Missionary to NYC Youth (Part 1) - Erica Lara

So my name is Erica Lara. I have been living in New York City for the past 10 years. During that time I have been on mission with my family. I have a husband and two kids and we've been doing mission together in New York City all that time and specifically we've been co-planting a church in this past season and I've really passionate about youth and youth work in specific New York City and this is my story. Welcome to Faithly Stories, the podcast that brings you inspiring tales from conversations with church leaders as they navigate the peaks and valleys of their faith journeys through their ministry work and everyday life. Join us as we delve into their challenges, moments of encouragement and answered prayers. The Faithly Stories podcast is brought to you by Faithly, an online community committed to empowering church leaders, pastors, staff and volunteers. Learn more at Faithly.co. Get ready to be uplifted and inspired as we unveil the heart of faith through stories from the front lines of ministry on the Faithly Stories podcast. Erica thank you so much for joining us today. I have been so excited to meet you. We have so many friends in common here in New York City. I've had more than one person tell me I have to meet you when I have to get to know you so thank you so much for spending time with me today. I'd love to start by asking you about your call to ministry for a lot of my friends who are in youth ministry. It's something that they get called to a little bit later in life. They may have felt they were going into business or something else and then the Lord calls them. But I noticed that you studied youth ministry in college. So I'd just I'd really love to hear how you began your journey and how the Lord called you. Sure. I've always been feeling that connection and that call towards kids towards youth. And I've that's just because I've been involved with youth ministry in my teens and then also as a youth leader in my teens. And so I knew that I had that itch and that call for ministry. But when I went to go and go to school I went the safe route and I actually first was an education major. So I did that first thinking okay this is like a solid thing I can still connect with kids and it's a safe way to do that. And literally my first semester I knew I was unsettled. I knew that I was not in the right seat. And so I began to pray about it. I began to fast about it and I really felt this tug on my heart to switch my major in that first semester to youth ministry. Oh wow. And so just I took I just took a weekend. My roommate was a way that weekend. I took a weekend to specifically really sit the Lord about that. I felt like he was really clear in that I knew that I was going to be a little bit of a challenge and also my family may not be really on board initially with that decision. But I will tell you this especially as a woman in ministry. So I tell this story often that when I went to go change my major the particular advisor at that time said to me well unless you're planning on marrying a youth pastor you probably shouldn't have changed your major. And I was like I had no prospects was not dating anybody at the time. And I said you know what I just feel like the Lord is calling me into the space. And so I would you know if you could just sign my paper I'd be on my way. And I did that and I could you not ever since I made that change so many doors have been opened. And to the place where my family and everyone around me has been like this is clear that this is the Lord. Like this move is the Lord. And I did that before I had any you know potential of a relationship at that time. And I like to tell that story because you know there's a lot of single women that feel that call to ministry. And you don't have to wait for a partner per se. I desired that. Obviously I prayed for that as well. But the beginning of that tenure just was me and the Lord just stepping out together in this mission. Wow. So you've been serving youth since you were a youth. Yes. How does it feel to serve the youth now having been educated in it and having had so much experience? Can you talk a little bit about serving the youth as a teenager yourself? And now doing it I don't want to say professionally but professionally. Yeah. Yeah. I think in the beginning it was just this idea of you know kind of being with peers. Being able to kind of link arms and follow Jesus together in my high school was very passionate about outreach. I was always outward facing even though was a church kid growing up. I always was like man what about the kids that don't have that connect to the church or they don't have a family that has that you know that foundation. What does that look like? Why aren't they in the seats? And there's just was something that always I always was feeling that call that tugged. And so I did a lot of outreach ministry in my teens, in my youth, in my young adulthood that eventually led me into the space that I am now. And as more of a trained professional it's just it's really the same thing but I've just gotten some tips and tricks of the trade. The passion is really what drives me. The the calls really what connects me to that work that I've continued to do for so many years but grateful that I've been able to continue to fine tune that so that I can do what I do well to walk along alongside kids well to love them well to see them to show them their value, their worth. And just yeah just kind of call them into all the beautiful things that the Lord has for them that they may not see yet. I love that. It's so beautiful. I love it. The passion in the call have always been there. They're still there but now you've got tips and tricks. That's right. So you are wrapping up almost a decade at young life. I can tell even before we met I could tell just by following you and even just on social media that you're really passionate about your time at young life that it was a great experience. Can you talk about that? Talk about what you loved and what you learned from that experience? Yeah we I often use the phrase in the term like being on mission in your own hood. There's this idea of incarnational ministry that really is the foundation of the work that young life has done but also so many amazing other ministries churches in the city that have really leaned into that. And it's not like rocket science. It's what the Lord has put before us in his word, right? Just read the gospels and you see this is the way he did life. He did life with the people that were around him. And that for me is like the best part of the like this is my job. Every day I'd be like this is my job. I get to do life with kids. I get to do life with families. I get to step into their spaces into their world and just be a caring adult. And for me that was it was just amazing. It obviously came with a lot of ups and downs and challenges not saying it was a cakewalk. But never is right? Never is. But that being said again going back to that call that mission that drives that connection with the Lord's like my relationship with the Lord I also feel like just had a greater depth than that season and just you know having to really lean on him for things that I didn't know or understand for problems and things that kids were carrying that were like this is way out of my wheelhouse. But trusting that the Lord has got them and just being faithful through that and so be able to do that and then also to be able to empower leaders and staff to also do that well. I think that was another piece of that season that really was a gift for me to be able to pass that forward and empower emerging leaders to do that same work. That's awesome. That's awesome. Thanks for sharing that. So I want to go back to you said someone said to you when you were changing your major to youth ministry to only do it if you were hoping to meet a youth minister. So you're married. You have kids. You've co-planted a church with your husband. Did you meet him in youth ministry? No. I did not. I did not. So we both attended Nia College and so that's kind of where our paths crossed. I think for us we always knew that the Lord had put us together so that we could be on mission together like in the trenches together side by side together. We didn't know what that would look like per se. But we just knew that this is what the Lord had. As we got together we just really felt that affinity and that desire to really collaborate together. It wasn't until years down the road within our time in the city that the Lord kind of made that clear to us that it was actually to co-plant together. Yeah. Wow. So tell me a little bit about that. You guys are two years and changed into that process. So you were certainly in the trenches. Absolutely. Tell me a little bit about your church. Yeah. So we passed our church called the Table NYC. It's in sunny side Queens. We are in love with the neighborhood. We were previously in Brooklyn for many years so that still holds our heart. But then in the past four years or so we just moved into sunny side and the Lord just gripped our hearts for that particular neighborhood. We are a more of a non-traditional I would say church setting. We do a lot of things around the table, no pun intended, but around food, around good conversation, around creating a space for people that maybe not would not necessarily step into a traditional church setting that don't have that background that don't even know what they believe maybe. But are able to just feel like they can come in and be part of our community in a safe way that's a way that they can express how they feel, ask questions, wrestle with the things that they're hearing. And so we have an array of people that have kind of come and back and forth through our doors. And then also we have just folks that have been really doing like with us since we started in that way. And we did start in our living room for a season. And so that was fun. And just doing all of we Sunday dinners and things like that. Just a lot of community driven things to really foster that same kind of incarnational ministry space that I was already doing with young life. Replicating that in a church setting was it's just been really really fun. It's been a gift. New York City is full of very traditional church structures and churches that have been around for a while. But the trajectory of those churches is not what you would hope for a church. And the churches that do seem to be reaching people, the churches that do seem to be resonating with the people in the city seem to be the ones that are doing things a little differently. Maybe meeting around the table, maybe meeting in a living room. Machu and I, we both come from very traditional church settings. And so that is our norm. But we just had this sense that the Lord wanted us to look at things a little bit differently. So it is very different for us. It's very easy for us to kind of go into that regular model because it's what we know. But I would say that we really, even for us, had to deconstruct some things and really wrestle with like, what is the heart of what the Lord really is asking for us to do? And so that's kind of how that happened as far as just, again, creating that space. We love hosting. We love having people just in our live and in our lives and in our space. And so it's something that's naturally kind of unfolded. It was very organic and how it happened. To your point, yes, a lot of church plans start that way. But then end up folding into that regular structure. I think for us to be leaning in and saying, hey, this is, let's stay here a little longer. Let's linger. And I think it's really allowed to foster participation in our space, not just like consuming and coming into, and not like throwing any shade to traditional settings. But for us, we're like, what does that look like to have people come into a Sunday morning, or even a week during the week gathering and be able to kind of lean in and be challenged to participate to engage. Everyone has something to bring. Everyone, whether you just walked in or you're just someone that we just met that week, everyone has something to do. So true, so true. Okay, so you were wrapping up a decade at Young Life. And you're looking forward to the next chapter. And even as I was hearing from people, oh, you've got to meet my friend, Erica, I saw you post on social media that you're open to work, that you're looking for the next opportunity. And I thought to myself, wow, I've actually never seen anyone in ministry do that. And so I'm curious, what made you do that? And what is the response band? Sure. So I did question myself. I'm like, is this two bolds? I am a very bold leader, but I said to my husband, I normally my Czech person, my soundboard. I was like, is this too much? But I really wanted to just put that out there. I think especially over the past decade, a lot of the work that I was doing is around networking. I've met so many amazing people in the city that are doing such great work and have been able to link arms with them in various seasons and different ways. And a lot of them have become dear friends. And so for me, I'm like, man, I know these, it's kind of like New York City is so huge, but in the context of New York City, ministry-wise, we really are a small family. And there's so much overlap if you spent any amount of time getting to know ministry leaders in the city. You're like, oh, yeah, that's my friend. That's my, when you walked in here, it was like, I know this person and this person, that person, yeah. So it's very much like that. So I was like, well, I got to know about faithfully during movement day and saw that that was a great way to like utilize, you know, networking. So through social media and also through faithfully, I decided to post that and see what would happen in regards to engagement. And I've got a ton of just so many conversations with folks. It's been a lot of fun, just even just unpacking, hey, what's been, what's going on with this transition? Like, it's a pretty significant one. Yeah. Because I've been around the young life space for so long. And so I had a lot of just a lot of fun conversations and some of those things were like, oh, I'm not sure if that's really a fit. Lots of people asking me to relocate. I'm like, New York City is my heart. We're not going anywhere. So those kinds of things. But yeah, lots of different things that actually come through that post. I think it's awesome. And I think not every person in ministry is going to be in a position to be able to make that post. Maybe they haven't, you know, maybe they haven't left their organization or they haven't announced they're leaving. And yet they're exploring different opportunities. But I just what I love about what you did is you just instinctively instinctively knew the power of your network. And you know, I hope I see other ministry leaders sort of follow suit and tap into the networks they've spent so many years building relationship in the kingdom and a ministry so important. And I think, I think oftentimes we know that but don't necessarily know how to tap into the power of it. And that's that's why I love what you did. So you had folks come to you and say, we have opportunities elsewhere outside of New York, but you weren't ready to do that. No, no. Obviously you and your husband are co-pasturing a church. If there were a city that weren't New York City, if there were a place that was not New York City, where would that be for you? Oh my gosh. That is a really hard question because I really can't envision myself currently anywhere else because I'm like, if not New York, then where, you know, like I honestly don't think I would want to be anywhere else right now. And so that's why it was really easy for me to be like, you know, I'll come visit, but hard past like New York City is like, it's where it's out of head. It's it's gripped my heart. It's had my heart for many, many years, even before I was living here, just having the roots that I have with my family here. And with the NIAC, I did a lot of outreach ministry in the Bronx for several years. And so it's just, it's where I feel like the Lord has me. And so I feel like I'm thriving in the space currently. Yeah, I know you mean, I've been here in the city for over 20 years, like my husband and three kids. And there aren't that many of us who have been around that long. Yeah. When it's your mission field, it's your mission field. It's where you've got to be. Exactly. One more question for you. Sure. Four folks out there who are maybe contemplating their next ministry assignment, who feel like the Lord may have something else for them. What advice would you have for them based on what you've gone through so far? Yeah, I would say, you know, the biggest challenge and thing that I would encourage others towards is don't be afraid of the that weight that in between space, right? That in between of just like not knowing. I think for so many of us, we want to know all of the things. And like in our current culture, like everything is accessible to us. Of course, we can know whatever we want to know in a second. And so being asked to be in a space where you're just relying on the Lord's leading and his next step, that's literally been my prayer every day. Okay, just show me the next step and not thinking about, oh, I need to get to this particular destination, but just being in the in between and being okay with that. That the Lord is obviously Jehovah Jair, he is our ultimate provider. And he knows what you need more than you know, you know what you need, right? So in that process, what is he trying to do in you, through you, as you wait, as you go? I mean, most of us are always on the go as New Yorkers, but that being said, just really sitting in that and trusting that the Lord has got you. So I mean, easier said than done. Definitely easier said than done. I'm speaking to myself. So just say, you know, um, but yeah, it's the right advice for yourself. And I think it's the right advice for other people. Um, I love what you said, being in the in between that is just so full of wisdom. Like the Lord has so much for us in that space. If we'll, if we'll allow him to speak it to us, if we'll allow ourselves to sit in that space. Wow. I mean, that's just so full of wisdom, so powerful, so encouraging. Thank you. Thank you. You know, um, so I have a feeling that we're going to, this is not going to be our last conversation. I have a feeling we're going to be talking again and we're going to be following you when you're journey. Um, but I want, I want to thank you for, um, for just sharing where you are. I think it's, really, um, courageous and powerful to share a little bit about yourself when you're in that space in the in between. So I just want to thank you for doing that. Thank you so much for having me. I mean, again, I, this is, this is in real time processing that's happening. Yeah. And so grateful to see another woman that is in leadership in our city, in our, um, in doing kingdom work. And so grateful for you. Thank you. Thank you, Erica. Thank you for tuning in to the Faithly Stories podcast. We pray this episode gave you the encouragement you needed to continue on your journey. The Faithly Stories podcast is brought to you by Faithly, an online community committed to empowering church leaders, pastors, staff and volunteers. The Faithly digital platform offers innovative and practical tools and resources to enhance connection, foster collaboration and promote growth within the church and ministry space. 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