Girls Night Out

Young Life Chelsea recently had our first Girls Night Out. Read about it as on of our volunteers shares:

"Wow. Friday night was definitely a hit. Not only was it a blessing to me to be able to hang out with five middle school girls and just love on them, but as the evening wore on and the girls got a little more comfortable with each other and us, I could tell that they were having an awesome time as well! When the evening was almost over, one of the girls even came up to me and was telling me how much fun she was having and how the next event we needed to get nail polish and paint each others nails.

The evening started off at the Gallery Church. As we were waiting for all the girls to come, we played Apples to Apples and another ice breaker game. Around 7pm we left to go eat at Schnippers. I was able to sit with the girls and just get to know them a little better. I learned a lot too . . .specifically about Justin Beiber. For those of you who have middle school girls, I am sure you know about this singer. I didn't know anything, but I can't say that anymore : ). After dinner we went back to the church to decorate hair bands and clips. This was a hit. The girls got so excited with all the fabric and beads that they could decorate with. I think the most creative headband was one decorated with skittles. It was quite colorful!

I can't tell you how thankful I am for your prayers and support. The evening was such a success. The Lord definitely blessed this evening and the time we had with the girls. I am super excited for the next event and I know that the girls are as well! It was an awesome oppurtunity to reach out to these girls and show them that they are loved and cared for! As a middle schooler, I never had an female adult who I felt comfortable around to hang out with and open up to. I am excited for the opportunity that Christ has given me to make a difference in the lives of these girls. Thank you so much for your prayers and support."

Brenda; Young Life Chelsea Committee

See Young Life NYC

Catching Up!

I realize I didn't blog any this summer, so let me catch you up! God did some pretty amazing things!

We kicked off this past summer with another one of our super competive basketball tournaments. Each of the the tournaments we've scheduled have been a huge success with the kids. This one however was OFF THE CHAIN! We had the largest group of teens, younger kids, and families to come out to the event than we have ever had. I'm sure part of the reason is we turned it into a block party. At one point in the day we had over 300 people from the neighborhood involved in this event! Teens played and/or watched basketball; kids got their faces painted, created art-work and played water-balloon toss; families played RockBand and Wii on two giant TVs. It was a blast! We truly made an impact in the Chelesa Park neighborhood, and continue to do so, through our Young Life initiatives. Because of Young Life, Chelsea Park is discovering there is a God who loves them and it is reflected in His people!

We were also able to take over 200 teens from NYC to our summer Young Life camp! During this camp teens got to go tubing, zipping on zip lines, rock climbing, mountain bike riding and much more! They also got to hear the gospel, many of them for the very first time. We were able to give these kids the best week of their lives and to share with them how to have the best life imaginable. A life in Christ. Over 40 teens came to know the Lord that week!

This has left me super excited as fall and the school year is here. God has given me a fresh vision for this year and a really committed team. I will be telling you more about it in the days to come. So stay tuned.

Words of Life

On several occasions I've had the awesome opportunity to teach a bible lesson at our weekly Young Life Chelsea meetings. Usually Young Life clubs include a message each week during many of their gatherings, but since we're still going through our formative stages I am still earning the "right to be heard." Truly thankful for even having a place to meet, trying to teach a lesson while in the middle of a busy Manhattan McDonald's doesn't lend itself to listening and learning. Recognizing this, our goal has been to create an environment that will build relationships that eventually lead to Christ. Soon we will have our own place and we should be able to teach more often!

Even with all of these limitations, the few times I have actually gotten to share the Gospel it has been amazing! We have been working through the Lord's Prayer and almost all the kids are giving me their undivided attention. This could just be out of respect as we have certainly poured a lot of ourselves into them over the past several months. However, I certainly think its something much deeper than that.

Recently, I was working through the part of the prayer where Jesus teaches us to say, "Give us this day our daily bread." I was making the point to them that Jesus provides for all of our needs and reinforces that fact by referring to himself as the "bread of life." This happens right after the feeding of the 5,000 in the Gospel of John. So in making that point I said, "Have you heard of the story where Jesus feeds 5,000 people with only a few fish and loaves of bread." They all just stared at me! Well... one of them who happens to go to a Catholic school piped up and said he had. All of the rest said they had never heard of the feeding of the 5,000! Simply amazing!

I'm starting to catch the magnitude of what is going on through Young Life Chelsea. We have about 15 kids every week and for all of their relatively short lives they have been... dead. Now, more than likely for the first time, they are getting to hear the words of life as we share the Gospel! Can you believe it, we're doing mission work with unreached young people in the middle of a Manhattan McDonald's!

Can you picture yourself where you had never actually heard any of the Bible before? Would you be dialed in as you hear the gospel for the first time? These kids are! And we get the privilege of being the ones who share the words of life with them.

Pray, Pray, Pray

Got some things for you to pray about:

- Pray for our Young Life Chelsea Bowling Day on May 28th.

- Pray that we have the opportunity to meet more parents of teens in Chelsea.

- Pray for our Young Life Chelsea basketball tournament / block party on June 28th.

- Pray that I can get at least 2 kids to get to Young Life Camp with me this summer.

- Pray that we find a private location to meet for Young Life Club in the fall.

- Pray for that we see salvation through Young Life Chelsea as teens come to know Christ!


We have been packin' um in at McD's and teaching the teens about prayer!

WE BELIEVE IN IT!

Momma's Day @ YLC (Young Life Chelsea)

This Sunday is Mother's Day. So, we helped the teens at Young Life Chelsea honor the mother-figures in their lives. By the way, we had five new kiddos. McD's (where we meet right now) was definitely the place to be last night!

First we started the evening playing the card-game "Mafia." What kid doesn't like "Mafia"? The hard part was keeping them honest. Always hard to do in any game with teens. Either way, we had fun with it!

After the game we made sure they knew about Mother's Day this coming Sunday. We led them in an activity where they filled out cards to their mothers. Each of the cards contained a dessert recipe the teens could make for them as well. They wrote in the cards as they listened to a pretty unique but fitting rap song from a kid in Brooklyn.

God has given us a great group of teens to minister to in Chelsea! However, I know that youth ministry is more than working with teens. A large majority of youth ministry has to be focused on ministering to parents. Pray that God would give us opportunities to pour into the lives of parents in Chelsea. Pray that parents of teens in Chelsea would draw near to the cross of Christ.

The above picture is a picture of my momma. It is also Momma Mills' birthday on the 5th of May. Be sure to wish this beautiful woman a Happy Birthday!

Feeling Like a Champion @ Lake Champion

I have had the opportunity to get away from the city for the past couple of days. It has been refreshing and extremely educational. I am at Lake Champion attending the Multicultural Retreat for Young Life staff who work in urban settings. Being taught about how to do ministry in our setting and hearing the stories of others in the trenches like me has provided so much fuel!

Meanwhile my Young Life Chelsea volunteer team rocked it last night at club in NYC without me! When I say rocked it... they had over 15 kids attend club and did a tremendous job running everything without me! I feel like a champion because I am surrounded by a volunteer team of champions that are making ministry happen in the Big Apple (even while I'm by the big lake).

I'm telling you, this is exciting stuff and if you haven't been tuning in... make sure you do now. This stuff is about to explode! I feel confident that we will soon see kids introduced to Jesus and then be able to help them walk in their faith!

Pray for us:

- Pray that we will find a place to meet for our weekly club meetings (McD's ain't gonna cut it much longer).
- Pray that volunteer workers will continue to see themselves as missionaries.
- Pray that I am able to bring at least 2 teens back with me to Lake Champion for Young Life summer camp.

I Could Really Use A Wish Right Now

Young Life Chelsea kicked off a weekly club meeting four weeks ago and it has been amazing to see God up to some pretty cool stuff! A month in and we have established a weekly connection with a core group of teens and a great group of volunteer leaders. I am overwhelmed to be a part of this journey.

Tonight we met and had an incredible club! We had cheeseburgers and shakes, played the game "Apples to Apples", and talked about Jesus teaching us how to pray.

We played the song "Airplanes" by B.O.B. and Haley Williams while they wrote down three wishes they would want to wish for. We then shared with them that Christ wants to meet their needs and told them that prayer is an opportunity to bring those to Him. It was incredible as a few of the kids knew the "Lord's Prayer" and even recited it for us!

God is moving, and I am so thankful that you are a part of this journey. Please continue to pray for us and support this ministry. You rock! Young Life Chelsea is rocking! Jesus rocks! Can you tell I am excited?!

Young Life: New York City

Birthday Gift!

If you are thinking about getting me something for my birthday then make a one-time donation to Young Life Chelsea! Ministry needs that your gift would go to:

- bibles for teens in NYC
- resources for our weekly evangelistic meetings
- space rental for our weekly meetings
- a new laptop for ministry purposes (mine is dying)
- sending teens to Young Life camp

Make checks to: Young Life Chelsea
Memo line: YL128
Mailing Address: Young Life Chelsea - Gallery Church
1160 Broadway 5th Floor
New York City, NY 10001

If you are interested in providing an ongoing donation then e-mail me for more information: [nycmills@gmail.com].

Thanks for a great birthday!

It's Time!

I have put off blogging for a bit as I have been rocking a few things. However, I am jumping back into the blogging world. I'm going to be more regular with you - so be excited! So, let me update you on the big things that have happened in my life since I last blogged.

I have been working as the worship director of Gallery Church since August and I love it! I am blessed to have some talented and committed people around me as I lead the music, media, and sound teams. Pray for continued direction and leadership with these teams and the worship at Gallery Church!

I have also been working for City Uprising since the beginning of the year. It has been a privilege to give direction to and lead the worship experiences thus far and I look forward to those upcoming with City Uprising.

Lastly, I and my team officially launched Young Life Chelsea two weeks ago! It started with a bang as we had a good core group of neighborhood kids attend with strong adult volunteer leadership from Gallery Church. This was only able to happen as several of you have been praying, and supporting this ministry financially. Your continued prayers and financial support are greatly appreciated.

I am just overwhelmed at what God has been up to in my life! It is crazy to think that over a year ago I moved here without much direction but to get up and "Go." I quickly found a job serving tables, and slowly but surely God opened doors for me to drop the apron and step into full-time ministry. It is great to be serving Christ and His church here in NYC. I look forward to sharing the journey with you.

Young Life: New York City

I’m writing with great excitement and humility about what God has been doing in my life! At the same time, I am asking that you also support me as we together work to impact the lives and families of those who live in New York City for the Gospel!

The Calling
As many of you already know, God gave me a passion for ministry in NYC more than a year ago. In November 2009, after several months of both prayer and seeking the wisdom of godly people in my life, I left Nashville, TN and moved to NYC. I didn’t have a clear understanding of what I would be doing specifically, but I had a clear understanding of the most important part: God was calling me to take the Gospel to the people of NYC.

After living in the city for a year, the “what” has finally become clear. I would like to share this “what” with you and ask for you to prayerfully partner with me in a significant way. In doing so, I am asking you to stretch yourself with me for the sake of the Gospel.

The Mission
The mission that God has called me to serve is two-fold. First of all, I have recently transitioned into a part-time role as worship director at the Gallery Church. This is the church that encouraged me to come to NYC and with whom I have been training for ministry in the city. I’m enjoying this great and humbling new responsibility, and I ask that you pray for me as I serve the Gallery Church in this role.

Second of all, Young Life has asked me to serve on their staff and start a new club for teens that will be connected with the Gallery Church. Young Life is a Christian student ministry that seeks to act as a bridge between the “secular” and the “sacred.” In other words, some students might not readily come to a church service, but through Young Life, they can hear the Gospel through an outreach ministry designed with them in mind. Young Life truly seeks to meet students where they are and build relationships with them at their schools and on their turf. Through this ministry, the church is strategically mobilized to take the message of Christ into the community. Even though this ministry focuses on teenagers, it does not end with teens as entire families are often won to Christ!

Critical Part You Can Play
I need you to prayerfully consider helping me in the following important two ways:

1. Please volunteer to be part of my critical prayer team.

2. Become a financial partner with me today! In addition to the part-time salary that I’m making at Gallery Church, I still need to raise $36,000 a year to effectively run a Young Life club in the Chelsea area of Manhattan as well as cover my living expenses. It is very expensive to live and minister in Chelsea — the average rent for a studio apartment is $2,000 a month. Both my living expenses and Young Life’s ministry budget are included in this goal of $36,000.

On its own, $36,000 seems like a large number, but if broken down and shared, it immediately becomes manageable. If 20 people receiving this letter commit to sending me $150 per month for the next year (through next Oct.), I will accomplish this goal! I have listed some additional contributory scenarios below:

• 20 people giving $150 per month for the next year
• 200 people (every person reading this letter) giving $15 per month for the next year
• 1 person giving $1,000 per month, 10 people giving $100 a month, and 100 people giving $10 per month for the next year

Please understand that if you’re unable to make such a long-term commitment, I’d be grateful to receive any type of financial support that you are able to give, whether it’s a one-time gift or a lesser amount each month. Many times, the smallest of gifts is the most sacrificial. Also note that your financial sacrifice will be completely tax deductible.

There are well over 2 million teenagers that live in New York City. However, there are very few churches providing them with relevant and strategic evangelical ministry. Would you consider helping — through prayer, your finances or a combination of the two — to reach teens and their families for the gospel in NYC? By doing this, you can greatly impact our world. NYC youth are the future of this city, and this city shapes the future of our country.

Thank you for taking the time to read this blog and prayerfully consider how you may support this ministry. If you are going to support me please email me and let me know of your support. If you are planning to support me financially I will respond to your email and let you know how to do so. You are truly needed in this work. Be sure to also let me know how I may be praying for you as well.

Chris Mills
nycmills@gmail.com
www.nycmills.blogspot.com

Young Life Chelsea + Gallery Church

931 0391 from Freddy T. Wyatt on Vimeo.

I am excited about this new partnership of ministry! Let me know if you want to help out. nycmills@gmail.com

Junerrific!

June was extremely busy and totally amazing! I barely had time to breathe, but the ride was out of this world! I usually take the time to try and make my blogs sound more professional, but because of all that has happened I will only be able to hit you "headline style."

SBC: ORLANDO AND NYC
I began June by going to the Southern Baptist Convention in Orlando. I was asked to be one of nine delegates our church took this year. While at the convention two really big things happened. First we had the official launch of sendnyc. Many of the people who attended were able to catch the vision we have of planting 100 churches over the next ten years in NYC. I am eagerly looking forward to seeing what God has in store for this ministry as we work toward that goal. Secondly, the convention passed the Great Commission Resurgance's proposal. If you don't know much about this particular proposal let me sum it up by saying it should translate into several wins for us here in NYC. The SBC will now be in the postion to send us more funds and resources to do ministry here in the Big Apple!

PARENTS IN THE CITY
Once I got home from the convention I was greeted by my parents who were already in the city! We spent the next few days hanging out with some friends - enjoying one another and the city. I even put mom and dad
to work as they helped with a prayer walk for an upcoming ministry event I was leading. A few days later my sister joined us in NYC and it was good to have the whole family in town at the same time.

OVER 50 KIDS COME TO TOURNEY
Kim was able to stay several more days after mom and dad left and helped me and City Uprising with a mission project. We had several events during the week that were designed to propel the church and prosper the city. One of these events was a 3 on 3 basketball tournament that I put together to jumpstart my Young Life ministry. We had over 50 neighborhood kids to show up at this event. It was a great start to our Young Life ministry in the Chelsea area of Manhattan!

God is moving, and it is good. I hope July allows me a little more time to breathe. None-the-less, June was junerrific!

Would you like another mimosa?

The Salt website is now live! Visit it today to learn more about the Salt Space, and to read blogs similar to mine:

“Would you like another mimosa?” It was obvious my unexpected offer surprised her. Realizing her confusion I let her know, “You get two drinks with each brunch entrée so I was wondering if you wanted your second mimosa now.” She nods, and I now recognize that the look on her face has changed from confusion to inquisitiveness.

She asks me, “Where are you from?” I have heard this question many times before as each week I serve tables at a local neighborhood bar in Murray Hill. I begin to explain to her that I am from Nashville and that is why I have just a hint of a southern drawl in my voice. She laughs and begins to ask me more questions. These are the type of questions that always end up allowing me to share my story.

I recently moved here from Nashville, TN as a minister who has a heart for the people of New York City. I had visited NYC on several occasions before but it wasn’t until six months ago that I actually packed up my bags and made the move permanent. Since then I have begun serving in a local church, waiting tables in a neighborhood restaurant, and have recently began an outreach program to young adults in the Murray Hill, Chelsea, and surrounding neighborhoods. These activities have given me even a deeper passion and concern for people in the area that I have gotten to know. I have met people of all walks of life - artists, actors, shop owners, businessman, bartenders, and nannies. As I meet them and hear their stories it becomes even more apparent why God has placed me in New York City. He has given me a passion and need to help these people and at the same time meet their needs in a significant and intentional way that leads them to the Gospel.

I have recently partnered with the Salt Space and have found it to have a great vision for meeting the people that live in these surrounding neighborhoods. SALT is an art venue that seeks to provide for peoples needs in order to be able to give back to the community. It is faith-based in its nature as it works with the Gallery – a local church that meets at the Salt Space. I am really excited to see how my gifts of ministry and passion for the people in Murray Hill, Chelsea and the surrounding neighborhoods can come together in service with the Salt Space. It is my heart to meet the needs of the people within this community and the Salt Space provides me a great opportunity and venue to meet the people who comprise this community.

After sharing my story I then asked the woman why she was in New York City. She began to tell me that she moved here because she wanted to chase her dreams of becoming an accomplished jazz musician. After talking about jazz music for a bit I told her about the Salt Space. “You know I’m not just a server at a restaurant. I also work with an outreach center that is looking to provide different programs in the community. There have even been several who have suggested hosting jazz shows and I’m thinking you might be interested in possibly helping in that area?” She smiled and we swapped emails. As I was beginning to leave when she stopped me and said, “Thanks. This means a lot. I have been looking for something like this. And wow, here it is right in my own neighborhood.” She continued to smile and asked, “Can you also tell me more about the Salt Space.” I replied, “Sure, but let me first grab that mimosa for you!"

Youth Ministry in the Big Apple

Before I was called to come to New York City I was first called to be a youth minister. While that calling is very specific, I do understand my calling to be one that is pastoral in nature. It just so happens that since God has gifted me to work with students that I often found myself led into that area. Other areas that He has led me into on a consistent basis has been music/worship as well as communication/preaching/teaching. When I received a clear call to New York City it appeared to be definitely a break from the normal mold and pattern of God's calling in my life.

So I moved to the Big Apple on November 1st and I haven't looked back since - except to tell the people back home that I love them and to watch the Tennessee Titans or Vandy basketball and football games. It is now six months later and I am still, if not more, passionate about my calling to move to this city and do God's ministry. I am eternally thankful for all of you who have supported me and those that continue to support me with your finances and prayers. They are definitely needed and truly felt. My heart is overjoyed each time I think about the sacrifices each of you have made.

With that being said, it looks like God is now beginning to give me some definition as to "what" ministry He has called me to do here to NYC. I have been working with Young Life over the past few months and this is allowed me to do youth ministry with students on a weekly basis. I have recently been asked by Young Life to start a Young Life Club in the neighborhood in which our church meets. My church, Gallery Church, is primarily composed of young adults and we do not have any consistent teenagers who attend to speak of. So this project will obviously be an outreach project! This excites me!

We are already making plans on of how to get to know our neighborhood and neighbors by building relationships. My Young Life role will have me making relationships with teenagers. I have found that I can be pretty good at that and God has given me a heart for it. As we begin to reach out to these teens just think of the ministry that we can have with them and the opportunity to meet their families and parents! My work with Young Life will also be supported by Gallery Church and the end goal is to get these kids and their families involved in the local church.

There will be more information to come about this particular area of my life. If you're interested in knowing more about all of this please drop me an email at nycmills@gmail.com. Many of you already knew my heart about coming to this city, but you didn't really see any specific details about "what" I would be doing and "what" in particular God was calling me to do. That is now beginning to come into focus and I am pumped! Who knew the hand of God would include bringing me to this great city to do things like youth ministry?! But God knows, well before I was called to New York City I was first called to be a youth minister.

"SALT" meets "NoMad"

What strides would a local church take to meet the needs of others within their own community? More specifically what would it look like for churches within NYC to reach the needs of others within their community so as to create opportunities for deeper spiritual needs to be met? These questions have been giving shape to the Gallery's thoughts on outreach and it is certainly exciting stuff!

The Gallery Church meets on the fifth floor of a building that the church has designated as "SALT". It is located at 1160 Broadway and finds itself in an interesting part of Manhattan. As of late the particular area where the church is located has been dubbed "NoMad", as reported in a "New York Real Estate" article. The article goes on to say that "NoMad" stands for "North of Madison Square Park". Why is this important? If you didn't already know, Manhattan is so culturally diverse that when you walk just a few blocks in any direction you might find yourself suddenly in a completely different culture and in a completely different neighborhood. Therefore, as neighborhoods come into existence they are typically given it's own name in order to give some distinction to the different areas of NYC and Manhattan.

So this gives us as a church some direction for ministry. It is not just about simply doing ministry in NYC. It's about strategically using the resources that God has given us to do ministry in the city, especially when it comes to doing ministry in our "NoMad" neighborhood and the others neighborhoods that are close to "SALT". Property is an obvious commodity in the city that has millions of people in just a few square miles. Therefore we want to use this commodity, the "SALT" space, to meet the needs of the community as much and as often as possible. Our services take place on Sunday's but we are praying about the possibility of using "SALT" as a true community center with the intention of meeting the community's needs all week long!

So who actually lives in NoMad? What needs do they really have? How as a church can we reach out to them with this space that God has given to us? The answers to these questions will hopefully and prayerfully be met in the days, weeks, and months to come. Please pray for us as we begin this journey. To find out more about "SALT" and/or "NoMad" click on the hyperlinks which are highlighted. Also pray that God will continue to reveal ways in which we can continue to meet the needs of our community - however great the strides might be.

Men's Retreat

Went on an amazing retreat with Gallery Church this past weekend. Read about it on this new website and blog from our pastor and other people in our church. Just click this link:

"the city resource"

Heart

The heartbeat of City Uprising is to "propel the local church and prosper the city." It is an "intensive worship and service experience" put on by sendnyc and the hosted by different groups like the Gallery Church. Both of which I am heavily involved with. Therefore, I recently had the privilege of being a part of City Uprising New York City 2010.

For a little over three days college students, young adults, and college leaders served NYC along with Gallery Church. I had the opportunity to lead a team of students who went to Madison Square Park, the closet park to the building in which our church meets. These students were truly amazing as they used their guitars, drums, and voices to entertain people who were relaxing in the park! This gave us a tremendous and special opportunity to hand out cards with invitations to an Easter gathering at Gallery Church. To my surprise we were well received and were hardly ever turned down as we handed out these invitations to Gallery Church. I am convinced God was with us the whole time we were in the park. The total number of invitations handed out by both teams exceeded 4,000! That is not to mention all the Bibles that we placed in hungry people's hands as well.

One gentlemen we encountered had rededicated his life to Christ that morning before his day had even started. He told God, "If you want me to truly follow after you, you are going to have to show up." God did show up, in the form of one of our team members who handed him an invitation to Easter at the Gallery Church! He told us that is exactly what he was looking for and subsequently came back to our church that afternoon just to make sure he knew where it was. The following day he was at the church again with his family wanting to attend worship at City Uprising!

Over the next few days the attendees of City Uprising cleaned up local community centers, helped serve at other local area churches, made numerous key connections, and even served in the HIV community by providing hundreds of free HIV tests. City Uprising New York City will take place again from June 27th - June 30th. Make sure you and some of your friends register and come help us "propel the local church and
prosper the city." Make sure to bring your heart as well!

Community of the Inconvenienced

Take the average stadium and fill it to capacity with people. There are people in every seat, people on the playing field, and even people in the in the aisles. Then give an apple, or any object for that matter, to an individual and ask them to deliver it to the person sitting in "Seat 45 Row 3 Section F". They would have a difficult time moving through the sea of people to accomplish their task. This is very
similar to the way it is in New York City.

You have 8-10 million people living within a few miles of one another. To be specific Manhattan itself is only 22.7 miles from end to end and is home to a whopping 8 million people! Sure we have subways, buses and even taxis but with the such a large population in a tiny area it can take you up to an hour or more to travel on the the island for shopping, to get a haircut, or even to go to work. Obviously, there are millions of other people who also have to go shopping, get a haircut, or go to work. In other words, you're not the only one who has to carry the proverbial apple to some person in some random section of the stadium. Interestingly enough, everyone else in the stadium seems to have a similar objective.

Lately I've been pondering this drastically different way of life I have become a part of. In a lot of ways it is truly inconvenient to do life in the city. The average New Yorker has to plan out their day significantly more than a person living anywhere else in the world. There is no quick run down to the Wal-Mart or neighborhood Target. However, if you do make a Target run you have to keep in mind how you will be getting everything you purchased back home without paying for an expensive taxi ride. On a side note, I have quickly learned that New Yorkers are really not rude. Just don't get in their way or slow them down. The sidewalks in New York City are like highways to everyone else because most of us in the city don't have cars. Our legs are our wheels. Cut someone off and you might get honked at, or in NYC - chewed out.

We have tried to counter-act this inconvenience with convenient services like grocery delivered to your door, laundromats that wash and fold your clothes for you, and "Chase Banks" on every corner. These are all services that I have taken advantage of, but they still do not eliminate all of the New York City inconvenience out of everyday life.

I paint this picture for you so that you might better understand some of the difficulties we as believers face in "church-planting" in this unique stadium called New York City. Unlike other parts of the country, church attendance is just not easy. It can be quite an inconvenient activity. For most, it takes at least an hour to get to church for a two hour worship service mixed with some "fellowship," another hour commute to get lunch with friends from church afterwards, and then an hour commute back home. The typical Sunday morning for most Americans has taken over 5 hours in New York time and that's just if you only go to the morning service!

So I ask for your prayers. Bottom line, God truly needs to burden the heart of the people of New York City so that they would be willing and wanting to get past any inconvenience they may experience when going to His church. New Yorkers really need for God to show them clearly that church should be an integral part of their life, that their life can only be what it was designed to be by making a commitment to a local church. I'm sure you can relate to the inconvenience that going to church can sometimes play in your own personal life. But understand it's even more significant and magnified for the general New Yorker.

We as New Yorkers will often go out of our way for something that we perceive to be important to us. So pray that God, Christ, and the things of Christ would become an important necessity for the people of this great city. After all, we as New Yorkers can always seem to find a way to get up on a Sunday morning, dress in our favorite outfits, commute and show up early and then stay late to spend time with friends as we fill up the stadium for a New York Jets game - many times even to capacity.