Bowery Maintenance Trip June 2011
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We just returned from our fourth trip to the Bowery this year! The Bowery is
quickly becoming our home away from home! We really enjoy serving with them
and the time we spend there.
We left on Friday the 17th a little later than expected. Along the way we had a tire
issue, the second one that the belt started separating. We felt a vibration and found
the closest tire shop. They confirmed the issue and put our spare on the truck and
we headed out again. We made it to SC where we spent the night. We got up and
noticed the red “hot and fresh” sign at the Krispy Kreme shop and just had to take a
detour!
After getting our fill of hot sugar and coffee we headed down the road again.
Shortly thereafter we noticed another vibration in the truck. It seemed as if the
third tire from a batch we had put on the truck a couple of years ago was also
separating. We started looking for tire shops and discovered that for some reason
most tire shops are closed on Saturdays in the areas we were traveling. We finally
found a Firestone store that was opened and had our tires in stock. It was a little
out of the way but we needed to get the tires replaced. Our suspicions were
confirmed and we decided to replace the bad one as well as the only tire left from
the original bad batch. A couple hours later we were on the road again.
We made it to Richmond, VA where we stayed with our friends Jason and Amara.
They lead Relief Ministries CC Mechanicsville and have served with us several times
in the past. We went to church with them on Sunday and spent some time going
over our ministry and showing those in the church our truck and trailer.
After a quick lunch Jason and Jon, another member of Jason’s team, headed to
NYC with us. We thought that going into NYC with our trailer wouldn’t be an
issue but it turns out that they don’t allow trailers in the Holland Tunnel so we had
to turn around and ended up getting delayed for a little while. We finally made it to
the Bowery, unloaded and got to bed!
Up bright and early on Monday morning we got right to work. Matt had laid out
several things for us to do. As always we had many issues since we are dealing
with such an old building. We had problems finding one of the doors that needed
replaced and when we did get the delivery, it was the wrong door! We set the
frame and the door company is making a new door and will deliver it on Friday of
this week. We managed to get quite a bit of work done in the short week we were
there amidst all of our issues.
While the guys were busy doing maintenance, Mary Jo was busy teaching two
classes a day of English prep classes for some of the guys who needed to get there
GED certificates. I heard several of them say that she really did a good job!
While there we went through the first few chapters in the book of James. We had
daily devotions in the morning and I was blessed to teach one chapel service and
lead the house devotions that they have on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons.
There was lots of interaction and prayfully the Lord used me to share some Biblical
advice with these guys. God says that His Word won’t return void and many times
in situations like this I never know just what all is going on in these guys minds.
Later in the week one of the guys shared with me that a lot of the guys had been
talking about all that we discussed in the dorms. Please pray that God’s Word
permeates their lives and that they allow Him to transform their lives.
We also managed to make many new friends as the guys come and go through the
discipleship process. Several of them have expressed interest in joining us for our
next relief trip and we’ll be blessed to have them along for another intense time of
discipleship!
We left NYC on Sunday morning. We didn’t have any trouble getting out of town
as we knew to take the Lincoln Tunnel and then head back to VA. We didn’t get
too far down the NJTurnpike when we heard what sounded like a bunch of gun
shots from a machine gun! We quickly realized it wasn’t gunshots but one of our
trailer tires coming apart! Immediately God provided a nice turn off that was being
used to park some construction equipment and we pulled in. The center part of one
of our tire treads had completely come off? The tire was still inflated and the outer
tread was still intact? Not sure what all is going on with our tires lately but we do
know that what satan means for harm, God turns into good and we won’t let any
of this keep us from doing what God has called us to do! We quickly put the spare
tire on and headed on to VA. We spent an extra day and made it home on
Wednesday morning to get back to work on Thursday.
It was a great trip but long since I worked, drove to NY, served, drove to FL and
now am back to work! Mary Jo and I have been blessed by one of her coworkers
with a cabin in Murphy, NC and will be taking a much needed vacation from July 9-
16 and then back to work until July 28 when we’ll head back to NYC as Chef Clyde
vacations and we go back to help out in the kitchen, with GED classes and any
other maintenance issues that will need done. We are looking for some volunteers
to join us from Aug 1-8 in NYC, so if your interested, don’t hesitate to let us
know! We are also working on the team for Thanksgiving so if you want to join us
for that contact us as well.
Please continue to keep us and Relief Ministries in your prayers, we need it!!
quickly becoming our home away from home! We really enjoy serving with them
and the time we spend there.
We left on Friday the 17th a little later than expected. Along the way we had a tire
issue, the second one that the belt started separating. We felt a vibration and found
the closest tire shop. They confirmed the issue and put our spare on the truck and
we headed out again. We made it to SC where we spent the night. We got up and
noticed the red “hot and fresh” sign at the Krispy Kreme shop and just had to take a
detour!
After getting our fill of hot sugar and coffee we headed down the road again.
Shortly thereafter we noticed another vibration in the truck. It seemed as if the
third tire from a batch we had put on the truck a couple of years ago was also
separating. We started looking for tire shops and discovered that for some reason
most tire shops are closed on Saturdays in the areas we were traveling. We finally
found a Firestone store that was opened and had our tires in stock. It was a little
out of the way but we needed to get the tires replaced. Our suspicions were
confirmed and we decided to replace the bad one as well as the only tire left from
the original bad batch. A couple hours later we were on the road again.
We made it to Richmond, VA where we stayed with our friends Jason and Amara.
They lead Relief Ministries CC Mechanicsville and have served with us several times
in the past. We went to church with them on Sunday and spent some time going
over our ministry and showing those in the church our truck and trailer.
After a quick lunch Jason and Jon, another member of Jason’s team, headed to
NYC with us. We thought that going into NYC with our trailer wouldn’t be an
issue but it turns out that they don’t allow trailers in the Holland Tunnel so we had
to turn around and ended up getting delayed for a little while. We finally made it to
the Bowery, unloaded and got to bed!
Up bright and early on Monday morning we got right to work. Matt had laid out
several things for us to do. As always we had many issues since we are dealing
with such an old building. We had problems finding one of the doors that needed
replaced and when we did get the delivery, it was the wrong door! We set the
frame and the door company is making a new door and will deliver it on Friday of
this week. We managed to get quite a bit of work done in the short week we were
there amidst all of our issues.
While the guys were busy doing maintenance, Mary Jo was busy teaching two
classes a day of English prep classes for some of the guys who needed to get there
GED certificates. I heard several of them say that she really did a good job!
While there we went through the first few chapters in the book of James. We had
daily devotions in the morning and I was blessed to teach one chapel service and
lead the house devotions that they have on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons.
There was lots of interaction and prayfully the Lord used me to share some Biblical
advice with these guys. God says that His Word won’t return void and many times
in situations like this I never know just what all is going on in these guys minds.
Later in the week one of the guys shared with me that a lot of the guys had been
talking about all that we discussed in the dorms. Please pray that God’s Word
permeates their lives and that they allow Him to transform their lives.
We also managed to make many new friends as the guys come and go through the
discipleship process. Several of them have expressed interest in joining us for our
next relief trip and we’ll be blessed to have them along for another intense time of
discipleship!
We left NYC on Sunday morning. We didn’t have any trouble getting out of town
as we knew to take the Lincoln Tunnel and then head back to VA. We didn’t get
too far down the NJTurnpike when we heard what sounded like a bunch of gun
shots from a machine gun! We quickly realized it wasn’t gunshots but one of our
trailer tires coming apart! Immediately God provided a nice turn off that was being
used to park some construction equipment and we pulled in. The center part of one
of our tire treads had completely come off? The tire was still inflated and the outer
tread was still intact? Not sure what all is going on with our tires lately but we do
know that what satan means for harm, God turns into good and we won’t let any
of this keep us from doing what God has called us to do! We quickly put the spare
tire on and headed on to VA. We spent an extra day and made it home on
Wednesday morning to get back to work on Thursday.
It was a great trip but long since I worked, drove to NY, served, drove to FL and
now am back to work! Mary Jo and I have been blessed by one of her coworkers
with a cabin in Murphy, NC and will be taking a much needed vacation from July 9-
16 and then back to work until July 28 when we’ll head back to NYC as Chef Clyde
vacations and we go back to help out in the kitchen, with GED classes and any
other maintenance issues that will need done. We are looking for some volunteers
to join us from Aug 1-8 in NYC, so if your interested, don’t hesitate to let us
know! We are also working on the team for Thanksgiving so if you want to join us
for that contact us as well.
Please continue to keep us and Relief Ministries in your prayers, we need it!!
and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the
darkness, and your night will become like the noonday. Isaiah 58:10
darkness, and your night will become like the noonday. Isaiah 58:10
