Addy’s Mission Fund to NYC!

My name is Addy and I am a junior at Arkansas State University studying Nursing. Last summer I served through Gen-Send in Washington d.c. for 6 weeks out of the summer. It was such an amazing experience and God truly changed my life over the course of the 6 weeks. I learned complete dependency upon God and he brought me to a lot of repentance. I got back from that trip and immediately felt called to missions again. When I heard that BCM was going to New York City, I was so excited. I have been to New York before and I love the city, I was so excited to go back. Leading up to the trip, my team were covering the trip in prayer, both for ourselves and the people we were going to reach. I remember praying that the Lord would teach me on this trip and lead me in his will. We got to New York on Saturday and I immediately felt peace and felt the Lord with me. Getting to see all of the tourist attractions across the city reminded me of how diverse the city of New York really is. The pastor of the church we worked with called the city of queens the “world’s borough” and it could not be more true. I interacted with people from all over the world daily and it was so eye-opening. We are called to reach the nations, but we forget how many nations are represented right where we are. The entire week I watched as the people in my group grew more and more comfortable having gospel conversations. I remember the names and faces of each and every woman I spoke to. They were kind and compassionate, but they do not know Jesus. It broke my heart to go into these neighborhoods and know that not a single person there was a believer. I really started to feel the Lord pushing me on Monday. Jamie spoke to us about the need for laborers. There is only one missionary family that lives in one of the Arab neighborhoods. These people are isolated but striving for the kingdom. It inspired me a lot to hear this, knowing that sometimes I can stick to what is comfortable instead of stepping out into something new. I continued to feel the Lord breaking my heart for the neighborhood of queens, specifically little Egypt, little Yemen, and the other neighborhoods my group went to. The people were some of the kindest people I met the entire trip, but they are living in complete darkness. I could not sleep Tuesday and Wednesday night (partly due to all of the albuterol I was using) and I just felt the Lord calling me to give up my summer and let him work in it. As soon as I decided I was going to come back to NYC I felt immediate peace. I was obviously terrified because it’s already almost April and I will have to tell everyone and raise money in about 2 months, but I still felt peace. I went and spoke to Tyler about it Thursday morning, partly so I wouldn’t back out. The rest of the trip, I prayed that God would continue to give me peace if I was following his will. I am still praying that today, and I am continuing to feel God’s peace washing over me. One really cool way that God worked is that the morning I went to Tyler about wanting to come back, a female spot on the team for NYC opened up. When he told me this, I immediately knew it was God and knew that spot was opened for me. All of this has just given me a lot of peace and helped me to know that the Lord is calling me to NYC.

I want to be someone who takes the Gospel to the ends of the world! This can be a difficult task, but that does not take away from the importance of it. Matthew 28:19-20 says, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

This is a command, not a suggestion. This is at the core of Jesus’ heart; therefore, it is at the core of my heart as well.

A verse that has been weighing on my heart lately has been Acts 4:18-20. “Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John replied, “Which is right in God’s eyes: to listen to you, or to him? You be the judges! As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.” I want to be the person who cannot stop speaking about the gospel and about our savior Jesus Christ.

I will be working with a local church, Queens Church, and with a church planter. Five days of the week I will be working with my team (2 other girls, and 3 guys) to reach Muslims all over the NYC metropolitan area. We will have team discipleship and team building. We will also be doing outreach across the city. We will be helping the church with the teams of missionaries that are coming from different places to serve for week-long missionaries. We will also meet with all of the missionaries serving in NYC once a week to worship and hear from spiritual leaders across the city. The other day of the week will be used as a sabbath to help us stay aligned in our spiritual walk. My team specifically will be focused on forming relationships with Muslims across the city with the goal of sharing the gospel with them.

I have started my fundraising campaign for this trip and I would love your help! I only have a little over a month to raise the money I need to go on this trip. My Campus ministry is brainstorming ideas to fundraise. I am also working while in school to help raise some of the money to go toward this trip. However, the total cost is $3,800, which is a lot for a college student. We see examples of this where Christians throughout the Bible give to one another. We see this represented in the book of Acts, and as result, the church spread like wildfire! It’s through the early church’s giving that the Great Commission was accomplished and it’s through people’s giving today that it can still be accomplished!

If you are unable to give, that’s okay, but I do ask you to pray either way.

Prayer Points:

- Pray that my team would all get along and have strength through the 8 weeks.

- Pray for the long-term missionaries in New York City that we are partnering with.

- Pray for health and protection over travel.

- Pray for our teams to have endurance and to rely on the Lord’s strength.

- Pray for me, that I will lead well and encourage unity within our team.

Thank you for reading and I hope you will be in prayer for this trip!