Day Four: Tuesday - November 24, 2015

Today was our team's last full day in New York City. It was a crazy day with the team split entirely in half and working on different projects in different locations, but there were a lot of very satisfying interactions with people and other volunteers and staff. In the morning, half of the group woke up early to go sit out for rush tickets to see Chicago and then went out surveying while the other half of the group went to work at the New York City Rescue Mission. In the afternoon the two groups switched, so that group one was at the NYCRM and group two was surveying. Seven of the twelve team members went to watch the show, Hunter headed home to Connecticut, and the other four stuck around the apartment to relax and watch a movie for the evening. After a final team recap, we all split for the evening to have one more night of sleep in a city that we've all come to love before heading home to our families in the morning.

P.C. James Leach

Team Highs and Lows

Rachael's low was getting shut out of the subway after the team got in and having a "quick twenty seconds of panic", but James jumped out of the subway to go with her, so all was well.

Elaina's and Rachael's high was feeding and playing with pigeons.

Kira's low was breathing in fumes while cleaning the bathroom at the New York City Rescue Mission, and her high was surveying Paul at Penn Station, who had really thoughtful and intelligent answers to our survey which was really cool to see.

Arthur's high was Kira's low of cleaning the bathroom because while it was strenuous and fume-filled, it felt like genuine service and was quite an experience. He also loved surveying with Katie and strategizing to be able to have deeper conversations and plant intentional seeds with people they talked to.

Jackson's high was being able to have a number of meaningful interactions with people throughout the day, from Turner that his group surveyed at Penn Station to the homeless men and women and staff at the New York City Rescue Mission.

Kira, Arthur, Katie, Jackson, Hunter, and Tim surveyed at Penn Station this morning with Chad and Michelle, and spent the afternoon at the New York City Rescue Mission.
Daniel, James, Julie, Elaina, Kaitlin, and Rachael spent the morning at the New York City Rescue Mission, and surveyed at Washington Square Park and Union Square Park this afternoon.

Day Three: Monday - November 23, 2015

Today was our first really busy day of the ICO trip, which we spent working with Christian Youth Theatre on various projects. During the morning, half of the team packed, addressed, and sent CYT mailings to schools and churches in the area while the other half of the team helped to clean the pews in the sanctuary at First Baptist Church. After a break for lunch and naps, half of the team went out canvassing to businesses to ask for raffle items for CYT's spring show, Beauty and the Beast, while the other half handed out candy bars and talked to families to promote the group.

After finishing with CYT, we returned to First Baptist Church to help with the Operation Christmas Child Relay Center that the church runs. We made sure that boxes were correctly labeled, and packaged them up to be sent out to Samaritan's Purse. In the evening, we made a quick stop at the apartment to drop off backpacks and things, we split into small groups to head back to the city to do some homeless ministry at different transportation hubs.

P.C. Hunter Francis

Team Highs and Lows

Julie's high was talking to Raphael, who only spoke Spanish. Since Julie speaks a little bit of Spanish, she was able to pick up words here and there, and Raphael was able to understand very little English, but they were able to communicate a little bit and bring a lot of joy and laughter to the conversation.

Elaina's and Arthur's low was having some poor responses to the idea of the New York City Rescue Mission. One man pushed the group away because he didn't want to have to go to a church service to spend the night since he was an atheist, which was discouraging to the team.

Daniel's high was meeting a reporter named Dave who also was working to interact with homeless people, and he was encouraged to see that there are people besides us who care about the people around New York City.

Adrienne, who was a member of last year's team and joined us for the evening, had the high of being reminded that we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us, but when we are with others who also have the strength of Christ in them, we have even more strength and courage to pursue intimidating goals.

Hunter's low was "realizing how many Christians stick gum under pews" while cleaning the sanctuary at First Baptist Church.

Jackson's high was spending most of the day with our team in one big group and having the chance to goof off and bond together while we ran the Operation Christmas Child relay center.

Hunter, Kira, and Rachael did homeless ministry at Grand Central Station with Chad, Michelle, and Gia.
Kaitlin, Katie, and Tim did homeless ministry in Times Square with Adrienne.
Julie, Daniel, and James did homeless ministry at Port Authority.
Elaina, Arthur, and Jackson did homeless ministry in Times Square and at Penn Station.

Day Two: Sunday - November 22, 2015

Today the team started our day with devotions and worship before joining our hosts and other ministry partners at Big Apple Chapel for a church service. It was a great time of fellowship and worship, with a message from Bill Cobb about intimacy with God. After the service, we enjoyed lunch and small groups with the church body before breaking out into the city to do some more surveying. We gathered for a meal prepared at the apartment and then hosted a Grove City Alumni Mixer at Think Coffee on Mercer Street. The alumni mixer went much longer than expected, which unfortunately prevented us from going out to do homeless ministry this evening. We did have the great opportunity to join previous team member Adrienne, who is currently living in the city, to visit the roof of the building she lives in (The Vogue) and get a great official team picture. While today did not go exactly as planned, it was a good lesson for us to trust that God will work out the details of our trip in ways that we do not expect - or necessarily appreciate initially - for the good of His service. We're looking forward to a full day of serving alongside of CYT and really doing some homeless ministry tomorrow night!

P.C. Chantilly Alberti

Team Highs and Lows

Tim's high was having a New Yorker approach him after leaving a $0.99 pizza shop with his phone that he had forgotten.

Katie's high was talking with the women in her small group at church this morning and being able to have fellowship with them and learn from them.

Kira and Elaina's high was surveying Julia and Adam, who were probably between 6 and 10 years old, and hearing their very interesting answers to our questions. They were at the age where they were old enough to answer our questions really intelligently but weren't yet disillusioned with the world, so they were very insightful. Talking to Kersten, who was from Germany, was also really cool.

Kira's low was getting lost with Tim and Daniel on the way to Think Coffee. She insists that she wasn't actually lost but just took a wrong turn, but she was lost.

Despite the fact that most people didn't have lows today, Jackson had a few to make up for everyone else. He was bummed that he missed a friend while we were at her building, and also that we didn't have time to do homeless ministry tonight because of how long the mixer went.

Tim, Kira, and Elaina surveyed at Rockefeller Center.
James, Katie, and Jackson surveyed at Union Square.
Arthur, Daniel, and Kaitlin surveyed at Central Park.
Hunter, Rachael, and Julie surveyed at Times Square with Chad and Misty who joined us from church.

Day One: Saturday - November 21, 2015

Today was the 2015 team's first day in New York City. After leaving the college early this morning, the team arrived in the city around 3:00pm and moved into the two apartments that have been loaned to us for the trip's duration. After settling in and eating dinner, we headed out to Grand Central Station for our first round of surveying and split into mini-teams from there.

P.C. Elaina Kimpel

Team Highs and Lows

Hunter's low was cleaning greasy dishes, but we appreciate him for it! There was a cool interaction with a homeless man that his group surveyed, who appreciated being approached and said that he was thankful for the freedom to talk with the team.

Tim's team was able to spend an hour talking to one of the men that they surveyed, who had a lot of really interesting insights about his own philosophy on life. Their group had the chance to talk through the gospel and the way that it effects a person's life with him.

Kaitlin, who is on the trip for her second year, was very encouraged today that surveying the second time around was a lot easier than it was for her last year, but she did not love getting up so early this morning to leave the college.

When Arthur, Katie, and Rachael got Starbucks, they were very encouraged that the cashier was very friendly, which you don't see terribly often in New York. He also spelled Rachael's name correctly, which was a win for everyone.

Katie was discouraged that a lot of people we surveyed didn't identify with any particular religion, which made it difficult to have longer conversations. On the other hand, her group talked to one person who was very enthusiastic about getting to know them and answering the survey questions, which was a huge blessing.

James' low is that he forgot his team sweatshirt at college, but he's loved watching the team interact with each other and with all of the people we work with and survey.

Kira's high was walking back from surveying and past the Richard Rodgers theater where Hamilton is playing, and being struck by the juxtaposition of her passion for bringing Christ back onto Broadway and the work that we are doing in New York City this week.

Julie, Tim, and James surveyed at Grand Central Station.
Hunter, Kaitlin, and Elaina surveyed at Grand Central Station and on their way back to the apartment.
Jackson, Kira, and Daniel surveyed at Bryant Park and walked to the Empire State Building.
Arthur, Katie, and Rachael surveyed at Grand Central Station and walked through Times Square.

New York City 2014

Grove City College - New York City 2014

After a successful first trip to New York City during Thanksgiving Break of 2014, our 2015 NYC Team decided to start a blog to chronicle our adventures in the city and to bring survey results from canvassing around the city. The blog will be updated nightly while we are in New York and will be passed on to future New York City trip leaders to keep a record of the trip through the ages.

Meet the Team - Rachael

Rachael is a junior Math major with a minor in business. She loves running and horseback riding, as well as reading, listening to music, and watching The Office. She is looking forward to talking with the people on the streets of New York City and hearing their stories. She can't wait to see what God is doing in New York, and what He will teach our team during our trip.

Meet the Team - Hunter

Hunter is a junior psychology major with a minor in communication studies. He currently lives in Connecticut, but he was born in the great state of Texas. He enjoys traveling, laying on the floor (especially if there are animals around to play with), taking naps, and traveling. He has led short term mission trips to Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic in the past, but is excited for the chance to serve with his fellow Grovers a little closer to home in New York!

Meet the Team - Jackson

Jackson is a sophomore entrepreneurship major at the college. He is passionate about Jesus, music, and his major. Four days in Manhattan last April opened his eyes to the stark contrast between the flashing lights and the poverty that exists throughout the city. Jackson is excited to be a light in New York City, especially for the homeless that live there.

Meet the Team - Kira

Kira is a junior at Grove City College, majoring in English with minors in Theatre and Communication Studies concentrated in film. She is from Minnesota but loves the city of New York, and is especially passionate about serving the Lord around Broadway and in the entertainment industry. At the college, she is an RA for freshmen women and is very involved in the theatre program in both technical and performance aspects. Kira is so excited to be returning to New York for a second year, and is honored to have the opportunity to take on a leadership role for the trip. She hopes to serve her Audience of One in word and deed during this week and on into the rest of her life.

Meet the Team - Tim

Tim is a Junior Marketing major who thoroughly enjoys ideas, music, soccer, and design. His involvements on campus are varied, including the Warriors worship team, Human Powered Vehicles Club, and Freshman RA staff. Tim loves figuring out new things to do with friends, and is excited to meet and engage with all kinds of people in New York City for the sake of the gospel.

Meet the Team - Kaitlin

Kaitlin is a senior from New York, and she is majoring in biology and psychology. She has plans to attend optometry or occupational therapy school. She loves being outdoors, and especially loves hiking, cross country skiing, and rock climbing. Kaitlin is very excited to return to New York City, as this is her second time on the trip. She is looking forward to working with the New York City Rescue Mission and with Operation Christmas Child. Overall, Kaitlin is very excited to help further God’s kingdom!

Meet the Team - Elaina

Elaina is a sophomore from Ohio, and she is majoring in entrepreneurship. She loves playing sports, going on adventures, making people laugh, and meeting new people. Her activities include participating on the track team, hanging out with her friends, her involvement with her sorority, and being involved with Orientation Board. In New York, she is most excited to survey people and listen to people's life stories. She also cannot wait to experience her first real missions trip and to explore the city for the first time.

Meet the Team - James

James is a Junior Electrical Engineering Major from New Jersey. This is his second year on this trip to New York City, and he is humbled to be in leadership this year. Fun fact: James went on a 500 mile bike trip this summer.

Meet the Team - Katie

Katie is a junior from Chicago majoring in Biochemistry. She loves getting to know new people and being involved in a variety of activities such as college rugby. She is excited to be in New York City for the first time during this trip and is looking forward to the opportunity to serve with a fantastic team of people.

Meet the Team - Julie

Julie is a junior Biology major from Kingsport, Tennessee. She enjoys playing violin, spending time with friends, family and anything outdoors (especially in the mountains!). She is so excited to embark upon her first official short-term missions trip in the bustling city of New York and to see what God has in store!

Meet the Team - Daniel

Daniel is a Junior at Grove City College studying Sociology. He is involved in Student Government as the Junior Class President and is on the men's water polo team. He is very excited to go to New York City and meet new people this thanksgiving break!

Meet the Team - Arthur

Arthur is a sophomore business management major from Miami, Florida. He has been to New York several times and is looking forward to leading a great group of students from the college to spread God's word in such a large and intricate city. He loves to swim, run, play the piano, and sing. He hopes that this trip strengthens his relationship with his peers and God.