May 10, 2011

Our Tuesday morning began around 10 AM with a short meeting with John and Anna about the work we would be doing at the MNYBA building. We split ourselves into two groups, with four or five people painting the penthouse apartment on the 6th floor (where John and Anna are to move soon from the 4th floor) and the others moving office rooms and like items from the 6th to the 3rd floor and house items into storage from the 4th floor, and readying rooms on the 6th floor for visitors.
I was in the moving and organizing group, and our first task at hand was to box up two different offices sets, both in a room roughly the size of a small cell (maybe an 8x12ft room). No matter the dimensions, the room was tiny, let alone to hold the offices of two people. We boxed up some things, used carts to carry others, and hauled it all to the 3rd floor with the assistance of Anna on the elevator. The elevator old (and awesome!) and is manually operated and requires a key (and someone who knows how to use it). With that being the case, we always tried to pack as much as we could into one load.
We then began working on the storage closet, taking some of the items to the 4th floor and others in the visitor rooms on the 6th floor (including desks, chairs, dressers, etc). We removed all of the laundry (linens, towels, pillows, etc.) for guests from one room and put it in the storage closet until we could fold it at a later date.
That evening, the MNYBA was hosting a Get Connected gathering for the Metropolitan New York churches and pastors that included a supper of deli style sandwiches, a tour of the building, training with the evangelism tool known as Soularium, and an informative session about what the MNYBA can offer the churches (such as student missionaries like us!). At the end of the meeting, John invited everyone who wished to pray, to do so, and in their native tongue. Several attendees did so, and approximately 10 languages were heard, including Chinese, Hindi, Spanish, Haitian Creole, English and more! It was amazing to listen to their prayers, knowing that the God we serve hears ALL!
After the end of the meeting, Jared, Katy, James Leezer, and I headed out for coffee at Starbucks. The trip consisted of many funny and random events, lots of laughter, and great memories made. We even saw Trinity Church that was used in the movie National Treasure!
We wrapped up our night and headed back to our home for the month, ready to rest and prepare ourselves for another day’s work.