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Some had been there as tourists, but for most being a servant in The City That Never Sleeps was an eye-opening experience. The young people of Westminster Presbyterian Church traveled to New York City where they worked through the Center for Student Missions, which provides opportunities to serve the world's fastest growing mission field: the world's urban centers - all while sleeping on the floor of a Brooklyn church.

The Big Apple. The City that Never Sleeps. New York City.
New York is a city of more than 8 million people where more than 36,000 people sleep in shelters each night. This is what we where told this first night of our stay by the staff of the Center for Student Missions.
The first day of the mission was spent on a prayer tour, seeing all the things that a tourist as well as some things a tourist would steer clear of. While it was probably the glamour and glitz of the city that initially brought most of us to the city, stepping into Sister Washington's soup kitchen on the morning of the second day made it abundantly clear why we had really come on the trip.
We had come to help people. Whether it was delivering meals to the terminally ill with God's Love We deliver, working in the kitchen at the Chelsea community center, or helping camp councilors reign in 40 Chinese children at the American Museum of Natural History all of us experienced gods love in some way or another.
The culmination of our New York experience took place on Friday afternoon when our host who had been leading us around all week sent us out on our own to do a neighborhood immersion. Left to fend for our selves we would heave to navigate our way to Times Square and find a food pantry, a place to stay for a night, and a hot meal.
Once these things where accomplished we had one more thing to do. Our final task was to find someone in need and using the meager sum of $6, feed all five of us. This seemed like a daunting task at first but the first person we approached eagerly accepted our meager meal of peanut butter sandwiches and water. What was more was the astonishing coincidence that was his name. Emanuel. God is with us. As we ate together in a park just outside of Times Square and he told us his story I could thing of no better way to sum up our trip than his name. God is with us.
- Philippe Blanchette, junior, Northern Guilford High School

This trip really opened my eyes to all of the great programs that are in place to help people in need. While in New York, I got an overwhelming sense that all of the organizations we were working with were just completely genuine in their mission to make New York a better place.
I met some great people in New York. Everyone who volunteered at the organizations was friendly and devoted to his or her work. The people on the receiving end of the help were great as well. I especially enjoyed meeting the children at the two vacation bible schools we helped at. Nothing can brighten up someone's day more than the company of a small child.
- Valerie Puhala, junior, Northern Guilford High School

This summer I participated in my first mission trip to New York City through a program with the Center for Student Missions. It was a wonderful service experience. I have been to New York before on touristy vacations, but this trip gave me a different vantage point on the city.
I saw many of the same sights, but I no longer think of them simply as landmarks and buildings. I was able to imagine the real people that sometimes seem anonymous in such a busy metropolis. I met many such people through our service as well.
We worked in soup kitchens feeding both the homeless without means and those working multiple jobs who still are unable to provide for themselves. We helped at a vacation Bible school at a church in Brooklyn; it was wonderful to see how much common ground people of different ages from completely different lives can find, and how much fun they can have together.
We helped in a storehouse from World Vision that provides clothes, office and school supplies, and many other materials to charities and non-profit organizations that would otherwise not be able to afford them.
Through a program called God's Love We Deliver, we delivered meals to people with HIV/AIDS and other illnesses which make them unable to leave their homes. We went to serve and in turn were welcomed graciously by each group we encountered. We met interesting people while we saw the inside and outside of one of the greatest cities in the world. It was a great trip.
- Amy Allen, freshman, UNC Chapel Hill

My experience on the mission trip to New York had a strong impact on my view of homelessness and what can be done about it. I was not aware of the high number of those without a home, and the most shocking part was that as I talked to these people I never once got the impression that they were unhappy. People at the soup kitchens were very friendly and I think their happiness is what helps them through their tough times.
Having groups come on mission trips and spread faith and love doesn't seem so powerful until you see it for yourself. Something as simple as having a conversation with someone who is less fortunate can go such a long way. The ministries and programs helping with homelessness are making a huge impact, and hopefully even more will be done to get those who need help back on their feet.
- Charles Behrhorst, freshman, N.C. State University