Month: August 2018

Vacation Bible School and physical plant projects once again took up the bulk of the day. For lunch we ate family style at a Cuban Restaurant – very much a crowd pleaser.

On Tuesday we continued to work hard at Vacation Bible School and doing physical plant projects around Christ, Woodside. Pastor Hollmann took us out to lunch at an Indian Buffet. Finally, we ended the day by taking in a Mets game. They won!

Apologies for not updating over the last few days. They have been packed full from six in the morning until midnight every single day.

Monday was our third day of the mission trip, and it was the first day of our on sight work. On Monday through Friday, we are leading a Vacation Bible School in the Corona neighborhood of Queens. Corona is a primarily Central American neighborhood. Over a hundred years ago, Germans lived in the area and planted Emanuel Lutheran church. Emanuel hasn’t had a real congregation for a couple of decades, but our host pastor, Rev. Dr. Joshua Hollmann, has been working hard over the last nine years to see to it that ministry activities continue there in the hopes of restarting a congregation. And, it looks like some good things are in the works over the next couple of years that perhaps they can have a brand new facility, a partnership with the city, and a boots on the ground pastor.

Where we come in on this effort is that by doing children’s ministry there, people will already have a connection and bond with Emanuel so that the pastor will be working with a neighborhood receptive to his ministry. No matter what happens with all these plans (and we certainly hope they come to fruition!), we thank God for the opportunity to work alongside him in His mission by bringing the Gospel to the children of Corona.

Every morning we begin in the sanctuary where we have opening and storyteller time. Our first day we had fifteen children. Not a bad start! On our first day of VBS we learned about how God is always with us, just like God was with Baby Moses.

But, we wanted more children than this. Throughout the day we had team members on the sidewalk, signing children up for the VBS. This paid off, but you’ll have to wait for the next day’s post to find out how well it paid off!

Is any Vacation Bible School complete without a game of Duck Duck Goose?

Or Red Light Green Light?

The kid in back is giving a thumbs up for snack so it must have been good.

Practicing our songs during music time!

I truly believe that it is vital to celebrate your hard work, so after VBS we went over to Manhattan to take in some sights. The kids were really excited about the subway.

The first place we visited was the Metropolitan Museum of Art. These winged man bulls were in an Assyrian royal court, and I really enjoyed explaining some of the connections these had to Bible history.

We walked all they way from the museum through Central Park, down 5th Avenue, and eventually to Time Square. Along the way we saw various sculptures, fountains, and ornate buildings. We also took a little stroll through St. Patrick’s Cathedral. When all was said and done, we walked over thirteen miles on Monday.

Thank you to all of you who have and are supporting this trip through your efforts, contributions, and prayers. We praise God for this opportunity.

Sunday was church day! We started out by helping set up for the cookout that would be happening after church. After that we got dressed up for service. Service was wonderful. It was a liturgical service utilizing three languages (English, American Sign Language, and Spanish). In addition, they asked us to sing one of the songs we will be teaching the VBS kids (“God’s On Our Side”). There was also a baptism, which brought some relation all the way from Argentina. Church was absolutely full, and we treasured receiving God’s gifts with our brothers and sisters in Queens.

After church was the cookout. We had shipped Wisconsin brats (and Belgian Trippe!) from Marchants, so that figured prominently. In addition, there were South American dishes, Indian dishes, and more. It truly was a party atmosphere, with fun tunes playing, and the baptismal party sharing cake with the whole group. So fun.

Finally, we attended their Bengali service in the evening. Even though the majority of the service was in a language other than our own, we still could follow along pretty well, as their liturgy was very similar to the liturgy we are familiar with back home. Isn’t that something, that people from disparate cultures and languages can be united by their mutual patterns of worship!

Pastor Chris was asked to concelebrate the Sacrament.

We were very much welcomed by the Bengali congregation, and we were inspired by their love for the Lord Jesus. They spoke freely about missionary zeal, and some of their members are first-generation converts to Christianity.

[wpvideo rIfXogNc]

Fundraising and planning and praying finally got us to the day of our departure on Saturday. 20 participants, sixteen youth and four adult leaders, gathered early at our sister congregation, St. John’s at Rankin, to set off for Queens, New York City.

Every morning, Monday through Friday, we will be leading a Vacation Bible School in the Corona neighborhood of Queens. Here is our VBS in a suitcase:

Travel went really smoothly. No delays or any other problems on our flights. These were still prayerful experiences, though, because it was the first time flying for many of our youth.

After landing, we got picked up by some members of the congregation and soon found ourselves at our host congregation, Christ Lutheran Church in Woodside, Queens.

Once we got settled in, we took a walk around the neighborhood, got a scoop of ice cream, and then finally ended the day with our team meeting and Evening Prayer.