Hey Everyone!!
Today I come to you to share a new ministry that is doing a WONDERFUL work in their community.
Before I go into details about the ministry, I just want to share a bit with you about the founder. I met Jan Sylvert earlier this year and have been totally blessed by her friendship. She is SUCH a genuine young lady who has a heart for people. When she told me about this new ministry, I was blown away, and I HAD to share it with all of you!!
GU: What is the name of your company?
Jan: Ink’d Street Ministry (I.S.M.)
GU: Where did the name come from?
Jan: When God placed it in my heart to start a street ministry, I prayed and asked him to lead me to a scripture that would give me the name of the ministry. As I prayed, He led me to Isaiah 49:16 which says “I can never forget about you for I have written your name on the palms of my hands.” After I read this God began to speak to me. He said that He would never write our names using a pencil because that is erasable. Instead he would write our names using a pen or even tattoo our names into His palm because once it is ink’d, it can never be removed. So this is where the name comes from and the slogan of the ministry is “You're Ink’d!”
GU: What was your motivation to start this ministry? Did you always have a heart for evangelism?
Jan: I always knew that I was called to be an evangelist but after I went to H4G on June 18th, 2012, God really began to speak to me about it. That night at a bible study called Hungry 4 God (H4G), the speaker Jay R., was basically talking about sharing our inheritance with others. He said a statement that sparked something inside of me. He shared with us that for 6 months he prayed to God for a gift of healing and God spoke back to him and said when are you going to see if you have the gift if you never go out to apply it. When I was on my way home from H4G, God began to speak to me. He said to me just like Jay R., you always pray to be used by me, but when will you make yourself available to be used? After that night I told God that I would go out and really try to make disciples of all nations like we are told to. So the desire to start a street ministry and evangelize was always there, but the boldness to actually step out on faith and do it happened that night after I left H4G.
GU: What are your plans for the future? Upcoming events?
Jan: I.S.M. has been here for a little bit over a month so myself and others are still coming up with different events. We recently went out and fed the homeless. We made 50 lunch bags filled with a turkey and cheese sandwich, a bag of chips, water, and an encouraging flyer letting them know that they are ink’d in God’s hand. Our plan is to have at least two events a month. The next event we want to have is to create a poster board that says “need prayer?” and stand on the corner of the streets with it, welcoming those who may need or want prayer. I realized that there are a lot of people who would like prayer but are anti-church. Making ourselves available to pray for others can reach out to many people. In the future, I also plan to have events where we visit children in hospitals, the elderly in nursing homes, participating in soup kitchens, and more. Any event that is done is basically to reach out to others letting them know that they aren’t forgotten.
GU: How can people contact you if they would like to be apart of this movement?
Jan: If anyone would like to contact me to be apart they can e-mail us at yourinkd@gmail.com
GU: Any additional information you'd like to share?
Jan: I will never forget one particular experience my friend Janelle and I had recently with this young homeless woman. Janelle and I were praying around Times Square one day when we came across this homeless lady. She was a young Caucasian woman who looked to be around 25 years old. She was sitting on the floor on 42nd and Broadway. Her clothes were completely dirty and torn, her hair was starting to dread and she had a big beautiful black dog. She had a sign in front of her that said that she used to live in a park but cops kicked her out and took all her belongings and she has nothing. Her sign also asked if people could give money. Her head was down when I got in front of her, but as I put $5 in her can she lifted her head and I looked at her and said “God bless you” and continued to walk away. As I walked away I felt the need to go back to her but I wasn’t sure if I should. A few seconds after I had that thought my friend Janelle looked to me and said “Jan, I think we should go back to her and talk to her”. After Janelle had the same feeling as me I knew that I had to go back to speak to her. So as we walked back, I knelt down to her level and I introduced myself and Janelle and I asked her what her name was. She told us her name was Mouse (I believe that’s her nickname) and she said her dog’s name was Rucus. I then asked her if she ate yet and if she was hungry. She told me that she wasn’t hungry and that she ate already but she was in the mood for a mango smoothie. So I told her that I would gladly get her one. As Janelle and I were walking to McDonald’s to get her smoothie, we knew that we were going to speak to Mouse for some time. We knew that we weren’t just supposed to give her the smoothie and leave. When we were walking back to Mouse with her smoothie, I told Janelle that we should sit on the floor with her instead of talking to her standing. I really felt like the Holy Spirit was telling me to be humble and sit with her on the floor. So when we got back to Mouse we gave her the smoothie and she was so happy. I then asked her if we could sit with her and talk with her. She seemed so surprised but was happy and welcomed us. Before we even spoke about God we spent about 15-20 minutes talking, laughing, and getting to know her. Because of this she became really comfortable with us. Later on in the conversation God was able to switch the conversation about him and I began to evangelize and minister to her. I could tell through the look on her face that she was listening to every word that I was saying. After I ministered, the three of us later joined hands in prayer. I know that this was ministering to all the other people in Times Square walking around us. I felt the need to give her my phone number and I told her that if she ever needed to just talk and vent with anyone that I would be here to listen. It was amazing because what the world would call “ugly” because she was dirty and had an odor was so beautiful to me. A few minutes before Janelle and I met up with Mouse, I felt an incredible amount of love in my heart. I didn’t know it was supernatural at the time, but I felt so much love that I was walking and hugging myself. I was telling Janelle that I am feeling so much love and I need to hug someone to transfer what I’m feeling inside. Little did I know the love I was feeling was actually for Mouse. After we prayed I looked at her and asked her if I could give her a hug. I hugged her so tight and I kept telling her in her ears “I love you, I love you, I love you”. I knew she felt the love that I had for her because when I wanted to end the hug and leave she grabbed me and kept hugging me. After she let go of me she looked at me, smiled and said “you know how to give good hugs”. Janelle and I had left over food in our bags and we gave it to her and left. As we were leaving her, I had tears rolling down my face because I never experienced that before. It was such a beautiful moment that I will never ever forget. When I encounter experiences like this, it makes me love that I am involved in street ministry.
Here's Jan and some of the other people who helped out with the lunch bag evangelism
I don't know about you all, but this ministry sounds like something AMAZING!! If you or someone you know would like to join, you can contact the ministry via email at yourinkd@gmail.com.
We are definitely supporters of the way that I.S.M is unplugging the gospel
