I have been an active reader of Christopher’s blog posts since agreeing to move to New York Gospel Mission about six months ago. I always enjoyed reading his posts, yet felt a sense of inadequacy knowing that I would be stepping into his place in the not-so-distant future. My knowledge of literature and skill with the ancient languages are, quite frankly, far inferior to his. So, let us be clear at the start: when I quote Scripture, it will be someone else’s existing translation.

The process of moving to a new city—with a new job, a new church, a new role, and a new group of future followers of Christ—can be quite overwhelming. Recently, over the course of conversation with a visiting work group, I was asked how I ended up at NYGM, and if I knew Pastor Bill before coming on my “survey trip” back in March. I explained that I flew to New York City, walked out to the curb of the airport and a red van pulled up. I got inside the van with a stranger, and he looked at me and said, “Hi, my name is Bill,” so I replied, “Hi, I’m Andy.” We shook hands, he offered me a box of Dunkin’ Donuts, and we talked as we drove away from the airport. He quickly informed me that we would be stopping at Trader Joe’s grocery store to do the midnight food pickup on our way home. Our conversation quickly steered toward some very common themes that had been growing by leaps and bounds in my heart over the last 6-8 years. Themes such as the glory of God, justification, propitiation, the character of God, the nature of man, imputation, the sovereignty of God, suffering, grace, and the wisdom of God.

I was a single twenty-three year old seminary student with a burden for missions, yet nearly equally burdened to pursue further education while actively serving in an evangelistic ministry. Convinced of my need to serve in a church while pursuing an MDiv, I grew discouraged knowing that most churches are not interested in hiring single young men. Many dismissively said, “Go back to school and find a wife.” It was in a conversation with my pastor about these setbacks and my growing interest in urban ministry that he said, “I’ve got an idea!” And somehow the memory of New York Gospel Mission and Pastor Bill Jones popped into his mind.

When my pastor (David Wood, Grace Baptist Church, Dacula, GA) and I spoke two days later, he described a ministry that preaches the gospel nearly every day to hundreds of unbelieving people and gives food to those in need. It takes place in a 160-year-old building that God has miraculously and providentially preserved from developers and angry mobs, then dropped into NYGM’s lap. He described the pastor of a church plant with a vision as big as the God he serves. He described a place that sees young men not merely as great liabilities, but as great opportunities to train and develop for the body of Christ to further the glory of God among the nations.

So, when a dozen people asked me, “Why NYC??” the answer could have been very complex. But at the end of the day, God simply called me here. God’s calling is evident both internally in my growing desire to be a part of the ministry and externally, through their desire to have me. Evident both through my church sending me, and this church calling me. God has led me through both through subjective and objective means.

When it comes down to it, a classical training in voice, choir, and opera is pointless in a ministry where there is no power to plug your organ into the wall. An ability to read music and improvise hymns on a piano is wasted in a mission field where they have no pianos or written music. It is also wasted in a body (church) that is so filled with right arms, that your opportunity to use your gift only comes once a year, because there are literally 50 people who do the same thing that you do. The opportunity to make a difference was a key motivation for driving from Greenville, SC to Atlanta every Sunday for the last 3 years on extension.

So, to the list of people who told me I would get mugged when I move to New York City, or to the student who prayed in chapel last year and called NYC “that wicked city,” I echo God’s response to Jonah: “And should not I pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle?”

Concerning updates specific to the ministry here: it has been a busy week getting settled in with the new “normal.” The attendance numbers of the outreach services have been up and down over the last week and a half. Each of the services last week had over 100 people, which puts us near 90% occupancy with our current setup.

God has greatly blessed in bringing us to where we are as a ministry, but the list of renovation projects that still need to be done is quite lengthy.

Some of the more pressing projects are:

• Renovation of the two apartments on the top floor.
• Purchasing and laying slate/porcelain tile in the main auditorium and fellowship hall
• Purchasing 150 chairs for the auditorium ** This is relatively urgent because we are having services with over 100% capacity. We can seat 113 right now, and had 120 in the Tuesday service two weeks ago. Chairs would increase the number of people that can comfortably fit in the auditorium
• The piano situation. The sensors under the keys in our Clavinova are wearing out and need to be replaced. (If anyone would like to donate a baby grand piano, I know a place that would put it to good use J )

Opportunities for ministry are everywhere. I spoke with a beggar this morning while I was doing the morning food run. In his hand he was shaking a cup with loose change. He only had one hand, and both of his legs were swollen two to three times normal size. He had bandages wrapped around his knees and shins, yet he was a very pleasant person to talk to. I told him I could give him food, but that I didn’t have any money I could give. He replied that he just ate a banana, so I offered him apples. He declined but went on to comment about the relationship between the church and good works. He said that it’s something that he’s been wondering about for a while. I explained that the purpose of the church is to make disciples, but we feed the poor because we are Christians. We give away food because we love people, because God loves us. Our purpose is not wrapped up in food, but the food is a very important physical need because people are hungry. We talked a little bit further about Jesus, and he went on his way, but not before blessing me for what we are doing to serve those in need and to tell people about Jesus. Who knows… he might have been an angel.