NYSUM 2025 Trip Recap
Written by NYSUM team leader, Wendell Zeiset.
Worship Center sent a team of six to the New York School of Urban Ministry (NYSUM) from November 7-9. We partnered with NYSUM and five other churches for street ministry and serving Thanksgiving meals to the homeless and families in shelters. NYSUM gives away about 5,000 Thanksgiving dinners each year through an initiative called Operation Drumstick. Also, our team brought along 75 hand-knitted scarf and hat sets provided by Sewing Hope, a service group here at Worship Center.
While in New York, our team visited a Spanish shelter housing families and served a traditional Thanksgiving meal, had face painting and a puppet show for the kids, and set up a prayer table along with practical gifts for the adults. The word of the day from the NYSUM leader was “flexibility.” Flexibility is necessary when serving people in practical ways with our time and resources.
On Friday evening and Saturday evening, we gathered for worship and teaching at NYSUM before going out in the streets around the Port Authority Bus Terminal and Penn Station to minister to the homeless. We were encouraged to go out by the power of the Holy Spirit, the power of love, and the power of a sound mind that overcomes all fear.
Maddison Hornbaker from our team shared her experience, “One person who stood out to me while being on the streets was Solomon, the first homeless man we encountered. He was hunched over a book about Christianity with his hood up, having a hard time staying awake while reading. This really reminded me of Matthew 17:20 in reference to having faith as small as a mustard seed. He was really trying to stay awake to read, but he just couldn’t. Later, we saw him in a new spot with the same book, a cigarette, and alcohol. But he still had the book. I’m the type of person that wants to see change right away, which stems from a genuine desire to make a difference. However, just because that man didn’t give his life to Christ right there in that moment doesn’t mean he never will. We had the opportunity to water and plant seeds of faith, even as small as a mustard seed. I have faith in the future that he will come to know Christ, be set free from addictions, and live a purposeful life through Jesus. Our true reward is in Heaven, and we may never see it here on Earth, but we will when we get to Heaven.”
The word of the day, “flexibility,” during afternoon outreach took on a different meaning for me, Wendell, outside of Penn Station on Saturday night. At the end of the evening my son, my wife, and I crossed the street to speak to a man sitting on the sidewalk. Initially he wanted prayer, but when I began to pray a blessing over him, his head popped up and he said, “you can’t say that.” I immediately felt unworthy and unqualified to be ministering to people. From my perspective, it felt like demonic distraction. We prayed and moved on, but I did not want to return to the streets of NYC again. A few days after the trip, I sensed the Holy Spirit revealing to me that I was holding inflexibility in my heart toward myself. I think sometimes we as Christians can put such a high expectation on ourselves to “get it right” that we become hard toward ourselves, which hinders our walks with God. In the last days, people will harden their hearts towards God but, what if hardening our hearts toward ourselves is just as bad? Is it a back door way the Enemy uses to harden our hearts toward God?
We encountered homeless people on the street who were open to communicating and receiving gifts. We also encountered individuals who refused gifts despite being in desperate need and having nothing. It continues to make me wonder, are our hearts hard toward God or ourselves, keeping us from receiving?Or are our hearts soft and flexible, able to receive the goodness and love of God?
This trip impacted each member of our team in different ways, whether a personal work God is doing in our hearts or seeing and experiencing the fruit of sharing God’s love through practical acts of service, sharing love, and planting seeds of God’s goodness.
Thank you all so much for surrounding this trip and our team with prayer.
Blessings!
Wendell Zeiset