Hey Everyone!
I thought its about time for an update! I've had quite the whirlwind few days... I returned on Monday from home for the wedding of a very good friend. It was such a blessing to be a part of God uniting such a Godly, gracious couple. They truly exude love for and obedience to Christ. Their relationship is a beautiful example of what God does when we are in complete submission to Him.
It was such an honor and a privilege to join this great group of women in the bridal party to celebrate the beginning of what I'm sure will be a blessed marriage.
The last couple of weeks for the Bluffton interns has been spent getting ready for the mission groups which will begin arriving next week. So far, we have found a number of service projects for them as well as "backyard bible club" locations. The teams will participate in service activities such as home repair in a habitat for humanity neighborhood, trash pick up, helping out at a center for people with disabilities, as well as painting a local elementary school. Its been amazing to see God put these projects together. Just recently, Gray, the pastor the interns work most closely with, got connected with a pastor at another local church. It turns out that they have been building a relationship with a couple local elementary schools (which has been amazingly blessed They're even allowing the church to send home information on church activities with the children and to come into the classrooms to read stories and such! God works in so many ways we'd never expect!) The church has volunteered to help the school repaint the hallways in some fun patterns and colors for the kids before they return in late July for the next school year. This is quite the undertaking and the church has been praying for the manpower to help them get it finished in time. Gray has been looking for projects that we're sure would effectively fulfill the time the groups will be with us. It was such an answer to prayer for both of us! Bringing in more groups other than the church already working with them will make such a statement to the school about Christians desiring to serve them. So many lives will be touched as families see what was lovingly done for them. We're excited about partnering with another church and building relationships with them as well as with the community through serving together.
BackYard Bible Clubs will essentially be a couple hours of Vacation Bible School type settings that we'll be taking into neighborhoods. The groups are responsible to organize and plan for these. There will be games, snacks, activities and also a teaching time. We're looking forward to what God will do with this time and the relationships we'll make through it.
Being with the interns is such great experience for what I'll be doing next year. I've enjoyed working with them and the Bluffton staff. I've been blessed to watch the male interns lead and to fellowship with and learn from the other female intern. I'm praying that this is a molding time for God to confirm His calling on my life. I'm beginning to see firsthand the demands of a life of ministry. I've always thought that wherever God called me He'd give me a peace and a passion for it. I've felt this about ministry but I think God may use this opportunity to increase my passion which I'm greatly looking forward to.
Weekly activities on project have been running smoothly and we've been exposed to so much. Celebration nights are a lot of fun but also very challenging. We get an opportunity to be together as a group for a meal and some games, lead in times of fellowship and laughter with our energetic MC, Jason. There is also a teaching time that has been really growing. The first week, we studied the Breath of God and the importance of studying His Word. The next week was focused on evangelism, understanding what prevents someone from accepting the gospel and what we as Christians are responsible to do in response. What stood out to me in this message was the selfishness of fear of rejection. When someone rejects the gospel they aren't rejecting us they're rejecting Christ. I should want to enter into Gods presence some day knowing that I did all I could to fulfill the great commission of sharing the amazing gift of Christ with the world. This past week, we had a speaker: Ken Owens, Director of SC Baptist Collegiate Ministries. He spoke to us on Prayer as we began the week of study on it in our Disciples of the Christian Life text. What struck me here was that prayer is a call to a relationship with God. I can honestly say I've been experiencing this and its so amazing. Searching out who my God is and who I am in Him has been one of the most growing experiences of my life. As I seek Him, I feel Him revealing Himself to me and allowing me to grow closer to Him in understanding and love for Him. I've been so deeply blessed by going "past the outer courts" to find my God for who He is.
Bible Study with my roommates and our leader, Becca has also been a great blessing. We've been studying I Thessalonians along with all of SummerLINK. Our group though, has been spending a lot of time examining the character of the author, Paul, and what made him so impressed by the Thessalonian church. Something that I took from this week was how confident Paul was in his faith and his fervent desire to encourage the young church in their great example of being dedicated to standing for Christ despite persecution.
Reflection nights and women's nights have also been encouraging. I find myself doing a lot of journaling and heart searching during reflections. My journal is probably about half full and we're only about 1/4 of the way through project! Its been so great though to pour out all that I'm learning and to have open, honest communication with God about what I feel Him molding in my life. Spending time with the amazing women God has given me the blessing of being with on project has also been so uplifting. My roommates are more of a blessing than I think I could express to them. We've had countless conversations just sitting around the condo that I've taken so much from. Having a designated night in the week to just be with the women is so good for really connecting with sisters and being able to share joys and struggles openly.
Next week, myself, the project staff and other Crosspoint interns will be taking a class on the gospel of John. I'll be spending the rest of the week preparing then all of next week in the class. I'm looking forward to my first seminary class and praying that God uses this time to continue to strengthen my relationship with Him and reveal to me more of who He is.
