Why Do I Support NYCUP - Brooke Adams

I support NYCUP financially and prayerfully because, quite simply, it changed my life.

I attended the Spring Break Plunge in 2005, during my sophomore year of college. I had planned to come for the week, learn a few things, serve a few people, and go on my way. I was planning to go to Scotland for the summer to visit some friends. Then God changed my plans.

He called me to return to the Bronx for eight weeks that summer. I resisted. I shouted and stamped my foot. And then I went.

At NYCUP I learned hard lessons: how the color of my skin impacts my relationships with those around me. How my sins affect my community and hurt my brothers and sisters in Christ. At my internship, as I became frustrated with what I perceived to be a lack of organization and objective for the summer camp we were trying to run, I learned that in the Latino community in which I was working on the Lower East Side, my supervisors placed more value on the relationships I was developing with our teenagers than on how smoothly my creative writing class went. I learned the hard lesson that I would sometimes mentally "check out" of my internship during the day, until I could leave the projects and return to the NYCUP house, where I felt safer. And I realized that the kids I was beginning to love couldn't leave at the end of the day. And that broke my heart, and made me pay more attention.

When I went back to campus I began taking urban studies and education classes in addition to the literature courses required for my English major. I wrote a photographic essay for an urban studies class on structural racism: how the literal fabric of the city reflects the value the city places on its residents. The route I chose to document? The walk I had taken every day that summer, from the Astor Place subway stop to Avenue D. As you walk, the landscape changes: from a corner with three Starbucks on it, down a street with mostly white young professionals. Then the houses become more decrepit. Halfway to the East River stands a police station that occupies a fully city block. More faces on the street are Hispanic or African-American. And then you run into a dead-end: the projects. The sense of appalled injustice I felt every day I took that walk stays with me, and it motivates me to act. I support NYCUP because I encountered God's call to justice there, and it changed my life.

Brooke Adams is a graduate of Vassar College, Class of 2007. She and her fiance, Simeon, met at NYCUP in the summer of 2005.

Ntandose Hlabangana: Why Do I Support NYCUP

I went to a small university in West Virginia called Salem International University for my undergrad and coming from Zimbabwe I was exposed to schools and campuses that had Christian Student bodies or groups like Scripture Union (like what Intervarsity represents) that participated in missions around the country, enjoying fellowship while reading the bible, worshiping and helping each person in the groups together with those not in these groups grow in their walk with Christ or minister to those that didn't know Christ. I arrived at the University only to realize they did not have one of these. I was bothered for the longest time then I became complacent to the point where I chose to accept the lie that I couldnt do anything. Yes, I found a small church with loving people that took me in and I now consider as family, but I still did not do anything about our campus. I would minister to those that I associated with but I still had the urge to want to reach out to more people but still didnt, because I allowed fear to hold me back. I wish I could say that I left Salem having started a christian student group, but unfortunately that wouldn't be true. I graduated from Salem and moved to Pittsburgh where i re-discovered my childhood passion to reach out to the less fortunate (hence my starting an organization back home to build orphanages and provide funding for tuition to those dependents of HIV/AIDS victims as well as the underprivileged.

NYCUP has reached out to students providing them the opportunity to serve in the ministry, while growing in their walk with God and being brought to awareness of the injustices of this world, as well being involved in missions that show God's love to communities. I will be studying International Law in particular because I have a passion for preservation of humanity and human rights and NYCUP does so through their fight against human trafficking and modern day slavery amongst other things. To sum it all up, NYCUP has become a source that enables and or teaches students to grow and live their lives not just by hearing the word but doing it and practising it in their everyday lives on and off campus by being involved in different missions that not only affect their campuses but communities, nations and the world as a whole. It stands for what I believe in, which is that anyone can make a difference and it starts with one person, which ive come to understand from the first time I arrived in the US when I was in Salem. And it would be humbling to be a part of this ministry.

Feed 500 Reflection: Transformed to Love

On Saturday, November 21, I met two men—Anthony and James. The first thing you need to know about these men is that they are made in the image in God, which, if you boiled it down to its essence, means that traces of divine glory and beauty can be found in every single person. The other characteristic thing about these men is that neither of them have a home.

I was participating in an event called Feed the 500, a day of ministry to the City’s homeless, coordinated by InterVarsity Christian Fellowship’s New York City Urban Project (NYCUP). This day was key in making me realize two things—first, that every human being truly is beautiful and deserves to be cared for, and second, that ultimately, the one reason I can love is because I was loved first.

We trickled into the NYCUP headquarters in Washington Heights, and the hundred student volunteers from around the City broke into teams making sandwiches, writing notes of encouragement, and stuffing brown paper bags with our freshly-made meals. Meanwhile, I was pleased with how gratifying this all was. We were being so nice, taking time out of our Saturdays and feeding people who didn’t have a dining hall into which they could swipe their meal cards. I surveyed the tables lined with rolled-up paper bags, and I said a quick prayer that these meals would change someone’s day for the better.

All that was wonderful until Jonathan Walton, the director of NYCUP, asked each student to take two lunch bags and begin our mission for the afternoon. One lunch, he said, was for the person without a meal and the other was for us. Apparently it was so that we would sit with the person receiving the meal and eat with him. Deep down this is not what I wanted to hear. I longed to not have to get my hands dirty, to be able to hand the poor and needy a lunch while remaining warm, safe and cozy in my fifty dollar Columbia sweatshirt. But that was not what I got.

Before we left, Jonathan reminded us all why we were doing this in the first place. As a group of Christians trying to live out our faith, “we love because he (God) first loved us” (1 John 4:19). Because God loved the people of His creation so much, He died for all the selfishness, hatred and pride in our hearts and rose again so that we could be with Him. These words moved me. If there is a God who loves me without limits so much so that He would die for me, surely with his help I can love the people around me without limits as to how comfortable I am, how safe I feel, or how much time they carve out of my afternoon.

With those words in the back of my mind and with bags of sandwiches filling my arms, my group left Washington Heights for our assigned strip of the city. It was not long before we encountered two men on a park bench. One was bent over, asleep, and the other was organizing his few belongings into some trash bags. A little hesitant at first, my friends and I approached the man who was awake and said, “We’re from the New York City Urban Project… would you like something to eat?” He agreed, and we spent the next hour and forty-five minutes talking to Anthony, hearing of all sorts of things from how he had run three marathons to how he had messed up his marriage and lost his wife, his money and the custody of his child. James, the man who had been sleeping, woke up and began eating several sandwiches, saying a few grateful words here and there and explaining to us why it was hard for him to stand up straight and even hold on to his food. I was filled with so much happiness when both of them laughed from time to time, for I saw a little glimpse of the beauty infused into them, and I imagined God laughing with joy along with us.

It’s easy enough to ladle soup into a bowl and hand it to someone, or even to write a check to a homeless shelter. I’m not trying to diminish the importance of either of those things, but, as Jonathan would say, what would it look like if we actually cared about the people around us and spent time actually loving them? New York would be a very different place if it wasn’t so uncommon to see students, professors, doctors, and lawyers using the resources we have and not just caring for people in the workplace but in all the different places we find ourselves daily. If you feel that’s impossible for you, like I often do, turn to Jesus. I guarantee you He will transform your life and fill you with his power to love.

- Rebekah Mays, Barnard IVCF

River of Grass

I hear the whispers from the river of grass telling the sleeping manatee it's time to breathe, the flamingo it's time to switch feet and the crocodiles and alligators that though one's skin is lighter than the other there's no need for low self-esteem, prejudgment, or feelings of inadequacy and even if the latter's snout is round instead of thin they are invited into the harmony that exists between the red mangroves and the residents in its roots, the blades of saw grass that cut no creatures passing through and the frenzy of feathers and fauna that call this clash of habitats --- home.

This is the Everglades --land of the seminole and then the soldier, the colonies and the colonized , the live-ins and the passers-by all trying to do what the Everglades do so well -- live in a balance like an egg on end and if untouched would stay that way with not so much as a problem or conflict because the mud and leaves, mosquitoes and trees are a living picture of mucky perfection that we keep trying to suburbanize or gentrify into something that will generate profits when anything man-made will definitely be of lesser value.

The Everglades are out there but what if we could get a little of the everglades in here because the parrots and the blue jays certainly speak different languages, and frogs and toads come from different backgrounds, and the cattle egret and snowy egret are the same species but different ethnicities and all of them seem not just to survive but to thrive in a place where we don't look hard enough to see the life inside.

I hear the whisper of the river of grass telling Miami-dade to take a break and turn down Beyonce and little Wayne, take a trip to everglades and listen to the crickets and owls sing because we might find that our songs aren't music at all.

The Exalted Shall be Humbled

The folks from Westboro Baptist Church, headquarters of the infamous “God hates fags” movement, have been in the New York City area for the past several days. It was a big weekend for them, protesting wicked Catholics, rebellious Jews, Obama the anti-Christ, and of course, the heathen gays. On Thursday, they decided to stop by the Jewish Theological Seminary to explain that God was fed up with Jews who refuse to repent of their apostasy and that he will soon wipe them from existence. Obama, too, wishes for the destruction of the Jews, as would be expected from the anti-Christ.

So, why did I and some of my Christian friends show up at their protest with signs trying to counter their demonstration? They’re trying to provoke a reaction, right? And wouldn’t any counter-protest serve to legitimize their views to some degree? Who takes them seriously, anyway? They believe that Christ and the anti-Christ have somehow set aside their differences to annihilate the Jews.

These are all fair points that I had to consider, but as a Christian, I had a much larger stake in this protest. They were representing Jesus in a way that his followers simply can’t allow to go unchallenged. The God of Westboro is primarily one of judgment. He applauds only those who have achieved a high moral status by following the right rules, holding the right doctrines, and condemning the right groups of sinners.

Contrast this with one of the stories from Luke in Chapter 18. The passage begins, “To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable…” (Luke 18:9). The story is about two prayers from two very different people, a priest and a tax collector. First, the priest thanks God that he is not like all the sinners he sees around him, like the tax collector beside him, and then lists a couple of ways in which he is particularly holy.

The tax collector, however, could make no such prayer. People in his profession were known for extracting far more than the government actually required of its citizens so that they could reap the benefits. They went unchecked by the empire, and were thus common symbols of greed, corruption, and Roman imperial oppression. His prayer was simple. “God, have mercy on me, a sinner” (Luke 18:13). When he finishes his parable, Jesus says, “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted” (Luke 18:14).

One of the main criticisms raised against Jesus by the religious establishment of his day was that he spent time hanging out with prostitutes, tax collectors, and sinners, and this is why I had to try to correct Thursday’s misrepresentation of him. Westboro isn’t just a group of off-the-wall religious fanatics—they represent something larger, the idea that God is interested in the morally upright. He is not. People who followed what they believed to be God’s law couldn’t stand Jesus because he accepted many people that they always rejected. God is instead interested in people with humility and the willingness to listen.

Don’t get me wrong. Just a brief glance at several passages in the Bible would reveal that God is clearly a judge who will punish wrongdoing, but the manner of that punishment makes known His true character. The Torah sets up a system of laws showing the Hebrew people right from wrong and punishing them when they choose the latter. Sacrifices were always required to make up for infringements, which makes sense. A holy God, perfect in every way, could not be in the presence of imperfect beings by definition. Some change on the part of the imperfect had to transpire, and sacrifice was the usual method. But God wanted to commune with his creation more than anything, which is why he sacrificed himself in order to be with his creation. He had nothing else to gain from such behavior. And so Christians celebrate. We are undeserving, but blessed.

When we see ourselves or others living in ways that violate God’s law, we can’t condemn anyone because God did not condemn anyone. Instead, we attempt to show people the God who can be trusted to provide us the right way to live because of His sacrifice.

So, to all whom the church has ever excluded—Jews, homosexuals, or anyone else—we welcome you. We hope you will spend time with the Christians at Columbia as we try to follow the Rabbi who is teaching us to live with true humility and love. As for the Westboro crowd, if they wanted to join us, we would welcome them, too. For now, I can only pray that God grants them the mercy they so want him to withhold from everyone else.

The author is a Columbia College senior majoring in history. He is the president of the Veritas Forum and a member of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship.

Nomi Network's Launch, A HUGE SUCCESS!

Hello Friends of NOMI Network!

Our heartfelt thanks to everyone who came out last night to Nomi Network's first Product Launch Party! We started the night off in YingYing's fabulous SOHO boutique, White Saffron, promoting her gorgeous products coupled with our slave-free slogan-tote bags. What a sight to see: people overflowing into the streets, sipping on Chardonnay, and slinging their new tote bags in an array of cheerful colors to welcome the fall.

Next we sauntered a couple blocks over to NYU's Puck building where we mixed and mingled while viewing the profound photography of Tara Israel, Nomi's lead photographer, and hearing our keynote actress/director Esosa Edosomwan speak powerfully about the change we need to empower women to surmount stereotypes and combat sexual abuse in every form.

We ended the night listening to the stories of some of Nomi's core-team members, including Supei Liu, our resident product-developer-guru just back from Cambodia and brimming with the sincere accounts of the true hero's of the evening: the women - the survivors - who Nomi Network is now supporting and giving a voice to through the sale of our socially conscious BUY HER BAG NOT HER BODY tote-bags.

To those of you who couldn't make it out, we know you were there in spirit and we appreciate you so much! Hope to see you next time and stay tuned for our holiday fundraising efforts...

for freedom and fashion fighting together,
Alissa, Diana and Team Nomi

Reflections from Feed 500, September 26

"Today I got to have an experience I never had before. I got to speak with a man that was homeless and now is a Christian. He helped me to understand that the dirty, ugly, smelly people that I would see in the trains, benches, and floors are real people. They have real feelings. They have real stories. As he told me his story I began to change my view of homeless people with each passing sentence. After my conversation with him, I encountered my first homeless person with my new found perception of homeless people. I got to hear his story and I saw that the first story I heard is not a rare story. Many people on the street experience the same atrocities. Today's experience helped change me to become a better person"

- Baruch Student

"Volunteering at the Love Kitchen helped me to see how God's grace can work through all circumstances. I almost didn't make it to the Love Kitchen becuase I got a bit lost on the train station. A part of me wanted to turn back and go home, but I trusted God that he would some how help me reach my destination. I eventually did make it in time to serve the homeless people some food and talk to some of them. I met and talked with a homeless person named Henry who told me quite a life story. He explained to me how he got a virus stuck in his throat when he was younger and how he could hardly breathe ever since than. It was amazing to see how he has such a deep faith in Christ even though he had suffered so much in his life. He told me how it was his faith in Christ that gave him strength to keep on living each day. I also met two other homeless people, but unfortunately I couldn't get the chance to have a long term conversation with them like I did with Henry. I'll take the blame for that since this was really my first time talking to homeless people. I've learned from my mistakes and my experiences at the Love Kitchen and I hope by God's grace I will be able to return there someday to serve again."

- John Woo, Baruch

I had a really nice experience. Today I learned that homeless people are more than that. They are humans with the same needs as rich people. For some reason, or a bad experience, they decided to live their life like that, and although we forget about them, God is always thinking about them. A superior being, and what about us? We should definitely take some time to talk to these people, because they have so much to say.

-- Baruch Student

Why Do We Turn Victims Into Criminals

Before interning at Restore NYC, prostitution was a world I wasn’t familiar with outside of pop culture and academia. Songs like Ludacris’s “Area Code” glorify the life of a pimp, while Julia Roberts portrays in “Pretty Woman” how a prostitute can find herself in a sweet love story. In middle school, when we sang along with 50 Cents’s “P.I.M.P.” our ears only caught the chorus, and we missed the underlying violent truth embedded in, “Now Niki my bottom b*tch, she always come up with my bread/ The last n*gga she was with put stitches in her head.”

At my university, I learned in my Gender and Sexuality class about the idea of heteronormative, Puritanical statures being set on American society. In class we were taught how sex work can be an empowering decision for women. But I failed to realize the women we studied often served an elite, wealthy clientele (politicians, corporate tycoons) and the women themselves came from different socio-economic backgrounds than the women and cases I encountered while interning at Restore (college-educated Americans versus women from post-war countries enticed by jobs in America). When our class framed our discussions about the legalization of prostitution, I pictured how a well-off group of women would benefit from being able to work in an open and monitored work place, all the while ignorant to the reality of human sex-trafficking.

But to every empowered woman there is a girl emotionally-manipulated and abused by her pimp. Instead of sexual progression there is human regression as women and girls are brought into America as slaves.

During my internship I was forced to confront an ugly truth about myself: somewhere along the line I had internalized the idea that prostitutes deserved to take complete responsibility for their decisions. I had traded my intelligence for simple answers fed to me by academia, and exchanged my compassion for the ubiquitous attitude towards “hoes.”

At Restore I learned more about the reality that pimps and human traffickers seek to keep secret in order to profit from human exploitation. A pimp is not a smooth-talking womanizer who should be admired, but rather he is a master of manipulating girls, as young as 13-years-old, who often come from abusive homes, into a life of sexual exploitation and emotional abuse that a lifetime may not heal.

In the eyes of her pimp or her trafficker, a prostitute is a monetary number. A human life can be bought for a few hundred dollars, and later capitalized to thousands of dollars each week as prostitutes are forced to service multiple Johns. Prostitution suddenly becomes a business less about sex and more about dehumanization.

One of the most revealing experiences was going to court with Kara. There we were able to see the women who were brought in for prostitution. Rather than seeing them as victims of a broken system, these women were tried as criminals.

Dumplings in Flushing Will Never Be the Same...

My experience interning at Restore this summer has equipped me to recognize human trafficking when I see it, to understand the depth of the issue, and to contribute to the fight against it.

I learned quickly to identify the signs of human trafficking and realized that this underground world that had seemed so foreign to me was actually closer than I thought. While on a prayer walk in the Flushing neighborhood where I had stayed last summer before moving into my dorm, I came to the realization that I would never see that neighborhood the same way again. All the places I remembered so fondly— the Chinese restaurant where I used to get dumplings with my family, the grocery store where I had purchased snacks to stock my dorm room for the first time— were thoroughly intermingled with places that had remained invisible to me before. During the prayer walk, I began to notice the neighborhood's high concentration of suspicious massage parlors. On the map of the area provided by Restore, all the familiar streets were highlighted in yellow to call attention to places where trafficking had been discovered. I now knew the implications of the signs that read "New Asian girls every week" or of the newspaper advertisements that emphasized "outcalls only." I learned that massage parlors that offer sexual services, that frequently change names, addresses, or both, that are located in ethnic-specific communities, and that are staffed by recent and possibly undocumented immigrants are often places where desperate women are forced, deceived, or coerced into sex work. It grieved me that our we live in a society that allows such establishments to advertise in mainstream publications like Time Out New York and Village Voice, which are praised, promoted, and occasionally given away for free by my university.

When Karen and I accompanied Kara to the Queens District Court, my eyes were opened to one more of the countless injustices that plague victims of sex trafficking: the criminalization of the victims. When we were on our way to court, I had imagined that the defendants would not be the women but their perpetrators: the people who sold them into slavery or held them captive or paid for their services. I was shocked and appalled to see the women themselves standing before the judge, accused of criminal acts when, instead, they should have been viewed as exploited victims desperately in need of rescue.

My time spent at Restore taught me that, despite the magnitude of the need, the fight against human trafficking is far from hopeless. I was encouraged to see that organizations like Restore and GEMS are able to make the best of the unfortunate fact that the victims are tried as criminals, because they actually work through the court system to come into contact with the women and counsel them. Becoming better acquainted with the issue, learning to identify the warning signs has prepared me to take action against human trafficking, as well.

Can I simply ignore the things that I see?

As NYCUP is starting to wind down, I have been doing a lot of thinking: What more can I do in the life that I am living in? Throughout these past weeks, many issues have been raised, issues that I was not even aware of. Some of these issues are of the homeless, sexual exploitation, and human trafficking.

Definitely, something needs to be done. I’m glad God is at work. The many different organizations that we are all interning are prime examples that something is being done. But that does not mean that we do not need to care about the issues in our community. If anything we should become more active, especially when we know that something is not right.

These last few days, I have been feeling exactly just that. With all of my knowledge and experience that have gained through NYCUP, I do not believe that I can revert back to my same, exact comfortable life style. That is not to say that I will completely change my whole lifestyle. Instead some part of my lifestyle will have to change.

Although, initially, I felt overwhelmed and burdened from being made aware of all these different issues, I am reminded that all of these issues are not meant for me to bear. Only Jesus Christ can bear all of these problems and make it right.

Of course, knowing this truth doesn’t mean that I can just turn a blind eye. Although I do not need to bear these burdens, I still feel compassionate of what I see right in front of me. Can I simply ignore the things that I see?

To Burp or Not to Burp...

To be honest, I think living in a female-dominated house has been quite an annoying, yet rewarding experience. Of course there’s the obvious list of things not to do – such as walking around the house in my boxers, using my shirt to fan myself, changing clothes with the door open, leaving the bathroom door unlocked, burping and farting out in the open or making it a competition and I think the list goes on forever. And then... There’s the not-so-obvious list of things that you should do...

I grew up in orange county, California my whole life. with the beach only 15-20 mins away, I think its fair to say that both women wearing just bikinis or shirtless guys walking around the community is a norm. the standard for the amount of skin you can show is most likely different compared to many other suburban areas (I would argue). after all, if you've ever looked at the facebook group for california ("B*tch please..... I'm from california), you might've noticed #5 - which is basically about how adult videos are made here because sex is better here. you can disagree or agree with that if you want, but I'm merely just using it as an example of the uniqueness of the setting I grew up in; and likewise, I think everyone else in this house grew up in their own way and in their own environment.

Its been interesting to see how everyone reacts to certain situations or events in their own ways. Also, being able to witness what everyone brings to the table has been great. I think its been a humbling experience for me to acknowledge the differences that exist in different generations, cultures, backgrounds, or even in gender. Although at times things here and there continue to annoy and gnaw at me, being able to learn from these experiences has been good. At the very least, now I know the type of people I don't want to live with again hahah :).

What may be fine with me may not be fine with others. What may be great and awesome with me may not be great and awesome with others. What may sound pleasing to my ears may not be pleasing to others. What may be insensitive to me may be sensitive to others. What may be normal for me to do or say may not be normal to others who witness. What I do may not be interpreted by others as what I'd hope or think. Ultimately everyone ticks a bit differently from each other and I think we should all suck-it-up and acknowledge that. And with that in mind, community can be born no?

Doing some not-so-obvious things in this house such as encouraging others with words of affirmation daily are things I think should do in order for community-building right? Well, maybe.

-- Jason

Check Your Foundation Before Fueling the Fire

This was supposed to be a day, or night rather, of rest. Jonathan Walton (director of NYCUP) talked about stoking the flames of the fire to ensure that the foundation is still intact, rather than always adding more fuel to the fire and then burning out too quickly as a consequence. The parallel to our current state of mind is that we should reflect in peaceful silence on what God has been revealing to us lately rather than merely accumulating more and more knowledge and passion and then burning out easily. But tonight didn’t turn out the way it was supposed to for me.

I finished reading “Not for Sale.” I recommend this book to anyone who is willing to be disturbed, moved, and inspired. I recommend this book to anyone who is willing to be disturbed by the injustice in this world, moved by those who took the initiative to fight this injustice, and inspired enough to make a difference themselves.

After the couple of hours of reflection and restoration, the whole house came together to share about what God had been placing on our hearts. I shared that through reading this book, God was showing me how ignorant, indifferent and fearful I had been before reading it. What did I know about the slave trade, sexual slavery, human trafficking? Even if I did know, what did it matter to me in this present moment- it didn’t affect me personally or break my heart to do anything about it? And even if it did matter to me, how could I, the most ignorant and least influential person of all, do anything about it?

Reading “Not for Sale” allowed God to break my heart to see the pain and suffering that others have been and are currently going through. I saw how distant I was from truly loving others. How could I not have known? How could I have stood idly by instead of researching to find out more or spreading awareness about this global issue? How could I be comfortable enough in my life to not be desperate about this injustice and pray to God that He would show me a way in which I could use my gifts or skills or connections to fight this crime and liberate people from slavery and thus ultimately glorify God’s own name? In the ending chapters of the book, Batstone wrote that “social movements take root and blossom when enough individuals take personal action. When you tell yourself that there is nothing that you can do to arrest the global slave trade, you underestimate your own potential and abandon hope for those trapped in captivity” (269). I add that God can use all of us for change, and that we must trust that He will provide us with whatever we lack. God wants us to search for a vocation, a calling rather than a career (architecture, law, psychology, linguistics). Whatever cause it may be, whatever gifts I may have, doing everything for God. I tend to overcommit to so many things, but I am praying that in whatever I do, I may be able to serve God in helping to heal the brokenness of others as He has healed me."

- Narai

"Love Your Friends...and Your Enemies"

On Sunday, when we attended church in the Bronx, I engaged in perhaps
the most meaningful worship of my entire life. The friendliness of the
congregation reminded me of what church is supposed to look like.
During the greeting time (which was longer than any I have ever
seen!), I could not walk more than two steps without being hugged by a
warm, smiling brother or sister in Christ. The worship helped me to
connect to God in a way that I hadn't for a very long time. The
message was also quite significant. It was just what I needed. The
pastor talked about loving your enemies-- an issue I had been
struggling with for quite some time. It seemed so counter intuitive. I
understood the idea of confessing sins, repenting, and mutual
forgiveness. I even had a category for becoming friends with former
enemies, putting the past behind me, and moving forward in love. What
I had always struggled with is loving my enemies while they're still
my enemies. I know that we're called to do this, because "while we
were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8). Jesus, who had
everything already and needed nothing, was willing to sacrifice
himself for people who didn't appreciate him, who falsely accused him
every time they had the opportunity, and who eventually tortured and
killed him. I have always admired Christ's overwhelming,
unconditional, sacrificial love, but I have never been able to
understand quite what it would look like for me to emulate it. There
are certain people I just can't imagine loving, especially if they
have no intentions of repenting. I want to love them, but I can't
figure out a way to make myself do it. During the message, I realized
that, at the point when I can come to grips with the fact that I can't
do it on my own, I am able to invite God in to help me love my enemies
like He loved us while we were his enemies. At that point, I depend
completely on him and allow him to work in me and through me, making
me more like him. As I said at the beginning of the project, it is my
desire to reflect God's character through my actions, loving people
with his love (even those whom I would normally deem unlovely). The
pastor's message reminded me that actions speak louder than words, and
that my character as expressed through my actions will have a bigger
impact on the people around me than will anything I say. Saying "I
forgive you" is not enough. I need to invite God into my situation,
ask him to help me to love my enemies, and then truly love them the
way that He would.

God is the Potter, We Are the Clay

These last few days have been intense. I met a lot of different people
and everyone has finally arrived at The House. Work at the Love
Kitchen is getting more exciting. I am learning more about the history
of the Love Kitchen. It's been around for 22 years. It was even more
exciting when it was first established and by exciting I mean it was
dangerous. Fights would erupt, drug deals were attempted, etc.
Fortunately, God is good. God kept The Love Kitchen strong and helped
it grow. God also brought many of the people who came to the Love
Kitchen back to Him.
After learning about the history of the Love Kitchen I was reminded of
the story of King Manasseh in 2 Chronicles 33:1-20 that was shared
with us by All Angels' Church last weekend. In the passage, Manasseh
was a king who turned away from God and did many evil deeds, such as
worshiping idols and offering human sacrifices to them. God tried to
bring Manasseh back to his sense but Manasseh was stubborn. As a
result, God sent an army from Assyria to Manasseh's kingdom. He was
captured and made a prisoner. During his time as a prisoner, Manasseh
turned back to God and repented for his sins. God reestablished
Manasseh as king of Judah and made even greater than before. Manasseh
did many great deeds and sensed God for the rest of His life.
To me, this passage showed just how much God loves us and to what
great lengths He would take in order to save us from our sins. The
period of time of trouble may be at times dreadful and very painful
for us, both physically and spiritually. But the end result of what
God creates out of our mess-ups is even better than what we could ever
imagine.
As Eddie, the chef of the Love Kitchen told me, "God is the potter and
we are the clay". Before being molded, the clay (us) needs to be
splattered, hard, onto the clay molding wheel. That big splat can be
painful but the form that is molded out of the clay is priceless. Many
of the people who have come to the Love Kitchen over these 22 years
have been "splatted" in many different ways, but they have become
beautiful treasures.

- Winston Tse

"Not Just a Rub-n-Tug" - Letter to Time Out New York

"Not Just a Rub-n-Tug" - Letter to Time Out NY

Time Out New York recently published an article in their Sex & Dating column titled, "Best Happy Ending Parlors in New York City". Upon clicking the link, the reader is met with "your spa visit will end with a smile when you visit the best rub-n-tug joints"; and goes on to list the top 5 places in Manhattan to receive sex for money. Essentially, advertising the top five brothels in Manhattan with recommended "tips" for how to act as well as how much to pay.

Based on the latest UN Trafficking in Persons report it is a high probability that the women in these "establishments" are victims of sex trafficking and/or debt bondage - two forms of modern-day slavery. Human Trafficking is now the leading illegal enterprise in the world today -surpassing drugs and weapons as a woman can be bought and sold several times over sometimes servicing more than 20 men a day. It is estimated that more than 15000 trafficked persons pass through NYC alone each year.

That being said, here is the Editor's Note:
Paying for sex is illegal in New York City, so use the information below at your own risk; Time Out New York is not responsible for your safety. At each location, your mileage may vary, depending on your masseuse, your look and your behavior. The services described below are not explicitly offered at the spas, which describe themselves as legitimate massage parlors. A decent tip is usually $40. The following five have been in operation for at least two years running.

No, Time Out New York is not responsible for your safety, nor are they responsible for the well-being of men and women that were born into poverty, manipulated, and brought to another country under the guise of finding a better life.

Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children and Adults is wrong and one of the most popular publications in New York City only took the time to research what's written below:

West Garden Spa
243 W 30th St between Seventh and Eighth Aves (212-244-7711, westgardenspa.com)
Cost: $100 plus tip

"...you get a table wash (often by a petite Latina woman) and are directed (by an Asian woman of the spa’s choice) into a labyrinth of private white rooms, with Lite FM music piped in. After a decent massage (“Hard or soft?”), she’ll jerk you off."


My Heavenly Hands
Locations vary (646-460-0566, myheavenlyhands.com)
Cost: $130 for 30 minutes; $200 for an hour, plus tip

"...this service, run by self-proclaimed college girls (but who knows), employs Hispanic and black women, a nice alternative to the usual Asian fare."

22 West Spa
22 W 38th St between Fifth and Sixth Aves, first floor (212-997-2228)
Cost: $60 for 30 minutes; $80 for an hour, plus tip

"We’ve heard of people going in for a quick happy ending and getting a blow job (without a condom), a make-out session (while being tugged) or full-on sex. Our reporter never went that far, but he did enjoy what his health teacher once called “mutual masturbation” while a breast was in his mouth"

New York Health Spa
5 W 37th St between Fifth and Sixth Aves (212-575-5600)
Cost: $80 plus tip

Miga Spa
238 W 78th St between Amsterdam Ave and Broadway (212-501-7750)
Cost: $70 plus tip

They did not however take the time to ponder the possibility that they may be willing participants in sex-trafficking and investing in the rape and molestation of women and boys taken and held against their will.

I cringe when I think that business is booming for the pimps and traffickers as they reap the benefits of Time Out's readership. It bothers me that the eyes that usually comb the back pages of the New York Post or adult services on Craigslist can now click to a well-known publication and find exactly what they're looking for.

I can only hope that modern-day abolitionists are reading too, so that we know where to go as well.

Operation Exodus vs. Merrill Lynch

Well, I’m writing this because apparently Jonathan and others want to hear about it, but I’m thinking to myself “What should I say?” It’s not that words or images aren’t coming to my mind and I have writer’s block or whatever, but really it’s quite the opposite. There’s simply too much to talk about and writing the experience in attending these two internships in one week (which I've only done once so far btw) in less than the length of a book is difficult, but I’ll try :). This is a compilation of a week's worth of thinking and typing, so hopefully this will be enjoyable for you to read, hah.

Comparing Exodus to ML is like comparing black to white, but not really. On one side, I’m dealing with young professionals and interns who are all relatively well-educated and who all come from middle-class+ families. On another side, I’m dealing with under served children who perform 2-3 grade levels below national standards and who come from below poverty level families. However, whichever side I’m on, I find myself surrounded by people who do not know God – people who, regardless of their wealth, education, family backgrounds, societal status, etc. through the eyes of Jesus deserve the grace and mercy of God just as much as any of us believers do.

At Operation Exodus, God’s work is in the process all the time. The kids (though they themselves may not realize it) experience injustice in many forms. They’re growing up in an environment both at home and at school that I think many of us aren’t familiar with. I mean, just as an example, youth teams from churches come to this specific program to "help" these kids. Imagine if that had happened to you when you were in elementary or middle school. What would you feel like or what would be running through your mind when you see volunteers come and go every week of the summer? Also, what kind of "help" do these children need? Many of these children don’t even speak English at home, so this is one of many disadvantages for them to overcome at school. Many of these children live in poor families, so they don’t have the resources to expand their knowledge and most likely don't have a chance to move above the poverty level. Many of these children aren’t pushed or challenged by their teachers or mentors to step outside of the box, so they will most likely stay in the Heights for the rest of their lives and have kids that will probably go through the same cycle. Ultimately, I believe these kids need an enormous amount of help in terms of worldly standards, but I also believe Christ is the biggest help these children can receive. Hopefully what we, the staff members and the volunteers, are doing is helping these children see the door to a Savior, a Healer. Hopefully when I'm there, God is using me to be a light even though I'm a chinese guy awkwardly placed in a latino-dominated classroom. I can only pray that God does His thing.

At ML, I work with full-timers and other interns who all come from middle class families or above. For those of you who have/are working in a professional corporate setting, surely you can agree with me that most of these people are relatively smart and knowledgeable and have ambitions that are relatively limited to only the privileged. For the most part, they've all been well-educated growing up and have attended decent to well-known universities. Each of them has a chance to make six digits easily and can achieve worldly success in the eyes of their peers. However, can money and worldly success give enough meaning to life and grant happiness to all of those who have it? I honestly believe sooner or later, these individuals will start to wonder if there's more to life than just success. The only reason I say this is because I've seen it, I've experienced that sense of feeling coming from them. I'd like to believe they're smart individuals who can think for themselves about issues such as gay rights, politics or religion. For example, most of my team asks me "how was your weekend" or "how is your week so far" and I tell them the truth - I've been working with under served children or with homeless people and living the Heights. Most of their responses were: "You mean Washington Heights? Isn't that a not-so-great neighborhood??" and I'm like "yep..." and I explain what I'm doing and every single one of them responded positively or even commended me. The question I ask when I'm at ML is what can I do to serve and witness to them when I'm only a summer intern? Just as with the Exodus children, I hope that I can help these individuals see the door to the God of this universe and I can only pray that God does His thing here too.

To me, comparing Exodus to ML is like comparing black and white in terms of worldly standards, but in terms of God's standards they're both places filled with people who do not know Christ. Despite what some of you may think, the young professionals I encounter actually have morals. I think there’s a common misconception that all the people working in banks or financial services industries are working for their personal wealth and ambition and worldly success. No. I think that statement can be true in various degrees for many of the individuals, but to generalize and say that all of them, for example, don’t even care about social welfare or the poor is ridiculous. Many of them have families. Would it be unfair to say they’re working for the money in order to allow their families to live comfortably? Is that bad morals? My boss hosts a golf tournament every year where all proceeds and donations go to cancer research. Does that surprise you? I think they’re just like the children at Exodus in the sense that they need direction - a direction that points towards God.

Whether if I look to my left and see under served children or look to my right and see financially strong intellectuals, I'm only trying to look towards the third way, the middle way - the way Christ would view both of these societal groups (which is not children who need tons of help or superior intellectuals who have it all). Because the fact of the matter is, both of these groups of people can still feel satisfied and content with their lifestyle even if we (believers) don't think they would simply because they don't know Christ or because we see them drop out of school. This is one characteristic that they both share. And another shared characteristic is that whether you're a businessman in a suit or some no-name at the very bottom of society, Christ views you as a sheep that needs to be shepherd towards His right hand side. My opportunity in being able to intern at both of these places has given me the experience and the sight of what one of the realities of this city is really like, and what God's kingdom on earth can look like.

Empowering Women

On Saturday Briana and I went to a volunteer training session with an organization that works with RestoreNYC, a non-profit that helps rehabilitate former sex trafficked victims. The partnering organization assists women who are domestic abuse victims, providing services such as finding housing to connecting women with legal counsel.

Briana and I were surprised to learn that as volunteers, much of our training taught us not what to do but also what not to do. A lot of what we learned was how to establish healthy boundaries.

Domestic violence can take many forms but it stems from control and power. An abuser exerts power over their partner through controlling their finances, emotional manipulation, or physical assault.

Although I walked out of the training session feeling restricted in how I can interact with clients from the shelter, I realized later the center allows the women to reclaim empowerment by making their own decisions according to their own timeline within a safe environment. It was humbling to learn how best to love these women and children by respecting their decisions and looking after their safety.

Utilizing Globalization for Humanity

During the first week of NYCUP, my fellow Nomi Nomad, Lucy, and I focused much of our energies on writing a 24-page paper for our internship at Nomi Network. Because Nomi Network is a start-up non-profit that is still in search of a permanent location (hence the coining of our Nomi Nomad identities), much of the writing for the paper took place in Columbia’s Business School and Butler Libraries, various Cosi locations, a Marriott hotel, and wherever else we could snag some free wi-fi in Manhattan. The topic of the paper, which we co-wrote along with Nomi volunteer, Stephen Bauer, and Nomi Executive Director, Alissa Moore, was about technology and its intersections with the trafficking industry as well as the ways in which it has greatly enhanced anti-trafficking efforts. We submitted the final version to the editor of American Behaviorial Scientist, an interdisciplinary peer-reviewed journal, for their special issue on Media and World Events.

Even though I was writing this paper in the very same environments that I write my other papers for school, the harsh realities of the topic and its implications distinguished the imminence of the subject from all my other graded papers. As I learned and wrote about the extent to which the internet can enable human trafficking, I thought about how much our generation is wired to these rapid technological advances. What may be convenient forms of communication for us could also serve as easy methods to perpetuate the crimes of traffickers. One example we used was that of Craigslist, and how the anonymity and widespread access it offers to its users are often exploited by traffickers who both recruit their victims and advertise their services through the online classifieds website.

While this paper exposed me to these atrocities, it also gave me the opportunity to learn more about the ways in which Nomi is truly riding on the waves of globalization to counter trafficking. Not only does Nomi’s unique business model create economic opportunities for trafficking victims by adding social value to the supply chain of today’s globalized production process, but it is also utilizing technological advances and the internet as a platform on which it can more deeply engage a wide audience. One of Nomi’s primary projects is to connect anti-trafficking NGOs with designers and private factories so that former trafficking victims who have received vocational skills can produce highly-marketable items for consumers in the US. Essentially, Nomi is trying to reshape the supply-side of production while promoting a more conscientious product demand.

As a Political Economy major at Barnard, it was really amazing to be able to apply what I’ve learned from my studies to really understand the sex trafficking industry as a form of organized crime largely driven by economics. My background in economics has also made me really appreciate the opportunity that I have this summer to learn from an organization that is on the cusp of all the changes in today’s global economy. After so many years of theoretical learning, it is so great to finally put both my knowledge and passion into practice.

--Hei-Yue

"From Darkness to Light" - www.slaverymap.org

"Slavery thrives in the shadows. An estimated 27 million live in bondage today – yet we know about the plight of so few of them. The battle to end slavery begins by revealing it.

Slave labor is alive and well but it's hard for us to believe it's in our own backyards, next door, or a couple floors up. This tool will help us to shed light on cases that are happening in our neighborhoods so that we can begin to grasp the scope of this rising issue and serve as fuel for change in legislation, social consciousness and grow our effectiveness to combat this growing problem.

Slavery Map was born out of University of San Francisco Professor David Batstone's Not For Sale Campaign, which began when the death of Seetha Vemireddy, a 17 year-old bonded slave at the Pasand restaurant in Berkeley, CA, came to Batstone's attention. By learning to recognize forced labor and report it, you can help people like Seetha gain their freedom. Slavery Map was created for this purpose."

- David Batstone, "Not For Sale"

Modern slavery is one of the many social justice issues studied by the interns involved with the New York City Urban Project. In order for people to join in the fight against injustice, people have to know what they are up against. Slavery Map allows modern day abolitionists to alert the ears of mainstream society to the cries of the oppressed. It provides a way for the public to gauge the sheer magnitude of this evil that plagues the city and the world. The Map is covered with yellow flags, each one signifying an instance of human trafficking that has been reported to law enforcement. The already overwhelming image of New York City peppered with yellow flags intensifies when the number of incidents that remain unreported or undiscovered are taken into consideration. Slavery Map renders impossible the excuse of ignorance, transforming the way people see their neighborhood. This crucial tool powerfully educates the viewers about both the quantitative and qualitative aspects of human trafficking around the world.

"A Costco in the South Bronx"

Walking through the World Vision Storehouse was like shopping at Costco. The warehouse is an amazing collection of gifts-in-kind, mostly essentials (and hundreds of WWE belt buckles and other paraphernalia) for community groups, schools, and churches. I'm pretty sure my heart skipped a beat when Sal (who's in charge of the warehouse, I believe) told us we could help assemble furniture. I LOVE assembling furniture, so needless to say, I was uber excited. At home, I used to assemble all the desks, bookshelves, cabinets, and other storage units my family bought. At school, I only had the luxury of putting together a shoe rack, because my dorm room was already furnished. Even though I had to leave early and did not get to see the final product, I had a lot of fun with Hei-Yue and Winston putting together a cabinet. It also made me really happy to see volunteers from another church there as well, also assembling furniture. I think that the furniture and everything else in the Storehouse's inventory (OK, maybe not the belt buckles) can dramatically impact people's lives. Even though I only stayed there an hour, it was definitely worth it.

If Anyone Has Ears to Hear...

Joy finally arrived! Sara, too! Praise God that they made it safe and sound. Joy and I went to Love Kitchen today. Sara didn't make it since she arrived much later in the day. Both of us finally got to meet Mr. Jones. Mr. Jones is in charge of the Love Kitchen and is also a board member of the Food Bank for New York.
Today Joy and I distributed bags of food to the people. I felt kind of bad, seeing how many people were turned away due to registration and issues. This system may not be perfect but it is the best that we have. I also got a chance to talk to one of the people that was eating. His name was Ray. Most of the time, I was listening to what he was saying about how life was OK to him. I ended up just listening to Ray the whole time. And it made me realize, once again, just how important it is to listen to others. Just like how I like to have others listen to me, others like to be listened to as well. Just being able to listen to someone, and not necessarily need to do anything, is so powerful. Because, sometimes, that is just what we need to do: listen.
"The Lord says: Don't boast about your wisdom or strength or wealth. If you feel you must boast, them have enough sense to boast about worshiping me, the Lord. what I like the best is showing kindness, justice, and mercy to everyone on earth." Jeremiah 9:23-24

"Yo Chino, Wanna Buy Some..."

I was asked twice by the same drug dealer on two different days if I wanted to buy some drugs. Sneakers on light stands representing drug spots. Teddy bears on light stands representing who knows what? Loud latino music played at night. Restaurant names only in Spanish. Hair salons, deli's and Latina Comida everywhere east of Broadway. BMW's and Benz's everywhere west of Broadway. Gangs hanging out on the streets speaking Spanish. This is the Heights.

Living in the Heights has been such an experience already. I can only wonder what will happen in the next 4 weeks. We all need to pray now and for the remainder of our time here that we can be used by God in this community. Let's be prayer warriors.

Two Pennies

Today was the first day of internships. I left The House at 8:18 and headed for the subway. I ended up arriving at the Love Kitchen around 8:45am. When I got there I met Denise Hykes from World Vision-US Programs and the other interns. Mr. Jones was around though and as a result I ended working on the computer to help find grants to support Manhattan Bible School. At 3:30pm I went do went down to the Love Kitchen and helped set up. I met Jerry and many others. Jerry is a High School student and a volunteer at Manhattan Bible Church. He's a really great guy and is so willing to help. We both served at the Love Kitchen, serving food to the people who came. At times, we were clumsy but the people were forgiving.
At the end of the day, it doesn't matter what we do. We may do something with all our might, yet we would fail to accomplish anything if we do not put God's will into consideration. However, if if we were to have God as our focus and maintain His Will in whatever we do then we will be successful, even if we do a great/horrible job.

"Jesus looked up and saw soem people tossing their gifts into the offering box. He also saw a poor widow putting in two pennies. And He said, I tell you the truth, that the poor widow has put in more than the others. Everyone else gave what they didn't need. But she is very poor and gave everything she had " (Luke 21:1-4).

"In the Heights"

I arrived at the House on Sunday at 2:55 pm. It was more like a 'settle-in' day, where we all began to adjust to the environment, and got to know each other. Almost everyone arrived on that day, except for Brianna, Joy and Sara. Brianna arrived the next day at 6:45 am. Sara and Joy are supposed to arrive on Wed, 7/8. Pray that they get here safe and sound.
The second day here at the House, or the first "official" day of NYCUP, was full of introductions, deeper introductions, and even "deeper" introductions. Through these deep introductions, I've come to realize just how amazing it is that God has brought each and everyone from different backgrounds, to come and serve the community. Truly, God had great plans for us and this community. Can't wait to see what happens.
Besides the introductions, we were also given chores. We were split into two small groups and we mainly in charge of dinner and bathroom cleanup, or lunch and dinner clean up. My small group is in charge of dinner. As a result, we went out to the community and explored the different grocery stores.
While we were on our exploration, we witnessed a drug bust. It was like watching some scene on NYPD Blue except it was real and very serious. An SUV charged right at the corner of the block. Two plain-clothes officers charged right out of the SUV, and pummeled the drug dealers to the floor. Seeing such action before my eyes made me realize just how lively this community can be. Despite having such dangerous events, the community is pretty lively in a positive way. Families would get together, and neighbors would just hang out. Or party like during the 4th of July.
We eventually got our groceries and cooked a great meal. We cooked enchiladas and chicken. At one point, the enchiladas caught on fire. Apparently, we were supposed to put aluminum foil over it to the cheese wouldn't catch on fire so easily. Fortunately, Jonathan swooped in, pulled out the enchiladas, and put out the fire in the backyard. Overall, we had a great meal. And it was the first time I cooked chicken, with the rest of the group of course. Couldn't have done it without them and my Mom. Mom gave me crash course before I left.
Today was the second official day. we had two guests, Greg Jao and Carolyn Carney, come over and help us out as we got ready for out internships. Greg did a mini Bible study with us on Exodus chapter 2. From there, we talked about our different strengths and how some of them could be applied during the next few weeks. Carolyn shared with us her thoughts on prayer and how we could pray to God to help us.
After, we had Dominican food for lunch. After lunch, we went on a walking tour or Washington Heights. I really noticed the changed that occurred as we were walking. For example, one section of the community would be full of Latinos, while on the other side of the community there would be a series of Columbia University buildings, Starbucks, etc. If is kind of like how Soho would suddenly transition into Chinatown, or vice-versa, within a few feet of each other. More on that next time.
Later in the evening we saw the Broadway show, 'In the Heights', as a way to learn more about the Heights, and to just have fun before we all get busy the next day.
Overall, it was a good show. It portrayed quite well the way of life in the Heights. The ending was a big anti-climatic but it was a good day.

-Winston

Learning to Live for Him

Over the past year or so, I have been deeply convicted by God to do something about the injustice that surrounds me. I have realized that my goal in life is to see God's love displayed on earth and to see justice rules over injustice. Over these next 5 weeks, I hope that God shows me what this means for me in my life. What are my unique talents that He wants me to use? How do I, personally, best show God's love to others? I hope to learn what it means to live a life that reflects God and His love.
I also hope that I can learn from the 12 other people also living in The House. They all have things to teach us, and each was placed here for a reason. I hope to gain a sense of what it means to be a part of a community that is living for God. On a different level, I hope to make a valuable contribution to the anti-trafficking movement, something I have wanted to become involved with ever since I saw the film 'Call & Response'. While working for Nomi Network, I hope that I learn what are my strengths and weaknesses in a work environment. I hope that God reveals more about what He has planned for me career-wise and what steps I should take to get there.
Lastly, I want to have fun! I want to enjoy Washington Heights and all that is has to offer, and continue to enjoy the amazing place that is New York City. I can't wait to encounter the people, places and events that will make for an awesome NYCUP experience!!!

- Lucy Herz

Here I Am Lord

I want to have a better understanding of the people in NYC and the lifestyles as well as learn more about what the situation of the world is like. I want to get to know people and my team. Also, have a better or clearer direction of what God wants me to do in terms of career.

- Jason

For Freedom

During my time at NYCUP, I hope to discover what it looks like to live a life that reveals the love of Jesus to everyone I encounter. It is my desire to reflect His character through my actions, so that when people see me, they will know a little bit more about Him. I long to be filled with the joy and peace of the Lord, so that I can share it with the people in my life. I see NYCUP as an opportunity to answer Jesus' call to love God and to love my neighbor as myself - right alongside a dozen new partners who are on the same journey. I want to learn how to use everything I have to effectively contribute to the modern abolitionist movement, give a voice to the voiceless and fighting for the rights of the oppressed.

- Briana Wong

Live It Out

Through these next few weeks in NYCUP, I hope that I will be able to learn to live out the love that Jesus called us to. What I mean by living the love is that we should love one another based on who we are, and not by our social standings. Even though I may know this, it is easier said that done. In these next few weeks, I hope to grow more with understanding and experience of this love that Jesus spoke and acted out for us.

- Winston Tse

Jesus Loves

My initial motivation for joining NYCUP was just that Basileia week was awesome and I wanted to keep that awesomeness coming and also to apply what I learned there to real life. So that's one thing I hope to get out of NYCUP - to turn theories into practices. I want to know what it feels like to serve people with the love of God and make them know that Jesus loves them, too...no matter what situations they might be in. I also just want to gain the experience of working with people I have a passion for as well as living in a community of people who share the same passion.

- Craig

"Holy Discontent"

I was first impassioned by social justice issues in high school, when I developed a refusal to accept the world and its injustices as is. Now as a rising senior in college, tinges of jadedness and doubts about the potential of real change in our world are creeping in my mind. I question what my role in it all really is and can be.
My prayer for this summer with NYCUP is that God will fuel in me a 'holy discontent' - one which will continue to challenge the injustices of the world, but also see the beauty in the cracks of the broken.
Most of the injustice I have faced has been abroad in other countries, so I am looking forward to being face to face with issues that surround, but never seem to penetrate, Columbia's 116th street. I pray that God will speak to me through the people I meet, the scripture I read, and meet me within the heart and mind that I bring to this project.

Hei-Yue Pang

"Looking Forward"

I'm really excited about NYCUP - the work, the people, the house. In the next 5 weeks, I hope to learn as much as possible about the other NYCUPers, the work they're doing, and the kinds of social injustice that is present in New York City. I've done a bit of work in line with social justice in various countries, but very little within the US. I feel that God has called me to serve the community in the Heights, and I'm just hoping that I fulfill His plans for me. I know I have a lot to learn - from the other NYCUPers, the NYCUP directors, from the local community and from the greater NYC area. I can't wait to see how the program unfolds; it's going to be a good time for sure.

"More Like Mary..."

I hope to have the ears to listen and the heart to respond with that hope, I believe that God is speaking to me even now. I just hope to become more sensitive to His voice and how He's really calling me to live my life. That encompasses getting outside of my comfort zone and genuinely being unabandoned in my pursuit of Christ. But also, allowing God to fill me with such passion and joy that's uncontainable and actually live out the things I believe.
And what do I believe? I believe in the love of God shown through Christ for His people and the hope He gives through His promises of restoration for this world.
But I don't want my faith to be dead. Instead, I hope that through NYCUP I can learn how to respond in compassion and love to anyone and everyone I encounter. Not just here during these next 5 weeks, but for the rest of my life. Mostly though, I hope to have sweet times with Jesus, be more like Mary rather than Martha, and really know (in my heart, not just my head) what it means to die to myself, take up the cross and follow Him.

Sharon Kim