Today in Brooklyn and Queens was characterized by steady light rain with occasional deviations into light mist or heavier rain. We logged a lot of miles under umbrellas throughout the day. 

We set out on the Metro this morning for Brooklyn for a day of learning about Turkish Muslim culture and faith. A Turkish believer, was also there to help orient us for the day. Over cups of Turkish tea we started getting the “flavor” of this group.

We were divided into smaller groups and then assigned particular neighborhoods that contained concentrations of Turkish people. We then could get lunch, supper and tea in various Turkish cafe’s and restaurants. We were encouraged to strike up conversations and learn all we could firsthand about Turkey and Islam directly from the Turkish people that we encountered. Overall, the assignment was more challenging than for some people groups in that the Turkish neighborhoods are less concentrated  and less visible than some other ethnicities. The groups enjoyed exploring Turkish cuisine and continue wrestling with how to begin and sustain concentrations with strangers.

(Center of table: Baklava deserts topped with shredded pistachios)

Groups had a variety of experiences…from missing train connections and landing in distant places to learning that using a restroom at a Brooklyn Dunkin Donuts can involve buying a coffee AND putting a quarter in the restroom door mechanism AND realizing that once inside this did not guarantee that any toilet paper was available.

One group launched out in pursuit of one of the famed live animal markets where a shopper can pick out a live chicken and then have it slaughtered, cleaned, bagged and in your shopping bag 10 or so minutes later. After a rather epic excursion, that involved a wrong turn that landed them in Jewish neighborhood where scores of Hasidic  or Othodox Jews in full dress (including massive hat rain covers) were on the street, the group discovered that one and then another of the live animal markets were closed.

We witnessed fascinating aspects of Turkish cuisine again at supper as represented by these giant vertical spools of lamb and chicken that were roasting with an occasional interruption of a restaurant worker shaving off the darkening meat on the outside of the spool.

…at this restaurant.

Groups were to reconvene at 7:30 for debriefing but instead filtered in over the next 1.5 hours with sundry tales of delays and tribulations aboard the subway system. Parents and friends are encouraged to ask for specific stories of the conversations that students had with various Turkish and folks of other nationalities today.

Hopefully a good nights sleep, a chance for our feet to dry and a long rest for weary feet will have us in shape to tackle another culture “yarin.”

Please pray that we will have courage and wisdom in the conversations that we enter. We also greatly desire growth in our understanding of ministry and how each of can utilize our gifts to grow the kingdom.

 

 

 

 

Day 3 was a day for learning about the spectrum of church opportunities here in NYC. Students attended the Anabaptist church options of Followers of Jesus, Life in Christ and Verrazano Fellowship. Non-Anabaptist options included New Life Fellowship and a few students took in a bonus service at Bienvenidos a la Comunidad de Fe of Most Precious Blood (a Spanish Catholic service).

Followers of Jesus graciously hosted a number of students and we then had the opportunity to witness their monthly-ish community dinner. Adult Sunday School was canceled so that adults could prepare a meal, reset the church space and then go out and invite community folks in for lunch. As lunch wound down, there was a short presentation of the Gospel and later an invitation to give prayer requests. The congregation also compiles their second hand clothes, etc to offer for free to community people who attend this dinner. It was a fascinating outreach.

F

Additional Churches attended

 

Afternoon found most of the group headed toward Brooklyn Bridge Park. Pier 2 is a fascinating park built out into the water on the Brooklyn side of the East River opposite Manhattan. Students were given an opportunity to spread out on the pier for some alone and journaling time.

Our first-rate tour committee provided hot pork sandwiches for supper at Pier 2.

After supper the group walked north along the east side of the East River toward the Brooklyn Bridge.

Despite the light rain the excursion across the Brooklyn Bridge into Manhattan was a delightful diversion before we plow into the heart of our trip beginning tomorrow.

After visiting Ground Zero we caught the metro back to Brooklyn where we had a debrief session that included analysis of ministry aspects that were notable so far and our reflections on the services that we attended today.

Till tomorrow…

 

The goals for today included learning to use the NYC metro system, receive input from Joel Yoder at the Mission Training Center, complete a ministry scavenger hunt and learning about Spanish/Catholic culture.

After breakfast we staged outside of the Kulp residence to prepare for our first major foray into the city via the metro. Throughout the day we attempted to become more skilled at avoiding the cardinal sin of “blobbing” (clustering as a group in a way that impedes pedestrian or traffic flow).

Our goal was to travel from Brooklyn over to the Elmhurst neighborhood of Queens (about 6 miles as the crow flies). After learning a few things about navigating rail construction detours, how to use the Citymapper app, lots of walking, learning to distrust addresses given on websites and about 2.25 hours of travel, we completed our journey to the Mission Training Center.

Joel Yoder from MTC gave an introduction to the neighborhood and sent us out in small groups on a multi-hour scavenger hunt. This neighborhood includes about 100,000 residents in an area of approximately 700 acres. Approximately 70% of the residents are 1st generation immigrants. While crime is present, Joel told us that the actual crime rate is higher in Holmes County, OH than in Elmhurst. Instructions for the scavenger hunt included…

-Finding a foreign language sign and asking someone to interpret it for us

-Counting residential units on a given block and estimating the number of residents

-Handing out 5 tracts

-Counting the number of passers by on a busy avenue in a 5 minute period

-Etc, etc.

Elmhurst quickly swallowed our 4 little teams with its incredible diversity of people and shops.

The scavenger hunt got Ben into quite a fishy situation.

It also started an interesting conversation about “eating meat offered to idols” after several students watched a worshipper presenting bananas to one of the gods in a Hindu temple and then the priest of said temple offered a student the gift of a banana. We concluded this portion of time with a second session led by Joel Yoder–this time outdoors at the Veterans Grove Playground.

Our next destination was the 5:00 mass at St. Bartholomews Catholic Church. There was plenty of food for thought from this 50 minute service.

Our return to the Highland Park neighborhood of Brooklyn by foot, rail and bus took about 1.75 hours. Our 8:00 supper was followed by lively discussions and then the dividing up into groups to attend 4 churches tomorrow morning.

Thank you for your prayers. Please continue to lift the group up to the Lord with requests for us to have encounters and experiences that will broaden our understanding of God’s heart for sharing the Good News.

We will now attempt to get some sleep amid the throbbing music that encompasses the neighborhood punctuated by the occasional car horn or siren. Farewell.

 

 

This morning the Ministry Apprenticing and General Studies students, accompanied by staff members Anita Yoder and Glendon Strickler, left FB at approximately 7:30 AM. With a destination of New York City and goals of learning ministry skills, expanding our knowledge of ministry opportunities and a desire to serve, we headed east from Guys Mills.

We stopped for lunch and some exercise at a park along the Susquehanna River near Bloomsburg, PA.

We arrived in the Borough of Brooklyn shortly before 5 PM. We quickly felt at home and were served a variety of Turkish dishes for supper.

Allen and Carolyn Roth joined us for supper after which Allen gave us an orientation to NYC and the work of DNI.

Following orientation we dispersed for the night to the homes of:

Jon & Annlyn Kulp

Hans & Sharon Burkholder

Lucia Aviles

Glen & Angela Beiler

Aaron & Teresa Wagler

Jim & Ruthi Gochnauer

Allen & Carolyn Roth

Day 1 is in the books! Farewell!

 

 

 

This year’s ministry tour is an opportunity to observe, accompany and learn from urban ministries and the people that they serve in the Big Apple. There is a different focus for each day as listed below.

September

7   Travel Day

8   Spanish/Catholic Day

9   Inner City Mission Day

10 Turkish Day

11 Hindu Day

12 Jewish Day

13 Homeless Day

14 Travel Day

 

From Plain News…

HURRICANE HARVEY OVERVIEW

With another, even larger, hurricane (Irma) poised to strike the US, it is easy to forget about the intensity and damage of Hurricane Harvey. The following statistics are compiled from several sources. Exact data on the dollar amount of damage cannot be figured at this point, as a few areas are still flooded and owners are just returning to their damaged homes and businesses.

Houston is the fourth largest city in the US, with over 6 million residents in the metro area (some 750,000 are not US citizens, with 500,000 being illegal immigrants). Houston has grown rapidly in the last 15 years, with over 20% increase in population. About 40% of the city is Hispanic. If Houston was an independent country, it would be the world’s 23rd largest economy. Some 24 inches of rain fell in the first 24 hours, with the highest amount being just under 52 inches in one area. Nashville, Tennessee, still got 10 inches of rain from the storm several days later.

• The most important loss is the loss of 60 human lives in 11 Texas counties. About half are from Harris County, which is the location of Houston.

• Estimates for total damage to buildings, infrastructure, and vehicles run between $45 and $180 billion. Hurricane Katrina’s (in New Orleans) damage reached $118 billion, the costliest hurricane to hit the US. If Harvey’s damage exceeds that, it will take the title. However, approaching Hurricane Irma may exceed both of these if conditions are right.

• About 16% of the US refining of crude oil was shut down. This is mostly short term, though, and only caused a 15-cent increase in gasoline prices in the US for a few days.

• Up to one million vehicles were damaged, about one out of every seven vehicles in the Houston area. By comparison, Katrina destroyed 200,000 vehicles. Some of the cars will be able to be sold as parts vehicles (mostly body parts, as electrical and power train components that have flooded cannot be sold as replacement parts). Replacing the destroyed vehicles could cause a shortage of vehicles in the area, and car dealerships will likely see a spike in sales.

• More than 200,000 houses have been damaged to some degree by winds and/or flooding, with 12,700 considered destroyed. About 70% of the affected homes are not insured against flooding (most homeowner plans only cover high winds, with the only available flood insurance being available through the federal government).

• One million people were temporarily displaced, with 39,000 people in shelters.

• Federal authorities rescued more than 10,000 people trapped in homes, with an unknown number rescued by private parties and aid organizations.

• At one point, 1/3 of the city of Houston was under water.

• Some 800 wastewater treatment plants were flooded, as well as 13 Superfund cleanup sites.

• Harris County has 35,431 “lane milesˮ of paved roads … meaning a lot of area where rainfall cannot soak in.

• US President Donald Trump asked Congress for about $8 billion in emergency funds to help in recovery of Harvey. In a deal with Democrats, this was given in connection with a 3-month extension of raising the national debt ceiling. This amount will be just a beginning in what is expected to be needed to fully deal with the destruction.

~Mike Atnip

Praise the Lord! Our caravan arrived back in Guys Mills a few minutes before 6 this evening. We gathered for supper and a brief debrief meeting at John and Barb Coblentz’s home.

After 8 days and approximately 3,500 miles on the road we are glad to be back. Our thoughts and prayers return often to the people that we had the privilege of serving in the midst of Harvey’s destruction.

Many, many thanks for your interest and prayers!

Farewell.

Each evening during our time in Houston, our group gathered for a debrief session in which we could reflect on the day.

Last evening students were asked to share a “take-away” from the experience. A common theme was the huge difference that perspective makes. Flood victims that had a perspective of faith in Christ expressed hope and usually ended up inspiring us. Those without faith in Christ presented a visible contrast with a variety of coping mechanisms…alcohol being a prominent one.

At the last house that we worked, a spirit of hopelessness prevailed. A student talked with the overweight “twenty-something” year old son who was one of the occupants. The son told how he coped as the water level rose in the house. He stated that he sat in the house in three feet of water playing video games. When asked why he did that in such dire circumstances, the reply was “If the ship is going down, you might as well go down with it.”

This morning we left Houston around 5:00 AM. Our route took us through Memphis (skyline below).

We arrived near Dickson, Tennessee (just west of Nashville) for supper around 7:00PM. Our hosts are Paul and Darlene Overholt along with their family.

The Overholt’s kindness and accommodations have been very refreshing. Several other families from the area are assisting in providing lodging.

The minivan, one of the three vans in our convoy, had been limping today with an increasingly concerning coolant leak. After supper our hosts were able to locate the needed part and a 25 mile round trip to town at 9:30 PM secured the replacement. It is a blessing that (hopefully) that issue is now resolved ahead of tomorrow’s 5:00 AM departure.

Of concern is a second van which seemed to be making additional noises that could be a prelude to a transmission issue. A basic exam tonight did not find any obvious physical issues. Please pray that the vehicles “behave” on the final leg of the trip.

Like yesterday, today was a very productive day of work. We spent the majority of the day at Emily’ house which had been flooded with 3-4 ft of water.

To understand the working environment, I toured the house upon arrival without a mask. Between the house tour and the pervasive smell of wet moldy drywall and furnishings that hung over the neighborhood, my chest felt a bit tight and achy for most of the next hour. We wore masks pretty religiously at this job.

Here Eileen points out the high water mark on the back door.

Here is a video tour of the house as we were concluding our work.

A few other pics of the workers today.

Our initial contact with University Baptist, the lodging place for the ladies and the hub for all our meals was a very special couple.

That couple was Ryan and Louisa Seapey. Louisa has many friendships that intersected with the group. Her role as group hostess was a key factor in this special trip.

The group also got to know one of the most spoiled long-haired chihuahuas that we have ever met. “Bentley Benjamin Etta-Dog Schmucker Martin Seapey” is quite a pooch.

Another unique aspect of the trip was the Baptist Convention’s mobile shower and laundry unit which sported the name of “Ms Betty.”

Miss Betty is parked at University Baptist and provided accommodations for the men as well as the numerous other relief worker groups stationed there. Visits to Ms Betty were an important part of keeping the men presentable.

Back to the workday… By mid-afternoon we were tired but non-the-less packed up and headed to a brand new job when word came through of a new opportunity. On this job, all our previous experiences came to play and we felt like a big family working together with a level of efficiency that surpassed all previous jobs. In two hours time we were able to remove the furniture and gut about 75% of the house from the floor to the four foot mark. Take a look at the gang in action!

In this case the residents have stayed living in the house even as the mold crawled up the windows and as we disassembled the structure around them.

In both jobs today we were grateful to have significant interaction with the homeowners that we hope brings honor to Jesus.

Tomorrow morning we plan to start our two day journey home with a 5:00 AM departure. Thanks for your many prayers! It has been a blessed time here in Houston.

Today was the most fulfilling day of the trip by far for most of the team. The whole FB group was assigned to work together at the same location. We arrived in an incredibly devastated neighborhood but found the assigned house already completed. You can tour a portion of the neighborhood with us below (video).

We found a big job at the next address. Selena was an older black lady that blessed us with her hope, gratefulness and faith.

Here are a few photos of the workers. We were amazed at how rapidly the mold was spreading through the house.

Our new wheelbarrow got a flat tire about an hour after we brought it from Lowes.

We took a late and extended lunch by Galveston Bay.

Part of the crew returned to Selena’s while other groups found our next assignment already completed and then scouted a job for tomorrow. Several guys worked the evening shift installing new Sheetrock at yet another location. Today felt like a gift…a chance to work hard, together.