Training, Fellowship, and Exploring

Those are the three words that sum up these past few days.

I can't believe week one is almost over already...I have a feeling five weeks are going to FLY by!! We've been packing as much in as possible this week--it seems like the only time that we're really sitting during a normal day is for about 3 or 4 hours when we have evangelism training/"track time," which entails get-to-know-you activities with our track. On a side note, there are actually five "tracks" of Crusade students on project here in NYC this summer. There's the Epic track, which is reaching out to Asian American students; there's the Bridges track, which reaches out to international students in general; there's the Innercity track, which ministers to the homeless and underpriveleged in the city; there's the Arts track, which obviously reaches out to the Arts students; and then there's the track I'm on, the Campus track, which reaches out to college campuses in general.

This week has just been a preparation week--getting to know each other, exploring the city, and being trained in evangelism--in order to prepare us for when we'll begin going on campuses to share the Gospel this coming Monday, which we'll do Monday through Thursday for the remaining weeks. One of the presentations that the staff gave today that I enjoyed the most was about "decoding." This involves researching different aspects about a college campus that we would need to know before we go onto that campus in order to most effectively share the Gospel with the students there. This could include the demographics of the students, where the most popular hang-out place for students is, how many (if any) student ministries already exist on that campus, what good churches are near the campus, and so on. When we Campus track students find out to which campuses we'll be going next week, part of our preparation will involve this "decoding" of the campuses before we go there, not only to help our summer ministry, but also to help out the NYC Crusade staff already here. I have no idea which colleges I'll be going to, but someone did tell me that we most likely will not be going to Columbia University or NYU since those are the two universities in NYC that DO already have established ministries there.

Another thing we talked about today that I'm excited about is "Prayer Walking," which we'll be doing around the campuses. (And really could do anywhere in the city!) This idea is taken from the example of the wall of Jericho in the book of Joshua when the Israelites marched around the Jericho walls until they fell down. While we won't be expecting campus architecture to tumble down, Prayer Walking will involve a couple of us walking through campus praying over the campus and the students there and for whatever the Lord prompts us to pray--praying the walls of spiritual darkness down. The staff leader who talked about Prayer Walking made the powerful point that this Prayer Walking very well could be the most effective tool in spreading the Gospel on NYC college campuses.

As to fun things....

Last night our whole team went out to dinner together in Little Italy. So delicious! And of course while you're in Little Italy you have to get gelato! Later that evening a group of us went over to Brandon and Ansley Hammond's (a couple who have been part of the permanent Crusade staff here in the city) adorable apartment in Brooklyn to watch the Lakers v. Celtics game. Boo to the result!! Not that it really presented an excruciatingly painful experience for me...since I just enjoyed chatting with Ansley, Abigail (who's a leader from the University of Kentucky and is my dicipler for the project), and other girls around Ansley's kitchen table.

TODAY (yes, that's a clue!) I rolled out of bed at 5:15 a.m. to meet my friends Brittany and Lauren at 5:30 to head to see James Taylor in concert on the Today show. We were pretty pumped. Our optimistic mood only skyrocketed when we got to Rockefeller Plaza and we saw the stage where he'd be performing and there were hardly ANY people around it!! We thought our chances for front row spots were pretty legit. Our naivete must have seemed pretty obvious to the the security guards who politely asked that we go around the corner of the building...which we did...to be greeted by a mile-long line of people. Oh well! We had decent spots...I could see James Taylor's head if I stood on tip-toes. Not QUITE convinced it was worth waking up at 5:15, but it wasn't so bad that I'm not planning on going back in a couple of weeks to see Lady Gaga--heck YES we will be waking up at 3 that morning to guarantee a good spot. :)

We did the MOMA this afternoon with the entire project (all the tracks together). One of the guys in my group was on the Arts track, so it was fun having him with us to explain things and make modern art more interesting for me. My favorite part of the museum was definitely the Picasso and photography exhibits. "Starry Night" was beautiful, for sure, but I have to admit it was a little anti-climactic.

After the museum a large group of us got a CHEAP dinner (slice of pizza for $2.50!) and took it to Central Park for a picnic on the rocks. Very fun and relaxing. Frozen yogurt afterwards in West Village at a place that may be my new favorite place ever--it's self-serve soft-serve with a billion different flavors to choose from, from Watermelong to Reeses Cup! And then they have a toppings bar with fresh fruit, chocolate chips, cookie dough, gummie worms, pretty much anything you could want. The TRICK is that you weigh it at the end and pay by the oz. Sooo you COULD end up with a $7 frozen yogurt, but if you're careful it's not unreasonable at all.

That's all for now....absolultey MUST make myself go to bed after being up since 5!! Ridiculous!

P.S. Pics to come! Haven't had time to upload any yet!