Day 2 - Sunday, June 20, 2010

After a long first day and tons of walking, we were up and out at 6:30am on day 2.  Unfortunately, I still was not feeling well, but I was going to fight it as long as I possibly could.  We helped the Communitas (one of Kensington's church plants) team set up and tear down for their Sunday gathering.  They rent the auditorium space in Public School 40 every Sunday morning.  They call it a gathering rather than a service because they do the serving throughout the week.  Did you know that approximately 90% of New York City is unchurched?  Craig Mayes, who used to be a pastor at Kensington, got the call from God one day to share the message of Jesus in NYC.  He, and many others, relocated their families to start Communitas (all words in white font are a link to that organizations website) a few years ago.  They are all an amazing bunch of people!

Afterwards, we walked the Brooklyn Bridge from the Manhattan side to the Brooklyn side.  It was a very hot day, but we all had our waters with us, trekking along.  It is one of the many things I recommend doing if you're ever in New York.  We then sat in a small park overlooking the bridge and ate some Grimaldi's pizza for lunch....YUM!  We decided to take a water taxi back to Manhattan as it looked like there was a storm on its way.  We then took the Staten Island Ferry to get a view of the Statue of Liberty....beautiful!  I called my dad while on the ferry to wish him a Happy Fathers Day. This was probably my first Fathers Day that I was not with my dad.  I am so grateful to have a loving father still in my life as I have so many friends whose fathers have passed.  Since I couldn't physically be there with him, I relaxed on the ferry being thankful for all the memories that I share with my dad. 

After we got off the ferry, I just could not take anymore...I was feeling worse and worse (lack of sleep and walking the city for 2 days wasn't helping), trying to keep up with my team...I felt horrible.  As the team went to a rooftop barbeque with the Communitas team for the evening, I went back to the hotel to rest my body and go to bed in hopes of feeling better in the morning to go on my first serving assignment.