Trip Recap: Tuesday - December 1, 2015

After going our separate ways for the latter half of Thanksgiving break, our team came back together on campus on Tuesday to recap the trip and debrief together. Below are everyone's thoughts after a few days to reflect at home.

P.C. Elaina Kimpel

Team Memories, Highs and Lows

Elaina loved surveying even though it was cold on certain days in the city. She loved getting to hear everyone's thoughts about the questions we asked, and loved meeting new people and hearing their stories. One answer that she particularly loved was when people said they were thankful that they had woken up that morning. She really resonated with that because it's something she thinks about a lot - how God has chosen to give her another day to live and make people laugh. She really loved homeless ministry, but was disappointed that she wasn't able to go more into depth about Christ and the foundation of our faith. She loved the team dynamic and getting to know everyone on the team throughout the trip.

Kira also really loved surveying, especially with children. She loves hearing their impressions of life in that stage where they are not yet disillusioned with the world. She wishes that we could somehow hold onto that love of life and openness of thought as we get older, but it seems impossible, so she likes being reminded of it through interacting with kids during the survey. She loved the team dynamic this year and was really encouraged and impressed by everyone's maturity and enthusiasm for the trip. She was also very encouraged by Richelle's update from CYT that some of the businesses we reached out to have already followed up with donations, which was a huge answer to prayer to see our efforts pan out to make a real difference.

Arthur was really happy with the diversity of personalities on this year's team and observing the way that people's strengths and weaknesses worked with one another. He loved surveying and engaging strangers in the city. He was really happy with how smoothly everything went during the trip after all of the work that he, James, and Kira did during the semester. He's very thankful for the team generally and for the other two leaders and the work that we all did to make the trip the best it could be.

James' high was seeing God's grace play out throughout the trip. The terrorist threat on the city a few days before we left put us all on high alert, but the Lord watched over us and protected the city. Julie's injury to her foot was nothing too bad, and Rachael getting locked out of the subway happened at the best time it could have happened. He enjoyed meeting and interacting with Dave, the reporter that they encountered during homeless ministry.

Daniel really enjoyed the homeless ministry that we did, especially talking to Raphael and experiencing the joy of talking to him. He wishes that we would have had time to do more homeless ministry during the trip, because that was definitely a highlight for him.

Kaitlin had a hard time branching off of the survey questions, and wishes that she had been able to have deeper conversations with people without it feeling awkward and forced. She really enjoyed talking to Charlie at the Rescue Mission and hearing his testimony and the joy of Christ that he had. She enjoyed doing homeless ministry with Tim and Adrienne and watching Tim's ability to talk with Matthew and really break down the walls of people's shells to have real conversations with them. She really enjoyed working with Operation Christmas Child and seeing boxes pile up as we did the work.

Hunter's high was working at the Operation Christmas Child Drop Off center, because it was a good balance of being able to goof of and bond as a team but also do tangible work with the team. He was a little disappointed that we didn't have more days like Monday to be able to really do service all day. Everyone's highs from the trip have been things related to service, and he wishes that we had more time to do those sorts of things while we were in the city.

Jackson really enjoyed doing homeless ministry and interacting with homeless people in New York and realizing a level of despair that he hadn't seen before in people, but simultaneously a level of gratitude that we would take the time to sit and talk with them. He thought the experience of all of that was very impactful and felt that he learned a lot.

Julie really loved doing homeless ministry and observing how grateful the people that we interacted with were. Even though some people weren't interested in talking to us, the people that did want to engage were really thankful. Seeing the impact of something that we were doing right there in front of us was really cool. She loved Operation Christmas Child, and like Hunter was disappointed that the trip was so short - she felt like as soon as she got the hang of things we had to leave.

Rachael loved surveying, and felt very blessed that God alleviated the fear she was feeling about surveying in advance and feel really fulfilled through those efforts. She was really struck by doing missions in a city that is so close to home and is still a part of our American culture. It was a good reminder that we can do missions anywhere and everywhere, even in our hometowns and country. She was really encouraged by the eventual outcome of homeless ministry, despite a rocky start.

Katie's only low from the trip was that she saw so many great opportunities that she could be serving, but wished that there was more she could have done. She loved the service that we were able to do in the city, but wished at the end that she could stay and do more. She loved growing together as a team and being able to serve alongside of every other person on the team as we opened up and got to know each other better. She learned a lot from serving alongside of the team and from all of the conversations she had around the city. She especially loved seeing the gospel as a priority in everyone's lives and lifestyles through the trip.

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.