Current and future Anderson University students recently returned from a week of ministry in New York City that was eye-opening, challenging and spiritually formational.
Allison Guthrie, right, a sophomore from Anderson, engages New Yorkers as a part of the City Uprising art project.From June 26-July 2, a team of 16 students and staff became members of the Gallery Church (a Southern Baptist church plant) in New York City. Along with a group of 270 other participants, the AU team sought to serve as a part of City Uprising 2009.
Through an intensive four-day worship and service experience, City Uprising sought to inspire commitment to the local church, raise awareness of the need to reach the world’s major cities with the love and compassion of Jesus Christ, and to build a bridge into the heart of the city through love and service.
“This mission experience was unique in many ways,” said Greg Allgood, director of campus ministries at Anderson. “We were able to open this trip up to incoming students, so that this could be their first experience at AU.”
Seven incoming freshmen and one transfer student joined the team after attending summer orientation. Jasmine Gilliam, a freshman from Spartanburg, said she always wanted to go on a mission trip and that it was “a great way to meet people from my new school.”
Beth Fox, a freshman from Loris, said, “I wanted the chance to help others out who aren’t as fortunate as I am, but, most of all, I want to share the faith I carry in my heart.”
Everyone involved in City Uprising was able to serve through three different project avenues.
Community projects involved light construction and renovation of a community-based organization serving orphans whose parents have died from AIDS. Other projects included painting, cleaning and moving furniture at two NYC public schools. Both schools have opened their doors to church plants.
Rapid HIV testing allowed participants to serve a segment of the city that has been largely ignored by the church. Allgood said it is estimated that more than 50,000 residents of New York are HIV-positive and don’t know it.
The Renegade Arts Experience and Servant Evangelism allowed the teams to creatively engage the communities of New York City while sharing the love of Christ.
Aaron Coe, pastor of the Gallery Church, shared the numbers from this year’s City Uprising: six community organizations; 12 work projects; 9,500 square feet of interior wall space painted; one wall built at a community health clinic; HIV testing at 40 sites, with 1,847 people tested over the three-day period; 500 New Yorkers directly engaged in art projects/conversations.
“It is important to remember that all of these numbers represent people with real stories and real lives and real hurt,” Allgood said. He added that the campus ministries office hopes to make City Uprising an annual part of AU students’ summer experience. – AU