nyc round 3.

A few weeks ago, I wrote about my mission trip to New York City and described the work we did that week... Well I thought it would be cool to follow that up with a photo blog of some sight-seeing that we did throughout the trip. (Sorry that it took me so long to get these pictures up) This was my third trip to the "Big Apple" so I skipped a few of the mainstream attractions like the Empire State Building...

                

Central Park! I seriously want to go on a run here someday. Sadly, it was freezing and I was still in my walking boot on the trip. One day though! 

FAO Schwartz... Pretty much the coolest toy store EVER. This is always a must-see when I go to NYC. The Batman picture is actually a joke with a friend who took a picture with him last time we were in the city! It's still pretty legit... he is made entirely of Legos!

Trump Tower. The wall was a fountain! Buttt our favorite part was the "T" on the windows because it looks JUST like our "Power T"... Go VOLS!

I wish I could remember the name of this church... it was off of 5th Avenue...

Rockefeller Center! The only thing missing was the Christmas Tree (and Will Ferrell for all you ELF fans)

Time Square!

Ground Zero. The new Freedom Tower is almost finished (first picture) and the World Trade Towers Memorial is open to the public (other pictures). This was by the far the most emotional sight-seeing we did. They are still constructing a few more buildings and a transportation hub on the site. During my other two trips to NYC the memorial was still under construction so it was awesome to finally see it. 

 Staten Island Ferry. Views of Manhattan, New Jersey, Ellis Island, Liberty Island and the Brooklyn Bridge. 

Wall Street. Kristi and I took a picture here to show our Business Strategy professor but we never did...

Longest Subway Platform EVER. Scott and I ran... just to say we did.

Greenwich Village! This was one part of NYC I had never been to and ALWAYS wanted to see. It is now my FAVORITE part of the city. It has a small neighborhood feel inside such a big place. Plus, I actually found the building that the show FRIENDS is based off of (the last picture) which was awesome. 

Washington Square Park. Apparently I'm going to be in a music video...? Yes, that is me in the bright blue shirt (second picture). I stick out like a sore thumb haha.

New Hope Christian Church in Queens. One of the coolest worship experiences of my life. Such a great way to start off the week.

Hindu temple. We were able to tour their facility... the inside was extravagant (we couldn't take pictures once inside). This was a cool experience but so heart-breaking to see the brokenness of the people inside... they were putting all their hope into golden idols. Praying for these peoples' souls. 

Gyro. so so so good. (This picture is for my Pops, who loves gyros)

This was on the wall of one of the ESL centers we worked at. So sweet. I really want to visit Africa soon... (cough cough... Kahler and Katy Stone)

NYC Fire Station. Tell me this isn't what you picture when you think of a fire station in New York?!

Empire State Building. This is as close as I got this trip. (I have been up to the top before though)

Best. Gelato. Ever.

STOMP! Every time I've been to NYC, I've had the privilege of seeing a Broadway show (The Lion King, Wicked... and now STOMP). This was such a fun night! These two lovely ladies are some of my favorites! The only thing missing was Alex...

urban impact.

Last week was my spring break (quite possibly my last spring break) and the ministry that I serve with at UT partnered with three local churches to sponsor a mission trip to the Big Apple. (Fun Fact: I went to NYC on a mission trip spring break of my freshmen year as well... starting and ending college with a trip to the 'city that never sleeps') I'm gonna have another entry soon on all of the sight-seeing stuff we did the first weekend in the city but this post is meant to focus on the reason we were there:

The organization that I had the opportunity to serve with for the week was Urban Impact. Their mission is to reach out to immigrants who come from the most remote and unreached areas of the world. They are a Christian non-profit organization that spreads the name of Jesus through teaching English as a Second Language. Sounds awesome, right?! It is!

I had the privilege of "teaching" on three different occasions which is an INCREDIBLE experience. All of the guys I worked with were extremely receptive and eager to learn but I had a special session with one guy in particular... 

This is Sam. He is from West Africa (I never could understand exactly which part haha). He's only been in America for 10 months and he currently sells cell phone accessories. He has a wife and four children (three daughters and a son) still in Africa and his whole objective is to bring them here for a "better life." I think a big reason this time was so special for me was not just due to the connection we had but the Lord has laid it on my heart to go to Africa at some point in my life (hopefully soon). 

Something else you should know is that we stayed in Rockaway Beach, Queens, which was hit HARD by Hurricane Sandy. Some of the stories we heard were terrifying and something I pray I never have to experience first-hand... but hearing all of this really helped us to connect to the people we were serving. In fact, Urban Impact is actually helping to launch a church right there on the island and we were blessed to be able to help. We worked on construction projects and handed out ALOT of flyers for promotion and it was SO WORTH IT. It was perfect (AKA God) timing because they still had a lot of work to do when we arrived in order to launch on Easter Sunday... but it was a HUGE success! They had over 150 guests last week with a few people accepting Christ! It's such a blessing that the Lord allowed us to be a small part of it. Here are a few pictures of the church to give you a better idea: (it was originally an old warehouse that Urban used to house supplies for the victims of Sandy)

 

So that's a small glimpse of what we did by partnering with Urban Impact last week. I could list countless stories of how the Lord worked through small conversations, street evangelism, the ESL classes, on the island and so many things... but it's hard to get the full effect through a blog. SO, please feel free to call/text/email/Facebook me and ask more about my trip and this wonderful ministry!