Reaching out to a diverse local community

True North Interns

IMB job #: 21618
Location: Rochester, New York
Team size: 12
Field expense: $1610 plus roundtrip travel

Job description: Grow in your faith & understanding of ministry as you reach out to a diverse local community. You will be helping set the future of True North Church. Weekly ministry may include various community outreach activities, people mapping, one on one evangelism, kids ministry & construction projects.

Learning the skills needed to carry out your assignment as well as team building will fill the first few days of training at the Nehemiah Teams Training Center in Mentone, Alabama. Your team will then travel to your final destination for the summer. Team members will not be allowed to return home over the course of the summer. It is also preferred that family/friends not visit the ministry site. Following your summer of ministry, you will return to Mentone, Alabama for a joint debrief... sharing all God has done over the summer. Participants must attend the entire program from orientation through the end of debrief.

MORE INFO

Dates for summer 2022
March 15  Application deadline
May 30  Team leader training begins (Nehemiah Teams Training Center, Mentone, AL)
June 2  Team member training begins (Alabama)
June 7  Teams deploy for the field (via ATL)
July 29  Teams return to the US for debrief (Alabama)
August 1  Teams return home

COVID-19 in 2022
We continue to move forward in planning for summer 2022 teams. Decisions will be made by April 5, 2022 as to whether certain teams may need to be cancelled due to travel restrictions or local situations. Info will be posted on the website if teams are cancelled.

New York, New York!!

Start Spreading the News!!

IMB job #: 23936

Location: Queens, New York
Team size: 6 guys
Field expense: $2118 plus roundtrip travel & required travel insurance

Job description: Start spreading the Good News of Jesus to the nations who live in New York City. Partnering with Filipino-American pastors and believers, you will reach out to the diverse nationalities that live in Queens, New York. Utilizing a community center for classes in Martial Arts, tutoring high school students, and music, you will interact with the nations. Having experience in these skills is a bonus, but not required. You may also use sports such as basketball, soccer and volleyball in a nearby park to meet students and adults to start conversations that lead to the gospel and discipleship.

MORE INFO

Dates for summer 2022
May 30  Team leader training begins (Nehemiah Teams Training Center, Mentone, AL)
June 2  Team member training begins (Alabama)
June 7  Teams deploy for the field (via ATL)
July 29  Teams return to the US for debrief (Alabama)
August 1  Teams return home

COVID-19 in 2022
We continue to move forward in planning for summer 2022 teams. Decisions will be made by April 5, 2022 as to whether certain teams may need to be cancelled due to travel restrictions or local situations. Info will be posted on the website if teams are cancelled.

A Few Awkward Seconds...

Laurel (left) with Donald & her team mates.

Laurel Carter is one of those who plans to bring a new gospel intentionality to her campus this semester. She spent her summer serving in Rochester, New York, doing ministry in the community and helping a new church plant build relationships.

One day she and her team prayed God would give them someone to talk to, and a little later they started a conversation with a man named Donald who was crossing the street at the same time they were. He invited them to have coffee with him,which led to a nearly four-hour conversation about life and faith.  “We ended up meeting up with him every week,” Carter said.

But God didn’t stop with Donald. He introduced them to some friends, and one day he insisted on giving Carter’s team a monetary gift. After refusing the money at first, they accepted it reluctantly, and almost immediately met up with someone on the street who had come to a local church for food distribution and found it closed. “We gave him the money Donald had given us and found out the man had been to church one time when he was younger and hadn’t been in 52 years,” Carter said. “We got to talk to him and pray over him right there, and he ended up coming to church with us on Sunday. Now he’s joined the church.”

When Carter’s team arrived at the beginning of the summer, there were 10 to 15 people attending the church plant each week; when they left there were 30 to 35.  

Carter, who is a student at UAH, said she feels a burden to pursue friendships back at home the same way she did in Rochester. “It showed me how unintentional I was being back home in Alabama,” she explained. “I feel like a lot of people — they struggle with those awkward moments (of approaching someone to start a new friendship), but it only takes a few awkward seconds to change someone’s eternity.”

--Laurel Carter

True North Interns, Rochester, NY

(Excert from The Alabama Baptist,  8-26-21 edition)

Light through the darkness

With only seven days left in New York, Lacey and I are soaking in every moment we get to spend with the South Asians. We are involved in follow ups in homes of persons of peace, and are leading teams in door-to-door ministry. Last week we had a team that we trained to share the gospel with internationals in an effective way. Then we went out in the afternoons and modeled for them a survey. We went to houses of internationals and asked them a sequence of questions. Questions such as their name, their country of origin, how long they had been in America, religion, who they thought Jesus was, and if they would like a Bible in their own language, or to learn more about who Jesus is.

We saw many people were interested in what we had to say, or people who wanted a friend, but didn't care what we had to say about Christianity. Lacey and I quickly had to learn this summer that what we are doing now has an effect on these people's lives. We may not see the fruit of the work we are doing, but that doesn't mean it won't come later.

I had been following up with a women and her husband. Her husband was sick with cancer and was in his last days. He passed away a few days ago. I got to spend several days praying with her and for her. I was able to comfort her in this time of grief. It was an amazing experience to see her faith in God through it all. I am hopeful that she will be a light to those around her. By seeing her faith and strength through this time, I pray that people will begin to question and believe in God.

Please pray for our remaining week. 
Pray that we would have God encounters. 
Pray that we would find persons of peace. 
Pray for our everyday encounters.

Lastly, we would like to thank you for your support and prayers. It means so much to us to have brothers and sisters in Christ lifting us up in prayer!

-Anna, P52 New York

Final Sifting Week

Last week we ended our final sifting week, where teams of volunteers would come and participate in door to door ministry. We saw many persons of peace from doing this ministry, and we are now able to follow up and disciple them. Mine & Lacey's and job is to continue to check in and disciple these persons of peace, and meet their needs however that may be.

This week we will be doing follow ups with the people we have already met, as well as being intentional to build relationships with people everywhere we go. We have decided to go to parks, or ride the subway for a while to strike up conversation with women about the gospel.

We have learned during our time here so far, that we can not be afraid to talk to ANYONE. Everyone deserves a chance to hear the gospel. We have seen, with our very own eyes, God's hand at work. even the most devout looking person has become a person of peace. God has proven his faithfulness over and over. We are blessed to be working where God is moving.

Please pray that our hearts would continue to ache for these people.
Pray that we would continue to be intentional.
Pray against exhaustion and spiritual warfare (we are both feeling it).
Pray that our team would come together in times of struggle & in times of praise.

Thank you for your support and prayers!

-Anna and Lacey

Following Up With Persons of Peace

This week has been a little discouraging for the New York team. We have shared the gospel with many devout Muslims, Sikhs, Hindus and even Catholics. We have attended some follow ups with those who we believe are people of peace, but many have not answered the door, or canceled because of fear of their husbands. This has been a heavy burden on us this week. We know the grace and the love that comes when we put our faith in Jesus, and we see how much these people need that. Our hearts are broken for these people, but we know that God has a plan for them. Our job is to plant the seeds, and one day we may see the harvest.

Tina:

Please pray for this Russian woman. One of our volunteer teams and Anna met her and saw her interest in who Jesus was. We gave her a film in her language and asked if she would watch it. There was a little bit of a language barrier, and she had a definite fear of her husband. She and her husband are Muslim, and she voiced to us that it is her husband's job to keep it that way. She is not allowed to talk with Americans, but makes a point to do so. Anna called her on Friday to schedule a follow up with her, and to give her a Bible in her language. She answered, and very strongly, told Anna that we could not talk to her anymore. Please pray that God would continue to work in Tina's life, and begin to convict her. Pray that she would be able to reach out to us again if it is safe, and that God would soften her husband's heart towards her.

Julian:

After a day of having doors shut in their faces, Lacey and her Astoria team decided to do evangelism in a nearby park. While at the park, they met a young man named Julian. The team asked him if there was anything they could pray for him about and he immediately began to tell them about how he had done bad things to his mom, but how she loved him anyway. He told Lacey and her team that he could not tell his mom that he loved her, or hug her, because of shame from the things he had done to her. He explained that he was so amazed that she still loved him through his decisions. Lacey an her team explained that this is a lot like man's relationship with God. We do bad things, and disappoint God, but he still loves us and is willing to forgive us. They prayed for him, and he said he was going to go home and make things right with his mom. Please pray for this Man of peace. Pray for our upcoming follow ups with him, and that God would continue to change and work in his life.

As we enter into more follow ups this week, please pray that God would give us open doors and open hearts. Pray that we would find more people of peace. Pray that the Holy Spirit would be the presence of these follow ups, and that it would be His words that speak through us, not ours,

Advancing the Kingdom forever and always,
-Anna and Lacey

Meet the Team: P52 New York

Anna and Lacey are both serving in New York for two months this Summer. They are working with refugees who are finding refuge in America. They will be working with many different religions and ethnic groups, and will be making relationships, and descipling those who choose to follow Jesus!

Lacey just graduated from the University of Georgia and is planning on attending seminary in the fall. She is the team leader for this New York team. She is ready to show volunteers how to share the gospel in many effective ways, and meet many new people. 

Anna goes to College in Savannah, Georgia. She has a passion for missions, and has been on many trips before. She is excited to see what God has planned for her team in New York this summer. She is also excited to start building relationships with the local refugees. 

Prayer requests:

-Pray that God would bring us persons of peace (people who are interested and want to know more about Jesus)

-Pray that God would soften the hearts of the people we come into contact with. 

-Please pray for safety

-Please pray that God would give us a spirit of boldness

-Pray that God would break our hearts for what breaks his

To advance his kingdom forever and always,

-Anna and Lacey