We Know Not What the Future Holds, But We know Who Holds the Future!

On a steamy, hot summer night in 1975 ,we did it.   Thirteen believers agreed to meet together each Sunday morning for fellowship, Bible Study and ministry.  Meetings began in Ernie Gaugler's living room.  The "Church on 48th Avenue"  was born.  After 2 years  we outgrew the living room.  Unexpectedly, the Gauglers' upstairs tenant moved out and within a few weeks, we moved to the upstairs apartment.

In 1980 we began meeting in Polish National Hall, under a new name: "Maspeth Bible Church."  Arriving on a Sunday morning we frequently encountered an interesting array of smells and messes that we needed to deal with before our meetings.  But, the rent was low and we were able to host many events to honor God.  Some fond memories include a fair with a professional archer and a once-a-year Underground Church Sunday with soldiers "guarding" the doors.

In a display of God's providence, God freed up a Grand Avenue storefront for our church to rent in 1991.   By 1996, we had outgrown the storefront.  We prayed and fasted and thought that God was directing us to buy the whole building which would have doubled our space.  We were sure it was His leading.  What a surprise when the bank refused our mortgage.  We were discouraged and wondered what God was doing.  In '99 we conducted our annual summer time Daily Vacation Bible Camp (DVBC) program.  We had so many  children that we actually had to turn some away.  More than anything else, DVBC told us that we needed more space.  Five days later, one of the leaders of Faith Presbyterian Church who had attended our DVBC with her children, invited us to co-use their space.  We had not approached them or requested this.  We moved into this much larger shared facility, September 1, 1999.

The offer to share space in the Faith Presbyterian Church facility included the invitation to finish construction on the larger space adjacent to the building.   We contacted contractors, counted our money, prayed, prayed, and prayed some more.  Finally in September 2001, our massive construction project began. 

That summer we, along with many other churches throughout the country, had used a Vacation Bible Camp program called "Jesus to the Rescue."  In God's perfect timing, we had a fireman attending our church at that time.  He arranged for a unique treat to cap off our week: a group of NYC's bravest drove into our parking lot with their fire truck for our group picture.  That program included a nationwide outreach to firefighters.  We  look back at that and are amazed at God's timing - 9/11 was only 5 weeks later.

Again and again, we have seen God's hand in our church's history.  Sometimes we have wondered what He was doing, other times we  have rejoiced as we sensed His timing.  This is especially the case when it came to using our building fund to renovate the extension in the Faith Presbyterian Church building. 

On Sunday, December 9, 2001, three weeks before the extension was to be completed, a fire broke out in the original Faith Presbyterian Church building.  We believe God protected us in an amazing way.  The  electrical fire broke out during the Korean language service, not when the building was empty as it is much of the week.  It was detected very early.  Although the original building suffered considerable damage, the extension was not damaged at all.  We were only temporarily displaced, while the extension was completed.  Had we not begun the extension in September, it would have been months before we had a place to meet. 

 

To be continued