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"