Good day to everyone! It is springtime in NYC, the winter is past and warm weather has arrived. Yesterday it was in the sixties, and the coats and sweaters were left behind for a while. It cools in the evenings and mornings, but the daytime is just right. We continue to have good days at the unit.

We have good news with our work at Lincoln Hospital! We have felt for some time, that we are not busy enough there. The boys volunteer there two days a week. The administration has been trying to find us more meaningful work, as covid restricted the hospital volunteer program pretty tight. Now that is changing. We have met with officials in charge there, and they have given us access to new departments. The most exciting for the boys is the Emergency Department. We always hoped for that, as other units have that opportunity. They have worked there three days now, and they are being enlightened to say the least. They work right in the trauma units and see the patients as they arrive. They bring a labeled bag to the room and the nurses put the personal belongings in the bag to keep until they leave. They also sanitize the stretchers and move them around where needed. They walk around and help in many ways as needed. The staff there is very accommodating and are learning that the boys are ready to do whatever needs doing. One of the doctors asked one of the boys to come in his office and “tell me why you are here”. A good opportunity to tell him what we do.

We sure enjoyed the visitors that came to the city! Arlan and Pam Litwiller and their girls spent a few days with us. We tried to show them the things they are interested in, as there is about anything available to visit. One day we walked over seven miles, a new record that was soon broken by walking over eight miles. My walk app said 82 miles in February, which only is an average around three a day. Riley’s family also visited the unit and was a great time learning and doing. The boys can take a day or two off work when their family visits, so I filled in a couple days at the pantry. Always good to get a bit of variety.

We welcomed our new boy Cade Koehn from Grant NE. on the fourth of March. Another fine young man to join our unit. The initiation process includes everyone, whether you want to or not. At precisely the appointed hour, those who were sleeping are no longer sleeping and won’t be for some time. I won’t explain all the process, as it is classified information that may be leaked to the wrong sources.

We continue to explore the city, both for business and pleasure. It takes a while to put everything in place. You learn landmarks for each part of the city but takes time to figure which way you need to go here or there. Our tract work takes us into all five boroughs, and we have an app that puts each stop in order. Stan keeps busy with tract work as many individuals use our literature for their different programs in NYC. We had a gentleman come this morning for several boxes for his outreach. Over a million tracts a year pass through Sugar Hill Mission. A steady shipment of tracts arrive here weekly from Gospel Tract. Also many Bibles are shipped here, both English and Spanish.

We are thankful for those who reach out to us from time to time. Wishing all a good day and stay safe.