who is the greatest?

Our new theme for the week is who is the greatest? Obviousy, the answer is God :) We have been learning about being a servant to all. God has been showing me what that means, especially in the workplace. I have to constantly remind myself that I didn't come to be served but to serve. It definitely is an attitude that goes against our culture. Life is very busy for me now that staff is gone. I have six hours a week that I do discipleship with the other women in our Bible study. Even though it's very crazy, it is a blessing to be able to meet with each of them. It is also a challenge to me to be out sharing my faith more often since I go sharing with all of them individually. I feel so honored that God chooses to use us to share the Gospel, even though we are broken sinners who desperately need a Savior. I am excited to see what God does the last few weeks of project. We have exactly one month left until we leave for home and I trust that God still has great things in store for North Myrtle Beach.

Agape Love

This week's theme is agape love and we have been learning how it affects our view of God, our view of ourselves, and our view of others. God has been showing me His unconditional love and that His love is given because of the character of the source not because of the worthiness of the recipient. It has really helped me to love others when I think about the fact that God has agape love for them--He delights in them, He is not disappointed in them, and He created them exactly how He wants them to be. If I keep that in mind when interacting with others, it's a lot easier to love them.

A big change takes place this week...our staff team leaves on Friday. That means that students will take over leadership positions. I was chosen to take over as the Bible study leader for our group. So I will be leading Bible study once a week as well as discipling the other three women in our study. It will definitely be a challenge for me, especially with managing my team as I work full time and take on these additional responsibilities. But I am excited to see how God uses these women in my life and how He may use me in theirs.

World Vision Week

This week is world vision week. On Sunday we had an international dinner, which was a very eye-opening experience. God taught me a lot about not focusing so much on what's wrong in my own life that I miss people around me that don't know Him. We are focusing on praying for our international partnerships and praising God for what He is doing around the world. I am praying for God to show me what it means to ask for the nations. Last night I was able to initiate 7 conversations with people during our outreach, and we were able to have some fun conversations. Please pray for Becca, Emily, Kelly, and Courtney. There were 4 high school graduates that we talked to who were so ready to hear the Gospel. But two of their friends came right as we were about to share with them. So please pray that God would place other people in their lives to share His love with them or that they would read the KGP that we gave them. God is still challenging me through work at McDonald's and being an example for Him in every situation He puts me in. Please pray for conversations and relationships with our coworkers.

the giant was killed!

As a project, our total goal for the number of conversations that we would initiate throughout the week was 2,582, and we initiated 2,677. Of those, God provided us with 627 Gospel conversations. And from those Gospel conversations, 101 people indicated a decision for Christ! PRAISE GOD! It was amazing to see how God uses us when we step out in faith and in the power of the Holy Spirit. Even though Killing the Giants week is over, we are hoping to continue the focus on evangelism and trust God for the energy to continue sharing our faith when we're tired and want to take a nap instead.

During the week, I was blessed by so many of the conversations that I had. I was able to share the Gospel with two high school seniors as well as sharing part of my testimony with one of them. God also brought us to two Russian women who lived near us who were very excited to meet people here. During discipleship, we "coincidently" (definitely an act of God) ran into one of the girls on the beach again. I am excited to continue building relationships with the two girls (Ana and Ranika) throughout the summer. They are not open to hearing the Gospel at this point, but I am praying and trusting God to give us an opportunity to do so before the end of the summer.

Please pray:
*that God would give me opportunities to share my faith with my coworkers at McDonald's
*for Brooke, who had to leave project after severely breaking her ankle
*for all of the people who have accepted Christ this last week
*for our new neighbors who started moving in today
*that we would be able to continue building relatioships with Ana and Ranika

killing the giants

This week's theme is killing the giants and there is a big focus on evangelism. Everyone on project set goals this week for how many people they want to initiate conversations with and how many gospel conversations they want to have. As a project, there is a goal of around 2500 initiated conversations, and we are a little over halfway there. In the first two days, 37 people accepted Christ! It's amazing to see how God uses us when we step out in faith and trust the Holy Spirit to empower us. I had the opportunity to initiate 14 conversations today, and it was a huge blessing to see God working in people's hearts. This afternoon, I went out with two other girls from project, and one of the girls in my group was able to pray with a girl to accept Christ, which was amazing to see...praise God!
McDonald's has been interesting. It's very fast paced which makes it difficult to develop relationships with my coworkers. Please pray that God will give me opportunities at work to be a light for Him.

McDonald's!

Today was my first day of work at McDonald's. And it proved to be incredibly boring. Eight of us from project crammed into a tiny crew room and watched videos on a computer for four and a half hours. Hopefully actually working there proves to be a little bit more exciting.

Throughout the summer we are studying Mark at our large group meetings and in our Bible studies. Last night we had our first night of Bible study, which was really good. Since I've gotten here, I have been learning more about relying on God and finding my identity in Him and who He sees me as. I am excited to get out on the beach and share God's love with people throughout the summer as well as building relationships with my coworkers. Tonight our impact group, which is our women's Bible study plus a men's Bible study, is doing our outreach at a soup kitchen here in town. I am excited to see what God does. Thanks for all of your prayers!

On Thursday night, our group hit the beach to do some evangelism. Less than an hour later, we had 5 new brothers and sisters in Christ! It is so encouraging to see God working and moving here already. Praise God also for providing a job for me. I will be following in the footsteps of my older brother and be working at McDonald's starting on Tuesday :) I have been blessed by so many of the awesome men and women of Christ here already, and I am excited to continue to grow in my relationships with them and with God.

Please pray...
*that God would provide jobs for a handful of people who have not yet found jobs
*that God would continue to move in the hearts of people here and draw them to Himself
*that we would continue to bond and build relationships with each other on project

WE MADE IT!

After way too many hours of traveling, I am finally here! I left Montevideo on Monday afternoon and spent the night in St. Cloud. Then we took off at 5:00 am. At stops in Maple Grove, MN; Janesville, WI, and Xenia, OH, we picked up more people and ended up with 3 cars, 11 people, and a LOT of luggage...but we fit! We traveled straight through the night and arrived in North Myrtle Beach at 11:00 this morning. It was overwhelming to meet 91 other students and 35 staff members, but I am trusting that God is going to do amazing things here this summer. We will be doing orientation the next few days. I live in an apartment with 5 other girls a block away from the beautiful beach...we certainly lead a rough life :)

Please pray for
*A wonderful sense of community with all of the project students and especially with the girls in my apartment and Bible study.
*My job search
*The preparation of the hearts of the people we will be meeting this summer

Support Raising Update

I currently have 99% of my support raised! It has been so amazing to see God provide for me through all of my wonderful supporters! Thank you so much to everyone who has supported me, both financially and through prayer. Please continue to pray that everything goes smoothly as I prepare to leave in a little over a week.

Support Raising

Here's a story about a little miracle from God. I had to have $600 sent in a couple of weeks ago for the summer. I needed the money to be sent in on a Monday, and I didn't get my support letters out until just a few days before. I left for the weekend having gotten $175 so far. I got back on Sunday and had a $50 check waiting or me in my room. I was pretty excited that I got as much as I had and figured I would just cover the rest, which was $375. But God had different plans. I went down to check my mail and had 5 checks waiting for me that totaled $375, so I had exactly $600 to send in the next day. Thank you so much to everyone who has supported me! God is working miracles through you!