Work, Play & Pizza

So let us not grow weary in doing what is right. Galatians 6:9

Watchword for the Week of July 3, 2016 from 

The Moravian Daily Texts

Yesterday on their mission adventure, The Twenty learned that patience, persistence and pliability are great qualities...and in the end, pizza rules.

When one of their intended mission work sites could not accommodate them yesterday, The Twenty found themselves spontaneously pursuing other service options. Pastors Mike and Tracy worked diligently to come up with alternatives, some of which kept work crews close to Great Kills Moravian Church, and another which sent a group over the Verrazano Narrows Bridge to Brooklyn where Lutheran Social Services handed out paint brushes.

After offering their labor, the reunited group headed to the beach for an afternoon of sunshine, shelling and splashing around. And finally, to conclude the day, the hungry missionaries made their way to an authentic New York pizzeria where they sampled 13 different pies and left with 32 extra slices for midnight snacking!

Today, The Twenty will be hoofing their way to the train station which will take them to the Staten Island Ferry which will take them to Manhattan where they will take the subway to Moravian Open Door where they will spend much of the day in service.

Later in the day, they will be visiting the 9/11 Memorial.

That Post Where Pastor John Wears a Funny Hat

So let us not grow weary in doing what is right. Galatians 6:9

Watchword for the Week of July 3, 2016 from 

The Moravian Daily Texts

It's the middle. The middle of the week. The middle of the summer. The middle of the NYC Mission Trip. Isn't the middle of anything the hardest time to sustain enthusiasm? The newness of a situation might have worn off, but the end is not yet in sight. The middle is where a thought like Galatians 6:9 comes in quite handy. Let us not grow weary in doing what is right.

Good humor is one way to beat the middle. 

Keeping at it diligently is another.

While we pray for and cheer on our Mission Team--The Twenty--to make it over the hump without too much of a slump, maybe we should consider some of our own mission commitments closer to home. One thing all of the T-County Moravian Churches share in is a food delivery service in conjunction with the Greater Dover-New Philadelphia Food Pantry. We take turns making sure that those who cannot physically make it to the Food Pantry to obtain needed groceries do not go without. It is a ministry of deep compassion, and many recipients have come to depend on this weekly accommodation. 

In the beginning, we jumped in with both feet and a lot of vigor. Volunteers were plentiful and passionate. But now that the program has been around for awhile, we've lost a little bit of our verve. Here in the middle, maybe we have succumbed to weariness in doing what is right. Is it time to push through that wall of human nature and collectively recommit to this task our churches have been called to? 

Interested? Speak with the OMMC representative or the pastor in your local Ohio Moravian congregation? Or contact me via moravianpastorchris@gmail.com and I'll help you get connected. 

As we offer prayers for The Twenty today, let's also pray for ourselves. As someone once said, "Either you are a missionary, or you need one."

Live from New York, It's...Tuesday Morning

So let us not grow weary in doing what is right. Galatians 6:9

Watchword for the Week of July 3, 2016 from 

The Moravian Daily Texts

The T-County Mission Team continues in service today on Staten Island, one of the 5 boroughs that comprise New York City. Did you know that there are 4 Moravian Churches on Staten Island, and 10 throughout all of the boroughs? Today's adventure will take our missionaries to the New Dorp Moravian Church where they will engage in behind-the-scenes work at a tremendous clothing distribution ministry. Pray for The Twenty to keep up their curiosity about the new environment they find themselves in, and their openness to the new people they encounter. Pray for them to be aware of God's presence in the midst of their experience. Pray for them to find delight in doing what's right.

Here are a few of yesterday's mission moments...

Before setting out to explore The Big City, our missionaries took a crash course in
 familiarizing themselves with their potentially-overwhelming surroundings.
Among the first requirements for adventuring in New York is knowing how to
navigate the city streets and where to find the train stations.

The team spent several hours sprucing up the
Community Garden at Castleton Hill Moravian Church.
According to one team member,
"They had a lot of lettuce" ready to be shared with their neighbors.

The Weekly Watchword Sets a Great Goal: Do Right!

So let us not grow weary in doing what is right. Galatians 6:9

Watchword for the Week of July 3, 2016 from 

The Moravian Daily Texts

The folks might be a little weary after yesterday’s journey and a night of sleeping on cots in a church basement, but the T-County Moravian Mission Team is ready to get up, get going, and do what’s right!

The Team arrived late last evening at the Great Kills Moravian Church on Staten Island, New York City and will be using that church as a home base during their week-long mission adventure. After breakfast this morning, they’ll take a short jaunt to Castleton Hills Moravian Church where they will lend a hand in tending a community garden. Later in the day, they’ll learn about what it means to be in mission, and about the particular places they’ll be serving this week. (Guiding them through the orientation process will be familiar friends: The Revs. Michael and Tracy Poole-Pryor.)

On this Independence Day, they’ll finish the evening in All-American style at a minor leagues ballpark watching the Staten Island Yankees and taking in the magnificent NYC fireworks display.

And tomorrow, even though they may be weary from an exciting but late night, and from another round of sleeping on cots in a church basement, they’ll roll up their sleeves for some serious service.

I hope you will not grow weary in praying for this particular batch of missionaries this week. Pray for them in their exuberance. Pray for them in their exhaustion. Pray for them to be patient with one another as they learn and grow together. Pray for their safety as they travel around New York in vans and by ferry boats and via subway trains. And certainly, pray for them to have meaningful encounters with God, with one another, and with the people they seek to serve.

Team Members

Fry's Valley Moravian Church

Gina Green

Jase Green

Gnadenhutten (John Heckewelder Memorial) Moravian Church

Mitchell Giffen

Jayden Stearns

Jeff Stearns

Darrell Johnson

Sharon Moravian Church

Lynn Reichman

Schoenbrunn Community Moravian Church

Alicia Miller

Doug Miller

Jim Karcher

First Moravian Church of Dover

Nate Grimes

Sarah Sears

Matt Stephens

Alex Swarzentruber

Sam Paden

Libby Paden

Delaney O'Brien

Emily Burrell

Sydney Numbers


Photos: Courtesy of Lynn Reichman


NOTE: Brown Bags & Big Ideas will NOT be meeting today, July 4. Tuscora Park will be filled up with picnicing families, so we will not have access to a pavilion. We'll be back next Monday, July 11, noon until 1:30 p.m.