Whenever Bill Jones preaches and introduces people to the NYC ministry, he often says “a walk around the block is a walk around the world”. The lower East Side has been called the “immigration capitol of the world”. Years ago the immigrants would settle in this area of the city before venturing into other areas. This side of the city is still overflowing with people from various ethnic groups. The lower East Side is home to thousands of students from around the world attending the very liberal New York University. The campus is a ripe mission field with students from over 120 foreign countries. The groups of people that make up the Thompson Square Gospel Fellowship are Puerto Rican, Italian, Hispanic, Chinese, and Jewish.

The lower East Side also has some very nice city parks. People come daily to these parks for recreation, to walk their pets, to let their children play and to visit with friends. Directly across from the Jones’ new house and church site is Tompkins Square Park. The park has basketball courts we will play on, handball courts, a large field, dog walks, and a baseball field. We will spend a lot of time in this park.The community that surrounds this park is known as “alphabet city” because the streets are simply letters of the alphabet. Four blocks north of Tompkins Square Park is Stuyvesant Town— “the city within the City”. This community is made up of apartment high-rises with thousands of people that live right there!