Here's What Happened in November!!
November has been an eventful month of getting settled in to our apartment, meeting our neighbors, serving our community, and preaching God's Word!
Getting Settled!
It's hard to imagine that we've lived in Sunnyside Queens for over a month! Thankfully, the transition for us has been smooth. Already, we feel at home and love our new neighborhood! We're in a fairly densely populated neighborhood (18k/Square Mile), which brings some challenges; however, the benefits far outweigh the challenges! There are parks close, tons of amazing locally owned restaurants, and our neighbors are great. The kids have enjoyed exploring new places and trying out all the new playgrounds! We even have a dog park not too far away that Hank has thoroughly enjoyed! We have enjoyed getting to meet our neighbors in our building. Already, we have had tasty treats hung on our door with kind notes written welcoming us to the building. New Yorkers have a reputation for being rude--this has not been our experience!
Many people have asked about our apartment. We moved into a 2 bedroom apartment that's a quick 10 minute walk to the 7 train! Melissa has it looking great and feeling like home. Most of our pictures and decorations are hung and we only have a couple more furniture pieces to finish it off. We're in a building that has 5 other units. We did end up bringing our car up (which has actually been a huge blessing to have given how many Costco/Target/IKEA trips we've had to make..). We have had to adjust to street parking. Some days are better than others but so far, we've avoided getting any parking tickets!
The kids wanted to share their experience at a local park by making a video for you to enjoy!
Serving Our Community
We believe that saved people serve people and service shouldn't be something that always has to be scheduled; rather, we seek to serve and meet needs as opportunities arise. In November, I've had multiple opportunities to jump in and help distribute food for people in our community here in Sunnyside and also in Red Hook Brooklyn. Each time, I've joined multiple volunteers to unload trucks packed with milk, meat, vegetables, fruit, and dry goods that go to feed thousands of families in the city. It's been a great way to meet people and lend a helping hand!
Training Opportunities
We are excited to be connecting with New Hope Church in Jamaica Queens! We have a special partnership with New Hope. Prior to launching our church, we will be attending and serving at New Hope. I will also be learning from this amazing congregation as part of of a year-long residency with the SEND Network. Pastor Jonathan Nason has become a great encouragement and friend.
This month, I have been invited to join a men's group with other men from New Hope Church. We are working through 'Younique'. Younique is a Gospel-Centered life plan experience that helps you better understand your gift-set and helps propel you to living a more intentional missional life! I'd encourage you to check it out by going to their website by clicking here!
Preaching Opportunities
It was awesome being able to preach twice in the month of November.
On Sunday, November 8, I was invited to preach at Bloom Baptist Church in Lithopolis, OH for their World Missions Day! Bloom Baptist is a partner church who supports our ministry monthly. I was so grateful to join them for this special Sunday (and be able to return to the city and opt out of a 14 day quarantine with a negative COVID test!). You can watch my sermon from November 8th by clicking here!
Later in the month, I was invited to preach at New Hope Church here in Queens. As I said earlier, we have such a special partnership with New Hope and so it was awesome being able to share with them. Already, so many from New Hope have been warm and kind to our family. There are lots of kids and so our kids are excited to get to know new friends better!
You can watch my message to New Hope Church by clicking here!
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'4P' Partner Update
Prayer
We are so grateful for your prayers! Specifically, we would ask that you lift up these prayer needs:
Pray that God guides us to have conversations with people who are spiritually hungry and who are open to the Gospel!
In the coming months, we will begin meeting for regular Bible studies and a time of encouragement. Please pray that people would be drawn to these times of studying God's Word together!
Pray for new connections with community leaders
Pray for God to call people both inside and outside of the city to join us on our launch team. We are praying specifically for ministry leaders to fill the following roles:
Children's Ministry Lead
Worship Lead
Groups Lead
Business and Administration Lead
Ministry and Outreach Lead
Social Media and Marketing Lead
If you feel like God might be guiding you toward filling one of these roles, I'd love to talk with you about how that can happen! We'd love for you to consider joining our team! Shoot me an email at jordanfloro@gmail.com and we'll get the conversation started!
Provision
Throughout this whole process, we have been blown away at how God has opened doors for us financially. When we stepped out on faith, we knew that He would have to lead others to support us financially. We are so grateful for your generosity that makes our ministry possible!
If you're not already partnering with us financially, would you consider starting?
Your $25/Month contribution would help us make a significant connection with a neighbor over coffee
Your $50/Month contribution would help promote our ministry on social media platforms
Your $100/Month contribution would help purchase resources for community Bible studies
Your $250/Month contribution would help purchase promotional materials
Your $500/Month contribution would help create regular community outreach projects
Your $1000/Month contribution would help solidify meeting space for mission teams and Bible studies
To give, click here! Make sure you select the "NYC Church Planting - Floro Family" fund. By giving through our sending church, FBC Orange Park, all of your gifts are tax deductible. Thank you for your Kingdom investment!
Participation
We are so grateful for our new friends at New Hope Church in Jamaica Queens! Already, many have reached out to encourage us and invite us to get together! Moving to a new city can be hard but it has been much easier because of the kindness that has been shown from this partner church! Thank you Pastor Jonathan and all at New Hope!
Promotion
As you pray, provide, and participate, please continue to spread the word about what God is doing here in Sunnyside Queens! We know that there are others you know who would be interested in joining us in this work as well! Please share our posts, websites, and contact with others who would be excited about this new work!
We could not do this without your partnership! Thank you for all you do to support this work!