ProclaimNYC Report for April 2024
Dear Friends of Proclaim:
Well this month began with a strong earthquake on Friday, April 5 at 10:20 am. I was sitting at my desk and Alberta was in the kitchen. It began gradually and before I could take it in I was shaking like a leaf, as was the entire house. “What next?” was what came out of my mouth. As it turned out it was a rare earthquake for the New York City metro area. It originated about 40 miles west of us in New Jersey. It did little damage but was a “shot across the collective bow” of this region (it was felt in Philadelphia and on up to Boston).
Birdhouse Seminar That aside, the month was highlighted by our “Build Your Own Birdhouse Seminar.” We got the idea from building a birdhouse earlier in the year from salvaged lumber found in our neighborhood. It’s really a simple idea with the purpose in mind of directing minds to nature and the God of nature. We offer a simple tool to give people a new window into the wonders of nature. Many don’t know about wrens and their beautiful songs. This birdhouse is designed for a small bird, and the hole is only 1 1/8” in diameter. We pre-cut the lumber, which was donated by a member. We pre-drill holes where the guests will then attach the pieces in a particular sequence with screws. Screw-guns were available (as pictures indicate). We had a good response and nearly 20 people showed up to take advantage of this offer. The response was positive. Several guests had been to previous seminars and that was encouraging.
W D Frazee Memories Elder Frazee was very generous. This was demonstrated when Alberta and I were married. We essentially were without financial resources. Elder Frazee gave us $500, even more valuable nearly 50 years ago. He was also generous with books. He gave us an autographed copy of Ransom and Reunion Through the Sanctuary. I still have the copy of A T Jones’ 1895 General Conference Sermons he gave me 40 years ago!
City Gardening Seminar Right now we are preparing to offer a Beginning City Gardening Seminar. (We’ve already had ten people register!) We’ll give e more details next time. This year is packed with different offerings which, so far, are proving to be effective at continuing to develop Manor Road as a center of influence. It is a well-established church at the corner of a highly visible street in Staten Island. God has blessed this church with leaders who desire to hold up the truths of Adventism.
What a surprise! We had some old friends visit us last week and shared a lot of memories and enjoyed the fellowship. Trevor and Colleen Louw from Berrien Springs MI were on an assignment from ASAP Ministries based in Michigan. We shared a meal and wonderful fellowship for a couple of hours.
Well that’s all for now. More to come in the next month. Remember—build on the Rock and though your “house” will shake, it will not fall down! See Matthew 7:24-27.
Your friends in New York City,
Pr Steve and Alberta Cook
PS: To review the entire ProclaimNYC saga, go to www.ProclaimNYC.org for each monthly post with pictures included. And of course we’re here on Facebook.
What is ProclaimNYC?
ProclaimNYC is about bringing the beauty and power of Jesus Christ to the attention of the people of the great city of New York, especially in the setting of the Three Angel’s Messages of Revelation 14:6-12.
This is an evangelistic ministry of Pr Steve and Alberta Cook in New York City which is developing as we write this blog. We are presently concluding our ministry in Georgia and will be working on a self-supporting basis.
It is basic to our efforts to work in harmony with the Greater New York and Northeastern Conferences of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
At this point we will be making the Manor Road Seventh-day Adventist Church our church home. We held meetings there in 2013 and have friends there.
There is another church dear to us as well and that is the Manhattan 11th St Church where we held two Revelation Series in 2010 and 2011. We have old friends there as well.
As you may know there are five boroughs in New York City and we are planning to live in Staten Island. Though it has been called the ‘forgotten borough’ it will be the primary focus of our work. We are planning to move there from Georgia in the month of August, 2019.
Our ministry will be varied and we hope to utilize literature, the health ministry, evangelistic meetings and other means to make contact with people. We will be associating with members of all our churches in our area.
Please pray for this ministry! We will keep you posted.
You can reach us at stevecook1970@gmail.com