Tales from New York--part 2

I have realized more that this documentation of my trip is more for me to look back on and read about later. But isn't that the purpose of a blog? to be able to go back and look at what we have done in the past or to see how we have grown. If you missed part 1 of my adventures, the first two days of the trip, you can read Part 1

On Saturday March 2, we had a work day. We clean up at a local church and it wasn't my favorite thing to do but I knew that we were going to do this at some point during the trip so I had prepared myself. I think we were outside for about four hours and I was freezing but it was also a fun bonding experience. We got back in the evening and just hung out and bonded some. I loved the evenings because we were able to hang out with each other and just relax.

Sunday the 3rd, we attended the church that we were staying at. The service was really interesting and it was so fun to see such a multi ethnic group of people. There were people of Indian, Chinese and then of course our group. The church was very small, about 40 people or so. One of the things that really stuck out to me while we were there is that there was a time to greet people and it lasted about fifteen minutes. You went around and were able to greet everyone in the entire church. I loved that because I got to see everyone who was in the service. Granted that would not be as easy with a bigger congergation but it was still neat to really see the body of Christ come together and greet one another. After the service we booked it over the church that we had worked at on Saturday because we were supposed to have lunch with some people from their congregation. While, there was a miscommunication and we got there late and they did not know that we were coming that day. So we just sort of sat around and talked to a few people and they still made us food and fed us which I think was really nice. In the evening, we took a train and visited another church and the service there was shorter than the one that we had attended in the morning. Following the service, we had a meal with the congregation. The thing that is unique about this particular church is that they welcome literally anyone into their church, homeless, rich or poor. Anyone is truly welcome to come and engage in the church community. I think that sometimes some churches should not cater to a certain audience but instead truly be open to anyone attending their church. Again, I loved the model of the church that all three of the churches exemplified. It was truly a beautiful experience and the best was yet to come.

Stop by for part 3 tomorrow!