Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Kofering, Germany to NYC . . . immigrant Marie Gangl Kyle (1905-1992) . . . Parkway Baptist Church, Queens (Rosedale) . . . pro-Christ sermon











How fitting to have visited New York City this month, just 4 months after visiting the rural village of Kofering, Germany, where my beloved paternal grandmother was born. (Click here to read the May 10 blog entry about the February 20, 2010, trip).

My visit to Kofering this year was only the 4th visit by a Kyle family member in 64 years. Very special.




It was at New York City's Ellis Island Immigration Station that Marie Gangl Kyle (1905-1992) first arrived via boat as an American immigrant in 1922 (age 17). Ellis Island in New York Harbor was the gateway for millions of immigrants to the United States as the site of the nation's busiest immigration station from 1892 to 1954.

In the early 1990s, I had my grandmother's name engraved on Ellis Island's American Immigrant Wall of Honor (panel 240).

Next to Ellis Island is Liberty Island where the Statue of Liberty sits.

On my next visit to Washington, D.C., I plan to visit the German-American Heritage Museum (est. 2010).

Ellis Island in New York Harbor.
New York City. USA.

Though not my first visit to NYC, this month's 7-day visit comes during my 5-week break from Israel, June 9 to July 20, 2010. The break includes visits to my home in Port Angeles, Wash.; friends in NYC; family in Granby and New Hartford, Conn.; and friends in Burlington and Ethel, Ontario, Canada.

I am the best man in my friend's July 17 wedding in Burlington, thus the main reason for the North American trip. On July 21st I return to Israel to begin my second and final year of volunteer work and ministry there. (Click here to read the February 11, 2010, summary of my happenings in Israel so far.)

Parkway Baptist Church. Est. 1989.
Rosedale, NY (NYC/Queens). USA.
While in NYC, and in addition to trips to the boroughs of Brooklyn and Manhattan, I had sweet and renewed fellowship with "Brother" Rizzo (Robert F. Rizzo Jr.), Pastor Vincent Williams and the dear saints at Parkway Baptist Church (est. 1989) in the NYC borough of Queens (city of Rosedale, NY). The church consists primarily of Caribbean/West Indies immigrants (Jamaica, Trinidad, etc.) and some African immigrants.

--> UPDATE: I am pleased the City of Rosedale and the New York State Senate honored Pastor Williams with a Senate Resolution (J1836-2013) to have him be the Grand Marshall of the 2013 Rosedale Memorial Day Parade, May 27, 2013. Click here to see Pastor Williams to the immediate right of N.Y. State Senator Malcolm A. Smith's three-minute speech prior to the parade.

On Sunday morning (June 27, 2010) I delivered a sermon entitled "Pro-Christ and Pro-Eternity, not Pro-Israel or Pro-Palestine."

Left to right:
Francis Kyle, Robert F. Rizzo, Jr. (church treasurer), Vincent Williams (pastor).

Parkway Baptist Church. 
Rosedale, NY (NYC/Queens). USA.