BUMP-- New York

guest post by Anissa!

This summer, I went on a mission trip to New York with my youth group from church. We were part of group called BUMP, which stands for   Bridging Urban Mission Project.  We left on a Friday night, and came back the next Sunday. We traveled by train and the trip was 30 hours there, and 27 hours back.  The ride itself was a little boring, but overall, it was a really cool experience.

 

 

While I was in New York, I worked at a VBS (vacation bible school) with first graders.  Most of the children were Chinese, and many of them didn’t speak English. I was also part of the praise band, and we were in charge of the worship music for the children each day.  During my time there, I was able to interact with lots of great kids. One child in particular really touched me. She really just tried to love on me, which I thought was sweet. She would hold my hand, walk with me, and sit with me during recess.

A usual day for us was waking up at 6:45 a.m., cleaning up our area, doing our daily

devotionals,and having breakfast at 7:30.  At 8 o’clock, we would start walking the kids to the church where the VBS was held.  We worked there until 2:30 p.m. when we would walk the kids back. On most days, right after that, we would go next door for the best ice cream I’ve ever had, and it was only $2. We would have a 30 minute break, and then walk a mile to have dinner with two other BUMP groups. We would stay there until about 8 p.m., then walk the mile back to where we were staying.

Wednesday and Thursday afternoons were exceptions to this schedule. On those days, we went sightseeing. On Wednesday, we took a ferry ride past the Statue of Liberty, then I bought a six dollar ice cream which wasn’t near as good as the two dollar ice cream!  We also rode the subway to Wall Street and saw the famous bull, Trinity Church (which was filmed in the movie National Treasure), Times Square all lit up at night, and, we tried to see the 9-11 memorial, but it was closed.  On Thursday, we went to Coney Island.  We walked on the sand, got ice cream, and others got Nathan’s hot dogs.

 

 

Friday night, everyone in our band (including me!) led the worship service. It was a wonderful night full of worship and prayer. Afterwards, people talked about how they have grown on this trip.   

Saturday morning we woke up at five a.m. and took a bus tour of New York.  At eleven, we boarded a train for Tampa. Although it was an exhausting week, I had lots of fun, grew in my faith, and I hope I’ll be able to go on another trip with my youth group.

 

John Wycliffe and a Reunion with Colleagues in Washington, D.C.

You can imagine Craig’s great surprise when he was standing face to face with John Wycliffe, the man whom Wycliffe Bible Translators was named for. It was John Wycliffe, who in the late 1300 hundreds, had a hunger for the common man to have God’s word in English. Wycliffe threw away his academic career at Oxford University in order to translate the bible into English. Many followed Wycliffe, but he was the trail blazer and not only did it cost him his faculty seat at Oxford, but it also left him with little in economic resources to accomplish his goal. John Wycliffe reappeared at our meeting in DC and reminded us of why every man, woman and child should have God’s word in their own language. We as Americans have it. In fact, we have nearly 2000 versions just in English. Yet nearly that many languages still lack a single word in their heart language.

John Wycliffe, portrayed by colleague Arthur Lightbody

John Wycliffe, portrayed by colleague Art Lightbody

 

At our office retreat, it was great to see many colleagues that we have worked with since we  started over seven years ago during our first assignment in DC. Some we had not seen in over three years, as they had also taken overseas assignments. Craig was reminded that working  to have the word of God to reach every language in the world involves cost and sacrifice.

This month will mark 8 years since Craig left the practice of law to join Wycliffe full time. During that time, God has been faithful, through his people, to support the work that John Wycliffe began and that many after him have strived for, often at a huge cost and sacrifice.
 

DC Staff

 

We want to thank you, our dear partners, in allowing us to stay on this journey. Many days we don’t know how we have been able to continue, but we know that God and the provision of his people provide the way.

Thank you.