11.07.09
Three Flavors of Celebration
Heather & celebrated the 80th birthday of a MCC friend last night – certainly the largest (by attendance) birthday party I’ve ever attended 
Among the many humorous and touching tributes to a woman of God who has blessed many around her, MCC’s senior pastor Ben Cachiaras closed the evening with a blessing to her in the form of the Apostle Paul’s prayer from Ephesians 3:14-21.
Earlier yesterday, at a slightly larger gathering 150 miles north Yankee fans celebrated the team’s World Series victory with a parade. Though I’m an avid Yankees fan, I didn’t make any of the 1996, 1998-2000 parades; I think I’ll reserve my crushed-in-a-sea-of-millions NY experience for one of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parades
Yankees’ manager Joe Girardi celebrated victory in a very different way, by helping a stranded motorist on the Cross County Parkway – I’ve driven the Cross County and he’s compassionate & brave, even if not quite to the degree of another traveler who stopped to help someone he didn’t know. I remember following him from his first days as a Yankee, including my joy at learning more about Girardi’s strong but not overly-confrontational faith.
08.05.09
God of this city NYC 09 – beyond words
Six MCC people (Rocky R, Jonathan W, Michael M, Trina Mc, Heather & I) served w/ Church of the Incarnation, Forefront Church, and Westchester In
dian Chr Ch in a quick NYC mission trip Friday 31 July – Saturday 1 Aug. Friday, we gave people flyers about COTI kids basketball camp – Trina & Heather had the most success w/ going to Columbus Av / Amsterdam Av merchants, asking to them to post a flyer in their stores. We gave away free granola bars in Madison Square Park – Trina & Heather had the most success again by the 23rd st & Broadway corner though the whole team determinedly persevered through the pouring rain! The day ended w/ a little sight-seeing, late night SI ferry ride to see Statue of Liberty.
Saturday morning, we worshipped with other Love NYC Day volunteers at Forefront’s Upper West Side campus.
Saturday afternoon, we helped WICC w/ their first children’s event. After a debriefing discussion during dinner, we drove back to MCC, arriving at about 2a Sunday morning (!) – a whirlwind two days, but worth every minute (even the parking ticket – sigh).
07.25.09
God of This City NYC 09 change
Ministry = adapting to changes, sometimes last minute and beyond my control – hard lesson that I’m still learning Because we didn’t have the response we’d hoped, we’re scaling back MCC’s short term mission trip to NYC to make it even shorter (Fri 31 July – Sat 1 Aug) – and less expensive. Details here. I regret missing the opportunity to work w/ Community Christian Church NYC & NYC Rescue Mission – but not my will but God’s will be done!
05.29.09
God of This City NYC 09 – two month countdown
I’ll be periodically blogging the next couple of months about a MCC short term mission team that will go to NYC Thursday 30 July – Monday 3 August to help six different churches and ministries:
Indian church planter C.T. Abraham and family
- Community Christian Church – NYC
- Orchard Group Indian Project
- Forefront Church
- Igreja de Cristo
- Church of the Incarnation
- NYC Rescue Mission
Here are some past posts about MCC trips to NYC: reflection on 2008 one-day trip, prep for 2008 trip, the 2007 day-trip I planned to go but missed.
Download the first draft promo flyer.
05.13.09
MCC-Milligan interns in NYC
Adam Proffitt, Chase Boyer, Andrew Davis, Andrew Duggins, JD Larson
Last Thur 7 May – Fri 8 May, I took 5 Milligan College students who were finishing their MCC internships to NYC for a whirlwind visit. Thursday afternoon, we did a little sightseeing. Friday morning we met w/ church planters who graciously shared their time and wisdom, answering questions about ministry education and the importance of life experience in preparing for ministry. Our thanks to Mark Reynolds from Redeemer Church Planting Center, and Brent Storms and Jared Witt from Orchard Group!
08.04.08
reflecting on Love NYC Day
TylerM Tom M Sally C Darlene Taylor Alex L in front of Blender Theatre
Five of us from MCC participated in Love NYC Day. My strongest memory from the day is the feeling of powerlessness-frustration I felt when we ran out of free granola bars and water bottles to give away. I had gotten such a “rush” from the puzzled smiles passers-by had given me, and I wanted to keep that “high” of making a (tiny) difference in brightening a rainy, humid, hectic NYC Saturday.
I rarely feel that eager and excited to share the love of God with passers-by or the people I see more often. I need to feel more urgent and desperate about finding opportunities to share the life saving water and spiritual food of Jesus.
07.07.08
Short Term Mission: Love NYC Day – Aug 2
poster for Love NYC Day Aug 2008
Check out details about the short term (1 day!) mission trip to the Big Apple in this matt-berry-info-email. If you’re interested, post a comment here on the blog, or email me.
Because we’ll be serving-reaching NYC folks by “small acts of kindness [that] can nudge [people] closer to God, often in a profound way as it bypasses [their] usual defenses” – wear comfortable shoes and clothing to deal w/ the sweltering sidewalks of Manhattan in August With that in mind, this trip is better suited for mature students and adults.
If you ride in my minivan – transport is free If the Spirit blesses us w/ more volunteers, we’ll carpool. As short term missionaries, I’m asking you to give $50 to cover Forefront Church’s costs for the day (materials, give-aways, etc.) , but if money is a problem – let me know so we can explore options. My tentative plan is to depart MCC 7a and return by 11p.
If you are already planning on attending “Party Like A Man” – MCC’s men’s ministry celebration wrapping up the monthly Sat AM breakfast study of Tony Dungy’s Quiet Strength – by all means follow through with that!
06.14.08
2nd Saturday Serve Day & Love NYC Day
I sweat hard @ 2nd Saturday Serve Day, but it was good sweat – helped a bunch of MCC-ers and folks from the Edgewood community as we cleaned up an area in Edgewood that had been a susceptible to crime. The sociology part comes in part from the “Broken Windows” theory of crime prevention of tackling little problems as a step in solving big problems, famously implemented by NYC mayor Rudy Guiliani. The better disciples comes in part from Jesus famous words on salt and light. If your MCC small group is looking for a way to serve more and better, here’s more info about the next one, July 12.
Speaking of NYC and of serving – last year I blogged about Love NYC Day, but because of a family emergency I wasn’t able to go. MCC is planning to participate again this year, and Spirit-willing, I’ll be part of that group! The date is Saturday, August 2. Men, if you’ve already made plans to attend the “Party Like a Man” event – follow through on that. Otherwise, everyone can check these highlights from an email by Forefront’s lead pastor Brian Moll about Love NYC Day.
04.03.08
Christian victims of violent crime
I confess, as a victim of 2 different NYC crimes while riding the IRT Lex line, I don’t know that I would have responded as Julio Diaz did. I realize Jesus may be speaking to different cultural context (lawsuit rather than robbery) but I wonder if Julio Diaz was influenced by Luke 6:27-36.
I don’t think I would have responded the way Pauline Jacobi did either.
I do think my reaction if I’m attacked when I’m alone would be different from my reaction if I’m attacked in the company of someone for whom I’m responsible. Though Paul is not talking about defending one’s family from violent crime in 1 Timothy 5:7-8, I think the idea of protection is related.
12.06.07
Bell Ringer for the Salvation Army
Tuesday was my first day as a Salvation Army kettle volunteer. The wind chill made it feel like my coldest shift this week, but every time my fingers started to ache, I thought “Alex – as soon as you get in the car you can crank the heat, and you’re going back to a warm house. There are homeless people who would die tonight if it weren’t for the Salvation Army’s shelters.”
A van from an assisted living elderly home dropped off the residents for their Christmas shopping. Shuffling along w/ their metal walkers, a few stopped to give a dollar or a few coins. I thought about Jesus’ words from Luke 21“this poor widow has put in more than all the others. All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.”
