November 2007 Newsletter

Hello Everyone!

I pray you are all doing well and are happy, safe and looking forward to the Holidays. I'm writing this a few days before Thanksgiving, but you may not receive it until after the weekend. Either way, I wish you a blessed day of reflecting on all the things that God has given you in life.

I was blessed to see many of you when I visited Rogers AR a few weeks ago. How sweet to see your faces and feel your hugs! It's a little glimpse of what the reunion in Heaven will be like one day. Of course, it will be even better! Usually when God makes a place feel like home, it feels like just visiting when you go back to your last home. Well, God has allowed me to feel 'at home' in both Rogers and in NYC. And they couldn't be more different from each other! But when you are in the place He wants you, it can't help but feel right.

I flew back to NYC on Nov 1. I had a good flight back and took a taxi to my apartment. I had to lay down and eat soda crackers to get over the taxi ride (I always get queasy in a taxi). Then I ran to the library a few blocks away and then took off walking down to the 'Space' for work until 11pm. Then I worked over a week before getting another day off. Ah... back to normal!

Well, the weather is getting colder. This will be my first winter in New York. I'm sure it will be challenging. It's already wet and cold and windy on my way to work. I'm still trying to walk as many days as possible. The last few years in AR I was missing the good snows of my birth home state, Indiana. Maybe God was preparing me for winters here, hmmmmm.

Last weekend a few of us from the411nyc worked with an agency called 'Here's Life Inner City'. It's like Samaritan Community Center in Rogers. We went to their warehouse-type facility in Long Island City to help pack 5,000 boxes with groceries to feed a family of 6. That's 30,000 people. It was so much fun to work with members of churches from all over the 5 boroughs. There were a couple hundred volunteers, so they rotated us around a lot. This way we got to meet a lot of people. It was great. After 5 hours of packing boxes, we loaded our vehicles (we rented a truck for part of the day) and drove our boxes to our various ministry areas. The411nyc boxes were dropped at the Space and then people took each box to a family using a hand truck (dolly) and walked down the street (the usual way of delivery here). We delivered boxes Saturday afternoon, Sunday afternoon and finished up one family Monday afternoon. (it takes a while to walk to that many places) It was not only a good outreach to the recipient families, it was good fellowship time with each other. We are going to put together some things for Christmas and return to some of the families we met through Boxes of Love this past weekend. I was really missing this type of work. It feels strange for me not to be up to my eyeballs in preparations for Thanksgiving and Christmas blessings at FBC Rogers...

Speaking of Thanksgiving, I will be sharing it with some friends on an island just off of Long Island. My friend, Erin, is a nanny and the family she works for has a house on Shelter Island. 3 or 4 of us are going out there on Wednesday to enjoy the holiday. I'll come back on Friday afternoon so I can work on Saturday. We are all cooking part of the dinner and will sit around visiting and watching football and just plain relaxing. Of course, we will have to watch the parade on TV. The parade goes down the street just a few blocks from my apartment, but there are so many people, I probably wouldn't go in person. It's much warmer inside anyway. But it's fun to know that I'm that close!

I'll miss everyone working at FBC Rogers on Thanksgiving morning. All the cooking and packing food and everything. I'll be thinking of you all during that time.

There will be 7 churches sending teams up for missions in December. I'll be on the streets with different groups for 20 of the 31 days of December. We will be doing free gift wrapping on the streets, in Herald Square (by Macy's) and in Times Square. We will also give out free hot coffee in the mornings to people on their way to work. We'll take some cookies and things to the police precincts in our area. And some will do 'honey-do lists' in our space. (people in NYC don't know what a honey do list is. Must be a southern thing.) I'm ready to hear Christmas carols. I was down by Hearld Square today and saw the animated Christmas windows at Macy's. Lincoln Center will light their tree on Monday. Bryant Park will light their stuff up on Tuesday. And Rockefeller Center will light their famous tree on Wednesday. It's going to be pretty!

My Sister and Niece are coming for a 4 day visit the week after Thanksgiving. I look forward to showing them around to some of the things here. We are planning on seeing the Rockettes (I actually know one!) and going to an Off-Off Broadway show that some friends are rehearsing at our Space. Also, there is a show 'going up' in our Theatre that weekend. So they can get a little taste of acting and singing without paying the Broadway prices. (of course there are 20+ Broadway shows that are 'dark' due to the stagehands strike right now). I figure my Sis will hate most things about NYC, the noise, the dirt, the crowds, the inconvenience, etc. But I'm honored that she is wanting to come and see me. They are going to stay with me in my little room. It will be very cozy! But we won't be in the apartment much anyway. That's part of living in the city, you are never home!

Speaking of guests, Megan Corbett and a friend are planning ton staying with me a couple of days in December, too. A little coziness is worth it when it saves hundreds of dollars on hotel rooms! I'm glad to be able to offer the space.

I've seen Tiffany and Josh a couple of times in passing. We keep saying that we will spend some time together, maybe dinner, playing board games, watching a movie, etc. But time just keeps going by. I've seen Melvin and Melina and Lonnia a few times. Melvin and Melina came over and played Jenga one evening. They usually catch me on the way home from a long day of work and I'm just too tired to have much company on those days. I told them I would have them over sometime for a board game tournament and snacks. Now I just need to get the time off. I figure there will be lots of snowy days this winter that we will want to stay inside. That will be a good time to enjoy each other.

We have had so many new people visiting the Space and the Artist's Lounge lately. It's been really great. We've had some new people in Sunday Worship, too. I'm enjoying being 'mother' to everyone. I've got to spend more time with the411 family, too. There are so many interesting people here. And people are more open to meeting and getting to know each other. There are lots of Christians mixed in with theatre groups and dance troupes. God has given me a very interesting life here. He's also given me an openness and boldness that is stronger than before. People are interested in knowing what others believe and it's easy to share my experiences with them. Then they get to know you and watch how you live and then that gives what you have shared more credibility. Every word and action can be a step to someone finding their way to our Lord.

One evening I got a call in the office from someone who had received a card from the411 during the International Food Festival in 2005. She lost her job the day she called me. She had been cleaning up some stuff and ran across that 2 year old card. She is a Christian and knows that she can go to another Christian, even one she doesn't know, and have prayer together. We had a nice talk and she said she would start going to church again in New Jersey where she lives. We prayed together on the phone. We both felt so good when we hung up. She and I have emailed a few times since then.

Someone visited our Worship service this past Sunday. He found out about us from one of our 411 ink pens that he was given on the street. He was a little nervous coming to church, but he soon found things in common with a couple of the guys. He heard the message, felt welcomed and will be contacted this week by some fo our 411 family. I think he's looking forward to coming back.

These stories tell you how our Big God is using the little pieces of our ministry to reach His children - in His time and in His way. To Him be the glory of this ministry.

God answered my prayer about a permanent home here in NYC. I was subletting the first 6 months. I don't qualify for an apartment in NYC. I don't make enough money or have a strong credit history or have a co-signer. But God created a miracle in me getting a lease in my name with no extra money down. He is good. It makes me know that this is where He wants me for now. This experience is an open door to sharing God's intervention with others in NYC, because they know how unbelievable it is. God can use any situation to reach people for Him.

Well, I received so many positive comments about my letter 'home' that I decided that maybe they weren't too long and boring after all. This letter is turning into a novel!

Before I close, I would like to ask you to pray for some people. And I thank you for doing so.

Pete is a guy I met at the bus stop one cold morning. He is an iron worker who works way up high on the skyscrapers. We talked about where we're from (he's born and raised in NYC). He asked what brought me here and I had the chance to tell him about God and the411nyc. I told him I would pray for him whenever I saw a building under construction (that's a lot in NYC!) He said that 'it's always good to have a good word with the man upstairs'. I gave him my card. Maybe he'll visit or call the411 someday. At least he will know that someone is praying for him.

Alma is an actress/dancer/singer who comes in the lounge a lot. She's a Buddhist, but her younger half-sister is a Christian and is coming to visit this coming week. Alma is excited to bring Jasmine to the411nyc since she knows that we share beliefs. Pray for Alma and her sister.

Pray for the people involved in the show that is rehearsing and performing at our Space through mid-December. The director and a couple of actors are Christians. Other people in the company are not. Pray that being in a space run by Christians will help the Believers in the cast to share their beliefs.

Pray for all the people who will be touched by the411 during the December missions.
Pray for safety and health for the mission teams.
Pray that the teams will be blessed, stretched and ministered to, even while they are ministering to others.
Pray for the protection of the411 staff from the enemy and all his tricks, deceptions and meddling.
Pray that the live Nativity that we and other believing churches will participate in on December 18 will be successful in reaching people's attention and turn their thoughts to the real reason for Christmas.
Pray that the weather will not keep us off the streets doing our missions outreach in December.

Thank you all for your prayers and love and support to make it possible for me to be here to serve. This ministry is yours, too. Never doubt the impact that your prayers make in the lives of people that you won't meet until Heaven, but who are touched by God through your obedience to pray and give and love. We are all missionaries.