In all my time at NYCUP, I’ve barely played any video games. And now I find
myself asking why I even play them in the first place.  The reason is that I
want to feel as if I’m spending my time in a worthwhile manner.  It’s a
desire deep down that we, as humans, want to do something meaningful.  Saving
the princess or stemming the tide of an alien invasion sure feels like a
worthwhile task.  And what’s better, you can do it all from the comfort of

Hey everybody! (Hey Dr. Nick!).  NYCUP's been awesome lately.  Good conversations both inside and outside the house. A pigeon has taken roost on our stoop, primarily out of necessity, who we have named Nyce (pronounced nike).  He's slowly healing (we're not sure why he's so beat up).  We held a praise night on Friday and a feed 500 event on Saturday.  The weeks are going by really quickly, and it's weird to think that we only have two weeks left, and only a week and half left of our internships.

I’ve been thinking a lot about the impact of social justice on my life. Before NYCUP, I knew nothing except for those problems existing a world away: child soldiers, hunger, poverty, AIDS, and everything that happens over in the East. I was encouraged to spend a dollar here or there to help give a starving child that I’d never meet a meal to just forget about it almost immediately. 

So I’ve been working about 3 weeks now, and I figure I might as well give an
account for what God has enabled us to accomplish.  The main focus of our
work has been on planning Freedom Week, an annual gathering of abolitionist
organizations in New York City to raise awareness about modern-day slavery
and trafficking in New York City.  The first thing I had to do was put
together a list of organizations that could potentially be involved with
Freedom Week.  Next, we drafted an invitation letter, and after some

Last week, President Obama signed into law a huge victory for consumers and human rights advocates around the world: a provision requiring companies to label products made with minerals from Congo and the surrounding countries. The legislation promises to make it easier for consumers to choose products made without conflict minerals that support violence, rape, human trafficking, and other serious crimes.