Our trip to New York City this year was primarily part of the Change Collegiate Network’s annual Repent and Witness Missionary Trip. Mark 1:15 ministries, however, wanted an opportunity to stretch out the trip a little bit and minister in some different places.
Day 1 was a travel day, a day of fellowship, and iron sharpening iron, and humility. How many 6 ft guys can you fit in a Honda Civic 2 door? We drove cross country in a very small car. Every stop involved stretching as well as tract distribution. We arrived in NYC around 7AM on Wednesday Morning, ready to preach the Gospel. First, we caught up on some rest at Hector and Yuri’s place in Queens.
Riding the Subway is quite an experience, specifically navigating around the city to specific locations. When we got up, we headed into lower Manhattan, the Financial district, where we experimented with my new portable voice amplification device (this is a new requirement for your street preaching…believe me!) We walked down Wall Street, and I was able to preach and be heard without raising my voice. We stopped at the Bull (The Wall Street Bull) and set up our scaffold and proclaimed the Gospel while hundreds of tourists fought for photos of the Bull. Nobody stopped us from using this amplification, and many people heard the Gospel and got Gospel tracts.
We then moved a short distance away to Battery Park. This is the place where thousands upon thousands of people from all over the world stand on line to ride a boat to see Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. This was the first preaching opportunity for John and for Bill, and Eddie was busy handing out Gospel tracts. We literally stood for hours preaching the Gospel at this spot, and were blessed to have Shawn Holes, Robert Parker, Edwin Lo, and several others from Jeremiah Cry Join us for ministry. The last boat left at 2:30, and we were able to spread out 3 preachers down the line. What a blessing in between my own preaching to hear the Word preached by different brothers. 
Later we traveled to Union Square Park to preach with the brothers from Jeremiah Cry. Once again, the crowds were THICK. Our team stayed on 14th and 6th on a street corner with our sign and amplification device. It was great, as one would preach, others were handing out gospel tracts, and still others were engaged in one to one conversations with people. I think we had a total of 10 evangelists all told ministering in Union Square Park, and the constant flow of people kept us busy well into the evening. 
Later that evening, our team traveled into Times Square. The fields are white for harvest, with people from all over the world traveling here to see the sights and sounds. I admit by this time I was VERY tired. But there were so many people and so many opportunities. The four of us spread out; we could all preach in a square block and not hear one another. I chose the bleachers, and set up with my mini amplifier. For the first time, I was confronted with police saying I could not use it. We pressed on, and with my voice saved by using it all day, I was able to continue effectively preaching. It was here also for the first time that people came down afterwards and thanked me and my friends for preaching the Gospel. That is a rare thing, when it happens, we take the opportunity to fellowship of further teach those who approach us. We had some great one to one discussions with several people. 
Finally, we were exhausted, but it was a good exhaustion. We traveled back to Queens via the subway. But Bill was not done yet! He had an impassioned message for those on the train. He wept as he plead for them to hear him warn them in love about the wrath to come if they would not turn and trust Jesus. When we finally arrived to Hector and Yuri’s, we fell into our beds and slept soundly, waiting for the next day.
Day two, and details from Change Collegian Network’s Repent and Witness Camp will follow …
