunday night with her 4 kids! It was great to see some of the fruit of our labor. Monday we got up at the crack of dawn and handed out 800 breakfast bars to commuters at the train stations. Then, to make up for the gas giveaway problems...we got $1250 in gas cards ($25 increments) and gave them out in a local grocery store parking lo
t. It was very neat to see the reactions of people when they believed us that there were really getting $25 in free gas and didn't have to do a thing to get it!! We had a great time and would go back to help the church again if the opportunity presents itself. While it sometimes seems intimidating to sign up for mission trips, it is always a blessing and a way to really grow and mature in your faith.
1 comment:
What a great mission opportunity...sounds like you all were just as blessed as the people you were giving too.
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