I, Josh Sazdanoff, was able to spend an entire week in Albany, New York to work with Youth for Christ in reaching out to the urban community. First of all, the way this trip came about was an act of God. I lived in Wheaton, IL for about 4 months and the house that I lived in housed many different people. A young missionary couple, Jeff and Rebecca, lived down in the apartment part of the same house near the basement where I would practice breakdancing. So, they heard the crossmovemnt music I was bboyn to, and they came out and started talking to me. They told me of a friend, Ray, who lived in New York who did urban hip hop ministry. So time went by and I came back to live in Phoenix and was wishing I had Ray's email to get in contact with him. It wasn't even a week later, Ray emailed me about a ministry opportunity to breakdance and reach out to young people. Thank God for his divine hand orchestrating this awesome opportunity:
I came into New York on Aug. 19th and Ray picked me up from the air port. I had talked to him on the phone and had a mental image of what he looked like, but when I saw him, he's a pretty cool dude. As white as I am, for me to say this is kinda funny but he is pretty fly. Anyways, I met up with Andy, who is probably the wittiest person I have met. We connected really good because we both came from similar up brining and we connected really well with sports. Battle who's name is Richard, is from Canada and he was the talented graffiti artist who is going to be a future bboy to look out for. Then Mike was the supa cool DJ who keep things rollin. While Dino was our young worker who did well learning how to bboy. That was the crew.
Everyday, I would get up around 6:30 and go to the Boys and Girls Club where I would meet with the crew and we would have devotionals and breakfast. Tons of doughnuts, bagels, and OJ. Carbs galore. Then from 9-12 would be the teaching time. I was able to teach breakn for about 2-3 hours in the mourning and then we would have lunch. My class was fun. They learned how to top rock, 6 step, silly step, and freeze. They really enjoyed it, and then at the end of class, I would teach on a different Biblical story every day. Then from 4-7ish we would hit up the local park and invite the community to come join us. We had basketball games, surprisingly which,myself and Ry, took on all the young black street balllers. We beat them pretty good. Their was a white family that came and I was able to connect with them and share the good news of Jesus Christ. I thought of Paul when he said in Thessalonians " We did not only share the gospel with you, but also our very lives." The sense of showing Christ enables me to tell them about Christ. I meet many differern't people and kids and I praise God for a week of hard work and awesome opportunities.
I came into New York on Aug. 19th and Ray picked me up from the air port. I had talked to him on the phone and had a mental image of what he looked like, but when I saw him, he's a pretty cool dude. As white as I am, for me to say this is kinda funny but he is pretty fly. Anyways, I met up with Andy, who is probably the wittiest person I have met. We connected really good because we both came from similar up brining and we connected really well with sports. Battle who's name is Richard, is from Canada and he was the talented graffiti artist who is going to be a future bboy to look out for. Then Mike was the supa cool DJ who keep things rollin. While Dino was our young worker who did well learning how to bboy. That was the crew.
Everyday, I would get up around 6:30 and go to the Boys and Girls Club where I would meet with the crew and we would have devotionals and breakfast. Tons of doughnuts, bagels, and OJ. Carbs galore. Then from 9-12 would be the teaching time. I was able to teach breakn for about 2-3 hours in the mourning and then we would have lunch. My class was fun. They learned how to top rock, 6 step, silly step, and freeze. They really enjoyed it, and then at the end of class, I would teach on a different Biblical story every day. Then from 4-7ish we would hit up the local park and invite the community to come join us. We had basketball games, surprisingly which,myself and Ry, took on all the young black street balllers. We beat them pretty good. Their was a white family that came and I was able to connect with them and share the good news of Jesus Christ. I thought of Paul when he said in Thessalonians " We did not only share the gospel with you, but also our very lives." The sense of showing Christ enables me to tell them about Christ. I meet many differern't people and kids and I praise God for a week of hard work and awesome opportunities.
2 comments:
Josh, sounds like you had an awesome opportunity and God really opened doors for you. I'm glad to hear of the work that He is doing through you, keep it up!!
Yay Josh! What a great posting!! We are so glad to hear about your week. I asked Ray about it in an email but he must be very busy because I haven't heard back. We are so glad that you and Ray connected well, he is such a quality brother. We are doing well in Russia, trying to meet people and learn some language. Thanks for your email and your prayers. God bless you bro. - Jeff and Rebecca Jo
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