reflections. part 2

Here's my reflection:

We lead worship a lot during this trip and it was always one of my favorite parts of the day. Whether I was leading or I was in the crowd, it was always fun to see the Holy Spirit move in the chapel. But it was also nice to sit as our youth group and sing together by ourselves, which we did every night after we talked about our day.
On Wednesday night we went up to the roof and sung as a group up there, surround by the beautiful city that never sleeps. The first song we sung was "Better is One Day", which is all about how being with the Lord for one day would be better than spending a thousand days anywhere else. And I couldn't help but think that even though we're surrounded by the pretty lights in the city and there is so much beauty in the world, being in God's presence is greater than all of that.
And we got to experience a little bit of God throughout the whole trip, especially during worship. And if what we all just experienced was only a taste of God's glory, I can't imagine how awesome it will be to one day stand in his presence and praise him forever.

-Janelle

What a crazy and amazing week we had traveling to and serving in New York! The amount of people was astounding. One could hardly walk anywhere without dodging a flood of humans. New York City consisted of an incredible amount of noise, interesting and somewhat unpleasant smells, decadent food, and, as I'm sure you guessed it, people.
I was blessed and honored to serve the wonderful people at the Mission. As I mentioned at the Bowery Mission I loved listening to the stories of those I knew (our group) and those I only just met (the staff, students, and visitors to the Mission). We don't often know how God works in people's lives but I do know that He used our group and the people I encountered in New York to mold and develop my faith. As was mentioned throughout the week, there will be trouble in this world but Christ has overcome the world. What a comfort and hope to be found that this is not how God intended life to be. But because of sin Christ had to come into this world and save us. My troubles are nothing compared to being homeless and dependent on others for basic needs. God has used this trip to "encourage" me to be content with the many blessings I have been gifted with and not to complain when He has said "No" or "Not Yet".
The whole trip was a wonderful experience and I have been blessed by it greatly. Our group meshed well together and I was particularly impressed with the graciousness and the ferocity in which the young woman worked. What role models they are!

Thank you BCRC for supporting us in this journey. May God receive all the glory and honor.  
             -Emily

We did a lot of different things on our trip.  The two things that stand out for me are:

1) Working in the kitchen the Bowery mission serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner seven days a week.  The prepare and serve around 1000 meals each day. They don't have the staff to do this on their own and rely on volunteers to help make it happen.  We worked with three different chefs, Robin, Gretchen, and Rocco.  From the food donated each day they built a tasty menu for each meal.  Our team help sort and prepare ingredients (they used all the skills they were taught working with Brandon), serve the meals with welcoming smiles, and wash the dishes...with smiles.  It was a lot of work and it began at 6:00AM.

 2) working with and talking to the staff and clients at the Bowery mission.  So many stories, no two alike.
3) Worshiping at the Bowery. Each meal is proceeded by a 45 worship service and those there to eat were required to attend the service.  Engagement ran from full on sleep to enthusiastic involvement with most folks quiet and listening at some level. Singing the words of songs we've so often sang resonated more powerfully in that space with those wonderful people than ever before.  
In that same setting everyone in our group shared what challenges and what encourages us in our lives.  "What can high school kids say that would be relevant to an audience on the edge of society?"  you ask.  You'd be surprised.  We are not so different.  We told our stories, they told their's and we built relationships.
             -Dean