Week 5

I have not done a great job at keeping up with this blog like I had planned to, or told you I would the last time I updated. There has been so much going on that I feel I need to catch you guys up. So here we go...

God has really been showing me a lot since I have been on project. Coming onto project I knew that we would be working through the book of 1 Peter. I was not sure how much I would learn from this book seeing their are 5 chapters and in 5 weeks we could go through it all. Easy right? How much could they possibly get out of this book? Man was I wrong. Peter really had a lot to say in his letter. I have mentioned before that I was having some trouble going through the in depth bible study given to us at the begining of project. It was hard for me to learn how to study the bible that way. I explained this to my Discipler Vanessa. She shared with me about this lady named Kay Arthur who writes inductive studies of each book of the bible. I decided to order it to see how I would like it, and I love it!!! It really helps me to see what 1 Peter is about. This study helps you to color code the book, being someone who loves to organize and label things this is perfect for me! One Monday night we have different talks about the theme of the week. These messages speak right to me every time. In some ways I feel like I have learned more from them than any other thing we do here on project. Last week we talked about being a Magnificent Community. Nancy spoke on loving people in our community and having true relationships with people. God was really tugging on my heart that night and has made me realized there are things that I need to get right with people. That I need to stop judging, being fake, and start forgiving people. To truly love them as He loves us. This week we are talking about Magnificent Life, the importance of what you do here on earth to try and help grow the Kingdom. That our life here isn't about the house we live in, the cars we drive, or the things we have. Its about the things we do to share the love of Christ.

Week 1: Magnificent Gospel
Week 2: Magnificent Faith
Week 3: Magnificent Identity
Week 4: Magnificent Community
Week 5: Magnificent Life

If you read history you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were precisely those who thought most of the next. -C.S. Lewis

This being week 5 we are now halfway through project. At the end of this week staff will be leaving and everything will be ran by student leaders. Everyone keeps saying that project really starts once staff leaves. I am nervous yet excited to see what they mean by this. I have had so much fun since I have been here and have learned so much that I honestly do not know how it can get any better. I will miss the staff, some of them I have really enjoyed getting to know and hang out with, but I am excited to see how we will come together as a closer community and finish out this project together. With that being said every student of project was assigned a job. These are the things we will take over now that staff if gone. I have been given the opportunity to co-lead my impact group. Impact groups are the groups we go onto campus with. I am at the UIC campus with the focus on Destino. I will be co-leading with a guy names Karlos. I am excited to be leading with him and learning from him. Our job will entail leading our Sunday night meetings. During these meeting we talk about what went good and bad during the week on campus, remind ourselves of the focus of our campus, share our testimonies, and think of new ways to reach the campus. We are hoping that by the end of the summer there will be two students from UIC who can be the core student leaders of the Destino movement on the campus. 

These past two weeks we have not been able to meet up with Helen and she has not been coming to our Thursday night meetings. When I texted her two weeks ago to see if she wanted to get lunch and hang out she told me yes. I was super pumped that we would be able to continue to hang out and get to know each other and that I could help answer questions that she has about God and Christianity. She texted me later that night to tell me something came up and she would no longer be able to meet with me. I was so bummed about this, all I wanted to do was be able to get to know Helen better and share with her and now I couldnt. Needless to say I hold grudges and was not in a loving mood the next day on campus. But like God always does he teaches me new things when I really just dont want to hear from Him and would rather stay mad. He made me realize that I am not the one who is going to save her and that it was not in my control in any way. It was all HIS doing. That I am just a tool that He uses to plant a seed. He is ultimately the one who will save her. I was so focused to seeing her come to Christ that I forgot about the true reason I was there. That day I ended up having some really awesome conversations with other people from different religions and was able to hear and learn about what they believed. Once again this past week I was not able to hang out with Helen. I think God is still showing me that there are a billion people out there and He has a plan for me and He will show me where he wants me to go and who to talk to. I went sharing with Dan this week. He is on staff here and the leader of my impact group. It was such an awesome experience going to share with him. I saw the Gospel presented in a totally different way that I believe helps people to understand what is being shared with them. I feel like just hearing him share the Gospel has helped me to think of better ways to initiate conversations and share with other people. 

There have been many adventures and exciting things going on here in Chicago the past few weeks. Two weeks ago a group of us traveled to the Chicago zoo. It was a pretty neat place to visit. ( I still like the NC zoo a little better!) It was so hot that day that a lot of the animals were able to be indoors if they chose so we didnt get to see as much as I had hoped for. I have also been able to try a few different resturants here in Chicago. This past weekend we traveled into the city to eat at Billy Goats. This place was awesome! Its just a burger/hotdog place. It has been on Saturday Night Live before and is known in Chicago. After dinner we  traveled to Portillo's to try the famous Chocolate Cake Shake! Oh my that was amazing! Very rich milkshake with chunks of chocolate cake in it. I could not even eat half of it because it was so rich!

The big Student vs. Staff kickball game....We lost.... We had the game to start off our magnificent community week. It was incredible to see how close we came together in cheering each other on during the game. Even though we lost (the staff are still undefeated) I believe that it was all worth it for us to have the community that we now have!

Thats about all I have for an update...sorry for no pictures this time!

Prayer Request:

-For the staff and their families as they go back home and settle into their normal routines

-For the students that we will stay strong as a community and support each other in the new roles that we are taking on.

-For me...that I wont continue to be homesick. Its been tough the past week or so.

Until next time...

2 down 8 to go!

Wow! So I am not very good at keeping up with this blog. We have been so busy lately. Our weeks are packed every night with things to do here at Summer Project. Trying to get adjusted to that schedule, my work schedule, and being on campus I really do stay busy. I am sorry that I have not been very good at keeping this updated. I will try and keep it update more often. This entry might seem a little long and rambling, but here is my past week and a half!

Where to start...

We have a pretty set schedule for every night during the week. On Monday nights we have training night, during training we are taught how to use different resources that we have been given to help with evangelism on the campuses. After an hour of training we have a staff member speak to us. These messages to me are very interesting. They are not a part of the 1 Peter study but I feel that they really challenge me.

Here are some of the resources that we have been provided!

On Tuesday nights it is Action Group study. I absolutely love these girls! There is about 8 of us total! We have dinner together and then walk through the section of 1 Peter that we are studying for the week. It is nice to be in a group with such amazing woman that are struggling with the same things that I am. It is nice to have people that I feel like I can relate to.

Wednesdays are quite time with the Lord. This might possibly be my favorite part of the week! We get to spend from 6-9 p.m. with our wonderful Father. During this time I really get to spend time in 1 Peter and really be able to see how the letter Peter wrote years and years ago still applies to us as Christians. During this time I also get to spend a lot of time journaling and in prayer.

Thursdays are Teaching Nights, it is pretty much like what we would have on Thursday nights at ECU! Bacho is our main speaker ever Thursday night. He goes even deeper into the 1 Peter text for the week and helps us to understand what Peter was really saying in his letter. This is the night that we can invited people that we meet on campus to join us!

Fridays and Saturdays are free days (unless you have to work). Even though they are free days we still stay super busy whether it is exploring the city, working, or just hanging out with each other. Sundays we meet for church and go to Willow Chicago which is in the heart of the city near the Loop. This church is very interesting to me, it is completely different from any church that I have ever been to. It has been an adjustment trying to get use to it.


For more details on what has been going on with my time here in Chicago...

On Thursdays I meet with my discipler Vanessa! She is such an amazing woman! Even though I have only met with her twice since I have been here I can already see the impact she has had on me in my time here. It is nice to be able to meet with someone and share with them your life, what you are struggling with, and what is helping you and encouraging you. I have shared with her that I am having trouble keeping up with the 1 Peter study that we were provided (it is intense!) It has so much information in it that I sometime feel overwhelmed and am scared that I am missing the main points in 1 Peter. She has shared with me bible studies that she has done before by Kay Arthur. After looking through the study she did of Acts I decided to order her study of 1 Peter and see if that helps me to understand it a little better. I am excited for the book to come in sometime this week! I have also had the privilege to go out and share with her this past week on the UIC campus. I am excited to spend more time with her while here on project and let her pour into my life.

Being on campus is also one of my favorite parts of the week. Our first week on campus Danielle and I decided to pair up together and go out and share on the UIC campus. We ran into a girl named Helen, Helen is here from China getting her masters. Lets just say running into her has been the highlight of my whole time on project so far! When we sat down to do a spiritual survey with her she shared that she was taking a bible class. We were able to share the Gospel with her and invite her to Thursday nights meeting! You can tell that she is so interested in God and everything that he has done for us. We plan on meeting with her and hanging out through out the summer and letting God use us to share His love with her!

This is us with Helen after Thursday nights meeting!

Work...Lets just say that God continues to surprise me. Coming into project I was not sure how I felt about working in fast food. I have always worked in retail and that was what I was use to. So doing a new type of job was scaring me and not to forget that it is in the middle of Chicago! It has turned out that I absolutely love my job! Being able to serve people and interact with people is more enjoyable that I had ever imagined it would be! So many people love the fact that there are people from the south working there! I hope that I can continue to get more hours and really be able to interact with my co-workers and be able to share with them who God is and what He has done for them!

Last Sunday we had women's time. I am going to be honest, I was dreading it. I was not looking forward to four hours of sharing feelings, crying, you know doing the typical girl thing. I have never been one to really open up and share my feeling with people. Besides my mom (who is my best friend) I don't really tell people very much about myself, or at least not the deepest parts of me (what I struggle with, what upsets me, personal stuff). Going into it I prayed that God would soften my heart to the though of all of it. He not only did that but He also helped me see that I am not an intentional person at all. All week I have been convicted of that. During the meeting Nancy was talking about how we needed to be open with each other and share what we are struggling with and what we are bringing into project with us so that we can help each other out. I will not go into details, but, God really showed me that I do not invest in people. There are girls that I would have considered myself close with only to find out things that I never knew about them. This has really made we want to change the way my friendships are. To trust people with what I struggle with and to also be there for them.

Last Monday night Kevin spoke, one part that really stuck out to me was when he asked a question "Is my faith magnificent or mediocre?" I mean wow! It really hit me, I say I believe in Christ, that I trust Him and know that He has everything planned out for me in His perfect timing and with His perfect plan. But do I really trust that and believe that? Is my faith magnificent or just mediocre?

Some quotes that I liked from that message:

"I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else." -C.S. Lewis

"God takes full responsibility for a life wholly devoted to Him." -Charles Stanley

"You were made by God and for God and until you understand that life will never make sense." - Rick Warren

PICTURES...

Navy Pier!

View of the City from Navy Pier!

Me, Carlyn, and Emily with our reflection from The Bean in Millennium Park

A fountain wall at Millennium Park

At The Bean in Millennium Park

In front of Buckingham Fountain

The city from Navy Pier after the fireworks

My view from the top of the Ferris Wheel at Navy Pier

Ferris Wheel at Navy Pier!

Not everyone but some people from CSP12!!

Reflection of the city off The Bean at Millennium Park

And finally pictures of my apartment!

 I hope that you are having a great week!

This week I ask for prayer for:

-Helen...that God will gives us the words to say to clearly explain to her who He is. That we are intentional with her, that we don't just "push" God on her put to truly invest time in her and get to know who she really is.
-For me to be more intentional with people. That I don't just get to know the surface them but to truly care for people and invest time in them.
-For boldness to proclaim Gods love. (Pray that whenever I open my mouth words may be given to me to fearlessly proclaim the gospel.)
-To learn to live more simply and be thankful for all that I have.
- To have a magnificent faith and not just a mediocre one


Until next time...

First Few Days In The City

Hello from Chicago! Let me just start off by saying they have kept us busy ever since we got here. On Friday I flew into Midway airport around 11:30. The staff member that came to pick us up is not too fond of using busy highways so she decided to use "normal" roads to get us home. Lets just say by doing this we got to see a whole lot of the suburbs of Chicago. We finally arrived at the Lofts an hour later where we checked in and rushed off to target to get a few items. This target was HUGE (2 floors) and if you know me I love Target so I had a blast in there. When we got back I met two of my roommates: Kimmie and Katelyn. Both of these girls are awesome! Later that night we all went downstairs for pizza and to try and get to know every one. If you have ever had Chicago style pizza then you know that one slice will fill you up. That thing was huge! I wish i had taken a picture to share with you but I am sure I will have plenty more opportunities to do that!

This is the view from my window!

On Saturday we woke up for breakfast then had a devotional/prayer/ what to expect in Chicago meeting. During the devotion time we read through Acts 4:32-5:15. We looked at what it means to be a community of believers. After that we had a quick time for lunch then it was off to the Chicago Challenge. We were divided up into groups and were given a list of things to find in the city. My group went to Buckingham Fountain! It was absolutely beautiful. I can not wait and go back and spend more time there when we are not in such a hurry!

Isn't it beautiful?!?

Some of the ECU girls at church!

On Sunday we went to Willow Chicago. This church is AWESOME!!The pastor was talking about the importance of loving the people that we are talking and sharing with. This really helped open my eyes. There have been so many times where sharing and talking with people about God isn't something I really want to do that day. It helped me to see that if I do not love and care for these people then nothing could be accomplished. After church we jumped right into evangilism and sharing. We had a training on using the KGP (Knowing God Personally) booklet and then headed out the Millineum Park to meet with people. I was paired with Amy to go and share. We had three different encounter. All of the women seemed interested to talk with us but once we asked them if they would like to talk with us about God they all seemed to shy away and find other things they needed to do. I was feeling a little bit discouraged at that time. We ran into two other students of CSP who we talked with about our encounters and they made me change my views. I know that people will not come to know Christ because of me. It is all because of HIM. We are his servants and he is using us. I know that whether they shut us out or not that there was a seed planted and that God will take hold of their hearts and lives one days! To me that is SO encouraging! During this time my fourth and final roommate Emily showed up! It has been nice getting to know my roommates over these past few days. Later that night we went over to the UIC campus to go bowling which was a lot of fun!

The Bean in Millennium Park!

 Today was the day for everyone to go out and find jobs. Since I already have a job with Chick-fil-A I didn't have anything to do until 2 p.m.! That was a nice little blessing to be able to sleep in. I get a feeling I wont be sleeping much this summer. We left around 1p.m. today to get to work on time. We have not figured of the train "The L" yet so we wanted to make sure we had plenty of time to get to work. We went trough training today that consisted of rules/security issues, a tour of the store, and going through the manual for the store. We will all be starting work this week, which I am sort of nervous about. They did not teach us how to bag, use the registers, or make any of the food items. That is apparently what we learn over the next few days at work. Every Monday night is Italian night here at CSP! After dinner we had training for evangelism. They used the analogy of baseball to talk about the different types of conversations that we will be having during this summer. Each "base" had a different type of conversation that could be had. We then heard from Nancy one of the project staff here who talked to us about the importance of the Gospel. And not just the basics but really challenged us to open our hearts to it this summer and let God show us the more in depth parts of it. I guess I have always known the basic story of the Gospel butt haven't really ever looked much into it. I am excited to see what God shows me throughout this summer.

The City (or at least part of it)

The L

So that has been my journey so far while in the city! I must admit I love the apartment we are staying at! I plan on putting photos of my loft up soon! We are in between Greek Town and Little Italy, meaning there is tons of delicious food around me! I have to be careful so that I do not try and go get a Gyro every day while I am here!

Last but not least....I have finally figured out what my address is so if you would like to send me letters I would love that!!

410 S. Morgan St. #427
Chicago, IL 60607

I hope you all have a blessed week!

until next time....

Chicago Eve

Tomorrow is the big day! I will be starting my 10 weeks journey in Chicago in less than 10 hours!! I am getting super nervous yet still really excited! I am glad that I will be traveling with 2 of my friends from ECU so that makes flying a little easier for me. 

I have been lucky to spend the past few weeks with my family! I am going to miss them. As I said in my last post I have never been away from home for more than 2 weeks. I do not know what I am going to do without talking to my mom multiple times a day! Tonight we went out to dinner for the last time before I leave tomorrow (we missed you Kait!) and Chandler decided to drive from Greensboro to surprise me! That was a very good way to say goodbye to the family! :)

These past two days I have spent packing and repacking. If you know me at all then you know that I love to over pack (I probably have enough clothes so that I will never have to wear anything twice while I am there!). This is a BIG problem....I have had to weigh all of my bags and take things out just so that they will all fit under 50 pounds each! Luckily I have now finally finished packing!

This past weekend we received an email from our staff members informing us that we will be studying the book of 1 Peter. I am very excited about this because I have never really read anything in 1 Peter. I am so excited to see what God is going to show me and teach me throughout these next 10 weeks. I am excited to learn and grow personally and also be given the opportunity to share my faith! I look forward to seeing how God chooses to use not only me but everyone that I am on project with. 

I want to thank everyone who has continued to support me both financially but also through prayer. Please continue to pray for our travel to Chicago and for our safety while in Chicago.

The next time you hear from me I will be in the Windy City!

Leading Up To Chicago

Hey guys! 

So I thought I would start a blog to keep everyone updated on what is going on while I am in Chicago. These past few months have been really exciting for me as I am getting ready for the move to the "Windy City." I have been busy with support raising, finding a job, and reading the required material before going on project. I have already learned so much and can not wait to see what God has in store for me these next few months. 

Support raising is coming along. I still have some left to raise but I know that God will provide! I can not thank you enough for partnering with me on this journey! As for a job I have been hired to work at Chick-fil-A in Chicago! I am excited and nervous for this because I have never worked in the food industry before. Tonight I finished reading the required reading and sent in my answers for the book report! If you are looking for a good book that walks you through the bible I would recommend "God's Big Picture" by Vaughan Roberts. 

I am currently a little less than 2 weeks away from arriving in Chicago! I am starting to get a little bit nervous about this move. I have never lived anywhere besides home and at school, so I know that this will be a huge culture shock for me. I believe that God will be using this summer for me to grow, mature, and also learn a lot about myself. I have never been away from home for more than two weeks and so this is a big step for me. I pray that I do not get homesick and will love it in Chicago! I know that God is allowing me to go on this trip for a reason and I am excited to see what all He teaches me this summer.

I ask that you keep me in your prayers as I continue to raise the remainder of my support and that God will continue to prepare me for His work.

Until next time...