Brooklyn, New York

This past week was Spring Break at Anderson University. A friend of mine at the seminary had asked me earlier in the year if I would co-lead a Tri-S missions trip to New York with him, so of course I said yes. Anytime I get to go to a new place with people, I'm definitely up for it - and especially if it involved going there with a purpose more than just vacation.

So anyway, New York. The big city. Sadly, I wasn't as impressed with it as I thought I would be. I guess a part of it is that with all the hype you see on TV, all the glitz and glamour, my expectations for the big city were let down just a little bit. And I guess also having grown up in the big city myself, even THE Big City was just another city.

Having said that, the trip was still great. We went with an organization called Center for Student Missions (CSM) that basically hosted us and made all the arrangements for us to visit several different ministry sites in the city. For three days, we travelled around Brooklyn, Manhattan, the Bronx and Harlem serving for a few hours at each of these ministry sites. If you're looking for an organization where your group can really plug into and serve on a more long-term, consistent basis, CSM is not what you're looking for. But for an introduction to urban ministry and homelessness, definitely go with CSM. They have a great program that includes a prayer walk/tour of the city that starts your entire week off with you seeing some of the different faces of the city and what you will be dealing with.

Probably the highlight of my week was seeing the group come together and watching the lightbulbs go off in their heads. Since this wasn't my first urban ministry experience, I'll 'fess up to being slightly frustrated at the little amount of time we got to spend at each of the sites we were at. But each night as we debriefed with the group and I was forced to answer questions like my highs and lows of the day, I had to reflect on the positives as well, which worked out really well. And as I heard about each of their reflections on thoughts, I was caught off-guard by how cynical and pessimistic I had gotten since my first urban ministry experience with Church on the Street in Atlanta. Being with the group this week restored some of the hopefulness in my own journey, and I think that will really help before I plunge into Berlin.

And probably the one thing that really frustrated me and is making me want to do something about is language - or my lack of it. There were a few occasions where either a better command of the Cantonese dialect or the ability to say more than "Dios le Bendiga" would have come in really handy. I've forgotten how much I take language for granted. And even though Arthur told me I didn't have to learn German to get around in Berlin, I'm realising that I really do want to be able to say more than "Guten Tag!" when I get there.

Something else that struck me was our group's concern with homelessness and the apathy of the more affluent city-dwellers towards that problem. Perhaps it's because I've been challenged to explain the idea of Gateway Berlin, my eyes were more open to the flip-side of the urban problem, this ugly word called apathy. Forgive me if I sound less than tolerant - I really don't mean to - but the homeless have shelters that feed them both physically and spiritually. And they have missions groups coming in to talk to them and walk with them. But what about the ones who are physically affluent but spiritually empty? Are our hearts broken for them as well, or do we judge them through our "better than you because I'm serving and you're apathetic" lenses?

Break my heart for what breaks yours
Everything I am for your Kingdom's cause