After a delicious breakfast of quiche, we set off for the South Asian Community Center, SACC for short. The South Asian Community Center is near Jackson Heights, an area of Queens where many people from South Asia and South America live.
Camille, one of the leaders and a teacher at SACC, welcomed us to a classroom and oriented us to the neighborhood and SACC. SACC is a Christian organization that is seeking to serve the people of Jackson Heights by offering services such as English classes, immigration help, and citizenship classes. We would be involved today by helping in the TESOL classroom, staffing an information table, and prayer walking.
Classes for men and women are separate, so we began with the ladies staying inside to help teach the women’s TESOL class, and the men going outside to staff the table and pray while walking along the sidewalks. However, after the women’s was completed, we learned that the men who would normally be at the men’s TESOL class had gone to a wedding, so the men from our group were unable to teach.
After packing up the table, we parted ways in small groups to find lunch in the nearby restaurants and food trucks.
Back at the Center, we absorbed a time of teaching called “Go, Make Disciples” in which we were guided through brainstorming and discussing ways that we can be involved in outreach and ministry in our home communities. The time was full of practical tips and advice. When the teaching was done, Nathan led a time of singing.
Monica made us a Bengali supper of rice, beef curry, lentils, and sweet vermicelli noodles. In Bengali fashion, we ate with our fingers and sat cross-legged on mats on the floor. The food was absolutely delicious, and we immensely enjoyed our final supper at the Center.
Our day ended with an extended time of debriefing and reflection on the trip. We acknowledged that many from the ministries in State College and the staff at Ministry Training Center gave much to us, making our trip a success, so we all wrote notes to these brothers and sisters, thanking them for their good work, teaching, and contagious passion.
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