This update comes from Christine, the new leader for our NYC location. She did not have a camera with her last Sunday, so there are no photos to post with this summary. Now that I know my shipments for this LTW ministry are being received, I will be sending more Bibles and resources for the table. Christine said that the next time she sets up, she hopes to take photos on her cell phone and get them to me for sharing on the blog. Pastor Matt did announce the outreach Sunday morning, and many of the members of First Baptist NYC stopped by the table. However, Christine was the only one working at the table. She writes below that she appreciated the pastor bringing her water and helping her get the supplies out of the church to the right location on the sidewalk. Shannon, Matt's assistant also helped. I told her that I knew her labor brought God joy. We pray other Christians will want to sit with her at the table to witness in time. The next time she will be setting up will be Sunday, Sept. 13th, right after the church service at First Baptist NYC on 79th and Broadway.
Pastor Matt did get your shipment, they received a notice from USPS that it is ready to pick up. He said he is still working on the sign. He helped me set up and stuck around for a bit, then supplied me with water to drink (because it was an extremely humid day!) but had to get home to his wife and baby. It looked like it was going to start raining at any moment at times, but the Lord held it off until I put everything back inside the church-- then it started raining! :)
I was out there alone and it was fine, Shannon (Matt's assistant) was inside the church at the doors; they left the church open, so she was sitting there. And then when I was ready to put everything back inside, she helped me out.
I was finally set up in front of the church around 12:45pm and stayed out until around 3:15pm. There was a woman who came by from another church, who saw the Hebrew New Testaments and asked if she could have one for a friend of hers. I said sure, but she asked to make a donation and again I said sure, if you'd like. [We only take donations from Christians; everything is free for the lost.] She gave me $17 for the 2 Hebrew/English Bibles.
A man from the church came up and asked if there was a Bible in Arabic for an Islamic man to whom he is talking, and he took the booklet on John and Romans.
A lady came up and was looking at the table, and I saw that her eyes and hands kept going back to the NKJV Bible, so I told her that it was free for her to take-- she was very happy to take it and started reading as she walked on down to the subway station. Another man took the Moshiach book and the Far From Rome book. A lady came up and laughed at the offerings of books and commented, "only in NY." Then there was one other strange incident where this homeless looking man came up and stood beside me and was talking to someone through his shirt "over there" and stood there for a bit. Because of that I was a little nervous about what he might do but then prayed to God to please send him away, and he then went away!
All in all my first day ever was interesting and went well. There weren't too many people who came up to the table, but I enjoyed being out there for Jesus. The NYC Atheists still have their table set up in front of the Time Warner building and Planned Parenthood is patrolling the streets these days. I know the Lord was with me!
The weekend after Labor Day will be when I can next set-up the table. Until then, Bibles are most needed, I think-- English and Arabic.
Praise to our Lord always and I am thankful for Him leading me to this ministry!
Christine
