A Hug From God

This year's Worship Warfare Week was a glorious time of exalting Jesus publicly and ministering to those gathered in the parks around NYC. At Thursday's outreach in Brooklyn, we met Isabella, who is currently homeless and was facing some rough circumstances just that morning. She had texted her sister to vent her frustrations, and her sister recommended that she take a walk through park saying, "Enjoy the fresh air, God is going to give you a hug in the park." Her sister had no idea that we were there worshipping that day. In the park she met a few team members who escorted her over to the prayer station. Robin listened as she poured out her heart, then she felt an urge to give her a hug. Isabella, looking incredulous, pulled out her phone and showed Robin the text from her sister saying that God was going to give her a hug! We are so moved by how God met Isabella in her moment of great need and answered our prayers to draw people into the parks during Worship Warfare Week who need a touch from Him. It is an honor to allow Jesus to hug the lost and hurting through us on the streets of NYC!

John's Story

We had a meaningful encounter with a man named John* at the Gay Pride Parade.  John was a kind, unassuming man who was willing to stop and discuss the questions on our survey.  As we went through the first several topics, John gave relatively basic answers, until we asked him about the importance of gender roles in society.  “Well, I didn’t use to believe they were important, but now I see that they are.”  He slowly began to open up about his difficult past.  John had been born a woman and had identified as a lesbian woman for fifty years of his life.  When he was diagnosed with breast cancer, he underwent chemotherapy and a double-mastectomy to try to rid his body of the cancer.  After losing his hair to the chemotherapy and losing his breasts, he continued to dress as a woman, but he was severely ridiculed and harassed for his appearance, even just walking the streets.  He was shocked and horrified at the persecution he received from strangers “in a place as accepting as New York.”  After a year of being mocked and maltreated, John decided to take testosterone drugs to make his appearance more masculine, and he began dressing in more masculine clothing.  He now identifies as a transgender, bisexual man, and he noted how much “simpler” it is this way.  As we continued through the survey, hearing more pieces of John’s story, we eventually got to ask him about faith.  He said somberly, “I love all faiths, but they don’t all love me.”  Our hearts broke for John; my partner and I each got to give him a hug and share about the incredible love of God for him.  We invited him to Street Life’s Sunday night service, and we told him we would love to have him there.  He thanked us both sincerely and took our service information.  As John walked away, we were again astounded by the love of the Father: the way God reaches out to the deepest places of hurt and rejection, and offers His love and healing!  We are praying for healing for John’s body, as his cancer has been diagnosed as stage four, and we are praying for his salvation, that the love of God and the freedom in Christ would be made known to him!

*Name has been changed to protect his privacy.

Healing at the Prayer Station

In the subway station, Justin and Erica offered prayer to a woman passing by. She said no and Justin replied they would pray for her anyway as she went on. They bowed their heads and prayed a simple prayer for the woman and continued talking and praying with people. It was time to rotate so they switched with the next pair unaware that as they prayed for the woman, her foot - which had been in a lot of pain - stopped hurting. When she realized the pain was gone she came back and told the pair who took Justin and Erica's spot what had happened thanking them for praying. This was a tremendous sign to the woman that God cares for her personally. Justin and Erica, the two teenagers who prayed for her, were greatly encouraged to see how God hears and answers their prayers. They were both rocked by that experience. We too were overjoyed to hear that God is moving on the streets of New York City and pouring out tangible signs of His mercy and grace. 

Team Testimonies

God moved in a unique and undeniable way among the individuals of our most recent team. Two of the youth felt God specifically calling them into ministry, one of which said that she is going to use her remaining high school years to let God pour into her as she prepares for ministry. The other said, “I just want to be obedient to God and go wherever he wants me. That’s all I want out of life.” Other members of the team said that God gave them a burden for reaching the lost and they now have an inflamed desire to start sharing their faith in their hometown. Some expressed how important it is not to live as “fake” Christians, but to be strongly connected to Christ and live a life that reflects his character to the rest of the world.

Breaking More New Ground at SLM: Gay Pride Parade Outreach

This past weekend marked New York City's 44th annual Gay Pride Parade, as well as Street LIFE Ministries' first outreach to the Gay Pride Parade. Saturday we prayer walked the entire parade route beginning on Fifth Ave. and 36th St. and ending at Greenwich St. and Christopher St. in Greenwich Village. Akilah voiced what many of the team felt in writing, "The prayer walk was crucial to the parade ministry". The team was broken up in groups of two and set out to push back the powers of darkness as well as release the word of the Lord - words of life and healing over the area. We each felt the importance of what we were doing spiritually to prepare the way for the outreach on Sunday, as well as to make sure that God would receive glory through our prayers and lifting high His name. We concluded Saturday evening with more worship and prayer back at the SLM base. Sunday morning we left with eagerness and anticipation at what the Lord would do. There was tremendous favor for parking, setting up the table to pass out free water and lemonade, as well as participation and receptivity as our team used a survey to engage in conversation with those present. We recognized much of the fear some initially felt was intimidation from the enemy and an illusion to keep us from reaching out to those who identify as LGBT. They are people who need to hear the love and truth of God just like everyone else. Speaking of an encounter with a gay young man Angela shared, "Brian didn't ask for prayer for himself but for world hunger. I told him that was good but that God was interested in him. That Jesus loves him personally, which is why we were out there. Before leaving he said he liked our approach." We set out to represent the Lord, build relationship, and plant seeds, which we believed happened. We look forward to more opportunities to reach this community. 

The Fruits of Intercession

We met Ling at the Flushing Prayer Station about two years ago.  That day she requested prayer, asking,  “Can you pray for my brother to start going back to church?  He also has a very bad gambling problem.”  We prayed together that day for God to intervene on her family member’s behalf.  Her faith is evident when she seeks prayer for someone in her family.  The next time we connected with Ling she was very excited.  “Do you remember that I asked you to pray for my brother to start going back to church?  He went to church the very next day after we prayed!”  We have prayed with Ling a number of times since for her family.  A couple of weeks ago, she reminded us about what happened with her brother.  She further explained how he had an addiction to gambling for ten years and God instantly delivered him from it as a result of prayer.  Two years later, he has not gambled and he is also in a relationship with a godly woman in his church. We love hearing how God is showing His faithfulness to Ling and Robert as we pray together, and we want to thank you for helping make this possible through your faithful prayers and support as well! 

God Answered Robert's Prayers

A few weeks ago, Bobby and Jess met a man named Robert who came up to the Prayer Station in Flushing. He explained how he wanted prayer for his anger issues. At this point, he shared that he didn’t when have a job and that he kept losing his jobs because of his anger issues.  The next week, he saw them out there again and stopped to let them know that three days after they prayed for him, he got a new job! Bobby asked him if he could pray for him again and what he needed prayer for. Robert said he was having problems with a man at his job that had been bullying him. Bobby prayed for peace and joy for him and for the bullying to stop. Robert came back to the Prayer Station the following week and told them that, once again, their prayers were answered! The man who was bullying him was transferred to another department. Robert exclaimed, “When I pray with you guys, something good always happens!” It is such a joy to hear that prayers are being answered in such a specific and tangible way. Please pray for Robert, that as his prayers are answered, his faith in who God is and his own relationship with Him would be built up and deepen beyond what He has ever known before.