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