Bible Study

I went to Tompkins Square park today,  in East Village (it used to be one of the most dangerous spots in Manhattan). God was tugging on my heart. I walked around praying. I was convinced of His presence and yearning to redeem. For those who don't know about this park, it is well known for it's not so socially acceptable visitors... though, for many it is their home; the bench dwellers.

After several circles and not so pleasant conversation in russian I stopped to talk with Viktor. He said that he's not doing so well...homeless and all that. He was slightly drunk (kept him warm), but was well aware with what's going on around him and was able to have a coherent conversation. Jose, one of his friend's was sitting close by, smoking weed. Hr said that he was once a man of God, preaching the Word, but backslid. Then he quoted some scripture and got out 2 Bibles out of his 'shopping cart' and we read the Bible. Jose was standing next to us with his smoke, a couple other guys came for t-shirts ( I think Viktor is known as a person who likes to share ). We read Job - who lost all. Viktor was gladly sharing his insight and love for the Bible.

pray for my friend Viktor

One

Last week we did a prayer station in Harlem. We were not exactly sure what would be the location. There were several options- a busy street, park, or maybe God had some other place in mind...? Yuho and I paused for a bit to listen to what He has to say about the location. Several minutes later we shared; I heard God say that He comes for the few and Yuho got 2nd av. and 126 street. So we found a parking space, grabbed the prayer station stuffs/boxes and went to the corner God told us to go to. we looked around, "no kidding..few.." there was barely anyone passing through the place.

To make a long story short... We spent around 4 hours on that corner. By the way, that same morning Yuho heard God tell him that he needs to take 2 Bibles. The first Bible was gone in the few first hours. Then, as I saw a woman crossing the street and going toward my direction. She came up smiling and I grabbed the Bible and told her that she should have it. Her name is Maxine, she is close to being homeless and she wanted to have a Bible, but had no money. Also, her birthday was the next day and she was beyond thrilled and overjoyed to get the Bible "The Lord gave me a Bible for my birthday...He provides.." That day she was the one person that we prayed for... Maxine said that she was not planning to go to the place she ended up that day - close to the prayer station. Thank You, Lord...

He provides... Nearly homeless and what she got that day was not a stack of money, but His word and all she kept on saying is that God provides. wow...that is provision, for all things will pass away, but His Word will remain, stay, it is set in stone...

as you finish reading this post, please pray for Maxine

to live or to die is Christ

Ooh Lord is it Justification i'm living for, what must I do to my faith truly for you'll might be their for me, I really waited this long to send you my sign

thanks form thee Holy LAND

Every breathe I take will be thee 

Answer to all my dignity ohh Lord

I will always believing A true son

of God until.. 

(the rest is a bit hard to decipher...something about entering eternity...) 

This is the author of this note 

Rich. Times Square on a leaning table while listening to worship 

I will very gladly spend and be spent for you, New York. 2 Cor. 12:15

Tomorrow prayer station in Harlem

Thank You, Lord =) 

shrinking is forbidden

Just like any other week, we went to Manhattan this Tuesday and Wednesday.

Today:

• (surface) goal was to go to Fort Washington area with peanut butter cookies and hot tea and set up a prayer station. Yep- we build prayer stations out of peanut butter cookies- homemade, handmade.
• means - Hebrews 10:39 and John 21:17
• obstacles - rain...haha...a lot of rain...no parking space and more rain. 
• real goal - put a smile on God's face, practicing 1 Corinthians 13

the day began at 6 am. first my knees are in action on the floor of our basement. only then my hands start stirring the cookie dough. i gotta tell you, it's good workout- creaming butter and peanut butter. 

rain..rain..rain...rain... gray gray gray gray....

i look out the window and hear God saying " how much more do you need to go on days such as this.." "Yes Lord"... because  we're not quitters who lose out. Oh, no! We'll stay with it and survive, trusting all the way...all the way. "Do you love me?" "Yes...Lord.." 

I pack the first batch of cookies in a nice pink box with a ribbon and the other batch into a container. hot water, tea, spoons, sugar. 

rain rain rain rain rain rain rain..gray gray gray gray gray....

"Do you love me?" ..."Yes Lord..."

it takes more than an hour to get to the upper Manhattan. where do we set up the prayer station? circling and circling. no parking space. 

"Do you love me?" "Yes Lord.." 

rain calms down. 

"Do you love me?" "Yes Lord.." 

parking space. 

"Do you love me?" "Yes Lord.." 

prayer station set up. 

when you get to the end of this I want to ask you to say a prayer for one person. Andrei (hope I spelled it right). for God's love and truth and for his mom who had 5 respiratory arrests. 

Love is...

and God said.."don't eat this food, because there is someone who is why more hungry than you are..." 


usually we have packed lunch when we go out into Manhattan. That morning I heard Him say that I should not eat the packed lunch because it is meant for someone else. So when we came to Washington Square Park I started looking for that person. I spotted several, but God kept on repeating that He will bring that person and I don't need to look...Okay. I kept the food in the bag and we started worship. Several minutes later I turned my head and I saw a guy approaching our group and sitting down on the bench next to us. God said " this is the one" .Wow- He had a specific man in mind, in His heart. He knew him. He wanted to feed him.  the guy did tell me that he was desperately looking for food. later when i shared this with the whole group, Lily said that she noticed this young man before our worship time, at the other end of the park. He was trying to look for food in the garbage bins, but he was harshly chased away by the cleaning people. 


Love is... God telling me not to eat the packed lunch, because He wants to feed someone (specific), who is way more hungry than I am...


Wednesday, Yuho, Joy and I went to Tompkins Square Park. We set up a prayer station, took out the corn bread and tea; and waited for God to love on people. Quite a few people stopped for prayer and many enjoyed the corn bread with tea :) 


Last week I spoke with a couple of drunk men.  One of them is Victor. I saw him this week again. I noticed him from afar. I smiled at him as he passed by, he smiled back...but I know that he did not remember me because the last time we spoke...he was quite drunk. As I saw him walk away, God tugged on my heart saying that he will come back. I saw him as he crossed the street..then digging in the garbage bins, desperately looking for something. He came back. I smiled at him again and he said that my smile was the best thing that day (he said that with a great sincerity...). He was having withdrawals all day. He had no money and his body was demanding for alcohol. When I asked him if he wants to quite, his answer was "no..." but his eyes were crying out for freedom... 


Love is... God breaking my heart for this one man, who, in the eyes of this world is nothing but a drunkard. I think of him every day. I pray for him. I cannot not think of him. He is on His mind. 


Please pray for Victor.


Love is...


If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don't love, I'm nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate. If I speak God's Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, "Jump," and it jumps, but I don't love, I'm nothing. If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don't love, I've gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I'm bankrupt without love.

   Love never gives up.
   Love cares more for others than for self.
   Love doesn't want what it doesn't have.
   Love doesn't strut,
   Doesn't have a swelled head,
   Doesn't force itself on others,
   Isn't always "me first,"
   Doesn't fly off the handle,
   Doesn't keep score of the sins of others,
   Doesn't revel when others grovel,
   Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
   Puts up with anything,
   Trusts God always,
   Always looks for the best,
   Never looks back,
   But keeps going to the end.

we run in the path of His commands

If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

2 Chronicles 7:14

We are continuing to go to Washington Square Park and Times Square on Tuesdays to worship, to pray, to seek Him, to be humbled by His love for the city, to cry out for His Kingdom to come and His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. 

God has truly set apart these two places for worship and we want to continue to be faithful to His heartbeat. Each time we come back, more of His presence flows down. It is a battle and He is victorious.  We even have people join our worship time at Washington Square Park! And just random people come by, smile at us, giving us thumbs up :) 

On Wednesday Yuho and I went to Tompkins Park in East Village. That morning I woke up at 6 am with a goal to cook up a storm- well, it was more of a baking storm! Banana bread and corn bread! So, the plan was to go there with all of the baked goods and hot tea and chocolate and set up a prayer station. By the way, the weather forecast said that heavy rain was suppose to fall both Tuesday and Wednesday...guess what... it did not rain until Wednesday evening, after we were finished with our time in Manhattan for the week! Thank You. Lord! Coming back to the Wednesday story...The corn and banana bread was gone in about 20 minutes, while giving out the food, I tried to converse with people in 4 different languages: Russian, English, Polish and Spanish (p.s. I can't really speak Spanish...or Polish..) people were hungry, but their hunger was more than just for food. After all the food disappeared we had people come to us for prayer. The day before, I felt that the Lord said that we don't have to ask people if they want prayer, but that He will bring those who need to be prayed for. People stopped and asked to pray for them. I even heard that one man (a recovering drug addict) was walking around the neighborhood asking God where he should go and God told him:" turn right..left...straight..left.." and all of a sudden he saw a banner that said "prayer station"! Thank You Lord!  To make a long story short...God just wanted to love on people and He did :) 

Please keep us in your prayers as we go to Manhattan again next week...

Have a great- joy filled weekend!

They said it will rain...

This week the weather forecast was continuously hinting to plausible rain. To be honest, walking around in the rain is fun - but there is a limit to this sort of fun. Wet feet, constant grip on the umbrella, huge surprise drops from the rooftops, just when you think it is all over - you all know the joys of spending an extended period of time in the rain. So the forecast said it will rain- but our God told us that He will bring light as we walk on the streets of Manhattan.

So we packed our lunch, grabbed the guitar and went into the city to enjoy the day that our Lord has made.

There was no rain, just a little bit humid. As we moved from Washington Square Park (where we had a time of worship) and went upwards to Duffy Square, stopping at several parks to worship, God moved, bringing His light into the streets of New York City. By the time we were back to Main Street Flushing, the sky has cleared and the sun was out. I believe it was God's way of saying to us that He really enjoys the worship out on the streets - so He worked around the weather forecast..

On Wednesday Yuho and I went to Tompkins Square Park where Street Life Ministry (http://www.streetlife.org/index.html) has been coming for many years now - with food, clothing and hearts ready to pray and lavish the love that God has showered upon them so generously. They are an amazing bunch of people! I was introduced to a couple of people at the park- some regular visitors - Maximo and Marcella. To make a long story short- I had a grand conversation with Maximo - who worked for a well known (back in the day - 60's) Feenjon Group. I also met Marcella - a woman who knows God and is not trying to hide it under a bathtub :) It was refreshing for my heart and soul to listen to someone talk about God with such passion and conviction - it felt like a small service on the street..thank You, Lord! 

God is walking on the streets of New York City...we simply love to follow Him...

Thank You for reading this

and please keep us in your prayers as we go out into the city again on Tuesday and Wednesday

Shalom,

Gintare

"I feel like I just got married"

This is Washington Square

this is God seeking out one of His lost sheep

and we got to be part of this amazing encounter

This man's name is Lawrence and God found him in Washington Square as we were lifting up our voices to the King and Lord of all! 

This man...he said many things- amazing things! But one sentence really amazed me "I feel like I just got married" The wedding feast of the Lamb

"Write this, happy are those who are invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb." (Rv.19:9)

Thank You, Lord! 

this was this Tuesday, September 13

Then we moved to Times Square, Duffy Square and had a time of worship there

May this short note encourage you today

For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.
 ¹⁵ The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First he says:
 ¹⁶ “This is the covenant I will make with them
   after that time, says the Lord.
I will put my laws in their hearts,
   and I will write them on their minds.”^[b]
 17 Then he adds:
   “Their sins and lawless acts
   I will remember no more.”^[c]
 18 And where these have been forgiven, sacrifice for sin is no longer necessary.

A Call to Persevere in Faith

 ¹⁹ Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, ²⁰ by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, ²¹ and since we have a great priest over the house of God, ²² let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. ²³ Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. ²⁴ And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, ²⁵ not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

Hebrews 10

Thanksgiving!

For the many feet that walked and still tread the streets of NY declaring God’s Lordship, breaking down the strongholds of this city!

This is God’s city! A blessing to the nations!

Tuesday our YWAM Cornerstone group went out into Manhattan to find a place of worship in the Central Park. Those who are from New York area, you probably remember the lovely weather we had this past week. Rain..rain...rain and some more rain (and a little bit of wind here and there)- perfect combo! We had a guitar, a djembe and a lot of -YES, RAIN! To make a long story short...after about an hour of wandering and wondering around we stopped to hear what God wants to say about the situation. We stopped, prayed, listened and heard Him say "worship me". We went back into Central Park and right away- there it was, a tunnel/bridge thing :P. And so we opened our mouths and songs of praise were released as the rain continued to pour. 

After that, we split into 2 groups and Intercession Evangelism Team headed out to Fulton street. Fulton street is very significant. This is taken from JHOP Website:

In 1857 the Lord heard the prayers of Jeremiah Lamphier and other like-minded believers. Within six months, ten thousand business men were gathering daily for prayer in New York, and within two years, a million converts were added to the American churches. Undoubtedly this was one of the greatest revivals in American history that swept through New York City, and it was of such an order as to make the whole nation curious. There was no fanaticism, no hysteria, simply an incredible movement of the people to pray.These prayer meetings led by Lamphier started at Fulton Street. 

We found the corner of Fulton and William street, where the prayer meetings took place and sang songs of praise to the King of Kings. After a time of worship and prayer we went back to Time Square, met the rest of the team and had a time of worship. 

Duffy Square is also a very significant place! 

This is an excerpt from Linda Cowie’s NY Research for spiritual mapping, page 24:

“On the 22nd of July, 1987, 150 members of the Operation Liberty Outreach teams walked the full length and breadth of Manhattan. The participants were divided into four groups. One started at Battery Park on the southern tip of the island and walked north along Broadway. Another group walked from the northern tip down. The other two groups walked in from east and west of 42nd Street. All convened around noon at Duffy Square, a central pedestrian island in the middle of Times’ Square. The square was hot and teeming with lunchtime crowds. The noisy traffic and build-up of fumes made Duffy Square an unusual place for worship, but “Summon your power 0 God” was sung several times with a great sense of expectation. What a victory to “...declare His praise in the islands.” (Isaiah 42:12) Little did we know that the Times’ Square Church pastored by David Wilkerson would be located nearby within a year’s time.” 

It is a place of worship! We will continue to have worship at Duffy Square. If you want to join, let me know gintares11@msn.com

“I looked for someone among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found no one “

BE THE “ONE”

scroll...squirrel..or a blog that you can scroll where there are no squirrels

“Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses.” (Joshua 1:3) 

YWAM Cornerstone has stepped into a new season, joining a myriad of prayers of many men and women of God for the city of New York!

By the year 2015, God has given YWAM Cornerstone a vision to have 30 full time staff and 100 mission minded people (through DTS training). YWAM Cornerstone also wants to raise and invite people to intercede for the City of New York.

Before diving into some practical information, you might be wondering- what is up with the title? Let me tell you...I was talking with Yuho (one of the staff members at YWAM Cornerstone) about creating a blog and writing down what God is doing as we walk upon the streets of Manhattan declaring His Lordship. Yuho said that God had asked Him to write things down on a scroll and when he said "scroll" I heard "squirrel" and had a grand non-stop laugh...we shall leave the squirrels in peace and use the oh so grand modern technology :)

I will be focusing in this blog on what God is doing in the city. Please consider following this blog and being part of God's move in NY and across the whole nation of United States. If you have more questions and would like to take part in this, either by intercession/prayer - wherever you are or taking part in some of the times of prayer-worship-intercession out in the streets of Manhattan, write me an email to gintares11@msn.com

Why New York City?

1st WEEK! THANKSGIVING!

The focus of the first week was thanksgiving for the many feet that walked and still tread the streets of NY declaring God's Lordship and breaking down the strongholds of this beautiful city of God!

God has endowed every city, like every person, with the potential to offer a gift to the world. 

New York City has a gift to the world!!!

For many, Ellis Island was known as “gateway of hope”. From 1892 to 1924, twelve million people were “processed” through the gates of Ellis Island, a U.S. immigration station off the coast of Manhattan. New York offered the gift of hope for many. It is time to take this city for God! Jesus wept over the city; we must do likewise! In order to take the city for God, the Body of Christ needs to be united in intercession and warfare, so that the enemy would be subdued; to intercede- to share the burdens of His heart through intercession.

“I looked for someone among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found no one “ (Ezekiel 22:30).

Just a little more than 130 years ago a businessman named Jeremiah Lamphier started one small prayer meeting that became a vehicle to an un-ending prayer meetings all over the city, the nation and the entire world! What if, in the present generation, we would take up Lamphier’s mantle and instead of a one hour prayer meeting we began to lift up continuous prayer, praise and worship to Jesus Christ - just because he is worthy of it!

This is an excerpt from Linda Cowie’s NY Research for spiritual mapping, page 24:

“On the 22nd of July, 1987, 150 members of the Operation Liberty Outreach teams walked the full length and breadth of Manhattan. The participants were divided into four groups. One started at Battery Park on the southern tip of the island and walked north along Broadway. Another group walked from the northern tip down. The other two groups walked in from east and west of 42nd Street. All convened around noon at Duffy Square, a central pedestrian island in the middle of Times’ Square. The square was hot and teeming with lunchtime crowds. The noisy traffic and build-up of fumes made Duffy Square an unusual place for worship, but “Summon your power 0 God” was sung several times with a great sense of expectation. What a victory to “...declare His praise in the islands.” (Isaiah 42:12) Little did we know that the Times’ Square Church pastored by David Wilkerson would be located nearby within a year’s time.”

This week we have focused on 2 very important places in Manhattan: Duffy Square and the corner of Fulton- William Street. I will compose another post, telling you a bit more about our time in Manhattan.

Shalom,

Gintare