ASSIST News Service (ANS) - PO Box 2126, Garden Grove, CA 92842-2126 USA
E-mail: assistcomm@cs.com, Web Site: www.assistnews.net


Sunday, September 1, 2002

FROM BULLETS TO BURGERS TO CHRIST...
Inmates at Rikers Island not only receive burgers but also Christ as Festival of Life wraps up in New York City

By Dan Wooding
Founder of ASSIST Ministries

NEW YORK CITY, NY  (ANS) -- From bullets to burgers to Christ. That's the transition that many inmates made at the prison-city called Rikers Island, New York, Saturday, August 31. It was on one of the last days of the Festival of Life that has been bringing hope and comfort to areas all over America's largest city just days before the 9/11 anniversary. (Pictured: Mike MacIntosh with young boy who received Christ).

For many of the inmates, who had been armed criminals; they were able to enjoy the feast of 800 hamburgers, cheeseburgers and hot dogs, as well as some "Born-Again Doo Wop" music from Walter Santos. He then told them that he had been in prison in New York for drug-related crimes, and shared how had God had delivered him and changed his life.

"When I asked them to bow their heads and pray to receive Christ, many did," he said later. "They truly went from bullets to burgers to Christ..."

CENTENNIAL HALL

Each night, the Centennial Hall on West 14th Street, Manhattan, was packed for free concerts that featured Fermin IV, The Kry, Anointed, Michelle Tumes, as well as the Christ Tabernacle Choir on Saturday night. Then Mike MacIntosh, who has conducted these festivals all over the world, clearly presented the gospel of Jesus to the audience, many of whom had been brought to the meetings by the 1,500 volunteers that had poured into New York from all over the country.

MacIntosh, senior pastor of Horizon Christian Fellowship in San Diego, told powerful stories of his experiences at Ground Zero and said, "The terrorists have lost and God has won as so many have found Christ this week all over New York."

Each night after he had preached, he saw many come forward to receive Christ as the Festival of Life attendees applauded loudly.

ONE COP TO ANOTHER...

An unusual aspect of this weeklong outreach -- from August 26-September 2 -- of love and compassion to the people of New York City, led by Ground Zero chaplain, Mike MacIntosh, was an the way Christian police officers from all over America, came to New York, to share their faith with other cops.

"Our team would take Bibles to the Roll Calls before the guys would go on patrol at the various precincts and also pray for them," said NYPD Detective Carlos Aviles, President of Police Officers for Christ in New York. "One place they went was to a precinct in Brooklyn -- when they went there, the next thing you know they kept them for three hours. They spent time all over the station and some went out in cars, and they knew this was a Christian organization."

Detective Aviles said that the hearts of many NYPD officers had been "softened by 9/11." He shared how "one cop gave his life to the Lord right there at the front desk."

He went on to say, "It has been wonderful to see an outreach so large that has hit every community in the city all at once. I thought it couldn't be done."

MINI FESTIVALS

Before the evening services, Festival of Life teams, including a clown's outreach, fanned out to New York's five boroughs to do street dramas, witnessing and also to give bike and skateboard displays.

On Saturday, August 31, I witnessed a huge crowd at the East Harlem Little League Basketball League where a group called Convey of Hope from Springfield, Mo, provided here and at another New York park, some 4,000 bags of groceries.

"Each person heard a gospel presentation as they also waited patiently as we barbecued hamburgers and hot dogs," said Victor Najor, who helped to organize the Festival of Life in New York. "We also had clowns as well as music and drama teams performing for them."

He said that the festival had received many generous donations of food and drinks and they were, in turn, able to hand them out to needy people all over New York City.

"Everywhere we turned we saw God's hand providing for our every last need," Victor Najor said. "The Festival of Life is about putting faith into action."

A SLAM DUNK FOR CHRIST

One of the Festival of Life team members was Danny Lotz, a former college basketball star and the husband of Anne Graham Lotz, daughter of Billy and Ruth Graham. The 6" 6' Lotz, now a dentist, spoke at various events including one at the Band Shell in Central Park.

When asked what he thought of the Festival of Life, he said, "This is people meeting people, one on one, where they are. It has just been a blessing to me."

9/11 HEROINE

September 11th heroine, Jean Braca, spoke at several of the festival events and told the astonishing story about her husband Al, 54, who died on the 104th floor on the World Trade Center during America's worst terror attack. Al, she said, was a deacon at Calvary Chapel Four Winds in Middletown, N.J., and prayed with 50 of his co-workers to receive Christ just before the building collapsed and they all died. (Pictured: Victor Najor and Jean Braca).

At the end of the festival, Jean said, "I have been so excited to see so many people come to the Lord. Lives have been changed. I have spoken to a lot of women who have talked to me about their feelings about someone they know who is dying or was lost in the World Trade Center. They have told me that that they see how I have recovered from what happened to my husband and how other people they know are having a very difficult time. It is very sad."

When asked what advice she had for these people, Jean said, "Those that are saved need to have a deeper relationship with Christ, and those who are not, need to know Christ as their personal Savior. I know that God has had me here to encourage others. I really feel that God has called me to do this and I am going to continue as long as the door is open to me."

NO TRASH-TALKING AS "THE BOLDEST" HONORED

The final event at the Festival of Life on Sunday, September 1, was an extraordinary recognition luncheon put on by the Festival of Life and also Mission New York in honor of the "unsung heroes" of the World Trade Center Emergency Response Division of the NYC Department of Sanitation.

Born-again Doo Wop Singer, Santos, told the audience of hundreds of sanitation workers who had worked for months at Ground Zero and another site where the debris was taken, and their families, "Some 20 years ago I was shooting up heroin and it is amazing that I didn't finish up in a garbage can and one you you didn't pick me up. But Jesus got a hold of my life and delivered me and now I'm serving him." Then he sang his Christian versions of Stand by Me and In the Still of the Night.

THE SOUND OF MUSIC

The audience was thrilled when they were treated to a surprise musical visit from the von Trapp Children who performed some of the songs from The Sound of Music. They explained that they are the great-grandchildren of Captain von Trapp, whose story captivated the world in the musical The Sound of Music. (Pictured: The von Trapp children).

Mike MacIntosh then spoke to the sanitation workers, who received plaudits from Mayor Bloomberg and Governor Pataki. Those there listened intently as he shared his testimony of how he had been left on the trash heap of life with a drug background, a failed marriage, an incredible conversion for him and his ex-wife and how they were re-married and he now pastors a church in San Diego that has spawned 100 other churches.

He then shared with them about how Jesus loved them and wanted to change their lives.

When asked what he thought this festival would do for New York, he said, "I believe it has helped the thousands we have touched here with the love of God, and I also feel that the churches who have worked with us , now have a vision to carry on with this task."

MacIntosh smiled and then added, "It looks like we will be back next year."
For more information on this and other festivals, log onto www.festivaloflife.org.
Dan Wooding is an award winning British journalist now living in Southern California with his wife Norma. He is the founder and international director of ASSIST (Aid to Special Saints in Strategic Times). Wooding is also a syndicated columnist, and was for ten years a commentator on the UPI Radio Network in Washington, DC. Wooding is the author of some 40 books, one of which is "Blind Faith" which he co-authored with his 93-year-old mother Anne Wooding, who was a pioneer missionary to the blind of Nigeria in the 1930s. Copies of this book are available from the ASSIST USA office at PO Box 2126, Garden Grove, CA 92842-2126. His writings are on the ASSIST Website at: www.assistnews.net (Pictured: Detective Carlos Aviles with Dan Wooding).
** You may republish this story with proper attribution.
   Send this story to a friend.