Touch of God – by Julia Dwight

Footfalls down a dimly lit street

Shoes caked in paint

Down I walk all alone

My heart is heavy

The pain is consuming

The damp ground I sit and read

A pen in my hand

A sore on my heart

Where is God

Brittle paper’s crackle

And innermost thoughts reveled

My prayers still go unanswered

I shift down the road

Not looking back

Leaving the past behind

My walk with God grows ever longer

His presence swells around me

I was alone

The touch of God once my home

Why Would I Stray

“God, lead me back,” I prayed

I hoped

Moving again

Further this time

As tears washed dirt from my cheeks

God breaking my heart

Then picking up the pieces

Restoration

How did I live without his love

How could I become so lost

Separated from the greatest feeling on earth

The touch, the love, of God

My heart once again transformed

Touched by my savior

My walk with God grows ever longer

His love mends all wounds

With the touch of God filling me up

This is where I want to be

Revitalization is here!

Hey! Sonia and Sarah here blogging in a hot, but freshly painted room, one of the many that we have been able to paint this week. We are still enveloped in a film of dirt following our day spent in the backyard finishing the garden prep. Thanks to Vales Construction Corp (Kirstin’s Dad), we got the last thing we needed to finish the backyard this afternoon…DIRT! What a blessing they have been to us, helping us clear out unusable dirt, and helping us to really bring revitalization and restoration to the backyard of this church.

It has truly been only through God that we have been able to accomplish this much in these few days. Sonia has been in the backyard for 3 days, and Sarah has joined the crew for the past 2 days, but all are needed! Eric has been the point person for the backyard transformation, as well as Mary P. both who have seen this project through, and will continue to do so until it is finished. Our motivating factor today has been ICED COFFEE ….(yes, mom i enjoy coffee now!) Such a simple indulgence, but so need on such a hot and laborious filled day.

The Kingdom is obviously present, and Gods healing hands is among us. The Healing Service last night, and the prayer times we have had with each other have been so valuable to building our personal relationships with God, but also our faith and trust that God has His hand in this city. More than ever we have newfound purpose and drive to continue service here; we truly have developed a passionate heart for Mt. Vernon, and this growing church.

Tonight we were able to have a cookout, and movie for people in this community. We sat down with a woman and her niece, and enjoyed our conversation about how she feels about this community and her vision for this community, but she seems to be out of hope. It may seem like this is a hopeless neighborhood, she is most worried about the constant, and violent occurences in the area that strictly impair safety of all. We just tried to remind her of the kind of God we have. He loves, He forgives, He restores, He heals, and He is present in this community.

We have heard a lot about God’s timing this week, specifically yesterday in the healing service. We may not know when every knee shall bow before the Lord, but we do know that He promises to sustain us, fill our cups, and continually meet us where we are until restoration has fully come. We have gotten just a taste of this during the week, His promises, and His plans, and it’s quite exciting to see this church building transform.

We would sincerely like to thank all that have been involved in this week. You have all made a significant impact here, and allowed us to accomplish more than we had ever thought we could. It has been so encouraging to see new faces everyday working by our sides, with new energy and passion for Christ. We have seen all at your best serving the Lord, and it has been incredible. We hope that your experiences here and with us have been as meaningful to you as they have been to us. Mt. Vernon Alliance Church has been so pleased with what we have been able to do, and we know it is only through God that we have gotten it all done so well! Tomorrows our final day of this trip, but we know we will be back for sure…God has made it clear that we a continued role here with our relationships we have built and continued restoration, and that makes us so ecstatic! The fire and passion that God has placed in our hearts this week is hopeful, and shows that God has a magnificent plan to transform this church so that it can be a blessing to this community…we simply want to be a worker sowing the seeds.

Please pray for our last night, for SLEEP, and that tomorrow we can make this church look brand new as we clean and pack up, only for now though because we will be back.

Much Love,

Sarah and Sonia

BCC Youth

The Day it All Blew Up!

Yup, it official hit the fan today. Yesterday was a rousing success as we had extra help painting, which allowed us to put more people outside to clear the future garden. 3 feet deep of wet dirt and gravel spread over 100+ square feet is a lot of work… a lot of back-breaking work. However, 2 days in and a crew of hardworking kids left us a bit deflated with a number of question marks as the day closed.

That is when a bomb fell on Mt. Vernon Alliance Church. First thing in the morning, the old, overfilled dumpster was hauled away and replaced by a fresh dumpster ready to be filled with all matter of brush and rock and dirt. Again we had a number of adults from Bedford come down, including the Esselborn’s and Claudia (who single-handedly turned the filthiest looking fridge you have ever seen into a more than suitable storage facility of refrigerated goods).

Also, Kirsten called in a favor with her old man who owns a construction company. Around 11 in rolled a fleet of vans, a back hoe and a dump truck to haul it all away. It truly changed the face of what we expected to do this week.

In a matter of a couple hours the dirt and gravel that would have taken us the rest of the week, and the rest of our backs, to clear was gone and hauled away. Leaving us with just enough gravel to lay a base for the garden. It was absolutely tremendous watching the machinery and men roll in and take care of business like they did this afternoon. God is BIG! With all that cleared we could continue right on sifting gravel to lay and turn more attention to the chaos of painting ensuing inside. Harold Bruschi brought down his painting expertise and in a few hours, expertly trimmed walls and ceiling, allowing us to completely finish 2 different areas of painting as well as start on the floor.

Another crew of men, assisted by Mr. Esselborn, installed carpet in one of the rooms downstairs.

Orlando officially declared it suitable for a child, quite the milestone for a church that 2 days ago didn’t have a room suitable for children, quite the obstacle for a church looking to bring in more families. Throughout the day a host of women came and occupied the kitchen, fixing a mouth-watering, stomach satisfying dinner of homemade meatball sandwiches.

While it certainly wasn’t all smooth and calculated (is it ever really), it was truly humbling and just mind-blowing to watch a bomb drop on a church and literally transform not just a day or a week but and entire church in a day’s time. Finally, as we wore into the afternoon we changed pace a bit and headed off to Hartley park (about .5 mile away) where about 20 of us descended armed with trash bags and gloves to clean up the garbage that so prominently dotted the landscape. After only a couple short hours and maybe 7 full trash bags, the park was far more suitable for the people and families that inhabit it during than the day. We wrapped up the day with the food that had tantalized us all day and then a prayer service held here this evening.

That is where, despite some resistance on my part, God dropped a bomb and me. He really just knocked me over as he dropped the perspective of a few hard days work can have on the hope and plan for a church and city in such dire straights. He overall reminded me that this is where I’m supposed to be and what I’m supposed to be doing. He reminded me that while I’m so lost and weak on my own, that He has such great and prosperous plans for me; He is in control and He will bring about far more in me and through me than I could even imagine. Filled with both the humbleness of God’s great goodness and the impact a handful (or 2) of kids and some adults can have on a church and community. While this week may be starting to run short, it is not without great impact and significance for both us and this community. This week (thus far) has truly been a demonstration of the power of prayer, hope and vision for a people, a church and a community. So here’s to praying for more bombs.

-Eric Urschel

much progress in mount vernon

Today it was awesome to see the overall progress in the back of the church, it started off with a bunch of weeds and useless rubble and now I could already see the progress and the vision that Mr. Orlando has for it. Also one of the back rooms went from a useless room with a bunch of random stuff and now it has a brand new carpet and ceiling tile with a brand new coat of paint.

Last today they had a healing service for the congregation and it was pretty cool to see the inspirational people of the church and to see the emotional healing for people of both Mount Vernon and Bedford. It made me inspired and I thought of how we should and how cool it would be to have something like that at our church. Overall it was a long tough day but we got a lot done and accomplished another step towards the growth of this church

-Jeff Smith-

rain rain go away…and sleep please come instead!

Our trip is half way completed and we have already exceeded all expectations.  the projects the church gave us to do (and hoped we would finish by the end of the week) were completed by Tuesday thanks to our hard-working team of students and individuals from BCC.  We are now moving on to new projects that church has a vision for.

We will show pictures of the completed works hopefully during our mission service weekend.

Each afternoon we break from manual work to go into the streets and local parks and bless the community.  We will be feeding parking meters with hand-made signs saying “Time extended by Mount Vernon Alliance Church”  We will also be running kids clubs in a local park by the projects and doing two park clean ups with signs reading “Trash Picked up by your friends at Mount Vernon Alliance Church”. We are expecting over 30 large trash bags to be filled.

We will also be finishing up removing 3-4 yards of gravel (by hand!) and getting new dirt delivered for the urban garden project.

Of course all of this potential ministry and service depends on the weather.

I have been completed amazed at how hard and efficient our teams are working all week.  Unlike previous trips, we do not have project supervisors or crew bosses showing us what or how to do these projects.  It is all on us.  This is very much a self-starter type of trip and our teens are taking full ownership and responsibility and do an amazing job.

We have also been blessed by the number of BCC members coming down each day to help with the work.  We would not have accomplished this much thus far without their helping hands.

Please pray for strength and endurance.  This has been one of the most physically intensive trips we have done and our teems (and their youth pastor) are extremely fatigued.  Even with trying to get to bed early (which for teens means sometime before 1am) we have early mornings at 7:30 am and start working right at 9 with minimum breaks.    Our students are so motivated to go above all expectations and really bless this church it inspires me.

Thanks again for all your support and prayers.  I hope to write once more as a final recap towards the end of the week.

Dan Haugh

Pastor of Student Ministries

Work and time (people too!)

Well, here we are, four whole days into this trip. We’re all starting to get tired here and things are coming and coming on fast. I and everyone else have had a full day, me especially, I just didn’t seem to stop working until there was nothing left on which to work.

Everyone seems to be getting tense here and these tensions may brittle and crack, but the devotionals in the morning are keeping us going and helping us to stay on the right path, remembering why we are here, God, and who we are. I think things are actually starting to look good around here, we’re getting some major painting done (rooms have significantly improved) and the garden-to-be in the back had a huge breakthrough today (lots of back-breaking stone shoveling).

I helped with both and I’m feeling pretty good. Overall, things are going well. In addition, two of the pastor’s boys are staying with us, they’re very nice and I hope that our work makes a real impact on them. I pray that as we stay here we remain faithful to our mission for Jesus Christ and work as hard as we can to benefit the community and spread the christian message of love and forgiveness throughout this city.

~For the future, a tired servant of Christ our Lord.

Jonathan Coppe

Kids Club in the park

Today is our third day here and it feels like we have been here for a week. If we came back to BCC tomorrow we would be able to share countless stories about our experience here at Mt. Vernon. After lunch today, we went to the park to try to make a small VBS, with all of us together. I thought that it was a very big success because after mingling with the children of the park, we started a VBS.

The VBS consisted of skits, bible story dramas, a bible verse and handing out of water and bracelets. The people that we encountered today were very friendly and open to the idea of us doing this, which allowed us to be able to have a success. We recruited a lot of kids that were very accepting and even volunteered for some of the activities that we started. A group of the guys started a kickball game and many joined them. In all we had a good time and it was very exiting being a part of this group where we can make a difference in Mount Vernon.

We have been doing  many things the last three days, but I think that today God really showed himself to those kids. They were very intrigued in what we were doing and accepting. They had a good time and we accomplished what we came to do at the park today. Now we are making signs to post up tomorrow, when we go back to clean the park.

Sonia Pang

Paint, scraping, cleanup, and more paint

Hi, I’m Tim Song, and I’m going to be a sophomore next year at John Jay High School.  In the morning of this wonderful Monday morning, there were three main groups.  Me, Jeff, Aaron, and Anthony were getting paint out; Erik, Greg, Kayla, Chloe, and Kirstin were cleaning an area in the back of the church for a garden; and everyone else was painting and priming the rooms downstairs.

For breakfast, we had the usual; cereal, Pop Tarts, oatmeal, and juice.  Anthony, one of the workers at the church, found lots of cans of paint for Aaron, me, and Jeff to move downstairs.  People downstairs were scraping down poles, and the stairway.  Mrs. Liz Rondo, and Mr. and Mrs. Rannekleiv came down to help us scrape and paint the previous stated areas.  We would like to thank these people for helping us out so greatly, and working so hard even when we left in the afternoon.

Making Changes Internally and Externally

Today was the first day of intense labor, but honestly one reason I really enjoy missions trips is because I enjoy working in order to honor God and to meet the needs of the people.  You feel so appreciated here in Mount Vernon, especially by the people from this Church.  Also, every time I’m given a job that seems like it will be long and painful, time always seems to fly and we seem to incorporate fun ways to get our work done.

Today I was pulling out weeds in the morning so that we could prepare soil for a potential garden, and at first it was extremely difficult to endure being stabbed by the small pricks on the stems of the weeds (which included me getting three deep splinters) while the hot sun, but we had miraculously finished at least an hour early.

What makes the hard work worthwhile is when people come out and thank us and praise our work.  It is the most amazing feeling when you either hand out a water bottle, or a Bible, or do any kind of job, and you see people smiling around you.

While walking the streets with Haley this one lady was so thankful to receive a free water that she followed us down the sidewalk and embraced us, and that was the most amazing experience.  The people of Mount Vernon most definitely make you feel welcome and every second is amazing and well appreciated.  In addition, everyone from BCC is so inspiring to me.  Sarah and Chloe are just two examples of the many people at BCC who seem at ease talking to others, and their reaching out makes the people of Mount Vernon so happy; that just encourages me to come out of my shell and offer someone something to drink or read, or whatever the case may be.  I am an extremely shy person, and personally, I feel that I have been making progress, even if it’s just smiling and saying hello, and wishing them a great day.  I feel like all the past missions trips I have enjoyed thoroughly, but in this one I am actually seeing a change in myself, even if its small.  I feel closer to my peers, and I feel better as a person.   I can truly say this trip has already changed me, even though in only three days, and I mean every word.

I would also like to thank you all for your support, so far everything has been so successful, and we could not have made this possible without your immense support

Sincerely, Kayla Staubi

The Harvest is Plentiful

So, its our second day here, and it has been absolutely incredible so far! It was already quite evident that this church is incredibly special to God, because He has kept these doors open despite so many setbacks that they have faced; it has truly made Pastor Orlando and the congregation more united and stronger. This morning we attended Sunday School at church, and I was blown away. I had seen Pastor Orlando work hard yesterday when we were doing jobs around the church, but he is such an incredible man of God, and an excellent teacher. Between Sunday School, and the church service following, I have felt a feeling of closeness and intimacy with God that I haven’t felt in a long while. The worship here too, is wonderful, and Pastor Orlando said that the worship team are all new members of the church, and boy is God using them for His glory here!

One bible passage has been on my mind for a few days now, and is so applicable to our situation here is, “Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.’” Matthew 9:37. I have always read this passage, and I crave to be the worker, and honestly in this situation here, the harvest is so plentiful. There is such a wonderful network of people here, but also surrounding, and in the community, there is so much curiosity and needs that can be met. I hope that this week we are really able to better equip this church to meet the needs of the community and reap the harvest that they have been working on. It is an absolute honor to have the chance to be a worker for this harvest, and its quite simple to do because the cause is so great.

We have only begun our week of service, and already, we have done some incredible things! I know God is going to use us here in magnificent ways, if we allow him to do so. For me, I want to be the worker, God’s hands here, serving and reaping the harvest. Please continue to pray for our team to overcome our tiredness that has begun to settle in already, and pray that God will use us for His purposes and in His way this week.

-Sarah Esselborn