I've been a resident of New York City for a whole month now and it is crazy to say the least. For those of you who don't know, I am a part of a Christ-Centered Discipleship Program- known as City Reach Institute or CRI- under the ministry umbrella of the New York School of Urban Ministry/ NYSUM. Here, less than 4% of New York citizens claim Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior out of the 59% religious group. Our mission here is to reach the masses of humanity living in this urban, multi-cultural environment by training the next generation of urban leaders... That's us; so please allow me to be the first to introduce you to my new friends.
Meet A:
Aly was the first person to from our crew to talk to me, but knew even before then that we would be the best of friends. After knowing each other for three days, it had already felt like a lifetime. She expresses herself in ways I only wish I had the courage to. She is raw and authentic in the way she builds relationships and it's refreshing to have a similar personality around all the time. She may be three years older than me but we feel connected in a way that is hard to describe. I love her and am excited to see what happens within the next eight months of our lives. You are my Forever Friend, A.
Meet AJ:
AJ was a little shy at first, but once she opened up, there was no packing her away again- not that any of us would every want to anyway. She is a breath of fresh air. I love spending time with her because you never have to wonder what she's thinking because she is both honest and kind in what she says...always. She is funny in the best and worst ways, from cracking dad jokes to just speaking her mind to calling herself "The Pigeon Queen". She is kind, smart, beautiful and funny. Thank you, AJ, for writing me notes all the time and making me feel better about myself and who I am as a person.
Meet Daniel, Megean, and Faith:
Daniel is our only guy, and man, does he get it from us. I mean naturally, you'd think "Oh, poor Daniel. He's the only guy, that's gotta be rough." But the truth of the matter is: none of us have it rough. We all both love and fight like family. Megean is directly above Daniel in the first picture and she's a total songbird and meme-queen. She catches me off guard with her OOOUUUUU's and OKUUUUURRR's. And half the time Faith opens her mouth we have no idea what she's talking about. But when we do finally get it, it usually ends up being something wise like out of a fortune cookie. She is so intelligent- even though she may be blonde, she is not by any means dumb.
Meet ELIM and CCBC:
The rest of these photos are with people that were for the past month that I was able to build relationships with. Bridget and I are on the Astoria Park bench in the first picture out on ministry. She is here with CCBC she's staying for the next eight months.
Josh is my man in the second photo-the side by side with Chris Pratt- and he is a solid rock for the kingdom. I distinctly remember having an intimate conversation in The Treetop (the roof) over his purpose with a few other people as well. We had gotten really close that night and whether he knows it or not, he's like a big brother to me now. Caitlin is a wild child who, like AJ, speaks her mind and is a big ball of energy. And Johnny, who is in the last picture, is awesome too. We met and became friends six days before he had to leave. In those six days we got to know and pray for each other a little bit before he left. It was cool to connect with a Pennsylvania brother in New York City for a hot minute.
All in all... It's been one gnarly month and I can't wait to see what other relationships are built in the next eight months.
Holy cow, man. One/Nine complete...
Peace,
Rubes
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