New York - It is Sunday

30/5/2010(Sun) Time Square Church(NY) and Lobster dinner at Elmhurst

Today is Sunday. Our schedule is to attend the Sunday service in one of the church in New York. We asked the 3rd son of Mr Oon, name cannot remember. A tall handsome Indonesian Chinese young man, now a New Yorker. He is a manager in one of fast food chain. He introduced to us, Time Square Church. We took a subway to New york, but find difficulty to locate the church, mainly due to the wrong perception that a church building must have a cross on the roof. We did call Onn's son, but by the time the call is connected, we see a sign with the name of Time Square Church in front of us.... the church at Broadway, at Time Square, at Theater District, at New York and in the old theater building..... the church that God built.

Time Square Church(NY)

Times Square Church is an inter-denominational church located at 51st Street and Broadway in New York City. A large number of people representing many nationalities gather to worship together every week. Volunteers from the congregation participate in over forty ministries, ranging from feeding the homeless in New York City to staffing an orphanage in South Africa. A major emphasis at Times Square Church is giving aid to the disadvantaged.

In the official website, it is stated that the mission of the church is:

"A major emphasis at Times Square Church is giving aid to the poor, the hungry, the destitute and the addicted. This vision has grown beyond our borders. As Pastor David Wilkerson has written, “It is the Holy Ghost who has transformed Times Square Church into a missions-focused church, now taking the gospel to nations worldwide.”

Hundreds of people who call Times Square Church their home church participate in outreaches to the poor, the disadvantaged, the homeless, the sick and the elderly in New York City. They also travel to share the love of Christ in humanitarian and medical outreaches to AIDS orphans, prison inmates, special needs orphans, drug addicts and the poorest of the poor around the world in countries from Argentina to Zambia.

Our pastors believe that God has ordained Times Square Church to be a testimony of his love in our city, our nation and around the world.".

The Times Square Church was founded by Pastor David Wilkerson in 1987. At the time, the area was known as a center of X-rated films, strip clubs, prostitution, and drug addiction. Pastor Wilkerson opened the church in response to what he described as "the physically destitute and spiritually dead people" he saw among the pimps, runaways and crack dealers who populated the area.

Recalling that life-changing night, Pastor David says, “I saw 9-, 10- and 11-year-old kids bombed on crack cocaine. I walked down 42nd Street and they were selling crack. Len Bias, the famous basketball player, had just died of a crack overdose, and the pusher was yelling, ‘Hey, I’ve got the stuff that killed Len.’ I wept and prayed, ‘God, you’ve got to raise up a testimony in this hellish place…The answer was not what I wanted to hear: ‘Well, you know the city. You’ve been here. You do it.’”

Pastor David obeyed God. He opened Times Square Church in October of 1987 in Town Hall before moving it to its present location at the Mark Hellinger Theater. Pastor David’s first call to New York City in 1958 has been well documented in his book, The Cross and the Switchblade.

The Times Square Church briefly held its services in The Town Hall on 43rd Street in Manhattan and then in the Nederlander Theatre on 41st Street. In 1989, the church moved to its current location on 51st Street.

The church is headquartered in a structure built by Warner Brothers in 1930 as a cinema palace, the Hollywood Theatre, and later converted to a Broadway venue, the Mark Hellinger Theatre. Notable Broadway musicals that have played at the theatre include My Fair Lady, Jesus Christ Superstar, and the Katharine Hepburn musical Coco. Times Square Church purchased the building from the Nederlander Organization for an undisclosed amount in 1991. At the time, the value of the building was estimated to be between $15 million - $18 million. Upon its purchase, Pastor Donald W. Wilkerson, brother of David Wilkerson and one of the church leaders, declared that the theatre would not be altered, saying "The theater is landmarked and it will remain the same."

http://www.tscnyc.org/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Times_Square_Church



The sermon is inspiring, the testimony is touching, and the gospel song is loving. Instead of attend only part of service, we continue and attend the full service; forget about the free ferry trip to Governor Island, forget about walk at Brooklyn bridge.... when God touch your heart....

It is a beautiful Sunday service.

Elmhurst Lobster Dinner

Today is the wedding anniversary of Mr Oon and Lingling, and also birthday of Lingling. It is a double blessing, and Lobster dinner to celebrate. They did not inform us, it is totally a surprise....

Oon is a good cook, his sour sweet lobster is better than the restaurant. He told me he bought fresh lobsters, that is the reason.

Abang Oon "tempted" me to have a soft drink, which turn up to have about 13% alcohol content. Just one glass...I am drunk. For a non-alcoholic drinker, it immediately take effect on me, and I am drunk in the friendship of Abang Oon's family. I forgot about taking photo with the family, just going to have early sleep....

At night wake up from the sleep, the lobster dinner is over, managed to talk with Lingling and Abang Oon, thank you them for the hospitality and friendship. May God bless this family.

Need to pack the bag for tomorrow. Tomorrow we are going to Phi, Baltimore, and DC. It will be a long traveling again by guided tour, booked in Flushing, from the same agent we booked our Boston tour.