The Wheels On The Bus Go Round And Round.

WERT - Saturday Morning 8/26

WERT Weather Report - Rain overnight but now "misting" in Old Tappan, NJ. Overcast
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We woke up Saturday morning around 7:00am. The groggy rush began to get a shower, get ready and head down for breakfast (Susie had prepared a delicious frittata-like breakfast). Our schedule had us leaving the house around 8:30 or so to make it to the bus to NYC on time. We had some quick fellowship with Hugh and Susie around the breakfast table and packed up the van. As we got into the van, Hugh asked me if I could spare some Kingdom tracts, he was really excited in light of what we were about to do. It was great to see how sharing with him what we had seen Friday night and what we were planning for today encouraged him.

This was it. We all had a sense of excitement mixed with tiredness as we drove to the Baker's Wife Bakery parking lot. Nathan prayed on the way to the bus stop. He was very passionate, as usual. This is where we would leave the van for the weekend as we shifted to public transportation to make the rest of our trip. The exciting thing about taking the public transportation was that we were intending to preach the gospel each time we traveled. There was no down time on this trip. After all, we were not on vacation, we were working.

We walked through a back alleyway and waited only a few mins in front of a storefront. There was a barber shop across the street that was packed. I mentioned to Nathan that I though this was odd for an early Saturday morning. I guess it was just odd for me being that I am not usually up this early on Saturdays. A few people waited with us for the bus and confirmed we were in the right spot. As the bus approached Hugh said goodbye and the seven of us paid our $6.75 and boarded the bus.

Initially it was tough on the bus leaving Tappan. There seemed to be more of us then "them" on the bus and it felt awkward at first. Sean, John, and Sal sat up front. Chad and I chose the middle. Nathan and Jaired went to the back. It was really quiet at first. There were a few people on the bus - no more than 10 - and most of them were either sleeping or sitting in an unapproachable way.

For the first few mins of the ride (the ride into NYC was going to be a little over an hour) I sat silent. I remember thinking that there might not be anyone for me to talk to, so at least I had the desire to speak, that was good. Actually Victor, no, that was an excuse. But knowing the trip was going to take a while, I didn't mind letting people wake up a bit and get used to the sun in their eyes.

Chad was in a seat near me so we started talking to each other a bit. At first I felt like I wasn't "supposed" to talk to him but we went back and forth for a few mins with him pretending to witness to me. We laughed a bit but then we got serious as more and more people started getting on the bus.

A great opening line was to ask someone "excuse me, do you know how long it takes to get to NYC? This is my first time on this bus." I think it is important to think about your surroundings/situation and use them as openers. The first person I spoke to didn't speak English well. She was from Moldova, a place I was unfamiliar with even as a History major (ha ha). I was able to understand from her that Moldova is near Romania and Ukraine.

I was able to continue the conversation by asking her next something like "do you take this bus a lot?

- Yes.
- Do you go into the city for work?
- Yes I do.
- Oh, what do you do?
- I am a secretary.
- Oh that's neat. How long have you lived in the US?
- 5 years.
- Oh wow, that's great. Do you like it here?
- Yes, the jobs are better here for sure.
- Do you miss being back home?
- Well yes, I miss my family and friends the most.
- I bet. Is it hard to live there now?
- Yes, many challenges.
- I am sorry I don't know more about your country. Is Moldova a religious county?

(BOOM - now you are in. You turned from the natural to the spiritual. The most important thing to remember is to keep the conversation going and to be looking for a way to shift it.)

It was very hard to communicate with her and we were not able to continue much more because of the language issue but I thought it might be good to give her a Kingdom tract and I asked her to take the time to read it.

Meanwhile, the bus was filling up and as a result the other 6 were in conversation. Chad had moved to the back of the bus and was in a very in depth conversation. Jaired had started to talk to an Indian man behind him but the man didn't want to talk anymore once Jaired moved into religion. I tried to talk to the guy also hoping the strike the conversation again to get Jaired back into something with him but he refused.

There was a business man now sitting to my left reading a newspaper. He had previously asked if the bag on my chair (I had gotten up to talk to the Indian fellow) was saving a seat or not. Now back in my seat (after much mental wrestling) I turned to him and asked if he took this bus a lot. He said "yes, why" and I said well, I thought that you might sit here each morning and I had taken your seat, sorry about that. He said that wasn't the case and then went back to reading his paper.

A min or two passed and my brother Chad out of nowhere gives on of his famous one-liners (although it is so famous I don't even remember what it was) and get the business man talking. The conversation went fairly well although the man was quite stubborn about calling someone who tells lies a liar. He believed in God but didn't think Christianity was the truth. He thought there might be something after this life, but doubtful. We arrived to the Port authority and Chad asked if he would read the tract he wrote about the Bible being true and reliable. He said he would. We didn't get to actually preach the gospel to him, but we definitely challenged him to consider the Bible as true. The bus ride was over. The time had passed very quickly. I am pretty sure that each of us got to talk to someone which was encouraging to me. Everyone wanted to follow through with our mission.

We got off the bus and were now in New York City. Our wallets moved to our front pockets. The sun was now up fully. So were we. And our day was really just beginning.

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WERT Weather Report - Out of the bus and into the open air of NYC - sunny with clouds. No rain.