WILDS CAMP

From July 27-August 1, we have had a great week of camp at the WILDS! God has done some amazing things this past week in the lives our teens. I was so encouraged by their tender response to the Word and their desire to follow Christ. Many of our teens made decisions to surrender their lives to the Lord and to hate sin and love God with their whole heart!

Here are some pictures from the week from the events we got to experience....

10:31 Fight Night 2009

On Saturday, July 18th, we had our annual Youth Group Fight Night Event. We had about 45 teens come and some parents as well. We divided up into two teams and then held a series of competitions that required each person to die to self and get messy! Thank you to all of you who helped with this event - we had a blast!

Cleaning and Fireworks

Today was a more relaxed day. We woke up at 8, the girls cleaned up after ourselves at this church and then the guys went to Manor Community Church and cleaned out the basement/gym area. We stayed there until lunch and then the guys that wanted to finished shopping and the girls shopped after they finished also. The people that didn't want to walk and shop anymore stayed here,(including myself), and got naps or hung out at the park.(I took a glorious 3 hour nap!) After the shoppers got back we went to dinner at a place where you can get anything from breakfast to salad to cakes to steak...and it was good. Then we headed straight out to the streets near the Hudson to watch the fireworks. We got there around 9 and even before the show started there were masses of people everywhere. The roads were blocked off and we stood on them. It reminded me of New Years Eve. People were shoulder to shoulder the whole time, and then the fireworks ended....oh my. it was craziness! We were all holding onto one anothers bags etc. so we wouldn't get spread apart. The subway was the most insane though, I've never seen it more packed in my life. After a couple clostraphobic stops we were at our exit. Then we walked our usual 10 minute walk and made it home. Now I'm getting ready to go to sleep and Ps is finishing up the video testimonies with the students. It has been an honor to be in this city with your teenagers. Thank you for allowing them to come be apart of God's sovereign will over this city, Tompkins Square Gopspel Fellowship and Manor Community Church. It is bitter-sweet leaving because we feel like we've known the Jones family forever and they will be missed, but we are ready to come home and be with you all at our church...in a rural, light traffic town! Thanks for your prayers this week. Also, pray for traveling safety and ease tomorrow. We will be leaving at 8 and should be back around 5. Look forward to seeing you all.

In Christ,

Zach White

Manor Community Church

Today was a good day. We woke up around 8:30am, ate breakfast, did our devotions and then headed out to Manor Community Church. We had planned on working at the church for a while and then doing a kids club, but those plans changed. After we met Mrs. Betty Little, we realized how awesome and generous this 90 year old lady is. She made us coffee cakes and brought us drinks. Pastor Bill was telling us stories about her doing work around her house recently. He told us that one time she even went on to her 3rd story roof, slid down it, cleaned the gutters, and then climbed back up. She is in great shape for a 90 year old woman, but has great trouble cleaning and maintaining the huge church she lives in. Her apartment is upstairs and the church is downstairs. The church is actually very old. It has been there since the 1800's. You can only imaging how beautiful it will be when it's fully restored. There is a main, puritan, traditional looking auditorium, a balcony, kitchen, fellowship hall and about 20 other rooms including a gym downstairs with tons of antiques from the war. This church actually housed soldiers from WWII. There are so many interesting antiques there like: ping pong tables/paddles, boxing gloves, work out equipment etc. We spent all day cleaning, mopping, dusting the place and me and Randy put tar in cracks on the roof. Tomorrow we plan to wake up around 8am. The girls will stay here and clean the mission and the guys will go back to Manor Community Church and clear out the bottom level gym area. Then after lunch, whoever wants to can shop, then we will go see fireworks. We plan to go to bed as soon as we get back from fireworks and then we will wake up and drive back to you all. This trip has been a blessing. We had a great devotion time, and the students want to come back and help make our youth group a more God-centered place. They are also broken for lost people and want to do something about it at home. We warned one another of the danger of spiritual highs and want to help the students develop a consistent discipline of study, outreach, worship etc. in their lives, if they have not already.I am excited to come home and see how these teenagers impact the rest of the youth group. Please pray that their hearts will stay broken and that they will have the strength to keep up discipline. Thank you for praying for us, as I'm sure you have. The Jones' are incredible and we can't wait to share stories with you all ni person. God is good, and the students have the right attitude for service to the Lord for the rest of the summer.

Soli deo Gloria!

Zach

Big Copper Lady and Some Good Cheesecake!

This morning was the most difficult morning to wake up, and it wasn't even for ministry! It was for a giant green woman! We got up early so that we wouldn't have to wait in the increasingly large line to see the Statue of Liberty. It was windy and cold this morning until we got to the island, then it was sunny...until we climbed 275 steps to the overlook and it poured :)It was alright though. The students had a great attitude. As a matter of fact, it would be sunny, then raining like doomsday, then sunny, then raining etc. all day long. We got to walk past the World Trade Center until it poured haha, and then we found shelter in a Starbucks...(the students have been begging Ps for their blessed Starbucks). After it stopped raining we went to the church beside the World Trade Center and payed our respects. Then we headed back to the mission. We were all more than willing to stop touring today for some rest. About half the kids stayed up and played cards and the other half,(including myself), took an amazing nap! I usually don't nap because I can't get back to sleep at night, but today i fell asleep around the time my eyes closed. As you can tell, this trip has been a very tiring one, for all of us. I would credit most of it to the walking though. Even to get to the subway we have to walk a couple blocks. But, please don't get the idea that were not loving serving the Lord just because we're tired. Ps told me in Romania, and I've reminded myself here that,"I can sleep when I get home!" After our nap time we ate some pizza and prepared for our "cheesecake and a conversation that will change your life" open house. It actually just ended and it went very well. We had a good turnout and many people asked questions, were prayed over, and asked about coming to the church. I know that I can speak for Ps, as well as myself when I say this, but your teenagers impressed me tonight. Even the more shy ones were on the street passing out fliers and then sitting at tables beside random New Yowkas making small talk, then sharing their personal testimonies and the Gospel of Jesus Messiah! They served the Lord today in very tired spirits but didn't act like it was a problem. I have been encouraged and blessed to help lead your students this summer. I keep getting really great experiences that remind me that your students can encourage me, just as much as I can disciple and encourage them. Now were getting ready to go to sleep and will spend tomorrow working at Manor Community Church. We hope to play some games with the local kids in the park beside it and witness, but who knows what will happen! I know I've probably said this every post but please continue to pray for us. Not only for us, but pray that "the Lord of the harvest will send laborers into the field" here in New York. Our hearts are heavy for this place. The students are constantly being reminded that God is doing exactly what He wants with this city and that it is not a lost cause. He is sovereign over all and they trust that, but they also realize that the Lord fulfills His will through us. We get the honor of being used by God as his privy pots, or literally dung pots. I honestly think the students have learned a lot from Dr. Bill Jones' teaching, the Lord and from each other this week. I challenge you parents with this: be ready to listen to what the Lord has done in your teenagers life when they come home and continue to teach them from the Word, which will breed the next generations of real, sincere Christ followers. The Lord is doing a work in our students lives and I pray that it won't die when we return. We are excited about our last day of ministry and sad. We are ready to get home, but not ready to leave then Jones family, because they are being encouraged, and are vocal about it! Anyways, I've typed enough. Pray for us, and well see you in 2 and a half days!

Zach

Grace Plaza

Today was our last singing day. We woke up, ate breakfast, heard from Pastor Bill this morning as he shared the amazing story about the new church they will be pastoring, Manor Church. I'm sure the story will be shared when we return, so I'm not going to take the time to type it all out :) After that we loaded up the van, as usual, and headed to Grace plaza on the other side of Time's Square. The crowd there was different. We had people that were getting emotionally annoyed and angry with us for the Gospel but we also had many more people than usual show their support for our cause. Overall I would say today was the most encouraging out of the four singing days. We sang our set twice, like we have been doing, and then stopped. We were planned to go clean Manor Community Church but that was changed to Friday. Instead, we went shopping in China Town,(lets just say there are some VERY interesting stories from there ;), and then ate in Little Italy. We then got back on the subway, came to the church here at Tompkins Square and took part in the Wednesday night service. Ps preached out of 1 John 2:15-17 and did an excellent job. Then we just got to laugh together as a group and relax until now, bedtime, as I am coveting the sleep of the other guys. Tomorrow we plan to go to the Statue of Liberty early, ground zero and battery park, then spend the rest of the day relaxing until we set up for an open house at the mission here. It is a "dessert and a conversation that will change your life" event where homeless people can come in, get some food, and we have the opportunity to talk with them about the Gospel. Thank you for praying for us. The students are being stretched, tired and probably miss home, but they are loving it. The amount of people we get to share Christ with is tremendous, especially for myself, Ps, and Pastor Bill, when we talk to the people in the microphones, which is heard all around us, on the streets, plazas and even inside building. Many people have told us and the mission that they were blessed to hear us in their office while they were working! But it really is a honor to realize that we all get to preach Christ through song, but for Ps, me and Pastor Bill to be able to speak to, literally thousands of people at one time about Jesus Christ is awesome, but yet weighty. There are masses of people that are under the sound of our voices, more than we would ever be able to speak to in a church, ever! So, the opportunity and field here is great, but the laborers are few. The Lord is still sovereign over this city and will ultimately do what He wants. More than praying for your kids, pray for the Jones family. They have some awesome opportunities but with that comes a lot of tough times and stresses. They are doing a great job though, and are obviously being used by the Lord. We only have three more days here to serve and are up for the challenge. Once again, we appreciate your prayers and are looking forward to being with you.

Zach

Golda Meir Plaza...Second Time Around

Well we woke up this morning, ate our cereal then went downstairs and heard from Pastor Bill, (who I found out is actually Dr. Bill Jones. Apparently he went to seminary at Bob Jones.) He challenged us again this morning on the same topic of the Old Testament, especially in talking with Jewish people. After that we loaded up, a few guys helped out by riding in the van and the rest of us took the subway and met them there. After we were set up, we ran down to a Mcdonalds and ate a quick lunch, then we came back and sang. We sang two sets back to back. Golda Meir Sqaure has been a fairly friendly sqaure to minister to. Sure, it has its own set of mockers and people that will laugh at us. But surprisingly enough, people will sit and listen and even sing along. We've met christians there both days and that has been a real encouragment. At the end of our second set a man named Alberto came to us and told us that he was sitting on the other side of the street and couldn't get the thought of the Gospel out of his mind. He said that he even tried walking away but couldn't, so he came and listened for about an hour. He said that he was confessing sin to the Lord and was feeling the conviction of his unrighteousness. Apparently he had been converted, probably recently, and was getting faint hearted about christianity. He prayed with Ps and "renewed his faith" per se. So whether he was saved today or in recent weeks we don't know. But we do know that the Lord did a tremendous work in his life today and that if he was converted, he is starting over, ready to serve the Lord, and if he wasn't converted, he is now, only by the grace of God. After we sang and talked with people we took horse-drawn carriage rides through Central Park, went to the Apple store, FAO Schwartz, and Bloomingdales. Then we ate at a pizza place,(Oprah says its the best pizza in the nation), and took the subway home. We just finished team devos, where the students had an opportunity to worship the Lord through songs and testimonies of experience on this trip and what they have been learning from the word. Now everyone is on the phone with you guys,(the parents), and are headed to bed. Once again, please pray for us! The Lord uses prayer as a vessel to fulfill His sovereign plan. We will be singing for the last time in Grace Plaza tomorrow, then cleaning out a church in the city. We miss you all, but are having a great time serving the Lord together.

ZDBWW