So This Is Goodbye

In September of 2009 we got a phone call from a friend and fellow minister from the east coast. He asked if we'd ever be interested in helping the church out in New York City. I quickly said "no." I grew up in Syracuse, NY and have many fond memories of my time there but since I've been in Los Angeles I've fallen in love with the people and the place. However strong I felt on that phone call he asked me to pray about it and I consented.

Arlene was born in Jersey City and grew up on Long Island. Her whole pre-college life surrounded the big city and when she became a Christian on the west coast going to school at USC she hoped to go back and give back to the place she knew so well. However, over the years the dream seemed more and more a fantasy as life and ministry filled each moment here in LA.

Fast forward back to that phone call I had...so we gave a week to thinking about thinking about it. I actually prayed for God to take the thought away. "I didn't need a move like this in my life right now" I thought. We own a home, a car, our kids go to a school run by disciples from the church and we're surrounded by best friends and family. We lead the campus at USC, where Arlene and I became Christians and graduated ourselves....we leave all that?

But God wouldn't let it go. I couldn't stop thinking about the possibilities, everything would remind me of it and I even started having dreams about living there. Advisors in our lives recommended we go ahead and check out the possibility. Eventually we were invited to visit/interview with the church in New York City. We arrived, curious and clueless, on November 4th.

It didn't take long to catch the vision God was pitching to us. After speaking with dozens of advisors, praying & fasting, visiting again in January and testing God's resolve for a total of 6 months, we finally made our decision to move.

In Acts 20, Paul says "so long" to his bff's in Ephesus. "And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there. I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me."

There are 71,000 people per square mile in New York City. In comparison, there are 8000 people per square mile in Los Angeles. There are an estimated 250 buildings in Manhattan alone. People are always out, always ambitious, always moving. It's the biggest city in the US, the Center of Culture, Politics & Finance, the Birthplace of Hip-Hop and Salsa. 170 languages are spoken there. And, a surprise to me, of the 25 most populated cities in America, it is now the SAFEST.

Despite its stacked population layers, New York City isn't exactly the social melting pot of intimacy. 50% of the homes in NY are occupied by 1 person. Out of 3000 counties in the United States, NY has the largest percentage of single-family households. 430,000 New Yorkers suffer from depression and 200,000 have Anxiety Disorders according to the NYC Dept of Health & Mental Hygiene. Also, those in their 20’s & 30’s are twice as likely Depressed than other ages. As Jay-Z says "8 million stories out there and their naked, cities is a pity half of y’all won’t make it." So much naive ambition and so many dashed dreams await. The once bright-eyed now cynical glares make the norm in this modern Gotham. We are both divinely compelled and warned about moving to NYC. We know NOT what to expect there but we do know people need help to hope, especially the young.

"However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the gospel of God's grace. When he had said this, he knelt down with all of them and prayed. They all wept as they embraced him and kissed him. What grieved them most was his statement that they would never see his face again. Then they accompanied him to the ship." Thanks to modern tech, text, skype, iChat, facebook, twitter (and the like) we won't face Paul's same fate with never being able to "see" his friends again. But, the distance will be challenging to overcome and so we hope to update this blog to keep people posted and connected.

We sold our house and most everything in it. So we go with your prayers in our pockets for extra strength. We wear a coat stuffed with memories to keep us warm. Our wallet is filled with emotional capital, which is the most valuable currency when traveling to a new place. Our children sport sneakers with extra soul padding from the years you cared for them like your own. Our joints swing swift and smooth as the cartilage of the body of Christ binds us as one. We thank you. We are blessed by you. We miss you already.

"After we had torn ourselves away from them, we put out to sea..."