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...
LO!! Praying for you as you enjoy your time sharing the gospel and learning in Chicago! I sure miss you and will have to go out for a Carolina Cafe cupcake when you get home.
ReplyDeleteXoxo,
Kait