#97
I just love being on a "pioneering" team. The start-up era of a campus mvmt is full of excitement and newness and training- all stuff that I love. And community colleges are where it feels the most "pioneer-y". So today, first time back on LCC in weeks, was just so refreshing! Jamie and I had such a great time training the 20 or so students who showed up on how to share their faith, and just had a sweet time spending time with, encouraging, being encouraged by, and discipling the super gung-ho crew over at Leeward CC Cru!
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Why Do I Freak Out?
#96
I won't lie... I faced some pretty major discouragements this morning. This whole dealing-with-directing-a-project-to-a-place-that-has-radiation-"dangers" thing was starting to weigh on me. But I have friends and family praying for me/the trip/the team, and it's helped a lot.
Maybe God thought/knew that I needed a pick me up, but I had quite an exciting afternoon, after the tough morning. After small group, I got to stay back and talk for quite a while with a guy who came for the first time. He definitely seemed to know a lot about the Bible, but we got to go reaaally deep into what the Gospel really is all about, and it was such a blast watching his face as his mind kept on being blown by what God actually did in Jesus. My new friend's response was "Wow. That's... unbelievable. That's so amazing. I don't know that I can believe that!" It was great. I got to tell him that it's good that he's not sure he can believe it, because it is THAT amazing, and it shows that he understands it. That encouraged him and now he wants to go and talk to God and ask for faith to just believe and take it. SO. FUN. (pray for him!)
Then I had d-time with Steven. Right at the end of it, it started pouring. And we both had parked almost a mile away, so we just claimed Jesus and told the rain to stop, and it instantly calmed down to like halfway. Then we looked at each other a bit shocked and a bit ashamed of being shocked, and prayed it again, and it instantly calmed down again. After the third time, it just stopped. WHAT?! God, thank You for reminding me that You're totally in control... You've got it all in Your hands. The same Jesus who stood up to a storm and said "Peace, be still!", and had the storm obey immediately, is the same Jesus who holds our Project in His hands. Why do I doubt and freak out?
I won't lie... I faced some pretty major discouragements this morning. This whole dealing-with-directing-a-project-to-a-place-that-has-radiation-"dangers" thing was starting to weigh on me. But I have friends and family praying for me/the trip/the team, and it's helped a lot.
Maybe God thought/knew that I needed a pick me up, but I had quite an exciting afternoon, after the tough morning. After small group, I got to stay back and talk for quite a while with a guy who came for the first time. He definitely seemed to know a lot about the Bible, but we got to go reaaally deep into what the Gospel really is all about, and it was such a blast watching his face as his mind kept on being blown by what God actually did in Jesus. My new friend's response was "Wow. That's... unbelievable. That's so amazing. I don't know that I can believe that!" It was great. I got to tell him that it's good that he's not sure he can believe it, because it is THAT amazing, and it shows that he understands it. That encouraged him and now he wants to go and talk to God and ask for faith to just believe and take it. SO. FUN. (pray for him!)
Then I had d-time with Steven. Right at the end of it, it started pouring. And we both had parked almost a mile away, so we just claimed Jesus and told the rain to stop, and it instantly calmed down to like halfway. Then we looked at each other a bit shocked and a bit ashamed of being shocked, and prayed it again, and it instantly calmed down again. After the third time, it just stopped. WHAT?! God, thank You for reminding me that You're totally in control... You've got it all in Your hands. The same Jesus who stood up to a storm and said "Peace, be still!", and had the storm obey immediately, is the same Jesus who holds our Project in His hands. Why do I doubt and freak out?
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
God Provides
#95
Got a call from a student on my project team today- he just wanted to let me know that support has been coming in like crazy, and that he's now at over $4900 out of the total $5850 he has to raise! WOW! Support raising is always an exciting part of summer project- whether it's insane stories like this where he's at like 5/6 of the goal with 6.5 weeks to go, or it's the last-second push that gets people to their goal... it's just fun to know that God is providing, and I love that He makes it super exciting to watch!
Got a call from a student on my project team today- he just wanted to let me know that support has been coming in like crazy, and that he's now at over $4900 out of the total $5850 he has to raise! WOW! Support raising is always an exciting part of summer project- whether it's insane stories like this where he's at like 5/6 of the goal with 6.5 weeks to go, or it's the last-second push that gets people to their goal... it's just fun to know that God is providing, and I love that He makes it super exciting to watch!
Monday, April 4, 2011
New Friend
#94
Made a new friend today- Steven. He's a 3rd year from San Jose, and Shaun and I just found him sitting on a bench so we decided to talk to him. Talked a lot about his spiritual background and such, shared some of the Gospel with him, and encouraged to pursue discovering who God is and what a relationship with Him would look like. We invited him to the small group that meets in the dorm where he lives, so I'm hoping and praying that he goes sometime! I had to leave to another meeting but apparently Shaun got to talk to him for like another hour! Can't wait to hear about it. I love that this is part of my job- meeting random students on campus and seeing if the Lord will use us to bring them to Himself! :)
Made a new friend today- Steven. He's a 3rd year from San Jose, and Shaun and I just found him sitting on a bench so we decided to talk to him. Talked a lot about his spiritual background and such, shared some of the Gospel with him, and encouraged to pursue discovering who God is and what a relationship with Him would look like. We invited him to the small group that meets in the dorm where he lives, so I'm hoping and praying that he goes sometime! I had to leave to another meeting but apparently Shaun got to talk to him for like another hour! Can't wait to hear about it. I love that this is part of my job- meeting random students on campus and seeing if the Lord will use us to bring them to Himself! :)
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Life on Mission
#93
Last night, Peter (frosh at UH) said to me "Man I can't wait to get back to school on Monday!" and I'm like "HUH?!" and he was like "Yeah! Gotta get God's love out there! The time is now! God is moving!" OH MAN was I convicted... Campus ministry is my JOB and I so easily forget the big picture of what we're doing. God had to bring a student to remind me of the passion that brought me here, the passion that should still be driving everything I do. Then today, I listened to a Reality LA podcast, and it was all about how we live our life on mission and how the Gospel (and the passion to share it) should define our relationships, display our motivations, and direct our ambitions. MAN. And then tonight, I got to read this month's prayer letter from my friend Kimiyo who is on STINT in Tokyo. God is doing crazy things over there... He is on the move around the world and is bringing many into a saving relationship with Himself! What am I doing wasting my time losing focus so often? UGH. Lord, help me to fix my eyes on Jesus, and to lay the Gospel as the motivating foundation of everything I do. Let all that I do be worship to You!
Check out Kimi's prayer letter with amazing updates from Japan here!
Last night, Peter (frosh at UH) said to me "Man I can't wait to get back to school on Monday!" and I'm like "HUH?!" and he was like "Yeah! Gotta get God's love out there! The time is now! God is moving!" OH MAN was I convicted... Campus ministry is my JOB and I so easily forget the big picture of what we're doing. God had to bring a student to remind me of the passion that brought me here, the passion that should still be driving everything I do. Then today, I listened to a Reality LA podcast, and it was all about how we live our life on mission and how the Gospel (and the passion to share it) should define our relationships, display our motivations, and direct our ambitions. MAN. And then tonight, I got to read this month's prayer letter from my friend Kimiyo who is on STINT in Tokyo. God is doing crazy things over there... He is on the move around the world and is bringing many into a saving relationship with Himself! What am I doing wasting my time losing focus so often? UGH. Lord, help me to fix my eyes on Jesus, and to lay the Gospel as the motivating foundation of everything I do. Let all that I do be worship to You!
Check out Kimi's prayer letter with amazing updates from Japan here!
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Happily Ever After
#92
Shaun and Karisa got married on March 19. Unfortunately, flights to CA were super expensive, and our spring break project was starting on the 20th, so none of us staff got to go. In fact, the bummer was that most of the friends they had made since moving to HI couldn't make it. So their friend Erin threw them a lil reception here on O'ahu so that we could celebrate them. Yummy pupus (appetizers/snacks), great punch, fun people... PLUS, they showed (along with the slideshow that they showed at the wedding reception) a video that one of Shaun's former students at ASU made that tells the story of Shaun and Karisa's relationship, using stop-motion animation. It was amaaaazing. All that to say, it was a fun night. May their marriage be mega-blessed, always centered on and grounded in Christ, and full of adventure. :)
Shaun and Karisa got married on March 19. Unfortunately, flights to CA were super expensive, and our spring break project was starting on the 20th, so none of us staff got to go. In fact, the bummer was that most of the friends they had made since moving to HI couldn't make it. So their friend Erin threw them a lil reception here on O'ahu so that we could celebrate them. Yummy pupus (appetizers/snacks), great punch, fun people... PLUS, they showed (along with the slideshow that they showed at the wedding reception) a video that one of Shaun's former students at ASU made that tells the story of Shaun and Karisa's relationship, using stop-motion animation. It was amaaaazing. All that to say, it was a fun night. May their marriage be mega-blessed, always centered on and grounded in Christ, and full of adventure. :)
Friday, April 1, 2011
Making Friends!!!!!!
#91
6 hours. 6 hours of staff meeting today. Was it exhausting? Absolutely. Did I need a refresher afterwards to unwind at the end of a long but super productive week of ministry? Oh yes. Which is why it's great that I've been making friends lately :) There's a somewhat random group of local Christian twenty-somethings who hang out and I've been invited to chill with them a few times in the last week. Tonight was great as we just had a pleasant time hanging out at a diner, talking story (local talk for chatting) for like an hour. Encouraging time of sharing Jesus stories and getting to know each other! :)
6 hours. 6 hours of staff meeting today. Was it exhausting? Absolutely. Did I need a refresher afterwards to unwind at the end of a long but super productive week of ministry? Oh yes. Which is why it's great that I've been making friends lately :) There's a somewhat random group of local Christian twenty-somethings who hang out and I've been invited to chill with them a few times in the last week. Tonight was great as we just had a pleasant time hanging out at a diner, talking story (local talk for chatting) for like an hour. Encouraging time of sharing Jesus stories and getting to know each other! :)
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