This was our final day in State College. We woke up early, packed our bags, loaded the vans, and headed to Sowers Harvest Café for our last meal in the city.
We soon had to leave, so we thanked Bryant for the generous hospitality that he and his team showed us through the week and embarked on our journey to New York City.
Ben’s family kindly invited us to lunch at their home. Since our route went right through their area, we accepted the invitation. Our stay was short, but we enjoyed meeting Ben’s parents and siblings, eating the delicious food that Ben’s mother made for us, and playing a few tunes on their Yamaha piano.
From Ben’s home, we made the several-hour trek to New York City. As we rode, we passed through beautiful mountains painted with colors of yellow, red, and orange fall leaves. Josiah and Ben dexterously navigated the two vans into the city and brought us to Ministry Training Center safely.
We arrived before 4:00 PM at Ministry Training Center in Elmhurst, New York. This will be our base for the remainder of our trip.
The Center’s staff graciously welcomed us, showed us to our rooms, oriented us to the week, gave us a feast of taco soup, and sent us out on our first assignment, a scavenger hunt. We had a list of things to do, such as:
- Ask someone what country they were born in.
- Find out the average price of eels or turtles to eat.
- Find a Hindu or Buddhist temple and pray for light against the darkness.
- Buy an empanada and bubble tea.
Since the Center is located in a region of the city that has many first-generation immigrants, many languages, many cultures, and numerous religions, the scavenger hunt allowed us begin to become acquainted with this area of the city, its people, and its cultures.
After the activity, we returned to the Center, shared stories of our experiences, completed journaling assignments, and went to bed in America’s most populous city.
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