Bronx

This is an article I wrote for Church about our time in the Bronx...

Of Prayer, POTS, and Parties
A Reflection on the Bronx Mission Trip

Josh Graves and Stephanie Corp took a group of us college students to encourage Lindy Emerson and the work of the Bronx Fellowship of Christ in New York. Our time there over spring break was some of the most stretching and fulfilling I’ve experienced.

The Apostle Paul urges us to pray without ceasing. How many of us take that literally? That is what we did in the Bronx. Our entire schedule revolved around prayer. We all went on prayer walks and as we walked the streets praying for whatever came to mind– places and people we passed – or stopping to pray over graffiti – we all felt at peace in the Presence. Much of our time was spent in the subway cars and we found ourselves offering up simple prayers for those around us.

God’s hand was in everything. We all got to experience Church in a new way as we visited various house churches and joined in their worship. It was amazing to be in someone’s living room and see the close-knit community that meets there. I heard strikingly different prayer requests. One young girl casually asked us to pray for a friend who had been stabbed in the neck “again”. We met some of the Bronx teens on Sunday afternoon, and hanging with them turned out to be a highlight for many of us. First we met “the boys”: Felix, Chris, and Anh. Talk about a multi-cultural group of friends! Felix is from the Dominican Republic, Chris is African-American, and Anh is Asian. We also met 17-year-old Evelyn, who lives with Malissa, one of the leaders of the Bronx Fellowship. On Wednesday we threw a birthday party for two of them. Felix was turning 16 and Tuoi, Chris’s girlfriend, was turning 17. We found out the next day that Tuoi had never had a party before. We gave her the first birthday party EVER! Full of energy, the boys had fun wrestling with Josh (who they affectionately called “geezer”).

Working at P.O.T.S. (Part of the Solution), a soup kitchen, was a rewarding experience. They have the place set up like a restaurant, which makes the people who eat there feel valued and not embarrassed to come. The workers there made us feel right at home.I feel as though we got a chance to encourage and bless the Bronx Fellowship – but I feel even more that we were blessed. God had something to reveal to each of us that week. Being back in Rochester I can’t help but wish I were back in the Bronx, hanging with the boys and discussing religion with a teen who views the Church as hypocritical. (The truth is, he had some good points.) For a few days we were able to be the Body of Christ simply by giving them the time of day. I pray you will continue to keep Lindy and the house churches, as well as the teens, in your prayers.