Adios America! Mexico here we come!

...In the wee hours of the morning, before even the rooster is awake, our story begins. On January 6th, 2017, (less than 1 week) a team of 10 fearless, daring, and zealous City Reach Institute students and NYSUM staff will embark on a brand new journey. A journey that will take us to a faraway land called>>>>>>>> Mexico!

In this land there are many people who speak a foreign language. There are many children without a family. There are people without a proper home. We will go and be a light to those people. We will bring the best Christmas present ever >>>Jesus. The orphanage where we will stay will be unable to contain the joy and excitement and love of Jesus we bring. We cannot wait to spend time with the people and orphans of San Luis Rio Colorado, Mexico.

Some of the things we will be doing there: Prison Ministry, Rehab Center Ministry, Church Services, Immigrant Shelter Outreach, Church Plant Evangelism, Village Ministry, Dump Ministry (we go to the dump where people scavenge for food/supplies and bring them food and pray with them), Shut-In Ministry, and Children's ministry.

Even as we hope to make an impact on them, we know that they will also change us forever. We want to be used of the Lord to make a difference. To love, to serve, to give.

Will you keep the CRI students and staff in your prayers? 

Will you pray for the children of Bethel Orphanage in San Luis Rio Colorado, Mexico?

We really appreciate it! We are so excited! Please check our blog throughout our trip to see how we are doing! Updates will be coming.

If you would like to make a donation for our trip, Visit our website to Donate. Click on the link and then select "City Reach Institute" as your designation.

Thank you and God Bless!

Erica's story

~One of our CRI students, Erica, shares her story with you today. Enjoy!~

I would never expect me ever moving to New York City. Late June into July my church Lighthouse Assembly of God in Lancaster, PA came to New York City to serve at NYSUM for a short term mission’s trip. As I arrived I was greeted with welcoming smiles and all in all I felt at home.

It was the second day; during homeless ministry I had this strong tug, a thought of staying here long term. My plans more focused on being a “regular school graduate”, attending a college, which I was going to in august. Pushing my thought aside I kept serving.

I walk and approached three homeless individuals. Whenever I see a Homeless person, I have so much respect and love for them. I couldn’t wait to give them what we had with us. I and my friend Nicole told them of the food truck we had all set up for them. Two men left to get food and we stayed back with the woman named Karen.  The first thing she asked was “what is it you want to know?” “We are here to chat, how are you today”, I replied.  Right away I could see tension; she wasn’t willing to open up, so I told her a testimony dear to my heart. My brother was homeless. It was so hard to not know where he was but only know that he was living on the streets, homeless and alone. I followed with how his life led him to that current state. After I told of his progression and where he is now and how proud I am of what he has accomplished. “I know you can come out of this”, I told her. I lift my head and see her wiping her tears. She finally released the tension and opened up.  She told us her story of living on the streets. She wasn’t homeless at first but her younger brother was for 4 months so she left her world to come and take care of him. She finished telling me of how she adopted a girl named Halo from the streets and how important she is to her. “I know I’m going to see you again Erica”. “God bless Karen”.

 As the week progressed God showed me many more confirmations that I am supposed to be here in the city. The last day before leaving I heard about the CRI program that NYSUM was offering for nine months.  At this point I knew that “thought” which popped into my head wasn’t merely a thought at all, it was God’s voice saying “Go and build a city”.

“How was your mission’s trip?”...“I’m moving to New York City”. These exchanges of words were between me and my parents as soon I arrived home. You should have seen their expressions, they were speechless. Through this whole transition my parents are very supportive with my decision.  September eighth I left Pennsylvania to come to New York City of Urban Ministry. 

So here I am, a country girl living in the “Big Apple”.  It’s amazing what God has done and is still doing in my life presently. There are 6 other students that are a part of this program, and each and every one of us has a strong bond. Not only the students but the staff have been a blessing as well. I feel such at peace here because I know that this is where I am supposed to be. Over the few months that I’ve been living here I have so much compassion for this city. There are so many hurting and broken souls here that are of need of Jesus Christ.

Through this program God has showed me how I can be a leader, and show others how to lead as well. NYSUM provides classes which equip you to take what you’ve learned and apply it to your daily life. These classes have really helped me to be more courageous and to step up in my role of leadership. We are to be disciples and leaders of Christ.

“The Human Mind plans the way, but the Lord Directs the steps” (Proverbs 16:9).

Let’s go build a city. 

3 Keys to Unlocking Transformation

Do you want to remain the same? I know I don't. There are so many areas of my life I want to make changes. So how come I don't see results when I try? Do you ever feel that way? Like you're making an effort to change, to grow, but not seeing many results?

Have you ever struggled with not feeling good enough? Or beautiful enough? Or perfect enough? You're not alone. Me too. 

I've heard people/articles say: "Embrace who you are! Don't be ashamed of not being as skinny or beautiful as the magazines say you should be! Be comfortable in your own skin!" And while that may be true, it's not the whole picture. How many of us know the enemy lies to us by putting some bits of truth in there? He tells us we are ugly, unworthy, not thin enough, not good enough. He reminds us we are not as beautiful as that woman at the gym or as accomplished as that guy at the office or as perfect as that worship leader from church. 

He reminds us of things we've heard from our past to enforce what we believe about our present to steal our hope for the future.

How can we break out of that mindset? Out of those lies? 

1. Stop comparing yourself. While some of those things might be partially true, there is always going to be someone else who is better at this or that, or looks a different way than us; but we are each unique. Ask the Lord how He sees you. We need to ask Him to help us find our identity in Him alone. Being secure as His daughter or son. and THEN we can ask Him to identify areas where we are weak, where we can grow. Because the truth is, WE ARE NOT PERFECT! we all have some area we can work on. We just need to stop identifying ourselves as our weaknesses and instead declare who we are in Christ. And through Christ's strength we can grow in our areas of weakness to better ourselves.

2. NEWS FLASH- Transformation takes............................ wait for it.............................................. TIME!.................. And some patience, perseverance, dedication, commitment.How many of you know that going to the gym ONCE does not make you lose 50 pounds? If it does, I've been doing it all wrong. Have you ever seen those commercials with before and after photos? There is always a length of time it took for the person to get from one picture to the other. But what about if you took a picture every day? The first picture will look very similar to the second one. You might not even notice a difference. But when you lay out all those daily pictures, you can see the tiny changes that led to the total transformation.

Guess what? Reading the Bible once is not going to solve all your problems. Maybe Christians everywhere will hate me for saying this but its true. It takes TIME. Sometimes you might read it, and it doesn't really sink in. Other times you know it should help, but you can't get that frustrating situation out of your mind. Sometimes it clicks, and it washes over you, other times its a struggle to get through the passage, and the end of it you can't even remember what you just read. I'm just being REAL! 


3. Develop the HABIT of reading the Word. Even when you don't feel like it, do it. You might not see the change, but when you look back, you can see all that God has done in your life. Some days might be really good! Others you don't feel anything. Don't see anything. But God is doing something.

We need to be faithful to develop the HABIT, and He is faithful to bring the TRANSFORMATION. It takes patience, and trusting that He IS working even when we can't see it. Don't give up, keep fighting.

Trust fall on the Lord

Do you believe God is good? Do you believe He is perfect? Do you believe He has a purpose and plan for your life? Do you understand that the Lord will never leave you or forsake you and that knows us better than we know ourselves? Do you know that you know that He loves you? If you answered yes to any or all of those questions, then let me ask this: "Why do we struggle with fully trusting Him?"

If He is all of those things, does all of those things, knows all of those things, (and so much more,) then why do we doubt His faithfulness? Why do we worry about our future? Why do we struggle with obeying and following Him sometimes? You might say; I do trust Him. Maybe we say it, but our actions and thoughts don't always show it. Deep down, if we are relationship with the Lord, we know we CAN trust Him, we think we trust Him, but we sometimes give in to fear, doubt, worry, unbelief. We might not admit it or even realize it. But we do. We are not perfect. We forget what He has done for us and who He is. If we fully understood the depths of who He is, we would not be human. We can never fully grasp just how much He loves us. Just how good He is. But I know I went to spend my life getting to know Him more and more. Growing to trust him more and more.

Have you ever heard the saying: "Trust needs to be earned."? Well let me ask you this, has God earned your trust? Really and truly? Look at everything He has done for you: dying on the cross for your sins, forgiving you for everything you've ever done and will do, welcoming you into an intimate relationship with Him personally, never leaving you or forsaking you, and so much more, is not deserving of your trust, then I don't know what is.

Think about someone in your life who you trust. As an example, I trust my dad. He always gives me wisdom, he loves me and shows me affection, he has compassion and forgiveness when I make mistakes, the list goes on. Is he perfect? Absolutely not. Does he make mistakes? Of course. But do I still trust him? Absolutely. How much more can we trust our Heavenly father, who never needs to apologize to us? Who loves us unconditionally and always takes care of us? You might say, well what about these bad things that have happened to me? Why wasn't God taking care of me? Guess what? There's an answer.

Say you fall down and scrape your knee. Or someone else is mean to you and says hurtful things. Is that your dad's fault? No, of course not. Taking care of you means that when you go to him, he cleans your wound and gives you a band-aid. He encourages you and speaks truth over the awful things that people said. That is what taking care of you means. And in the same way, our heavenly Father is someone we can always turn to when bad things happen, because He will comfort us and bring healing. He is always taking care of you. You can trust Him.

You might think, well He is God, and He can do ANYTHING! So why doesn't he stop the bad things from happening in the first place? If God did not allow ANY BAD THING to ever happen, then there would be no free will. People's right to choose right from wrong would be taken away, because they could never commit a wrong. God loves each of us enough that He allows us free will. This means that some people will choose to hurt others. But it also means that others will choose to follow Him and put their trust in Him. And when we do, He will never let us go. Because He is a good Father. WE CAN TRUST HIM! I choose today to do a trust fall into the arms of the Lord. I jump, and know that He will catch me. I fall, and I know that He will grab me and hold me tight. He will never let me go. Do you trust the Lord today? Jump. Take a leap of faith. Because He will catch you.

Proverbs 3:5-6: "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways submit to Him and He will make your paths straight."

3 keys to being a person of HONOR.

We like to leave our options OPEN. At least most people in our generation do. If we make plans too far in advance, something better might come along! We don't want to miss out on the best things in life. So if that happens, we should just cancel our original plans to go with the bigger and better option. But we can't do that, because we've been taught to honor our promises. To keep our word. How can we rectify the two? So we think: how about we just don't make a commitment in the first place? Then, we can wait until the best opportunity comes along, and commit to that. This way, we are keeping our word and getting to do the best things that come along!

Let's say you love camping. Your friend invites you to go camp out for the weekend and you don't have any plans, nothing hindering you. How easy is it to make that commitment? No brainer, piece of cake. Of course you'll go. It'll be FUN! Well, what about if you already committed to volunteering with your church at a yard sale that Saturday? that gets a lot tougher. Do you miss out on all the fun you could have with your friend doing something you love, or do you volunteer your time doing something that requires sacrifice? Okay fine, I'll honor my commitment even though it does not sound as appealing. Great. 

So, let's think... how can I be a person of honor and still get to have fun? Hey, here's a solution! Let's PROCRASTINATE on giving an answer, so I can keep my options open. I'll tell my church that I might be able to come to the yard sale, but I'm not 100% sure yet. Then, if something better comes along, I can say YES, because TECHNICALLY, I did not fully commit to doing anything else. Then I'm not breaking my commitment if I say I'm not able to go. This is how I can still be a person of honor! Yeah. No. 

1). STOP PROCRASTINATING TODAY. (NOT TOMORROW.) Let's admit it, even if we don't realize it, this is how our culture has evolved. We wait until the last minute to do everything; probably without thinking about why we are actually doing it. We don't want to nail ourselves down. We want to honor our commitments. I'm guilty of it just as much as the next person! "That paper is due tomorrow; I'm supposed to pay that bill; I need to let them know if I'm going to be a camp counselor this year..." The list goes on. What if being a person of honor doesn't just mean honoring your word? What if being a person of honor means laying down your own desires and wants to honor others?! Even if it means not doing the fun things you want sometimes, even if it means having to (God forbid!) make a COMMITMENT! And let me tell you, every day spent procrastinating is another day spent WORRYING about that thing that you know you have to do or say. It is hanging over your head. Do it today.

2). GIVE YOUR WORD. COMMIT! Being a person of honor doesn't just mean keeping your word, it means GIVING your word. In advance. You are showing honor to someone by telling them that you are committed to them; by giving them notice to plan. You are honoring them and their time by showing you care enough about them to give them notice of what your plans are. Treat someone with the same respect you want to be treated with. Do you want people to tell you if they are coming to your birthday party? To your wedding? To any other event or party you plan? Of course, because then you can plan accordingly. You can be prepared. I am always SO GRATEFUL to the people who tell me YES or NO! And I grumble and think annoyed thoughts with those people who just won't get back to me. And yet, I am that person who is needing to be contacted again and again to ask what my plans are. How hypocritical! "I know my God, that you test the heart and are pleased with integrity. All these things I have given willingly and with honest intent. And now I have seen with joy how willingly your people who are here have given to you. (1 Chron. 29:17)

3). FOLLOW THROUGH JOYFULLY. KEEP YOUR WORD. Like I said before, we usually already know this part; that being a person of honor means keeping your word. But we sometimes do it begrudgingly. We need to have an attitude that says, "this is the commitment that I made, and I'm going to not only honor my word, but honor the person and situation by doing it joyfully." How loved and cared for will someone feel if you make a commitment, and then do what you say you would do, but give them attitude? Talk about what you COULD be doing instead. "Do everything without grumbling or arguing that you may become blameless and pure children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation. Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky." (Phil. 2:14-16). 

Ask yourself today, Am I person of honor? Are there areas where I need to stop procrastinating and make a decision? Do I give my word? Do I keep my word with joy? Do I treat others with honor and respect the way I want to be treated?

"Lord, I ask you to help me stop procrastinating. To be honorable. To love others and prefer them above myself. I understand it is the greatest sacrifice to sometimes lay down my own desires of what I think is more 'fun' in order to do what you call me to do with a joyful heart. Help me to make wise decisions and commit and follow through on my decisions. It is only by your strength I can do all things, even when it is hard for me. Nothing is impossible for you. Give me your eyes to see things from your perspective! Amen."


~If this article has impacted or motivated you in any way, let us know! We'd love to hear from you. If you are stirred to make some changes in your life and want to know more about City Reach Institute, contact us at 718-204-6471; CRIAssistant@nysum.org or visit our website at www.nysum.org/city-reach-institute.~

Self Absorbed? Insecure? [Social Media's influence on our desire to MATTER]

Gossip. It's a girl's best friend. "Did you hear about THIS?!" "Did you SEE THAT!?" We love to talk about all the crazy stories that have the "shock factor." Many of us don't have a problem with talking about everything that is wrong with our life or someone else's life. We love to get a reaction out of people that makes us feel like what we have to to say matters. We want to matter. We live in a world of "anti-social" media that thrives on #1. Self-absorbed people who want everyone to know what is going on in their life (#Selfie! #lookatmyawesomenewthis #lookwhereIam) and #2. Insecure people who spend all their time finding out what is going on in everyone else's life and comparing themselves. (How many likes did I get? How many followers do I have?) You might know everything going on in some celebrity's life who you've never even met and who doesn't know or care you exist, but have no idea what is going on in the person's life who is sitting right next to you. 

You might be thinking, "well I'm not self-absorbed or insecure... what about all the rest of us who just enjoy social media?" I want to argue with you that you're kidding yourself if you think you don't have any insecurities or are never self-absorbed. SO WHAT if I'm being dramatic by labeling you as "self-absorbed" or "insecure". I'm trying to make a point that no one is perfect, and even if you have good intentions with social media, you need to BE CAREFUL not to allow pride or insecurity take over. It is okay to not be perfect. In fact, it is IMPOSSIBLE to be perfect. However, ask yourself this question: Am I allowing myself to be affected by social media in a negative way? If so, challenge yourself to take a break from social media. Anything that effects you negatively should be evaluated and changed until it effects you for the good. If it cannot effect you for your good... What's it good for?

Is social media of the devil? completely evil? No, of course not. There are a lot of positive ways it can be used for. In fact, if you are able to use social media as a tool to spread the love of Jesus, that is an awesome thing! Or to encourage and lift up others! Or to reach out to someone you wouldn't have been able to otherwise. And sure, it is a good way to be able to see what is going on in others' lives whom you care about. The problem comes in when the comparison starts. Or tons of time is wasted. Or you begin to talk about others in a negative light. 1 Thess. 5:11 says: "Therefore encourage one another and build each other up." and Heb. 10:24-25 says: "And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, and not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another." We need to use social media to encourage one another. Don't tear each other down. Or tear yourself down.

Sometimes our insecurities build up until one day we realize we have become an insecure person. It is because we have dwelt on our faults and weaknesses. Or we've enjoyed the attention we received from the likes we got on the selfies we took until one day, we come to the place where we realize we are thriving solely on the attention from others and have become self-absorbed and prideful people. Deep down, both insecurity and pride come from a place of wanting to be loved. Of wanting to matter. We feel we don't measure up.  Don't lose touch with the reality that God loves each and every one of us. We don't need to compare ourselves with others because we are each created uniquely. God has gifted each of us differently and has a special purpose and plan for our lives. Do not allow comparison of others to tear you down (insecurity), or build you up too high (pride). Instead, allow the love of Christ to be the only thing that matters. Your identity is found not on what others think, but on what Christ thinks. See yourself as He sees you. Fearfully and wonderfully made. (Psalm 119:14). 

YOU MATTER TO JESUS! No matter who you are, or what you've done, Jesus Christ loves you and gave His life for you. You are so valuable to Him. He created you to have relationship with Him. He wants to spend time with you. He wants you and for you to know Him in a very personal way. He already knows your heart. He already knows your thoughts. Your dreams, your desires, you hurts, your pain. He sees what you've been through and He knows how you feel. He wants you to run to Him, because He is waiting with His arms stretched wide. He will pick you up, because He is your Heavenly Father and He loves you so much. Will you let Him? Ask Him right now. He hears you. He answers. He is so faithful and He will never leave you or forsake you.

Enjoy this post? Feel called to grow in your relationship with the Lord and be stretched in ministry? visit our website at www.nysum.org/city-reach-institute for more information or to apply to our 9-month urban training program.

5 things you wish you had known 5 years ago

What would you tell yourself if you could go back in time 5 years and give yourself advice? Do you wish you had more wisdom in making decisions? Would you change any decisions you made back then? Sometimes reflecting on the past is the best way to move forward in the future. Here are 5 things I wish I had known 5 years ago. I want to impart them to you so you can do your own reflection. Ask yourself the tough questions. Because then you can make changes and grow. 

1. LIFE IS SHORT. I'm sure you already know this. But do you really know it? When you're still young, you think you understand that life is short, but because you've lived so little and still have so much life ahead of you, you can't fully understand just how fast time goes by. ARE YOU MAKING THE MOST OF YOUR TIME? OR ARE YOU WASTING IT? We are all guilty of wasting time. There are a lot of "entertainment" outlets such as watching tv/movies, playing video games, scrolling through social media or the internet, texting/snapchatting, working out/sports, music, the list goes on. Those things aren't bad in and of themselves, but when you let any of those things take over large chunks of your time regularly, ask yourself: "HOW IS ________ BENEFITING ME?" which leads me to my second point.

2. DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME. Once you've asked yourself how the things you spend large amounts of time on are benefiting you, be honest with yourself. If the answer is they don't, or it is purely to entertain yourself, ask yourself this next question: HOW IMPORTANT IS MY ENTERTAINMENT TO ME? Evaluate this in light of the fact that God has an incredible plan and purpose for your life. He desires for you to know him more. For you to grow. And guess what? God is a great entertainer. Spending time with Him is more fulfilling and "entertaining" than the best movie. If you don't think so, put it to the test. Ask Him to show himself to be more fulfilling than any other "drug" we waste our time on.

3. JESUS LOVES YOU. Do you know that? Do you REALLY know that? Well He does. He loves you so much that nothing you do could ever change that. He is our PERFECT heavenly Father. Many people don't have a good idea of this because of trouble with earthly fathers. Here's what I want you to do. Think of what you would want your earthly Father to do and be like. Any area you wish he would change. Picture him being the best version of his self. Even if you think he would need to change EVERYTHING about himself, picture what he would look like if he was a perfect Father. Now, everything you could imagine your earthly Father being, God is INFINITELY BETTER than that! You think your dad is forgiving? God forgives EVERYTHING! Even if you commit the worst sin you could ever possibly think of, He embraces you with open arms. Your dad is fun? God has the best sense of humor and brings such joy and laughter and fun you couldn't imagine it. Your dad is wise? God's got the best advice. You should go to Him to ask for it. because He will never withhold any good thing from you. (Luke 11:9-13) Ask yourself: "DO I HAVE A CLOSE RELATIONSHIP WITH THIS HEAVENLY FATHER?" if not, ask Him. Spend time with Him. He wants to spend time with you.


4. MAKE GOALS, WORK TOWARDS THEM. Prov. 29:18 says that where there is no vision, the people are unrestrained. And in KJV it says the people perish. Without vision for what you want to do in the future, you end up going wherever the wind blows. Without a goal to work toward, where is the motivation to get anything done? The end is never in sight because you don't have an "end" planned. Obviously we need to always be willing to move wherever the Lord says, but we also need to plan accordingly. If the Lord says, "Move to this city and plant a church." and you do that, but you don't have any goals or direction for the church you are trying to plant, you will struggle with going anywhere. Because if a ship sets off sailing to no particular destination, it will float around aimlessly and the people will die aboard without ever making it to land because they weren't headed to a specific place. Ask yourself: "DO I HAVE ANY GOALS TO WORK TOWARD?" If not, make some.


5. BE ACCOUNTABLE TO SOMEONE. We've heard before to have accountability partners, but the problem is that we have to be very intentional about that relationship. It is easy to say, "I'm accountable to so-and-so" but it is much harder to plan regularly sitting down with that person and sharing your struggles. We get stuck when we think that we can handle our struggles ourselves. It is a lie from the enemy. That is how strong leaders in ministry end up falling. Because they are so high up on the influence ladder that they don't feel they can be vulnerable with others or else they will be judged since they are supposed to be in leadership. The enemy also convinces us that we are alone in our struggle and no one else will understand. But often the very thing we struggle with, everyone else does too, we are all just feeling the same way. Ask yourself: "DO I HAVE AN ACCOUNTABILITY PARTNER?" Don't just say yes because you have a close friend you tell a lot of things to. You need to be INTENTIONAL! Tell them you want them to hold you accountable.

Take some time reflect on these five areas. I wish I had done this before. Share it with someone else too! Maybe they are going through the same thing and need encouragement.