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!