New York: To the ends of the earth

I was afraid to come to New York City. Sometimes, I am still afraid. A night before flying here, I told my family I was really scared. I didn’t see myself in this big city.

Acts 1:8 says: “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Jerusalem and Judea are pretty close, sometimes comfortable, places where we can go witness. It can be home for us. Samaria is a place that is very difficult for some people to go and share the gospel of Jesus Christ. For me, New York was my Samaria. But the gospel is not about how I feel or what I like. It’s about who Jesus is and about bringing glory to his name.

This city can make you feel like a kid again. It is so big—full of a lot of people, big buildings, lights everywhere and subways that sometimes are confusing and take you to really faraway places. But, in the middle of all of this, you feel small, invisible and anonymous, and everything is so new and amazing. In the middle of this huge modern city, you can still see trees and hear the birds sing. You can see the people smile at each other. You can still see a profound need for God—a deep need for Jesus—in this huge place.

Getting to know you

I spent my first few days in New York with my new friends—other student missionaries who came to help churches that the Metropolitan New York Baptist Association partners with. My new friends are from all over the United States and the world. We spent some days looking at the city, walking a lot, and getting lost. But nothing made me more joyful than finally meeting some ladies from the Hispanic church in Queens where I was assigned to serve.

When I met my church, I was amazed. I asked God for forgiveness, because I was underestimating his will. My church is located at a place named Corona, in Queens. When I got off the subway, it looked like a Latin American country. Everyone in that neighborhood is Latin American. I was home. When I arrived at my church, I found out everyone there is from Latin America. Most are from Ecuador. There are a few families from Mexico and Colombia, and the senior pastor is from Dominican Republic.

A heart for indigenous people

Then it happened! The preaching was not only in Spanish, but it was in Kichwa—a Quechuan language spoken by about 1 million indigenous people in Latin America. I smiled and thanked God for placing me in a church with a heart for indigenous people.

My heart is full of joy as I meet more and more people from my church. It’s amazing to see is how God is working in the Corona neighborhood through my church. They really serve the community.

Iglesia Bautista Canaan is a very active church among the community. Recently, I met one of the ministers of this church, Pastor Edison. He leads services during the week because he and his small group of believers work on weekends. He speaks Kichwa, and so does his whole congregation. They worship God in their native clothing, and most of the men have long braided hair and sing and play Andean music. It is so great to see that they have kept their culture, but they have embraced the gospel and live to glorify Jesus.

I went to Peru a year ago and I got to experience the Andean culture, and indigenous people have a very special place in my heart, because they are my people. Serving here in New York has been a combination of everything I have been doing the last four years—not only in ministry, but also in secular occupations, like office jobs. It is great that God uses our past experiences to serve him and others.

God has shown me New York City can be my Jerusalem, my Judea, my Samaria and the ends of the earth—all at once. That is great and scary at the same time, but I am depending on the Lord.

Joy Brown, a student at the University of Texas at El Paso, is serving with Go Now Missions this summer as an intern at a church in Queens, New York City, working with Metropolitan New York Baptist Association.