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07.21.06 - Friday Update

The Brief: Passover, Golda Meir Plaza Lunch Outreach, Shopping Treat for Jones kids, Rain, Empire State Building.

We started the day with our normal routine personal devotions and breakfast, and then for our group devotion time Colin James (one of the Jones’s team members) performed a Jewish Passover Seder for us. It was very interesting to learn all of the symbolism that accompanies the Passover. It was helpful in understanding the Jewish culture that many of us were very unfamiliar with.Today, our outreach was in the Golda Meir Plaza, which is named after a famous Jewish woman. We used the Ark of the Covenant again to attract the attention of those that wouldn’t normally stop. It was a similar setting to Grace Plaza, but we were more limited with where we could pass out tracks, because we were very close to private property. We spent the lunch hours in the Plaza and again, thousands of people passed by. There was an area of stairs right in front of where we were singing where many people sat ant ate their lunches. About 50-60 people were sitting and eating within earshot of our service. We were able to go through our service two entire times. We did the same schedule as yesterday except Stephen and Andrew gave their testimonies today. After the songs were over, Jon and Pastor Craig preached the gospel. Many people would come over to look at the Ark of the Covenant and ask for tracts. One of the encouraging things the last few days has been being able to talk to Christians. Several people each day would come over and say thank you for having a passion to share the message of the gospel.

On our way back to the Angel House, the weather turned on us, and it started pouring!

We were all completely soaked by the time we got back, but we were thankful that the outreach was over and the sound equipment was already packed up. After the rain stopped, the team took the Jones children shopping. We were able to get some clothes for Cherie and Billy. Bradley needed some new tennis shoes and Garrett got a new game. It was a blessing to see the teens get excited about sharing with others.

We finished off the week with an exciting trip to the top of the city. After dinner, the rain had stopped enough that the Empire State Building’s observation deck had opened back up. It was a little foggy, but the visibility was 3-5 miles. It was a perfect ending to a great week. The view changed while we were up top…the sun set while we were up on top and the city lights came on before we went down. It was very cool to see.

We headed back to the Angel House to clean the building and pack up, and we called it a day.

It was a great week. The team did a great job ministering and being bold in talking to people and singing in the open air. Everyone was sad to get packed up tonight. I think everyone would come back again if they had the chance!