Update from the beachfront
- Posted by under Life at Bethel , Travel , Work
- Thursday July 26th, 2007
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Just a quick update to let you know what has been happening over the last couple of weeks:
• I was recognized as the McDonalds Employee of the Month. I continue to be amazed by the joy the Lord has granted me at McDonalds.
• Had the Traveling Team come to visit – they talked to us about missions and the urgent need to GO! They basically gave the same message Steve Shadrach gave when he came to Bethel this last year. I want to expand more on this at some point – but let’s just say God is definitely working in my heart. I am willing to go anywhere at anytime to do anything for His glory.
• There has been a servant “bug†going around project. We’ve had guys’ rooms planning “creative dates†for various girls’ rooms. Also, my roommates and I got up early to make breakfast for some of the golf course guys earlier this week. It was a super-sweet time.
• My roommates are amazing. We’ve had some really awesome conversations lately. I’m so thankful for Audrey, Jess, Lauren, and Rachael.
• Working on the Philippians Bible study has been amazing. God has definitely been blessing our work. Although it is a time-consuming job, I am learning so much and love being a part of God’s work.
• I feel like God has been teaching me A LOT lately… about humility, joy, walking in the Spirit, having a heart for the lost/nations, theology, grace and truth, boundaries, my Prince of Peace, surrendering anxiousness, taking steps of faith, discipleship… and so much more! It’s been pretty amazing.
• I was back home in Indiana just for the past weekend. My cousin got married and I sang in his wedding. It was great to be with my family again, even though it was brief.
• Our theme for the rest of the summer is CONSUMED. Pray that we are consumed with the Lord entirely… especially that the Lord will show me areas of my life that are not yet fully consumed by Him.
Well, if you read my last blog, I gave you the update from the past couple of months. Now, it’s time for the pics. I tried to put a few on a slide, so i hope it turns out okay and you can see them. The text might be a little small on the pics, so if you have glasses, put them on 
:) Actually, you just click on the thumbnail, and then click on the picture again and it will enlarge the whole thing!!! Okay, I can’t wait to share my experience in Nigeria with all of you, my classroom is almost finshed, and looks soooo cool. Of course it does, it’s mine. Hahah, kidding, but not really :) Thanks for all your prayers, only one more week until school starts … sooooo keep praying!!! Lots to do!
Sooooo, I guess you could say it’s been awhile since I have updated my blog! I will try my best to give a quick recap on the past couple months, and will have tons of pictures up hopefully in a few days. I got back to Indiana on June 1st after a long couple of days of traveling. When the plane landed in Chicago, I really couldn’t believe I was back. Everything seemed so unusual, but that could have been due to sleep depreviation. It took me about a week to get reajusted and back into life there. It was awesome being at home and being able to go to Wal Mart or Meijer to get WHATEVER!!! Hahaha, definitely something I missed!
Since I was not working, I had so much time to be with family and friends, vacation in Florida, go on a trip to Cedar Point, go to the YMCA (ohhh how wonderful that was), be in my brother’s wedding, and just relax, which was incredible. Oh and did I mention having my first experience at Shipshawana? Yeah, that tops them all!!! I would say it was one of my favorite summers ever. So time flew by and before I knew it I had a week left, and still did not have my visa!!! There was some miscommunication and luckily I recieved it a few days before I left.
What a bittersweet weekend it was … seeing everyone at my party was amazing, but having to say goodbye, was not so great. I was feeling every emotion known to man, not to mention I trying to pack my life into 4 suitcases! Once I got on the plane, I don’t think I even waited until take off before I was sleeping … hahaha. The next thing I knew we were landing in London, and had a day to spend there. I was with another co-worker, so we got a tour bus and went all over seeing the sights and taking in a little England before getting back on the plane.
Then we landed in Nigeria and it hit me … I WAS BACK!!! Allthough I was exhausted, I was so excited to be back to a place I love and know I am called to be at this season in my life. After the 4 hour van ride, we made it to Hillcrest and the joys of unpacking, cleaning, organizing my house and my classroom began. This week has been a blur and I have been nonstop since I got here trying to get everything set up, and yet my classroom still has stuff everywhere!!!! We have 11 days before school starts, and then I get my very own class of a grand total of 8 students!!! How awesome is that … I think of it more as a family, not so much a class! Well, I think that pretty much covers it, so until next time Sae-aon-juma!!! Lots of love … XOXO! check for pics in a few days:):):)
It is hard to believe that I have already been here for over a month. I have so many things to praise the Lord for.
There are definitely plenty of opportunities for ministry at my job at McDonald’s. I work with several international students as well as two other students from Crusade, and six Impact students (the African American ministry branch of Campus Crusade). I love the multicultural setting and am learning so much!
Praise God for positive responses to the Gospel. I have had the privilege to see several teenage girls choose to enter into personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
Praise God for last week! The week was themed “Killing the Giants” and was spent focusing on the giants that we face in the area of evangelism. It was a week of intense sharing, being pushed and stretched out of our comfort zones, and seeing God do amazing work. It also is part of the reason why I did not send my update sooner. “Spare†time was spent on the boardwalk initiating conversations with people and listening to their stories/sharing our stories about our amazing Lord Jesus Christ. As a project, we saw 87 people pray to receive Christ, shared the Gospel with over 700 people, and initiated more than 2,000 conversations in just one week! Our God is definitely bigger than any and all of the giants we faced! Although I was exhausted at the end of the week, it was so exciting to see and hear about the work we were able to join the Lord in.
Praise God for the amazing staff we have had on project! I have been blessed, challenged, and encouraged by them. Something that is unique about Campus Crusade summer projects is that the staff leaves halfway through the summer and the students run the project. Our staff left last week. My new project role involves serving on the executive team with five other students as the female Spiritual Formation Director. This basically means that I am going to have to be on my face seeking the Lord for wisdom and direction A LOT as Ian (the male SFD) and I write Bible studies for the rest of project, disciple two other students on project, oversee discipleship in general, and serve on the leadership team. It is an incredible opportunity, which I am very excited about, but also very aware that it is going to require complete dependence on the Lord. Our project directors told us that our #1 job is our walk with the Lord, which is encouraging. I want Him to be #1! I know that this is where God has placed me and I am excited about what He is going to do. I also realize that He has been preparing me for this role.
As an exec team, we have decided that the theme for the rest of the summer is being “Consumed” with Christ. We are praying that this summer will be a summer of transformation; a summer that is not just about amazing memories, but a summer that serves as a launching pad for living this stuff out when we get back to our campuses in the fall.
Our schedule is rigorous and demanding. Know that I so desire to post blog entries much more than I have been able to. Ultimately, be praying that I continue to fall more in love with Jesus, my Savior and Lord. I want my life to be consumed by Him.
There are so many more stories to share… our Battle Outreach… Women’s Conference… amazing roommate times… gross McDonalds stories… stories of how our incredible guys treat us women with the utmost respect and honor… conversations on the boardwalk… pictures that I want to share…
Holly
