Memorable Moment #4: New York, New York

Nate and I have been really fortunate to be able to travel a little bit. It is something that we both love and would love to do more often (if it was free), but for now we will settle for the amazing mission trips we have been able to be a part of.

I had always wanted to go to New York. Who doesn't want to go there? In the summer of 2008 we took 60 youth and sponsors to the wonderful city. It was a little overwhelming walking in the middle of Times Square trying not to lose anyone and riding the subway everywhere, but we all had a blast and made it back alive.

We did a lot of prayer walking and got to see a lot of the city while we were there. It was a dream come true and a week we will never forget. From the first step out of the airplane... while I had "New York, New York" playing on my ipod..... It was an adventure.

Brooklyn Bridge

Times Square

Corner of Broadway and Wall St. (Trinity Church) aka: where they found the treasure on National Treasure, one of our favorite movies.

We were there during the All Star Baseball game. It's a shame we couldn't get everyone a cheap seat ticket... they were only $600. ha.

On the ferry to the Statue of Liberty.... This is as close as we got.

Nate loved the street vendors.

I loved the falafle.... mmmmm.... I was so happy to find them!

Top of the Rock! Looking at the Empire State Building, and the whole city at night was beautiful!

Trying to be Romeo and Juliet in Central Park

I love Broadway!!!

Ground Zero

And I want to end this memorable moment with what I learned from big bad New York City. It is a beautiful city, with endless things to do. The place is as busy at 2:00am as it is during the middle of the day. It is definately a place where you would never be bored, but also a place where it would be hard to live. One of my favorite pictures I took is this one:It just shows a bunch of people sitting in the middle of Central Park, and you can see the busy city behind. I imagine if we lived there I would be here a lot, just to get away from all the crowds. It is a wonderful, gigantic get away right in the middle of the city.

There aren't a lot of churches there, or Christians. We were all kind of amazed at the magnitude of Mission: New York. This is why we covered the city in prayer, knowing that God is the God of this city, and it needed/needs the Holy Spirit to move in a mighty way.

We can all learn something from this picture, and from New York. Nothing is too big for God.... Our God is too big for us to even understand. He can and will change the hearts of people anywhere, even crazy New York. Just like the people there go to the park to "get away" we should slow down sometimes and really focus on who God is. Write down your Godview, think about the Holy Spirit, Pray for God to show you how you need to change. These are things I am doing right now. We can never know enough or pray enough or spend time in His word too much.

Although we did cover 5,200 miles all together as a team that week, there is still more to cover. We can't wait to go back some day!