Greetings to all!
At the end of the block on Beekman Avenue sits a house lit up for the holiday season. The yard is full of lights and Christmas regalia. Honestly, the eclectic hodgepodge of festive decorations with no consistent design aesthetic is a bit gaudy, but it is a bright spot on what is notoriously a dark block.
Our church sits at the other end of Beekman Avenue. Between that house and our building is one of the most notorious blocks in all of New York City. In the past year, we at G2 have experienced firsthand the tragedy and trauma that is commonplace on this block and the surrounding streets.
Our hope and prayer as a ministry and church is to share light. On these dark streets we hope to shine an everlasting light yearround. I would like to think our work here is reminiscent of the brilliant, well-designed Christmas displays surrounding Rockefeller Center, but honestly, we are more like the house sitting down the block. At times, it can feel a bit chaotic!
No doubt, a lot of wholehearted effort goes into the way we display the light. But the display isn’t what matters. It’s the light. It’s the light that Zechariah prophesied when he prayed,
“Give His people the knowledge of salvation through forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising Sun will come to us from Heaven to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace” (Luke 1:77-79).
As we celebrate the light of Christ this Christmas, we ask that you pray for our ministry and church. Will you join us in praying Zechariah’s prayer for our Graffiti 2 family and our neighbors? The Advent Calendar below will provide some specific prayer requests to pray in the days leading up to Christmas and beyond.
Thank you for your support. May we all recognize the power of every flicker and flame as the LORD shines through us to our neighborhood and the world!
Merry Christmas,
Andrew Mann
Pastor/Executive Director
Downloadable Advent Calendar (pdf)
