Big Apple, Bigger God: How the Lord Broke Down Barriers in New York
by Kaase Boer
This June we took 25 students and 7 leaders to New York School of Urban Ministry to share the gospel, learn to serve, and be challenged to step outside of our comfort zones. We spent the week splitting into 3 groups each day and travelling all over New York City, serving the homeless, sharing the gospel, preaching on the subway, and communicating with diverse and unique people from all over the world. We served from 8 in the morning until almost 11 at night, and averaged over 20 thousand steps per day! God’s hand was clearly seen and felt throughout the preparation, execution, and even in the follow up from the trip. We saw His faithfulness as we fundraised and prayed for the trip, with many church members, family, and friends providing funds and support. It was an exhausting but amazing trip, which I am excited to share even a small portion of the testimony!
Something that was made clear to Jena (our High School Ministry Resident) and I as we prayed over the team was that this was a trip that needed to be barrier breaking. Young people experience so many barriers as they seek to grow in their faith and develop their relationships with others. Barriers of finances were broken down as individuals fundraised and sacrificed, as well as through the faithful giving of the church family. Barriers of fear and anxiety were broken down as teams supported each other in doing the hard thing, even if failure or rejection seemed possible. Barriers of comfortability and cliques were broken down as we shuffled our groups and served alongside people that we may have not chosen without encouragement. God answered, our team was obedient, and He blessed us through it!
Due to our group being fairly large, and getting 32 people on and off the subway reliably had already given me a few extra gray hairs the first day, I was grateful that we split into 3 groups for our ministry days. Because of this, our team got to experience a wide array of service and ministry opportunities, spanning the city. We did homeless outreach across the boroughs and in Times Square, a food truck and prayer station at various sites, prepared food at a soup kitchen, ministered to both an orthodox and a conservative Jewish community, served at a food pantry, served hot dogs and prayed over veterans, witnessed a midday prayer at a mosque and spoke with the Imam, worshipped with and served at a nursing home, did children’s ministry in Harlem, evangelized on the Staten Island Ferry, and together we had a prayer walk on the Brooklyn Bridge and at the Ground Zero Memorial.
These were only the scheduled ministry opportunities, which doesn’t include the dozens of conversations on the Subway, in the airport, during our late night ice cream and Wingstop runs, and while we walked to and from our destinations. God was building an increasing boldness and desire to step out in faith, and to reach the lost with every action. Each and every student as well as leader had at least one gospel conversation and/or prayed over someone, and every one of us was stretched and pushed to grow in our capacity to serve and to share the gospel. This is especially impressive considering that many of our students on the trip don’t even love talking to the people they know, nevertheless someone on the street whom they have never met before!
We spoke with veterans who were broken by the sins of the world and the sins that they were ordered to commit, who need to find forgiveness and peace from the one who paid the price for that sin. We spoke with weary and hopeless travellers on the subway, who need to find rest in their creator. We spoke with misguided and fearful believers of their own path or the path of false religion, who need assurance of salvation that can only come from Jesus Christ and Christ alone. We sat next to and rubbed shoulders (literally) with people who may never hear the gospel again, save for what some 16 year old student from Wellspring shared for 30 seconds on a crowded train as an act of faith.
We learned to see people. Not to look past them as we walk down the street, but to see them as uniquely made in the image of God, and in need of His presence in their lives. The city is not full of nameless and random people to be disregarded or disconnected from our lives here in Michigan. They are: Eric, Vladimir, David, John, Samuel, Jose, Peaches, Carl, Mitchell, Ronald, Alexis, Hector, Esau, Gabriel, Mark, Michael, Lawrence, Lisa, Brandon, Victoria, Joy, Jaheim, Terrell, Patrick, Makayla, Jacqueline, Malix, Analesia, GiGi, Blue, OG, Marvin, Britannia, Mike, Oscar, Henry, Benny, Jamal, Rob, Yabadu, Muctfasa, Kurtis, Daniel, Juan, Alex.
There are so many stories and examples of how awesome our young people are, how faithful and encouraging our youth leaders were, or how wonderful God was on this trip, but for the sake of time and attention span, I will share just one.
We had one “free day” worked into our schedule on Friday, and we had planned a full day of sightseeing, shopping, and dining all over 5th avenue, central park, and Times Square. As the day drew to a close, a few of the more tired and perhaps wiser students went back to NYSUM with a leader or two while the rest of us decided to stay out in the city for a few more hours of fun. After a certain time of the day, the train schedule shifts and our way back became confusing, made even more so because of a rather frustrating Google Maps glitch that sent us back into Manhattan instead of into Queens where our beds were waiting for us. We ended up having to walk just over 1 ½ miles back to NYSUM after an entire day of fun but tiring adventures of hopping on and off trains as the doors were closing and our leaders were trying unsuccessfully to navigate the late night subway routes.
Immediately after hearing the news, a student asked if I needed him to “keep the vibes high,” which was a welcome response as one of the leaders and I were planning our trek through unfamiliar dark New York streets. Not a minute later, a student and then another leader both came up separately to me and said that they were feeling like this happened for a reason, and that God was trying to do something with it. Our group then proceeded to worship loudly and joyfully the whole way back as we reached 30,000 steps for the day, winding through much less joyful and vibrant neighborhoods to get back to our thin mattresses and cockroach roommates for the night. What would have normally been a source of complaining and stress with another group turned into an opportunity to bond through worship and encouragement.
These are the young people of Wellspring. They are joyful and patient in the midst of adversity.
They sacrifice their time, money, and sometimes even their comfort to be the hands and feet of Christ. They are bold and courageous. They are kind and compassionate. They are intelligent and wise. They are willing and obedient to listen to God’s voice. They are ready for the next challenge that God throws their way. They are changing the world around them and claiming it for the Kingdom.
They are United!
P.S. - There are well over a thousand pictures and videos from our trip, and dozens of encouraging stories and testimonies. Please connect with students and leaders that went on the trip to ask them about their experience, and to share in the joy of hearing how God worked through Wellspring!
If you would like to talk with me about what God is doing in our youth group and how you can be involved either indirectly or directly, I would love to get coffee and connect! You can reach me at kboer@wellspringcc.org, or find me on a Sunday morning!
Kaase Boer is the Director of Family Ministries at Wellspring Church. Email Kaase