Let the Rain Fall

I want to spend some time in this post letting you all know a little more about what I am doing up here in the big city. It has been pretty much non-stop since we arrived on the 1st. We immediately got to the building where we are living and we were then rushed off to Queens to meet a pastor of a church that one of the other interns would be working with. It has been non-stop ever since.

My partner Crystal and I are sharing a tiny room, which I have dubbed "The Cupboard". We cannot even pass each other it's that small. If one of us needs to walk from one end to the other, well then whoever the other one is has to be sitting on the bed. I like to describe it as cozy. We are also working together in the office at the MNYBA (metropolitan new york baptist association) building. A lot of my work consists of assistant type things, writing emails, filing papers, making staples.com orders, or whatever else is needed of me at the time. My big project currently consists of me staying in the dark and dreary basement, where I get no cell phone reception, and marking old boxes full of ancient financial records that can be taken to be shredded when the missions team arrives on Monday. I enjoy helping to do the little mundane tasks around the office because I know, mostly through their great show of appreciation, that those things are needed.

One of the biggest things I love about this place is that my role is not confined by hours or days. I spent all day Sunday going from one church to the next all the way from the Upper Westside to the Lower Eastside and then to Queens. I was fortunate enough to be able to teach Sunday School for an Ethiopian church that meets here in the MNYBA building where I live and work. There were only four children but they were so kind and sweet. We talked about the importance of knowing the Word, and we did that through the story of Josiah in 2 Kings 22. We had the opportunity to talk to some of the kids about what it really meant to be Christians, to some of them is was baptism at an early age and there was one girl who said that it was about knowing Jesus. These kids ranged from age 7-12 and their knowledge of the Bible was impressive but their eagerness to learn was even more impressive. They soaked up every word that we shared with them. English was not the primary language of any of these children so we tried to find a memory verse that would be easiest for them to learn. We landed with 2 Timothy 3:16.


Everything in the Scriptures is God’s Word. All of it is useful for teaching and helping people and for correcting them and showing them how to live. 


By the end of the two hours, these kids, even the ones who barely spoke, were able to recite this verse. They loved every minute of the two hour Sunday School lesson that we taught them, and I loved it even more. Afterwards we were asked to join the adults for organic homemade bread and tea. Getting the chance to just sit with these people and talk with them about who they are and where they have been was a blessing and I look forward to repeating it this week.

Since Sunday school didn't dismiss until 10:30 and then we sat with the adults awhile, we decided to go to Hillsong NYC church because it started at noon. So we trekked our way down to the Lower Eastside, walked to the wrong location first, and then found ourselves in a two block line waiting to get into the Gramercy theater to attend. We were very lucky in getting in because we were at the very very back of the entrance where it was indeed standing room only. The service was amazing though. The biggest takeaway that I took from that service was sharing the gospel with others on a daily and consistent basis. It's not enough to wait for people to ask, we need to be out there sharing the Word with people on the streets.

Funny he should mention that, because as we were walking around Union Square later that afternoon we were approached by some people who asked us if we knew about god the mother. This sparked a good hour discussion between me, Crystal, and a man and woman who took us through a maze of scripture 'supporting' their ideology that there was a god the mother. This incidence was bringing in all of the things that I had heard and talked about that morning, from the importance of knowing the Word to the importance of going out and sharing it with people on the streets. Crystal and I talked about how heartbreaking it was that there are people out there teaching the wrong message. Not once did those people talk to us about Christ and His sacrifice and what that meant and how that affects us, but it was all about how most denominations were wrong in their practices and beliefs. We were saddened by the fact that very few of us are on the streets approaching people to tell them the good stuff.

But God works in wonderful ways because we were not planning on teaching at the Indonesian church this week, but due to miscommunication we were forced to throw together a lesson in five minutes. The topic they had been discussing was "How to Share the Gospel with Your Friends" and they had started with, naturally, the importance of knowing the Bible and the Gospel yourself. Our whole day tied perfectly together for this impromptu lesson.

The whole day, as tiring as it was, was a reminder that the Lord is always working behind the scenes. Something He shows us today may be something we use minutes, days, months, or even years from now. He may be teaching someone else something that goes just perfect with what you are learning. It's easy to get caught up in what the Lord is doing in our life and easy to forget that while He is working in our lives so intensely, He is working is other peoples' lives just as strongly. It's mind boggling to think about keeping all of that straight. But then again, He does say

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
    neither are your ways my ways,” 
declares the Lord.
⁹ “As the heavens are higher than the earth, 
    so are my ways higher than your ways
    and my thoughts than your thoughts."- Isaiah 55:8-9


It's just always amazing to be given tangible examples of how great and powerful our God is. 


Oh and the lesson for the day---don't forget your key in your room when it's raining outside and your phone is dead!