We Are Survivors Living in NYC
By admin | January 17, 2008
We are the Empire City International Christian Church. We are survivors living in New York City. We are broadcasting this website ecicc.org all throughout the invisible continent. We will be at 250 West 50th st, # 28A, New York, NY 10019 every Sunday at 11 am. If you are out there… if anyone is out there… If you need food – the Word of God, we can provide it. If you need protection – discipling , we can provide it. If you need shelter – a fellowship of sold-out disciples, we can provide it. You are not alone!
NYC Remnant Group Information (currently in Manhattan):
George Grima 561-302-7909
Sharman Grima 561-302-7945
NYC Mission Team Information (currently in Los Angeles):
DJ Comisford 740-334-2396
Kacie Comisford 917-806-9381
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Start Spreading The News
By admin | January 16, 2008
DJ & Kacie pictured atop the Empire State Building!
“Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”
(Emma Lazarus’ poem was placed on a plaque at the base of the Statue of Liberty in 1903. Ellis Island, home to the Statue of Liberty, was where countless immigrants were first welcomed to America.)
My first experience with New York City was in early 2003. Being from Hanover, Ohio with a population of 885, I was awestruck by this alpha world city of over 18 million people! The skyline seemed to never end; as Kurt Vonnegut named it, “Skyscraper National Park!” The traffic was crushing! The subways were dizzying. My senses were overwhelmed with blinding neon lights, clashing cultures of smells, a myriad of sounds and scores of “tired, poor huddled masses!” The International Church of Christ (ICOC) congregation in New York was in the thousands and I felt lost in its then teeming fellowship. The “City that Never Sleeps” left me in wonder and amazement. I seemed like a grasshopper in my own eyes! And at the end of the week, I was glad to be back safe and sound in Ohio. The City was too big for this young small-town disciple.
The Grimas, Comisfords & McKeans at Carmine’s
Last week I once again visited New York. This time in preparation to plant the Empire City International Christian Church. Kacie was by my side and my true parents in the faith, Kip and Elena, were waiting for us in the city. George and Sharman Grima had also come up from Gainesville, Florida to help “spy out the land.” I was nervous when we started touring the city on Monday. Kacie had become a disciple while she was a student in New York, so she was pointing out to us all the places she had memories: the subway stop where she got off to first study the Bible, the place where she hosted Bible Talk and the view she had as she watched the World Trade Center towers collapse, a mere five blocks away! Meanwhile, Kip and Elena fondly reminisced about all the times they had come to visit Steve and Lisa Johnson, who planted the New York ICOC and presently lead our sister church in Portland. I just listened and took it all in. As we walked around, the city seemed the same as I remembered from four years earlier, but something was different… me! We went back to our hotel room after a great dinner at Carmines in Times Square and Kacie and I got to talk and pray together. I wasn’t overwhelmed. I was excited.
On Tuesday morning, we had a devotional in the McKean’s hotel room with George, Sharman, Kip, Elena, Kacie and me. We looked at Numbers 13, where upon exploring the Promised Land, the Hebrew spies find a “cluster of grapes” that was so cranking it took two of them to carry it on a pole back to the camp! Kip encouraged us that there were great amounts of clusters to be found in New York: clusters of future disciples, clusters of fall-away disciples and clusters of remnant disciples. We discussed finances and the names of people considered for the New York Mission Team. Afterwards, we prayed on our knees for God to guide our plans.
The Grimas & Comisfords in front of
Radio City Music Hall!
Filling with faith, we headed out for lunch at the famous Carnegie Deli then to Central Park, seemingly a piece of Ohio! After spending time in the park and a trip to the Natural History Museum, Kip convinced us to go up to the top of the Empire State Building. The sun was slowly setting over the horizon and by the time we reached the top, the sun was hidden and the sky was now lit with an untold number of lights from the city. The sight was breath-taking! On all sides, the city stretched as far as I could see! I stopped and stared around and only one thought kept going through my head: this city may be too big for me, but there’s no city in the world too big for Jesus. I may be a small town kid from Ohio, but Jesus is not intimidated. He is not nervous or frightened. He is not overwhelmed. He is not impressed. And if Jesus is with us, no one can stop God’s church from forcefully advancing in New York. As Joshua and Caleb told the Hebrew people, “The land we passed through and explored is exceedingly good. If the Lord is pleased with us, He will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us. Only do not rebel against the Lord. And do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will swallow them up. Their protection is gone, but the Lord is with us. Do not be afraid of them.” (Numbers 14: 8-9) Kacie and I left the building emboldened with the vision to fill New York with the true gospel of Jesus Christ! And we believe that God shares that same vision.
Wednesday, we returned home to Hollywood full of faith convinced that God could do anything. The day after returning, we took our Bible Talk to the Price is Right game show praying that somehow we could win some money for the City of Angels Church’s Thanksgiving Contribution to become self-supporting. We reasoned that all the money in the world was God’s and He could give it to whoever He wished. We pledged to give our winnings to the church. To our amazement, our sister Janelle Rushen got to “Come on Down” and ended up winning the whole show, including the Showcase Showdown! Her cash and prize winnings were equal to over $24,000! God’s sovereignty and humor were never clearer as one of her prizes was a trip to New York City! God can truly do whatever He wants, wherever He wants.
As a little-town disciple, the lyrics of Frank Sinatra’s famous song New York, New York takes on a special meaning.
Start spreading the news
I’m leaving today
I want to be a part of it…
And make a brand new start of it
New York, New York
I want to wake up in the city that never sleeps…
These little town blues
Are melting away
I’ll make a brand new start of it
In old New York
If I can make it there
I’ll make it anywhere
It’s up to you, New York, New York.
By faith, at the 2008 World Mission Jubilee in Los Angeles on July 31 - August 3, Kacie and I, along with the Grimas and a team from the City of Angels Church in Los Angeles, will be sent by the Spirit to plant the Empire City International Christian Church. So “start spreading the news,” God is spreading His “new movement” of sold-out disciples to “old New York” so all New Yorkers will hear the good news about Jesus. Let God “melting away” my “little town blues” be a signal of hope for a “brand new start.” If God “can” do this, and I believe He will, He “can” and will do it “anywhere” around the world in this generation.
The Statue of Liberty became the promise of a new life. By joining the mission team or financially aiding us, you are “lifting Christ’s lamp” and so opening the “golden door” of salvation for the “huddled masses” of New York. Please, if you are interested, give Kacie and me a call at 740-334-2396 or email me at dj@caicc.net. And to God be all the glory He wants and so deserves!
DJ Comisford
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