We made it back to Atlanta safe and sound this weekend. We are grateful to the Lord for a wonderful trip and for the ways that we got to see His hand at work in New York City. Thank you all for your prayers, encouragement, and support.
A Buddhist dad expresses interest in Jesus
This evening after our grand finale show to mark the end of VBS, we had some time to mingle with the parents of the kids. I got to talk with a guy who had recently moved here from Japan to do research at NYU. His two little children participated in the VBS. After chatting about work and family for a bit, we got to talking about spiritual things and he told me that he and his family are Buddhist but that his daughter says Jesus is her God. He didn’t seem to mind this but was actually very interested in Jesus himself. He said he had gone to a Catholic kindergarten as a child. He had some familiarity with the stories from the Bible and mentioned the story of Jesus’ birth. I suggested he might want to read the book of Luke to learn more about Jesus’ birth and life as well as his message. I then grabbed the associate pastor of Ascension Church and connected him with my Japanese friend. He had a good time talking with him and is planning to follow up.
It was so neat to get to see how God is using this VBS to reach people who have had very little – if any – exposure to the gospel.
Thanks again for all your prayers. We look forward to returning to Atlanta tomorrow and seeing you all soon!
– Ben
Curtis’s blog post
I’m trying to write what I’d like to share most since arriving at New York School of Urban Mission (NYSUM) in Queens, NY.
I’ve had a wonderful adventure thus far with the guys and ladies. We’ve been busy, for the most part, from 7am – 10pm. We’ve visited places ranging from a good coffee shop, Tom’s Restaurant, Tiffany’s of New York, and a variety of museums.
To mention this on a mission trip seems self-serving. However, God is providing a platform for us to get to know our brothers and sisters that we worship with regularly on a much more meaningful level. Now I can speak on Sunday morning and have a deeper understanding of a few more members of our church family. Additionally, having Brittani (my daughter) here with us and watching her share the purpose and goodness of Christ has been very nice (except for when she bosses me… 
). More importantly, meeting, encouraging, and being a tool for Christ in the lives of these your people brings a smile to my heart.
As believers, I can imagine we are painstakingly conscious about our relationships with Christ…and rightfully so. I’d like to encourage you to take some time and reflect on when Christ first entered your life. For some, it could have been a result of encouragement and spiritual guidance from your parents. For others, it could have been the planting of God’s word in your heart at VBS. I have seen God’s work already with some children whose parents aren’t believers, yet the child yearns for understanding of this God we serve; this man we call Jesus. We ask that you pray for God to soften their little hearts and minds that they will receive Him. We ask that you pray for God’s grace and mercy for each family and strength and encouragement to each person serving here in Queens, NY for the advancement of God’s Kingdom.
– Curtis Brown
God’s word reaching parents as well as kids
I have been working with the four year olds and I have about eleven little ones in the class. The children are eager to hear the stories about Jesus and His love for them. A few moms stay in the class with their child. One in particular who comes and also brings work sits at the back of the class. She told me that she is learning more than her daughter. She said she realized how she has let her work take up so much of her time that she hasn’t been able to think about the Lord. She has been listening to the Bible stories and it’s like a light bulb went off in her head that she needs to be spending more time learning about the Lord and His word. That was such a sweet testimony to me.
The Lord has been teaching me how to love those who need the gospel in a special way. The children are such a joy to spend time with and to get to know. Some speak no English or very little, but they still love to sing the songs unto the Lord. What a blessing!! I will miss them.
– Janine Howard
Final prayer update
Today is the final day of VBS, and it’s going to be full of activity. Besides seeing the kids in the morning, we’ll hopefully see them and their parents and siblings in the evening at the closing program. After the last goodbyes are said, we have to clean up and then get ourselves ready to leave for the airport at 6:00 a.m.tomorrow morning for the flight to return to Atlanta.
Some praise and prayer items for these final two days are as follows:
– Praise the Lord for the great weather this week! Temperatures have been in the 80′s, as opposed to the high 90′s and low 100′s the past two weeks. The cooler weather has brought some rain, but the rain has always managed to hold itself off until the afternoon after the kids have been picked up.
– Praise the Lord for the opportunity our team had to distribute cold bottles of water to those coming out of the neighborhood subway station after work yesterday as an outreach for the church. Every water bottle and every tract that we had about the Gospel and about the church were given out in less than an hour and a half. Pray for those who stopped to talk, that the eternal Living Water of Life in Christ that overflows out of our lives would have ministered to them during that conversation.
In particular, please pray for the following:
1) for the many Jewish people who passed by one of our stations, that they would have been impacted by the compassion and love shown them by Colleen and Pamela’s team, even when they were openly defensive about being Jewish and therefore not interested in Christianity or the church.
2) for a lady who is going through a difficult divorce and asked for prayer from Nathan and Cindy’s team, that she would find comfort and peace in Christ, and
3) for another lady who said that she was a born-again Christian at one time, but that she had quit following the Lord for another faith. Pray that the conversation that Ben and Curtis’s team had with her would have made her reconsider her beliefs and turn back to Christ.
4) for a young man named Brandon who spoke with Ben at length. He was very interested and open and said he would like to read the Bible. He was also very excited about reading the Lee Strobel book he was given.
5) Pray that others who didn’t stop to talk but took a piece of literature will take the time to read it and that it will encourage some to visit Ascension Church. Pray that the seeds that were planted would bear fruit.
– Continue to pray that the hearts of the children would be open and responsive to the Holy Spirit’s leading as the Vacation Bible School draws to a close, and that their participation in this VBS would have an eternal impact in their lives, as well as in their family and home.
– Pray for tonight’s closing program, that the Lord would be moving the hearts of the children and their parents to attend. Pray particularly for Pastor MIchael Kytka as he delivers the Word of God to the parents and kids tonight.
– Continue to pray for the Lord’s hand of protection over our team for the remainder of the VBS and our trip home tomorrow.
Thank you again for your prayers. As you have been faithful, the Lord has also been faithful to hear your prayers and bless them.
Praise report: Outreach in Queens
Just a quick note to say thank you so much for your prayers for our outreach today.
The outreach went very well. We gave out probably hundreds of bottles of water along with tracts and materials from the church. We also had several good conversations with people about the Lord and even got to pray for some folks. A number of people were really open and receptive and some expressed interest in knowing more about Jesus. We really sensed God’s hand at work during our time out on the streets of Queens and are very thankful for your prayers.
Thank you!
Emma and Amelia’s blog post
This week at V.B.S. has been great. Even though it has been hot, hot, hot, the Lord has been good to help us power through it. The children in our classes have been sooooooo cute! Some are outgoing, some are quiet, and some think Amelia and David O. are getting married! (The same children think that Amelia is Ariel, the Disney princess from under the sea).
In Amelia’s class, some of the shyest kids who would not even talk have become very vocal with us. In Emma’s class, the kid who cried for twenty minutes after his mom left the first day now loves to come and get dropped off, and another kissed one of the little girls during music! The little girl didn’t even make a sound, she just looked a little shell-shocked! It was very funny and very cute!
All in all, we have worked hard and long but have experienced wonderful blessings along the way. We thank God every day for his protection in New York City, it can be a scary place, and the opportunity to come and be blessed with the different experiences that He has placed in our lives.
– Emma Jackson and Amelia Vornbrock
Prayer request for outreach
Tomorrow afternoon (Thursday) we will be helping Ascension Church conduct a special outreach to the community here in Queens. We would really appreciate your prayers for our group as we hand out water bottles and tracts and look for opportunities to talk and pray with people.
Please pray:
– that God would lead us to hungry hearts and would open doors for the gospel
– for good weather (we already had to postpone the outreach once due to rain)
– for strength and energy as we’ll be doing this right after our VBS
– that this outreach would be effective in helping spread the gospel in a very needy city
– that we would represent Jesus well to the people we meet
Thank you!
