No Sleep 'Till Brooklyn, Hon!

This past week was amazing! There were 26 of us, including children. Our plan was to serve the local community by cleaning their houses and doing minor repair work. Little did we know, God had other plans for us. Gospel Assembly Church on 4th Avenue, opened their doors to us and gave us their annex as a "home base" for the week. We arrived Sunday morning to help serve their pancake breakfast to the community. One pastor in Brooklyn told us, "No one in Brooklyn will ever go hungry." He is so right! Almost all of the churches in Brooklyn serve weekly meals and have a food pantry. This pancake breakfast has come to be a necessity for most of the people who come. Melissa served up eggs! The kids passed out plates! Carol and Zeb helped make pancakes. The rest of us met new friends.

Pastor Vernon and his wife Brenda took time to sit with us after breakfast and share some of their stories. They have been serving the church for 7 years. They moved their family down to Brooklyn to live in the church. They have a little apartment off the back of the annex. After talking with them and hearing the stories of deliverance and daily miracles, it's not hard to realize these guys are on the front lines every day. We asked them what their biggest need is. They answered, "Workers". This humble couple walked into this church and began to operate out of sheer obedience to what Jesus had for them. They have made many sacrifices, but in return have seen Jesus do amazing things and transform lives! It didn't take long to realize they were tired and on the edge of burn out. Their older son, James said, "My parents were ready to give up, I think. They really needed this."

We also asked them what needed to be done in the way of cleaning and repair around the church. They took us on a tour. We quickly realized God had sent us to serve this couple and this church. Our team rolled up their sleeves and spent the next five days turning the church upside down...in a good way! The church kitchen was emptied off all it's contents, scrubbed top to bottom and it got a fresh coat of paint. All the pots and pans and utensils were then scrubbed and reorganized and placed back in their new home! There was a loft above the sanctuary that was piled top to bottom with left over yard sale items. Pastor Vernon and his wife felt bad for even taking us to this room. Little did they know, we had professional cleaning and organizing ladies on the team with us. They emptied that room, created three piles, one to keep, two to take to the dump and three to donate to Good Will. Devon and Chuck loaded two trucks worth of bags and took them to the thrift store and dump. The kids worked on the bathrooms, four of them, cleaning and scrubbing. They also emptied out an old janitor closet and got rid of the junk and straightened and reorganized it. We found donated clothes throughout the building and stocked their clothing exchange rack. (The community can come in and take clothes that they need.) The pastor's personal kitchen got a full scrub and organizing. Their bathroom received a shower makeover! The men replaced their shower wall with a new sturdy surround. They will be going back to try and fix the sink and toilet as well. Two more closets were cleaned out. Door knobs were replaced, shaky toilets made sturdy, doors realigned so they shut, floors scrubbed and two refrigerators cleaned out.

Along with working on the church, our team served Gospel Assembly and Mr. Rick at their weekly food bank. They organized cans and made bags. They then waited outside and prayed with people who came to receive. Our team has lots of stories of how God moved at this time. One man's hands were very shaky. But, after going in to claim his bag, he came out and declared he was able to sign his name without the shakes. Our team also ran a VBS for three days. We had children ages 4 to 15 show up. We were blown away by how God took all the talents of the team and used them to pull off a wonderful VBS! The theme was about Gifts...what Jesus' gifts are to us and what our gifts are to Him...that we are all special. Allison pulled together the schedule and taught the lesson each day. Melissa and some of the kids lead worship each day. Meg and Zeb lead games and amazingly filled in the gaps when needed! Carol made snacks that were thoughtful and prepared with love! We had craft time where the kids traced their bodies and talked about what made them special. They painted treasure boxes and put a slip of paper inside that shared what they wanted to give to Jesus.


We prayer walked the community a number of times, praying that the Holy Spirit would come in power and transform this community. Brooklyn is the largest sex trafficked community on the East Coast and the fourth largest in the country. Just a week before we went there, a 15 year old girl was shot and killed in a cross fire. The gangs run the streets, next to heroin. This community is in desperate need of Jesus!
We can't even begin to tell you what Jesus did in our hearts as a team this week. The really cool thing about serving locally, is that we get to continue to pour into this area and build relationships. We made friends this week! Pastor Vernon and his wife! Their son James and daughter Samantha. We met Brandon and three of the kids he is helping to raise, Paige, Brandon and Ethan. Bruce and his wife Mary and their tribe of five kids are quickly becoming like family! Every person we met, left a mark on our hearts and increased our love for Brooklyn.
We're just getting started down there!



We will continue to run outreaches in the Brooklyn area. We are still looking for a way to tear down and rebuild The Post. We know now, that along with it being a House of Prayer, it will also become a missions base. We are planning on continuing to run VBS, camps and other activities for the kids. This is a great need in the community. We spoke with Pastor Vernon and Brenda about starting a drop in night for the teens.
We will keep you posted! If you want to get involved drop us a line or give us a call! We'd love to have you!
We know this post is a bit lengthy, but we have so much we want to share!
Thank you for your prayers and your support!
Jesus was lifted up and hope and love was delivered!
In Him,
Devon and Kristin