This past weekend all the women on project had the opportunity to go spend time together. We went to a camp about an hour away for the night. When we first went I have to admit I didn't have high expectations for it. Even during the talks we had during the day I saw it as nothing different from our normal speakers and women's time during the week. My attitude changed though when the staff took us on a faith walk. They blindfolded us all and took us on a walk for about thirty minutes, stopping along the way to emphasize the women in the Bible we had been talking about for the past four weeks. Tamar, who persevered in truth, Rahab who acted in faith, Ruth who was humbly committed, Bathsheba, who sought forgiveness and Mary who walked in obedience. All of these women were chosen by God to be used by God, just was we are. Being women of God we have great examples in the Bible to look at, and until now I hadn't spend a lot of time studying them. Taking this walk and summarizing all that we have been talking about was great, and encouraging for my own walk with God. I'm praying that all of us women here will continue to become all that God wants us to be, as women of God.
As we were walking throughout the camp, blindfolded, a lot was going through my head. I kept thinking about how the physical walk we were taking related to my walk with God. Even with the blindfold on I still opened my eyes searching blindly to figure out where I was. How many times do I search for the answers myself? trying to take things into my own hands and relying on myself. That night I realized that If I can trust a human being to lead me blindfolded for thirty minutes how much more can I trust a God who loves me more than anything and is the only one who knows exactly what is best for me, to lead me through my life. God will lead us. He will never leave.
I like to know what is in store for me. I like to know the long term plans for my life. I'm beginning to learn that I need to hold my plans with an open fist. So often I cling to my plans, not wanting to listen to God if He wants to change them. I want to be prepared, to plan for my future in a sense, but I want to make sure I am still giving complete control to God in everything that I plan for myself. Easier said than done, but watching God take away expectations I had has helped me realize I could save myself a lot of pain and trials if I sought His will before planning my own.
When we all got back to where we were staying we had a pleasant surprise awaiting us. The guys on project, who had their retreat earlier, had cleaned and decorated our condos. It was such a nice surprise to come back to and so encouraging to see the way they all stepped up to encourage and serve us. They also surprised us with a dinner by the bay complete with music and excellent service. It made me so thankful for all the great men on project. Their servant hearts and complete respect for all of us was amazing to see. It seems to be harder and harder to see those qualities in men during day to day life, so being served by them was encouraging to see.
This is the last week we have with the staff. It will be sad to see them go, and probably hard at first. I'm so excited to see all the students step up and lead the project. If you could pray for all of us as we're working together, that we would be able to lead well and encourage each other through the next five weeks. I know it will be amazing and I'm looking forward to sharing how God uses the students here to keep making a difference.
~Rachel
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Sunday, June 17, 2012
Time Flies
Time has already flown by, it seems like such a long time ago that I got off the plane and joined these amazing people in San Diego. First of all I would like to thank all of you who prayed for me during the job hunting weeks. I found a job last Saturday at Belmont Park. It is kind of like an amusement park type of a place, and I'm working at different stands around the park. It is within walking distance of where I live which is great, I mean how can you complain about walking along the ocean every day for work? I have already been encouraged by the conversations I have been able to have with co workers as well as customers about the reason I am spending my summer in San Diego and what it means to be a Christian. I am hoping for many more of these conversations to happen as the summer continues.
We have also been spending one day a week on different college campuses around San Diego. I am going to UCSD for the past three weeks to talk to the students about what they think about God, and to share our beliefs with them as well. Many of the students are interested in gaining knowledge about Christianity and are open about what they believe, but lack the understanding of the relationship aspect of Christianity. It can get frustrating having people be so willing to have conversations with you, yet not wanting to follow that path themselves. I have learned that it is not my responsibility to save people, but to continue to spread the gospel and live a life centered around Christ, so that I can at least plant a seed in people's lives. God has control over it all and doesn't need me to save people, yet He has given me the opportunity to be used by him to spread his name and message to everyone I can. Even though it can get frustrating, I have found encouragement and excitement in the opportunities we have had to listen to people's stories, pray over people and see a want to learn more. Not every conversation goes well of course, but those that do make it all worth it.
Other than doing outreaches and working I get to spend time with some pretty great people. I am already sad that I will have to leave them at the end of the summer, but so thankful God put them in my life. The girl that is discipling me for the first 6 weeks has been amazing. She has given me wisdom, encouragement, challenges and friendship over the past three weeks and I am so thankful for her, as well as the other girls in my small group.
As I go into the next week if you could be praying for continued endurance in the busyness of our schedule, good conversations with the people here, especially the people I am working with, and deepening the relationships with the students here. God has already taught me so much, I promise I'll have a post about it soon, but I wanted to keep you all updated on the day to day life here before I forget :)
~Rachel
We have also been spending one day a week on different college campuses around San Diego. I am going to UCSD for the past three weeks to talk to the students about what they think about God, and to share our beliefs with them as well. Many of the students are interested in gaining knowledge about Christianity and are open about what they believe, but lack the understanding of the relationship aspect of Christianity. It can get frustrating having people be so willing to have conversations with you, yet not wanting to follow that path themselves. I have learned that it is not my responsibility to save people, but to continue to spread the gospel and live a life centered around Christ, so that I can at least plant a seed in people's lives. God has control over it all and doesn't need me to save people, yet He has given me the opportunity to be used by him to spread his name and message to everyone I can. Even though it can get frustrating, I have found encouragement and excitement in the opportunities we have had to listen to people's stories, pray over people and see a want to learn more. Not every conversation goes well of course, but those that do make it all worth it.
Other than doing outreaches and working I get to spend time with some pretty great people. I am already sad that I will have to leave them at the end of the summer, but so thankful God put them in my life. The girl that is discipling me for the first 6 weeks has been amazing. She has given me wisdom, encouragement, challenges and friendship over the past three weeks and I am so thankful for her, as well as the other girls in my small group.
As I go into the next week if you could be praying for continued endurance in the busyness of our schedule, good conversations with the people here, especially the people I am working with, and deepening the relationships with the students here. God has already taught me so much, I promise I'll have a post about it soon, but I wanted to keep you all updated on the day to day life here before I forget :)
~Rachel
Saturday, June 2, 2012
First Impressions
Day 5 in San Diego! This is the first chance I've had to get on the computer since I left so I thought I'd better catch you all up on what's been going on before I forget!
The first day is all kind of a blur. After getting up around 5 in the morning to head to the airport we spent the morning flying, the afternoon checking in, unpacking, getting groceries, and then jumping right into orientation meetings. We are all staying in condos and hotels for the summer. There are 14 girls in my condo so it's a little tight, but I couldn't pick a better group of girls to live with I can already tell. One thing I've noticed already is how different this environment is going to be from anything else I've ever been in. When am I ever going to have the opportunity to spend 10 weeks with over a hundred other college students who are on fire for God and want to spend the summer sharing with other people about Him and growing in their faith.
After we got split up into our DNA, small groups for the summer, we got a chance to spend the day getting to know each other on the beach and share our testimonies with each other. It is amazing how much quicker you can get close to someone after taking off your mask of "yeah I'm fine I have a great life". Reality is that everyone has experienced pain, loss, and has struggles they deal with on a day to day basis. In the hours we spent on the beach together the five of us got the chance to be open in this loving and accepting environment. As we sat and talked, sharing our stories, crying over each other's pain, and praying over each other to encourage and comfort I could tell this summer will give me the chance to share life, real life, with amazing people.
Thursday we started talking about evangelism and got the chance to go out on the beach and start to get to know the people around here. with over a hundred others going out that day there were some pretty awesome stories to come back and tell. Some people were automatically open with us when we started talking to them, sharing their honest views of Christianity and how they think people should live their lives. Others gave yes or no answers and did not wish to talk or get to know us. Overall it was encouraging to see the majority of people willing just to talk with us, and for us to get the chance to build relationships with the people we will be living around.
During the day for the past three days we have all been going out to look for summer jobs. Looking for jobs can be a long and frustrating process, as I learned from last summer. Right now I am applying at a variety of different places around where we are staying and will get the chance to follow up on them next week. I know that God has the perfect place for me to work for the summer, it's just hard being patient for it. One of the things we talked about in our small groups is that I need to learn to trust God before I am provided for. It is easier to see how God has provided in the past, but trusting Him with your future can be harder, mostly because it is completely out of my control.
As the next week goes along if you could be praying for success in job hunting for all of us, good conversations with the college students and locals of San Diego, bonding of the students on project, and energy to keep up with the busy schedule of the weeks to come. I am so blessed to have friends and family that continue to pray for me, and so many have been answered already, it has encouraged me to keep praying and asking for prayer for the things to come.
~Rachel
The first day is all kind of a blur. After getting up around 5 in the morning to head to the airport we spent the morning flying, the afternoon checking in, unpacking, getting groceries, and then jumping right into orientation meetings. We are all staying in condos and hotels for the summer. There are 14 girls in my condo so it's a little tight, but I couldn't pick a better group of girls to live with I can already tell. One thing I've noticed already is how different this environment is going to be from anything else I've ever been in. When am I ever going to have the opportunity to spend 10 weeks with over a hundred other college students who are on fire for God and want to spend the summer sharing with other people about Him and growing in their faith.
After we got split up into our DNA, small groups for the summer, we got a chance to spend the day getting to know each other on the beach and share our testimonies with each other. It is amazing how much quicker you can get close to someone after taking off your mask of "yeah I'm fine I have a great life". Reality is that everyone has experienced pain, loss, and has struggles they deal with on a day to day basis. In the hours we spent on the beach together the five of us got the chance to be open in this loving and accepting environment. As we sat and talked, sharing our stories, crying over each other's pain, and praying over each other to encourage and comfort I could tell this summer will give me the chance to share life, real life, with amazing people.
Thursday we started talking about evangelism and got the chance to go out on the beach and start to get to know the people around here. with over a hundred others going out that day there were some pretty awesome stories to come back and tell. Some people were automatically open with us when we started talking to them, sharing their honest views of Christianity and how they think people should live their lives. Others gave yes or no answers and did not wish to talk or get to know us. Overall it was encouraging to see the majority of people willing just to talk with us, and for us to get the chance to build relationships with the people we will be living around.
During the day for the past three days we have all been going out to look for summer jobs. Looking for jobs can be a long and frustrating process, as I learned from last summer. Right now I am applying at a variety of different places around where we are staying and will get the chance to follow up on them next week. I know that God has the perfect place for me to work for the summer, it's just hard being patient for it. One of the things we talked about in our small groups is that I need to learn to trust God before I am provided for. It is easier to see how God has provided in the past, but trusting Him with your future can be harder, mostly because it is completely out of my control.
As the next week goes along if you could be praying for success in job hunting for all of us, good conversations with the college students and locals of San Diego, bonding of the students on project, and energy to keep up with the busy schedule of the weeks to come. I am so blessed to have friends and family that continue to pray for me, and so many have been answered already, it has encouraged me to keep praying and asking for prayer for the things to come.
~Rachel
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