After a week with no internet connection we are glad to bring you this update!! We know that you all have lost so much sleep because of our lack of posting but your days of concern are over and we are glad to report on an excellent week!!
Last Sunday was a really good day at church. We taught on Abraham Lincoln and Esther which gave us the opportunity to be benefactors of some great studying times in preparation for this. The day was a blessed one with a good number out at Sunday School and afternoon church as well as a great message in the morning from Pastor Dierking from Colossians 1.
During the rest of this week we have had the opportunity of working with Grace Baptist Church in Franklin Square, Long Island. The pastor there is Pastor Kent Sager and we also worked with evangelist Dr Bruce Millar. It was a very busy few days as we went door-to-door in many neighbourhoods as well as witnessing at the bus terminal. But what a time we had as 20 souls trusted the Lord. Jessica and I had the joy of leading a lady by the name of Janet Clarke to the Lord, please pray that Lord will continue the work that He has started in her heart and help her get through many of the difficulties that she has in her life at present.
This week has really stirred our hearts for the souls of lost men and women. Many of the neighbourhoods we worked in were totally Roman Catholic. What a great job the church of Rome has accomplished in blinding the eyes of an entire community and making them base their eternal destiny on supposed good works and self-righteousness. Pray the Lord will give us many more souls in this area as we spend a second week here, that He will give great numbers at the VBS at the church and that the souls that have been saved will be discipled and continue to grow in grace day by day.
Today we were back at Yonkers for the weekend and led a group of young people, and some not so young, on a hike to the Palisades State Park. This is a forest area built on a cliff edge and offers spectacular views of the Hudson River and New York City. Tomorrow we will work in the normal schedule of Sunday School, church and Teen Church. Pray for the Lord's help in all we do.
Pray also for the health of one of our team members. They will probably have to have surgery on Monday for 3 gall stones and much prayer is needed. We will update as soon as we can and also include some pictures from Franklin Square and our hike.
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Park slope in Brooklyn
Well since we last posted we praise the Lord for a good Sunday. 4 people who faithfully attended our week of VBS came out to the afternoon youth service and we pray that we can continue to build upon this relationship and see some fruit from it.
This week we had the joy of staying at Memorial Baptist Church in Brooklyn. Our week started with a leisurely stroll on Sunday night as we walked across the Brooklyn Bridge to Manhattan and back again. The weather was beautiful and it was a really nice experience.
On Monday and Tuesday we worked with a church in Bensonhurst Brooklyn under the direction of Pastor Jason Meade. This is a store-front church in a very mixed area and we were able to give out thousands of tracts to commuters and shoppers on its very busy streets. We were also able to do some park meetings with children in the afternoon and praise the Lord for 9 boys trusting Him as Savior at our last one on Tuesday evening.
Every night back at Memorial Baptist we helped the church with their Vacation Bible School. Numbers were low all week but we praise God for the faithful attendance of those who did come and also the assistance of a ministry team from Pennsylvania who ran the meetings of Monday and Tuesday nights.
On Wednesday we had a day off and Jessica and I headed off into the city to see some inner-city churches and the New York Public Library. We also headed out to New Jersey to see Dr and Mrs Cuozzo, please continue to pray for them and especially that the Lord would touch Mrs Cuozzo in a special way and raise her up again. After this we headed back into the city and travelled to Greenwood Cemetery where we found the grave of Ira Sankey.
Thursday and Friday of this week we spent doing a lot of manual work around Memorial Baptist and assisted the pastor with many day to day jobs that needed attention. Pray for the church here that the Lord would continue to build it up and strengthen Pastor Christopher and his wife in the work.
This weekend we are at Yonkers and plan to visit all the youth that come on a Sunday afternoon. Pray that the Lord would give us favor and that He would bless our time with them on Sunday.
Walking across the Brooklyn Bridge
Jessica teaching the story during the park meeting
Jonny teaching the memory verse during VBS
Gathering in for Vacation Bible School at Memorial Baptist
This week we had the joy of staying at Memorial Baptist Church in Brooklyn. Our week started with a leisurely stroll on Sunday night as we walked across the Brooklyn Bridge to Manhattan and back again. The weather was beautiful and it was a really nice experience.
On Monday and Tuesday we worked with a church in Bensonhurst Brooklyn under the direction of Pastor Jason Meade. This is a store-front church in a very mixed area and we were able to give out thousands of tracts to commuters and shoppers on its very busy streets. We were also able to do some park meetings with children in the afternoon and praise the Lord for 9 boys trusting Him as Savior at our last one on Tuesday evening.
Every night back at Memorial Baptist we helped the church with their Vacation Bible School. Numbers were low all week but we praise God for the faithful attendance of those who did come and also the assistance of a ministry team from Pennsylvania who ran the meetings of Monday and Tuesday nights.
On Wednesday we had a day off and Jessica and I headed off into the city to see some inner-city churches and the New York Public Library. We also headed out to New Jersey to see Dr and Mrs Cuozzo, please continue to pray for them and especially that the Lord would touch Mrs Cuozzo in a special way and raise her up again. After this we headed back into the city and travelled to Greenwood Cemetery where we found the grave of Ira Sankey.
Thursday and Friday of this week we spent doing a lot of manual work around Memorial Baptist and assisted the pastor with many day to day jobs that needed attention. Pray for the church here that the Lord would continue to build it up and strengthen Pastor Christopher and his wife in the work.
This weekend we are at Yonkers and plan to visit all the youth that come on a Sunday afternoon. Pray that the Lord would give us favor and that He would bless our time with them on Sunday.
Walking across the Brooklyn Bridge
Jessica teaching the story during the park meeting
Jonny teaching the memory verse during VBS
Gathering in for Vacation Bible School at Memorial Baptist
Saturday, July 11, 2009
VBS and huge storms!!!
Wow where do you start? This week went nothing at all like it was planned to! But we thank God that He was in control of it all!
VBS started out really well. We had 20 children registered on Monday and Tuesday and the momentum was starting to build. The children were really enjoying the Bible lessons, skits, missionary story (we studied Mary Slessor for a full week), crafts and game time! But just when we thought it was taking off we crash landed on Wednesday!
Tuesday night brought one of the biggest storms I have ever saw in my life. It has been classified as a downburst which produced 2 inches of rain and up to 4 inches of hail in parts. The wind also got up to 80 mph and damaged everything in its path. Thankfully the church properties were largely unscathed aside from extreme flooding in both basements. We had no electricity for a day and had to 'shop-vac' water from the church basement until 5 am on Wednesday. When daylight broke it allowed us to see the devastation all around. The street was blocked because of 6 fallen trees. One family lost 3 cars and others had severe structural damage to their homes. But as far as we know, we can praise God that no-one was seriously injured despite how widespread the storm was in this area. As a result no VBS on Wednesday!
But we were back on track on Thursday and praise the Lord that although the break in meetings meant that several children did not come back, He provided new contacts meaning that over the course of the week 30 children were reached for Christ. Many of them are eligible for the youth meeting on Sunday in the church which is exciting for us as we can now follow up and encourage them to become regulars!
Please pray for the church here at Hudson View that they may know the Lords provision in regards to the minor repair work that must be carried out and that new carpet can be purchased and fitted ASAP. Pray for the team as we head to Brooklyn to Memorial Baptist Church for another week of VBS.
Story time at VBS
Entertainment was also provided by the puppets.
Tug'o'War was a real hit during game time!
Some of the damage down the street after the storm
The roads were blocked for 2 days because of the storm
VBS started out really well. We had 20 children registered on Monday and Tuesday and the momentum was starting to build. The children were really enjoying the Bible lessons, skits, missionary story (we studied Mary Slessor for a full week), crafts and game time! But just when we thought it was taking off we crash landed on Wednesday!
Tuesday night brought one of the biggest storms I have ever saw in my life. It has been classified as a downburst which produced 2 inches of rain and up to 4 inches of hail in parts. The wind also got up to 80 mph and damaged everything in its path. Thankfully the church properties were largely unscathed aside from extreme flooding in both basements. We had no electricity for a day and had to 'shop-vac' water from the church basement until 5 am on Wednesday. When daylight broke it allowed us to see the devastation all around. The street was blocked because of 6 fallen trees. One family lost 3 cars and others had severe structural damage to their homes. But as far as we know, we can praise God that no-one was seriously injured despite how widespread the storm was in this area. As a result no VBS on Wednesday!
But we were back on track on Thursday and praise the Lord that although the break in meetings meant that several children did not come back, He provided new contacts meaning that over the course of the week 30 children were reached for Christ. Many of them are eligible for the youth meeting on Sunday in the church which is exciting for us as we can now follow up and encourage them to become regulars!
Please pray for the church here at Hudson View that they may know the Lords provision in regards to the minor repair work that must be carried out and that new carpet can be purchased and fitted ASAP. Pray for the team as we head to Brooklyn to Memorial Baptist Church for another week of VBS.
Story time at VBS
Entertainment was also provided by the puppets.
Tug'o'War was a real hit during game time!
Some of the damage down the street after the storm
The roads were blocked for 2 days because of the storm
Sunday, July 5, 2009
4th July at Westpoint Military Academy
The flag of Tennessee being presented during the parade of 50 states!
The view from Westpoint down the Hudson River
The stage for the military band. In front are seated all the new army officer cadets.
A video of the finale of the fireworks is below
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Well after several days of no internet connection we are back again in the land of wifi and able to update on the many things that have happened since last we posted!
The themes parks are just some of the attractions to be found here.
The miles of beach here are very beautiful and attractive. They are also a welcome break from the concrete of the city!
We had the opportunity to minister in some parks and work with teenagers. Here Jimmy Noreau is entertaining them with some 'magic' sticks and giving them the gospel at the same time.
On Saturday we travelled to Yonkers, a city north of the Bronx, to commence our ministry amongst the youth here. We had a great day meeting Pastor Dierking and his family as well as going out on youth visitation and 3 hours of soul winning. The Lord really blessed this effort and our partner Mark Thomas was able to lead 3 people to the Lord.
On Sunday we had the priviledge of having our first service with the youth here at Hudson View Baptist Church. We had Sunday school at 9:45 and Jonny commenced a series on brave young people in the Bible beginning with Joseph. Jessica was able to commence a series of missionary stories and focused on the life of Isobel Kuhn. Jonny then preached in the morning service and spoke from the text in Mark 8 ''whom say ye that I am?'', encouraging people to really go after souls and use every opportunity to witness of Jesus Christ. In the afternoon we had a teen church service with 20 children from the area in attendance.
Monday and Tuesday were spent back with the team. We were based in Brooklyn and focused our efforts on an area called Brighton Beach which is predominately Russian and Jewish. Although the language barrier was a real problem we praise God that over 3000 tracts and Bibles were given out and we trust Him for signs following this effort.
On Wednesday the whole team moved to Yonkers for a week. We are currently preparing for Vacation Bible School which is next week and also a youth activity which we plan to hold this weekend. Today was spent travelling throughout the neighbour hoods here giving out flyers and speaking to young people we met. Praise the Lord we also had the opportunity to go out late at night and witness to people on the streets and in the city square
Please continue to pray for us and specifically the following:-
-the WAR planned for Friday night with the teens. Please pray that many young people from the area will attend and join in the fun and games but most importantly hear the gospel message and come to that saving knowledge of Christ
-pray for VBS next week; that as a team we would totally yield to Christ and allow Him to work in and through us as He desires.
-pray for the health of all team members as some are feeling the strain.
Below are some shots from Brighton Beach. We will load some from Yonkers in our next post.
The themes parks are just some of the attractions to be found here.The miles of beach here are very beautiful and attractive. They are also a welcome break from the concrete of the city!
We had the opportunity to minister in some parks and work with teenagers. Here Jimmy Noreau is entertaining them with some 'magic' sticks and giving them the gospel at the same time.
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