Generosity is the currency of heaven.
I’ve been trying to find the right words to begin to sum up our recent mission trip to New York City. Like the layers of an onion, there were so many valuable experiences that deserve highlighting. As I have looked back through journal notes and photos, there are many moments that spring back to memory and beg to be shared. It wasn’t my first mission trip. I had been on a couple others in college, but that was a long time ago.
I could focus on my personal experience of serving. I could go on for days about watching my husband and children be pushed out of their comfort zones. I learned some statistics and facts that will likely haunt me forever. I saw common threads of humanity. It was truly a multifaceted experience.
On the final day, our group of 11 had the opportunity to attend church at The Grace Place, the church of Dream Center NYC, which meets in a local public school. Pastor Stephen was completing a sermon series on family values. The final message was about generosity. I cannot stop thinking about his statement that generosity is the currency of heaven.
As a visitor, the pastor wasn’t aiming at me to tithe to his church, but he was reminding all of us to give our first and best fruits of whatever we have to give. With that in mind, I began to look back on our trip through a lens of generosity.
GETTING THERE
We went with a group from another church. They made room for other people. We didn’t know them prior to going, but I quickly felt like they were my people, and I had known them forever. They each had a generous and welcoming spirit that made us feel right at home. Collectively, we prayed a lot. We laughed a lot. We talked a lot. We walked a lot. We did daily devotionals together as a group. And we spent time processing the highs and lows of our individual experiences.
We began fundraising a couple of months prior to the trip. I was blown away by the response and financial support we received. Through numerous online and face-to-face donations, our fundraising goal was met 100 percent. People generously sharing their finances made it possible for us to share our time and energy. Many people were praying for us, too. I got multiple text messages throughout the week from people telling me they were praying for us. Those prayers were heard. There were obstacles, like minor health issues such as headaches and blisters and wildfire smoke drifting down from Canada, but for the most part everything went smoothly.
BEING THERE
We worked with The Dream Center and its NYC church, The Grace Place. Ours was the first short term mission group since the program’s return following its COVID shutdown. The staff is a walking example of generosity. They work hard to serve based on their own callings from the Lord and must raise their salaries. Grant funding, church partnerships, and donations help them keep their warehouse full and operational.
They spend time getting deeply invested in the people of the communities they serve. We saw the results first-hand as people would come up and be excited and thankful to see them. We bumped into people on the street who knew them, and the love for each other was evident in the smiles, hugs, and prayers. There is no doubt the seeds of what they’re planting are producing fruit. It was both heartwarming and encouraging to witness.
WHAT WE DID
The outline of our days was scheduled in advance. We had tasks to complete each day. We had one full day and a couple of evenings in the first half of the week scheduled for sightseeing, and we took full advantage. We saw many landmarks, took in a Yankees game, went to the top of the Freedom Tower, and visited the 911 Museum and Memorial.
Let me pause here to say, if you haven’t been, the 911 Museum is worth the visit. However, it is an emotionally heavy experience. It was gut wrenching because it so vividly called that tragic day back to mind. It was equally interesting to visit nearby St. Paul’s Chapel, which was the only building in the vicinity that was undamaged by the collapse of the Twin Towers. During the recovery and cleanup process, the church was literally used as a sanctuary. It was powerful to see it all up close.
That said, we weren’t there to sightsee. We were there to serve and to be open to the opportunities God gave us. We began on Wednesday with a time of orientation and learning. Thursday included evangelism training in the morning followed by a prayer walk and two community markets in Chelsea. Our prayer points centered around bridging the socioeconomic divides in the community, which are becoming increasingly substantial. Our team then split into two groups to work the two community markets, which were set up in two different low-income housing areas.
The Dream Center staff sets up regularly at the same times and places and keeps the local community informed of changes in the schedule. The market time consisted of set up, handing out food, diapers, and wipes, and then tear down and clean up. During each market time we were able to talk and interact with people. We had many opportunities to pray with individuals who were willing or requested it.
Saturday began with a prayer tour of The Heights, where The Grace Place church meets inside of PS153. Prayer concerns centered on the gang activity that now reaches as far down as 8-year-olds, the many people in the neighborhood living in severe poverty, as well as for the church to be able to grow and thrive so that it can continue to effectively serve the community and share the Word of God. That was followed by one bigger community market outside of the school that houses the church. It also featured games and activities for children.
Sunday, we made an early trek to the school to begin the setup process for the church. It takes two-three hours to get everything fully setup. They have a full church service in the school auditorium and then take everything down and pack it away. They must be fully cleaned up and out of the building by 3 p.m. each week. Our team helped with set up and tear down. In addition, we prepared and gave out free iced coffees out on the sidewalk and invited people to church.
Most of us wound up walking between 40-50 miles during the trip. Each day featured time to debrief with highs and lows of the day as well as devotional time. We made good use of the subway and buses. We witnessed one crime – just before we left town. A man tried to steal something from a local bodega. He was running down the street with a store employee chasing him with a baseball bat. A police officer was coming the other way with a taser in hand. We literally had to move out of the way.
We stayed at the New York School of Urban Ministry (NYSUM) in Queens. It is a dorm-like setup in what was formerly a small hospital. Women stayed on one floor and men on another. All seven women on our trip stayed in one room with bunkbeds and traveled down the hall to shower. I begrudgingly slept on a top bunk. We ate breakfast in their cafeteria, and NYSUM provided bagged lunches Wednesday-Friday.
GOOD STUFF
Watching my husband and children get out of their comfort zone to serve and pray with people was a highlight of my experience. My youngest was a hard worker and was quick to help and invite people to church. He was great at helping the kids and making iced coffee. My oldest had his first real experience of praying in public. He volunteered to pray on our prayer walks and even prayed with a lady at our community market in Harlem. The lady was so sweet and patient with him. He told her he wasn’t sure about it, and she told him it was okay and to just talk to God like He was a friend standing there with them. It was a wonderfully special moment for this momma to witness. I thanked the lady for her patience and wound up having a lengthy conversation with her. I won’t forget her. Watching that interaction with my son was worth the trip.
I enjoyed watching my husband be a dad during our times of prayer and serving. He was out of his comfort zone but was willing to try new things and encourage the boys. Serving together and being able to have conversations about what we saw, did, and learned was a priceless gift.
We were all traveling on a bus in Harlem. A few of our group were talking to a woman on the bus, who was pointing out places to shop for a good deal and telling us about her family. Later we were on our prayer walk and passed the same lady on the sidewalk. She smiled and said, “There are my friends,” and began to give high fives. It was a happy encounter.
On our first prayer walk in Chelsea, I had an encounter with a woman named Daphne. Daphne had just witnessed us finishing a prayer with another lady and was disappointed to have missed it. I motioned for her to come closer. Another lady in our group stepped aside and began to talk to her. She had been caring for mother who had just passed away two weeks prior. Both her parents and all her siblings are now deceased. She wanted us to pray for her. I asked her if she would like a hug first. She said, “yes.” I hugged her and cried with her. I am not a hugger and am seldom someone who offers them, but I felt like the Lord put her there for that reason. We did pray for her, but that encounter might have impacted me more than her.
One of the things I personally enjoyed was giving out food boxes on Saturday in The Heights. It wasn’t about handing out food, but it was an opportunity to speak to everyone and really look people in the eyes. It’s hard to find the right words to explain it, but there was something deeply meaningful about looking people in the eyes, smiling, and saying, “Welcome” and “I’m glad you’re here.” Some, not all, of them struggled to look me in the eye, but I just wanted them to know that they were seen.
This week I asked my kids for the biggest lesson they learned during the trip. My oldest said that he learned he can have the confidence to pray in public because really, he is just talking to God. My youngest said he learned that God really is working everywhere – even when we think He’s not. My husband said that his biggest takeaway was that fear is a liar. Sometimes you just have to be afraid and do it anyway.
OTHER NOTES
I prayed with a woman named Iris who has four children. None of them believe in God. She wanted me to pray that they would come to believe. One of the daughters was there. She flatly refused prayer and walked away. I felt for that momma and have been freshly reminded that every prayer we cover our children with matters. It is no small thing to pray for your children. They need them desperately.
Language was one of the biggest challenges we faced. In the communities we served, many older people only spoke Spanish or Mandarin. It wasn’t a challenge that kept us from serving, but it wasn’t something that I was expecting. I directly encountered multiple people who didn’t speak English, and we had to work hard to communicate.
I was moved by the staff and volunteers at The Grace Place church. They spend much more time setting up and tearing down than in actual church time. I wonder if I would be willing to consistently work that hard to have church. I want to believe that I would but if I had to work six hours to have church for two every single week, I don’t know. I don’t want to take for granted the ease I have of going to church. What a privilege it is to just easily go and come home.
One of the things we learned about The Heights neighborhood is that gangs are recruiting members as young as 8-years-old. This hurts my heart. Children and youth are reporting that the gangs offer them better community and protection than the church does. I am struggling to process the magnitude of that reality.
I was struck by the prayer list at Grace Place. A woman read the needs to the congregation. There were no less than three mentions of homelessness along with issues of deep and substantial poverty. In my lifetime of church attendance, I don’t ever remember hearing anyone’s name who was homeless. Perhaps someone was temporarily displaced following a fire or a singular incident, but never do I recall having the names of chronically homeless people on my church’s prayer list. I’m beginning to think maybe you can tell a lot about your church by the needs on the prayer list.
One of the things that I most want to take away with me is not to miss an opportunity. I don’t want to allow fatigue, drama, fear, or anything else to get in the way of my opportunities to serve and meet the needs of the people that God puts in my path. Opportunities are everywhere. I pray that my eyes are open and my spirit is willing.
WRAPPING UP
I believe that Pastor Stephen was spot on – generosity is indeed the currency of Heaven because when you truly find some here on Earth it feels like a treasure. You know its real value can’t be measured here; it can only be experienced.
One of the worship songs we sung during the Sunday church service was “Ways,” by Sean Curan. Some of the lyrics are: “Never running out of ways to praise you; never running out of words to thank you; I keep discovering the weight of your love for me.” Those lyrics continue to play on repeat in my head as I think back on the week. They seem so appropriate in hindsight. A mission trip is an exercise in discovering the weight of His love. When we go with hearts willing to serve and give love then He pours it back into us all the more. There is no way I could run out of ways to praise or words to thank Him.
I will treasure everything about our trip. Well everything except climbing in and out of a top bunk.
