Hello!
It's been a busy weekend here in Gulf Shores but it's been so much fun!
On Friday night we had a group social. In true StuMo fashion it was, of course, a dance party! Haha. It was really fun just to hang out with everyone and act all goofy. The theme was neon colors so we were all "glowing" under the black lights that were set up. Hard to believe it was the first planned dance party we've had all summer. They usually happen much more frequently. :)
Saturday we had evangelism training. This week was more focused on what that will look like back on campus and how evangelism isn't an event, it's a process. There is a relationship built with the people who you share your faith with, whether it's 2 minutes or 2 years it is still a process of explaining the gospel to them and also showing them the example of your life. Then we went to the beaches; I got to go share with Connie, a girl in my sorority. I've loved seeing how God is providing for our project. Despite the oil spill and double red flags most weekends (which means you can potentially get ticketed if you're caught swimming) there are still people out on the beaches. Many times there isn't a big selection of people and so, while we're aiming to share with people close to our own age, we get to share with older, younger, and everywhere in between. This weekend I shared the bridge illustration with a woman named Shannon. After talking to her it was apparent that she was a believer by her answers and her attitude. After we were done sharing the illustration, we just asked her more about her life story. She told us that she married very young, found out after she married that the guy was an atheist and that the relationship just went downhill from there. She got out of the relationship but had a hard time trusting people and being lonely. She really wanted a family. As she got older she began to think that maybe that just wasn't God's plan for her life. Starting a family was the last bit of her life that she was trying to control on her own, she said, and once she gave that control to God and fully surrendered He blessed her with everything she could have asked for. She's now married to a man who loves God first, trusts in Him for everything and can lead her spiritually. She has 2 little boys and twin girls, the family she always dreamed of. Her story was so encouraging to us. It's the perfect example that God wants to give us what our hearts desire if we are willing to surrender control to Him and trust that His plan for our life is better than any one we could come up with. If we are willing to make Him the Lord of our life, our will becomes aligned with His, and He blesses us greatly.
Saturday night, we decided to have a girls' night. My group and two other D-Groups went to dinner and then we went to the Track, an arcade/amusement park, then went and got ice cream. It was a great opportunity to hang out and get to know some of the girls we hadn't really gotten a lot of time to get to know yet.
Today at church the sermon was all about financial freedom. Brother Lloyd focused on how everything we have is given to us by God, and how we're just borrowing it. He spoke about how God is the Owner and we're the managers. It was a cool message. Then after church we went to lunch with one of the guys' groups that we go to church with. We tried out Bahama Bob's Diner. It was really good, right on the beach. Getting to talk and laugh with the guys and just get to know them better was a blast, too.
Right now I'm getting ready to go read for a little while, something that doesn't happen much here because we're always so busy. I'm reading "The Fuel and the Flame" by Steve Shadrach. It's all about how if we will become the fuel God will use us to set our campus/workplace/wherever on fire for Him. Highly recommended! After that I have a meeting with my D-Group leader to go over my plans for leading Bible study on Tuesday. We're getting the chance to lead our group's study so we can see what it looks like to plan and lead a study for others and just getting practice in. It's been really neat to see how that all works. So, off I go! Thanks for checking in! Until next time...
Sarah
XOXO
Prayer requests:
*Shannon- Pray that she would continue to be strong in her faith and that God would give her the desire to take the next step and begin sharing her faith with those around her.
*Time- Pray that we will use the couple weeks we have left here wisely. Pray that all the progress that we've made so far could be doubled in the last couple weeks and that we would start getting prepared to go back to campus.
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Satsong and TNT
Hey guys!
Last night we had the cool opportunity to participate in an Indian Satsong, which is a sort of worship service that is pretty typical among the (few) believers in India. Mark, one of the guys who has been living in India led it. He was the guy that spoke at our missions conference about living, working, and laboring in India. We had a time of prayer, then we learned some chants in Hindi and also a hymn. After that we read the story of Jesus calming the storm and discussed in small groups. My favorite part was definitely the hymn. They had the Hindi words, which we sang, and the translation both up on the screen. It blew my mind to think that if it weren't for the translation up there I would have no idea what I was saying... BUT GOD DOES! This, more than anything else, was proof to me that God is a God of the world, not just of Kaleo, or K-State, or Kansas, but of the world. It was really humbling and so cool to know that He heard and understood every word we were singing. Later that night, my D-group got the chance to meet with Mark and ask questions about missions, India, and his ministry there. It was amazing to hear stories, see how the process works, and learn about the culture in India. I am really loving learning more, and the more I learn the more I can feel my heart growing for these people.
Tonight's TNT was all about eternal perspective. Jordan spoke about how our purpose in life is for eternal things. He talked about how we're not guaranteed tomorrow and so we should make the most of today. He said that after a near-death experience his whole outlook on life changed. We should not let anyone come into our lives and leave without hearing the gospel. There is no promise that we have tomorrow so we should not waste time just because we think we will have more of it. This went along perfectly with the book I just finished reading, One Heartbeat Away, by Mark Cahill. I would definitely recommend it. It seemed like it was geared more towards non-believers but I think it served as a great reminder for me as well.
Short update, I know. Thanks for checking in! Until next time...
Sarah
XOXO
Prayer Requests:
*India- That God would be growing my, and other peoples', hearts for this nation where the harvest is SO plentiful but the laborers are SO few.
*Mark McIntyre- He's home on furlough right now and is getting ready to head back. For save travel and reassurance that Jesus is worth what he's doing
*The teams in India- We have a summer team there now who are getting ready to head back home. A new wave of people are going this fall to join the people who are in India long-term. Pray that the teams would connect well and really have a unified vision for the nation and their ministry
*Eternal perspective- Pray that all of here at Kaleo would begin to see just how short of a time we have to make an impact, and that we would use that time well and make an eternal impact in the lives of those we come into contact with!
Last night we had the cool opportunity to participate in an Indian Satsong, which is a sort of worship service that is pretty typical among the (few) believers in India. Mark, one of the guys who has been living in India led it. He was the guy that spoke at our missions conference about living, working, and laboring in India. We had a time of prayer, then we learned some chants in Hindi and also a hymn. After that we read the story of Jesus calming the storm and discussed in small groups. My favorite part was definitely the hymn. They had the Hindi words, which we sang, and the translation both up on the screen. It blew my mind to think that if it weren't for the translation up there I would have no idea what I was saying... BUT GOD DOES! This, more than anything else, was proof to me that God is a God of the world, not just of Kaleo, or K-State, or Kansas, but of the world. It was really humbling and so cool to know that He heard and understood every word we were singing. Later that night, my D-group got the chance to meet with Mark and ask questions about missions, India, and his ministry there. It was amazing to hear stories, see how the process works, and learn about the culture in India. I am really loving learning more, and the more I learn the more I can feel my heart growing for these people.
Tonight's TNT was all about eternal perspective. Jordan spoke about how our purpose in life is for eternal things. He talked about how we're not guaranteed tomorrow and so we should make the most of today. He said that after a near-death experience his whole outlook on life changed. We should not let anyone come into our lives and leave without hearing the gospel. There is no promise that we have tomorrow so we should not waste time just because we think we will have more of it. This went along perfectly with the book I just finished reading, One Heartbeat Away, by Mark Cahill. I would definitely recommend it. It seemed like it was geared more towards non-believers but I think it served as a great reminder for me as well.
Short update, I know. Thanks for checking in! Until next time...
Sarah
XOXO
Prayer Requests:
*India- That God would be growing my, and other peoples', hearts for this nation where the harvest is SO plentiful but the laborers are SO few.
*Mark McIntyre- He's home on furlough right now and is getting ready to head back. For save travel and reassurance that Jesus is worth what he's doing
*The teams in India- We have a summer team there now who are getting ready to head back home. A new wave of people are going this fall to join the people who are in India long-term. Pray that the teams would connect well and really have a unified vision for the nation and their ministry
*Eternal perspective- Pray that all of here at Kaleo would begin to see just how short of a time we have to make an impact, and that we would use that time well and make an eternal impact in the lives of those we come into contact with!
Saturday, July 10, 2010
New identity, new purpose
Hey y'all!
I'm sitting in Panera in Destin, FL still absorbing everything that I've heard from the missions conference this weekend. Todd Ahrend was the speaker. I've heard him talk several times, at SMC last winter, at StuMo nights at KSU, and now here at Kaleo. He is so much fun to listen to and I learn so much without even knowing that I'm learning. He talked a lot about how many of the major missions movements in history were started by people my age and how students have such an opportunity to make an impact on the world. It really got me thinking that it might be something I want to do for a couple years. I definitely know that after this summer I won't feel the same about short-term mission trips. You have to stay if you're truly going to make a difference somewhere. He also talked about the things that typically hold people back from going overseas and how all of them are selfish reasons. God calls us to make disciples of all the nations. As a college graduate I won't have to worry about house payments, kids, maybe even a job. I'll have the freedom to dedicate a couple years to people that might never have another opportunity to hear the gospel. How cool would it be if by the time I'm 30 I can say that I reached an unreached people group? That because of me there are churches planted and growing in anywhere from remote tribes to the inner cities of India? Answer: REALLY COOL!
Another message that really impacted me this week was our StuMo night on Thursday. (I know, I know, they're always good!!) Cody spoke about our identity being found in Christ. He talked about how the things we're most dedicated to are the things that are going to show in our daily lives and they're the things that people will recognize us by, and how Christ should be that identifying factor that makes us stand out.
I'm a little behind on my study so I had to make this one kind of short. Hope to update again soon!! Until then...
Sarah
XOXO
Prayer Requests:
*That God would use this conference this weekend to really grow our hearts for the world and give us a vision to reach those people
*That God would be the identifying factor in our lives, and that people would be able to see that what makes us different is our personal relationship with Christ
I'm sitting in Panera in Destin, FL still absorbing everything that I've heard from the missions conference this weekend. Todd Ahrend was the speaker. I've heard him talk several times, at SMC last winter, at StuMo nights at KSU, and now here at Kaleo. He is so much fun to listen to and I learn so much without even knowing that I'm learning. He talked a lot about how many of the major missions movements in history were started by people my age and how students have such an opportunity to make an impact on the world. It really got me thinking that it might be something I want to do for a couple years. I definitely know that after this summer I won't feel the same about short-term mission trips. You have to stay if you're truly going to make a difference somewhere. He also talked about the things that typically hold people back from going overseas and how all of them are selfish reasons. God calls us to make disciples of all the nations. As a college graduate I won't have to worry about house payments, kids, maybe even a job. I'll have the freedom to dedicate a couple years to people that might never have another opportunity to hear the gospel. How cool would it be if by the time I'm 30 I can say that I reached an unreached people group? That because of me there are churches planted and growing in anywhere from remote tribes to the inner cities of India? Answer: REALLY COOL!
Another message that really impacted me this week was our StuMo night on Thursday. (I know, I know, they're always good!!) Cody spoke about our identity being found in Christ. He talked about how the things we're most dedicated to are the things that are going to show in our daily lives and they're the things that people will recognize us by, and how Christ should be that identifying factor that makes us stand out.
I'm a little behind on my study so I had to make this one kind of short. Hope to update again soon!! Until then...
Sarah
XOXO
Prayer Requests:
*That God would use this conference this weekend to really grow our hearts for the world and give us a vision to reach those people
*That God would be the identifying factor in our lives, and that people would be able to see that what makes us different is our personal relationship with Christ
Monday, July 5, 2010
Long time, no update
Hey all!
Again, I am sorry for the scarcity of info. It's been jam-packed here in Gulf Shores!
Highlights: StuMo Nights, Relationships Conference, KU Staff, Campus Prayer, group date, and 4th of July barbeque!
First, StuMo Nights! June 24 was focused on the topic of fellowship. Brandon, one of the people on staff at Oklahoma, came to speak to us. He kept repeating the phrase, "Show me your friends and I'll show you your future." He emphasized the importance of our inner circle of friends, then the other rings. He described it as a bullseye. Your inner circle is made up of the people who are closest to you and influence you the most. As believers, as well as laborers, it is important that we are careful who we allow into this inner circle because none of us (no matter what we want to believe) are above peer pressure. We want to make absolutely sure that the people in this small group of friends are going to be people who encourage us in our faith and spur us on to grow daily. Those relationships are so important in our lives. The "middle circle" are those who are still friends but who don't have quite the influence on our lives. These are relationships that we are working on growing, people we are investing in spiritually or the people we're just not as close to. The outer ring is typically just acquaintances and they usually don't influence our lives much at all. Brandon really encouraged us to evaluate our inner circle and maybe make some changes to it. He gave examples of his best friends from high school and where they are all at now as opposed to the inner circle he found in college that really encouraged him spiritually and helped him in his growth. He emphasized the importance of evaluating and even rearranging without "booting anyone out" of our lives because we don't want to lose friendships that we already have but we need to make sure that if people are going to be in our inner circle that their influence is one that helps us in our faith.
Then, this past Thursday Heath spoke about evangelism. He talked a lot about cost versus benefit of sharing the gospel, which is a big part of what we're learning to do this summer. He made the point that sharing the gospel should be a lifestyle, not just an activity. The costs were our image, our comfort, and our life. Dramatic? Yeah, it sounds like it, but it's really worth it. The things we gain from these costs are a greater view of Christ and how to be more like him, our true purpose in life fulfilled, and having an impact on the eternity of those we come into contact with. That's definitely something that has really hit me this summer. I'm not learning and growing simply to benefit myself anymore. The things I learn and put into practice back on campus this fall affect people's eternity. Heath gave the example of Edward Kimball, an ordinary Sunday school teacher, who shared the gospel with a student, who passed it on, who passed it on, etc. and eventually it reached a boy named William. William was also known as Billy Graham. If Kimball had not shared then Billy Graham may have never come to know Christ and then how many hundreds of thousands of other people would have never heard the gospel either. By me passing up the opportunity to share my faith with someone I not only deny them the chance to know Christ but also anyone they would have eventually shared with and so on. And on top of that, all the laboring that the people who have invested in me and the people before them would be in vain if I were to be a "spiritual dead-end". Coming into the summer I had a very selfish view on the things I would take away; now I can see how much bigger of a picture that I am just a small part of.
Last weekend we had the Kaleo Relationships Conference! It was an opportunity to hear from the staff, and some pretty legit resources, about Christ-centered friendships, dating and marriage relationships. They talked about being content in singleness and how this is when I have the most time to focus on my relationship with God, the most important relationship I could have. They also separated the guys and girls. The girls got a talk about modesty and the guys got a talk about girls' emotions. It was a great couple of days and I feel like it will still take awhile for me to absorb all the information.
In the final week before the staff left, our group had the chance to get time with all but one of the staff members from KU. We had dinner with Stephan and Sarah Billings after the Relationships conference and got to talk to them a little more about what that looked like in their life. Then for D-Group night we had Claire Lewis over. She was so fun and energetic and had great insight. Then on Wednesday we had the other Claire over for desert and got to hear about her life and testimony and get some great advice from her. It was so cool to get the chance to spend time with them!
The past couple of Mondays, instead of doing Inductive training we've had a short workshop and then a time of Campus Prayer. This has for sure been one of my favorite parts. Last week we began praying specifically, by name, for everyone at the project this summer. We prayed for Alpha Chi and FarmHouse the first week, as well as a few of the residence halls based on where people are going to be living. Tonight we prayed for Alpha Delta Pi, ATO, Theta Xi, Kappa, and Sig Ep. It was so cool to know that over the next few weeks each and every person will get prayed for by name and to know that the rest of the project is behind them 100% when we get back to campus. Prayer is so powerful and I've really enjoyed learning more about it and seeing the impact it can make.
Last friday, we had another group date. We were told to dress like we would have in elementary school and to be ready at 6:30pm. We were a little confused. It turned out great, though! The guys did a great job planning it. They cooked us macaroni and corndogs (a classic elementary school meal) for dinner, along with fruit cups and juice boxes. Then we went to the 'Burbs and did some finger painting and played board games. It was a great night!
Sunday afternoon/evening we had a barbeque with everyone from the project. We had the traditional hamburgers and hot dogs. Then we got some games of soccer and ultimate frisbee going. Then once it was dark we headed down to the beach for some fireworks. It was a super show!
Well, it's getting pretty late and I've got work tomorrow (only 16 more days! wow!). Thanks for checking in! Until next time...
Sarah
XOXO
Prayer Requests:
*Pray that Kaleo would not be just a 9-week summer program but that it would be a lifestyle
*Endurance- that we would not "coast" through the last few weeks but continue to be giving 100% in everything
*Boldness and opportunities- to share with others and to be courageous and confident about sharing
Again, I am sorry for the scarcity of info. It's been jam-packed here in Gulf Shores!
Highlights: StuMo Nights, Relationships Conference, KU Staff, Campus Prayer, group date, and 4th of July barbeque!
First, StuMo Nights! June 24 was focused on the topic of fellowship. Brandon, one of the people on staff at Oklahoma, came to speak to us. He kept repeating the phrase, "Show me your friends and I'll show you your future." He emphasized the importance of our inner circle of friends, then the other rings. He described it as a bullseye. Your inner circle is made up of the people who are closest to you and influence you the most. As believers, as well as laborers, it is important that we are careful who we allow into this inner circle because none of us (no matter what we want to believe) are above peer pressure. We want to make absolutely sure that the people in this small group of friends are going to be people who encourage us in our faith and spur us on to grow daily. Those relationships are so important in our lives. The "middle circle" are those who are still friends but who don't have quite the influence on our lives. These are relationships that we are working on growing, people we are investing in spiritually or the people we're just not as close to. The outer ring is typically just acquaintances and they usually don't influence our lives much at all. Brandon really encouraged us to evaluate our inner circle and maybe make some changes to it. He gave examples of his best friends from high school and where they are all at now as opposed to the inner circle he found in college that really encouraged him spiritually and helped him in his growth. He emphasized the importance of evaluating and even rearranging without "booting anyone out" of our lives because we don't want to lose friendships that we already have but we need to make sure that if people are going to be in our inner circle that their influence is one that helps us in our faith.
Then, this past Thursday Heath spoke about evangelism. He talked a lot about cost versus benefit of sharing the gospel, which is a big part of what we're learning to do this summer. He made the point that sharing the gospel should be a lifestyle, not just an activity. The costs were our image, our comfort, and our life. Dramatic? Yeah, it sounds like it, but it's really worth it. The things we gain from these costs are a greater view of Christ and how to be more like him, our true purpose in life fulfilled, and having an impact on the eternity of those we come into contact with. That's definitely something that has really hit me this summer. I'm not learning and growing simply to benefit myself anymore. The things I learn and put into practice back on campus this fall affect people's eternity. Heath gave the example of Edward Kimball, an ordinary Sunday school teacher, who shared the gospel with a student, who passed it on, who passed it on, etc. and eventually it reached a boy named William. William was also known as Billy Graham. If Kimball had not shared then Billy Graham may have never come to know Christ and then how many hundreds of thousands of other people would have never heard the gospel either. By me passing up the opportunity to share my faith with someone I not only deny them the chance to know Christ but also anyone they would have eventually shared with and so on. And on top of that, all the laboring that the people who have invested in me and the people before them would be in vain if I were to be a "spiritual dead-end". Coming into the summer I had a very selfish view on the things I would take away; now I can see how much bigger of a picture that I am just a small part of.
Last weekend we had the Kaleo Relationships Conference! It was an opportunity to hear from the staff, and some pretty legit resources, about Christ-centered friendships, dating and marriage relationships. They talked about being content in singleness and how this is when I have the most time to focus on my relationship with God, the most important relationship I could have. They also separated the guys and girls. The girls got a talk about modesty and the guys got a talk about girls' emotions. It was a great couple of days and I feel like it will still take awhile for me to absorb all the information.
In the final week before the staff left, our group had the chance to get time with all but one of the staff members from KU. We had dinner with Stephan and Sarah Billings after the Relationships conference and got to talk to them a little more about what that looked like in their life. Then for D-Group night we had Claire Lewis over. She was so fun and energetic and had great insight. Then on Wednesday we had the other Claire over for desert and got to hear about her life and testimony and get some great advice from her. It was so cool to get the chance to spend time with them!
The past couple of Mondays, instead of doing Inductive training we've had a short workshop and then a time of Campus Prayer. This has for sure been one of my favorite parts. Last week we began praying specifically, by name, for everyone at the project this summer. We prayed for Alpha Chi and FarmHouse the first week, as well as a few of the residence halls based on where people are going to be living. Tonight we prayed for Alpha Delta Pi, ATO, Theta Xi, Kappa, and Sig Ep. It was so cool to know that over the next few weeks each and every person will get prayed for by name and to know that the rest of the project is behind them 100% when we get back to campus. Prayer is so powerful and I've really enjoyed learning more about it and seeing the impact it can make.
Last friday, we had another group date. We were told to dress like we would have in elementary school and to be ready at 6:30pm. We were a little confused. It turned out great, though! The guys did a great job planning it. They cooked us macaroni and corndogs (a classic elementary school meal) for dinner, along with fruit cups and juice boxes. Then we went to the 'Burbs and did some finger painting and played board games. It was a great night!
Sunday afternoon/evening we had a barbeque with everyone from the project. We had the traditional hamburgers and hot dogs. Then we got some games of soccer and ultimate frisbee going. Then once it was dark we headed down to the beach for some fireworks. It was a super show!
Well, it's getting pretty late and I've got work tomorrow (only 16 more days! wow!). Thanks for checking in! Until next time...
Sarah
XOXO
Prayer Requests:
*Pray that Kaleo would not be just a 9-week summer program but that it would be a lifestyle
*Endurance- that we would not "coast" through the last few weeks but continue to be giving 100% in everything
*Boldness and opportunities- to share with others and to be courageous and confident about sharing
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)