WHEW!

I just have to say I'm very disappointed with myself for not keeping this updated! My days off never end up being days off. I'm usually very busy with getting all the stuff done that I didn't get done during the week. So this week I asked for two days off, so I could get rejuvenated. So I also decided that I would try and update my blog as well!
Staff left over the 4th of July. It was a very emotional time for many people on project. It was also a little scary because that meant we were in charge with no staff! We have 6 project leaders, then we have team leaders, then we have our bible study leaders. I am helping on the weekly meeting team. I am in charge of the schedule for Sunday nights, and also making sure the band knows what their doing, how much time they have, etc. I really enjoy it!! We have had a few bumps, but that is a part of learning how to lead! I'm really excited to see how the rest of project goes as we continue to grow together as a whole!
Relationships. Man! The women here are amazing! I have gotten to know so many more girls these last few weeks. Liz Lee and I have really hit it off. We now go sharing every Tuesday, because we work so well together as a twosome when we go sharing. I have also gotten to know the girls in my weekly meeting team a lot better too! Michelle and I had fun doing our laundry together. We had to run to the bank before and get some quarters. As we were standing there, this guy came up to the teller and asked "I'd like some pictures of dead presidents." Totally serious! It took me about 5 seconds to realize what he meant (I was going to tell him to go to the library). Then about 30 seconds later Michelle goes "OH!" We both start laughing! The guy says "These people need some laughter here!" So we became really good friends after that. :) If you don't get it...it's money=dead presidents.
Work. Now that has been interesting! I get easily exhausted and working 40 hours a week with not really getting any time to myself is extremely exhausting! I grew tired of going to work and lost sight of the reason why I'm there. I think all of us (at CFA) were feeling the same way. Just in the way we were working, it affected all of us and the people we worked with. SO we decided that we would meet up yesterday morning (monday) and talk,read the Word, and pray as a group. We went to Krispee Kreme for about 45 minutes. Oh my goodness! I was so encouraged and rejuvenated and excited to go to work! You could see a difference in all of us. We were joy filled! We were not relying on our strength to get through the work day, we were relying on the Holy Spirit. The day was slow, but we enjoyed it.
Activities. Well, there have been a lot! But there are two that I have to mention:) The first one is when our Impact guys took us out on a Friday night around town. They treated us to a show, it was a lot of acrobats and gymnasts...doing CRAZY things! It was unbelievable to see how their bodies could twist and move! We had so much fun as a group! The other was when us girls took the guys "out". We made a Chinese lunch, wanton soup, fried rice, chicken, and big cookie. It actually was our last time as a whole group because JP is leaving to go study abroad. Lets just say that all the dishes got there and we were full by the end of it! Then after we went sharing we brought the guys back and played frisbee golf. There isn't a course around here for that, so Liz Lee and Haley went to the park to make our own "course". We had 9 tree's we had to hit. There is also a pond throughout the park...he he he. It was probably one of my favorite times with my group. We had fellowship time, quality time, and just plain hanging out time with them. The funniest thing about the day was that one of the frisbee's did go in the pond:/ JP had said he would go in if it did. JP and Brian went in. This pond has turtles,geese,ducks and a big fish (and many little ones) in it. BUT we did get it back and no one got hurt:)
What I'm learning. How I am weak and sinful compared to Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit has just really been teaching me about how much I need Him. How I can't do anything without God! And how prideful I am:/ It stinks when your shown your sinful pride. It really interferes with everything! The last few days have been pretty crazy in what He's teaching me. I'm excited to see what the last few weeks hold for me. I'm also learning to take care of conflict. I'm one that would rather not talk about anything than confront it. BUT through many different people I addressed conflict and will continue to do so! It's so hard, but it's so much better when you do!
Well, the last thing is prayer. I NEED your prayers! I've realized how important your prayers are.
1. Rest. I don't get enough of it...so that I will be able to get rest and when I don't, that the Holy Spirit will give me His strength.
2. That I will continue to have a desire to share the gospel with other and apply it to my life as well
3. That I will pray more and have a desire to talk to the Lord in that way.
4. Relationships. That mine will continue to deepen with these girls
5. James. He is a guy I've been able to get into deep conversations with. Pray that I will be able to present the gospel to him in a way he can grasp
6. Nate and I. That we continue to grow and deepen our relationship together. That we will both have patience until we see each other:)

Thank you!! God Bless!

YAH!

I am officially going to update you all on my life on Tuesday, BUT I have to tell you some exciting news! Today I was sharing in Myrtle Beach (not North Myrtle). Within 45 minutes we were turned down twice, only got to go through the survey with 2 people and then brought 2 girls to Christ! Other than that AWESOME fact of having 2 new sisters in Christ, the really cool/sad fact is that they are the first people I have personally lead to Christ. The night before I was pretty discouraged and whining to the Lord about that. And He decided that He would give me grace and let me experience a wonderful thing of bringing someone to Him!

That's all:)

Sorry it's been so long!

OK! So let's say that it's been a crazy busy two weeks...lets not just say it's been...it HAS! It has been SO busy, and I get more and more exhausted. Besides that fact, I'm sorry I haven't updated for awhile.
We had a All for One week last week. We were told that we had to communicate EVERYTHING by word of mouth. Meaning, if there were specific instructions to an activity, we had to find out by word of mouth. The first few days were very frustrating, not so much for me, but just as a project. We were all very confused and there didn't seem to be a way to get around that fact. Well, we decided to have a group meeting right on the spot. The problem was, was that there were only 10 people in the area...SO we had to practice:) In 10 minutes we had all 91 of us (i believe) in that spot having a meeting! It was awesome. It got better towards the end of the week:) We ended the week with a softball game staff vs. students! I think my favorite thing was when we were walking to the park. We walked in 4 lines down the street screaming "We are Team Jesus" (like We are the Titans). We were ONE! All coming together for one purpose. We proceeded to 'play ball'. It was so much fun seeing how we came together and worked together. We almost won the game...by about 3 feet! but after much screaming and cheering and hooting and hollering the staff won 24-23. :( I really didn't care because it was done with such a great attitude throughout the whole game! I also hit the ball and got onto first, which was the only thing I wanted to do! :)
This week is Prayer and World Vision week. We had an eye-opening international dinner to kick it off. We all learned so much and it was kind of a continuation of All for One week...we came together. Many people are now listening to where the Lord is calling them. It's been really cool! We proceeded to have an AMAZING Sunday night meeting. Shanti spoke on 'World Vision', talking about the different sites we have all over the world (Australia! East Asia, France, Uruguay, 4th Journey, Ghana). We had worship time after that, lots of us needed Kleenex's. You could feel the Holy Spirit in that room, laying on our hearts His burden for the lost.
I just have to say it has been a hard week for me. Spiritually, Physically, Emotionally, Mentally, you name it and I was exhausted in it! I got hurt playing soccer on Sunday, which meant my "free time" was taking up by ice packs:/ I'm doing fine now:) Monday I was still feeling a little out of it, not feeling rested from our "free day". So I went into Tuesday pretty tired. Tuesday 2 of the 4 people that were working at Chick-fil-a were sick...which meant I would be the only one at the store because we have a kiosk at another mall. SO I got stressed out pretty fast! Right when I felt like I was getting a little better...corporate came. Those of you who do work where your corporate come, you know how everyone gets really stressed! Plus we were abnormally busy that day! I could NOT wait to get home and take a nap! I get home, lay down. I laid down and just started crying out to the Lord because I was so exhausted and not wanting to do anything, just wanting to have a day where I didn't DO anything. I got probably about 20 minutes of nap time, 40 minutes of just laying down. I felt my phone ringing, but didn't answer because I was too tired. I woke up about 10 minutes later to a text from Alex (my sister) that Sophina (my baby sister) was being admitted to the hospital. It said "don't freak out" well, that's exactly what I did! It was pretty much the last straw of the day. Something that I didn't mention was that it was also outreach night...which means telling other about Jesus. I had no idea how I was going to get through the night! WELL, after realizing that satan was trying to stop me from sharing, I immediately started praying for strength for the night. Then Tracey Holt came over and prayed for me. I was no where near the point of jumping around all excited, but I had this peace from the Holy Spirit that I had enough to get through the night.
I went sharing with the Liz in my small group:) We both were pretty exhausted, but fully trusting in the Lord. We had great conversations the whole night, but what was awesome for me was our conversation with these 4 girls. They were all cousins, all from different spiritual backgrounds, but we got into a deep conversation with them. They didn't want to go through the KGP with us, but they had some questions for us. One girl asked "why do good people suffer". MAN! The Lord immediately gave me words and Scripture to share with her! I don't think I uttered the word "um" once (which is big:)! I told her how my family and I have gone through so many hardships this last year, with Sophina being sick and dad not having a job, etc. I was able to share how we've seen people come to Christ because of how we've handled our hardships. We have been able to give glory to God and glorify Him through that. I explained it a lot better:) I also shared with her a verse I had just memorized about 4 days before, Romans 5:3-5. It talks about how suffering produces endurance, character, hope and it fit so perfectly into what I was saying! I was able to share my heart with these girls and especially this one girl. I'm praying that she will think on that and search for herself! So I came back just at peace with the Lord, and praising Him for answering my prayers! I found out during our group sharing time that many other people were being attacked by satan that day and how they also had to rely completely on the Lord for strength! It was so awesome:)
Work has been interesting. I've just been getting really tired and a little frustrated. Tired because I was switching my days off which meant I worked pretty much 8-9 days in a row...not fun! Frustrated because I haven't been able to get into many conversations with my employee's, due to me being on register and they being on back bar. I know I'm put here for a reason, but I want to be fulfilling that reason! and just for all of us Project people, we are very tired and trying to keep in our minds how we are to be like Jesus. The 'honeymoon stage' is WAY over:)
Okay so I need to get to bed, but I'll let you know what I need prayer for
-Exhaustion-I'm still mentally,physically,and emotionally exhausted. I'm needing supernatural strength to get through these days!
-Project-that I will continue to deepen and develop friendships!
-Student leaders-staff have picked out the student leaders for when the staff leave. Please pray for wisdom and strength as they lead the project!
-my quiet times-I get so busy and want to just wind down, but I need to spend time in the Word before doing that (just an fyi to let you know how busy I've been, I live 1 block away from the beach and I have not enjoyed the ocean or beach for over 2 weeks!)
-my neighbors-tonight they were aiming Roman candle's at people in the street...it's hard to have compassion on them!
-Nate and I- Nate is going to be leaving for Griffith's Mid-year conference. I won't be able to Skype with him for awhile, I might be able to talk to him for a little bit, but it will be tough.
-me...just in general, that the Lord will continue to work through me and remind me that I am HIS desire and treasure.

God Bless

Giants are Killed!

Right now I am sitting in my room listening to the thunder rumbling outside, with the screams and shouts of our new neighbors mixed in. It's peaceful, but at the same time a reminder of what we are being called to do this summer. These seniors are drunk already and they just moved in this afternoon! The smell of pot,beer and cigarette smoke are all around us. The foul language and taunting are also a part of this summer. Each week we will get a new group of high school seniors who come and party...and not just one party...everyday, all day. I seriously don't know when they sleep! They are awake when I go to bed and awake when I leave for work (at 8 in the morning). It's so sad to see what they are living for right now. One of my teammates told me that one of the kids said that his mom told him that he would be disowned from the family if he came here. Can you imagine?! A mom trying to keep her son and not even the threat of disowning stops these kids!
This last week we had a week called "Killing the Giants". I think I mentioned it in my last blog, but it is when we conquer some of our fears with evangelism. We had to make goals for how many times we initiated conversations. Like asking someone to go through a survey with us. Our goal was 2,582 initiated conversations with 91 people sharing for 5 days. Our final count was 2,677!!! We talked with 2,677 people in 5 days! Crazy. Our other goal was gospel conversations and that was 550 or something like that. We had 627 gospel conversations out of the 2,677 initiated!!! AND the awesome thing 101 people came to know Jesus Christ as their Savior!
This last week wasn't easy at all. I really was excited to go out sharing, but after working an 8 hour day, and on my feet for those 8 hours. I didn't want to go out and talk with people, I wanted to spend the one hour I had at home to myself! I had some hard days of being exhausted and not having any strength in me. I was disappointed because most of the conversations I had, the people were already believers. I was able to get more comfortable with going up to strangers and asking them about death and Jesus! The night before the final count I wanted to go out sharing and there was only one other person who wanted to (where I was hanging out). So Dan and I went out Friday night to talk with people on Main Street and on the beach. We talked with a few people but nothing much resulted from those conversations. We went on the beach hoping to find more people to talk to, we talked with this one girl named Paige. She is 19 and working on the fast track to prosperity. I asked her a couple questions from the survey and then Dan shared the Gospel with her. I was praying for Dan the whole time, but I just felt like she didn't really care and wasn't listening. He really pushed the point of how important the decision to let Jesus Christ be Lord of your life is! He also said that we didn't want her to pray the prayer just because it's the right thing to do...it has to be something that she desired. After thinking about it she decided that it was a decision she wanted to make!!!! I know have a new sister in Christ! It was just a sweet ending to a frustrating week.
Tonight I really wanted to go to bed because of the stressful week I had, but I felt that the Lord wanted me to go out sharing. I decided to go out and share. I knew that a lot of the students had just moved in so they hadn't heard about us:D I went with Diego this time. We went in the Carnival, but there was no one really to talk to. Then we went down Main Street and after a bit we went up to this young couple. We asked them what they thought happens after death, their answer was reincarnation. We then asked them what would you tell your friend if he came up to you and asked you to help him become a Christian. They said "just find out for yourself. We don't know anything about it". Our last question (s) was How would you rate your desire to know God on a scale from 1-10 (high-low)? They both said a 10. Usually when people say 10, they are just saying it because we're Campus Crusade people. BUT we were telling them how we really enjoyed that they were being real with us, so I knew that's what they meant. We then switched the question around. "how would you rate God's desire to know you?" They both said 1! My heart just broke! This whole time the storm that I talked about at the beginning of the blog was coming closer...and right at that point it started raining. It's not a nice Minnesota rain, it's HUGE drops of rain. We ended up giving them the booklet with Diego's email address on it and thanked them for doing the survey with us. I know that we talked with them for a reason, but MAN the timing of the rain was frustrating. I felt like the Lord was opening their hearts. I'm praying that I run into them again (and recognize them!) so I can go through the booklet with them. Please keep Joe and Cathryn in your prayers. They need to hear how much Jesus Christ wants a relationship with them!!!
Well this is just a quick update on my week! I'll write a little bit more on Tuesday:) Thank you all for keeping me in your prayers! I really could use prayer for energy and endurance...my body is not used to this kind of schedule!

God Bless

Wait!? Where did this week go?

This last week has just flown by! At the same time each day seems like a few days! It has definitely been a week of getting rid of myself and not putting me first. It's been a week of the Lord showing me so many things that I need to learn, that I can't keep up! :) It's been a week of having a 40 hour job and then going to activities an hour after you get home. It's been a week of sadness as my roommate goes home because she has to have surgery on her ankle. It's been a whole week since I wrote last, and it feels like it's been a month!
Well, I finished my first 40 hour week at Chick-Fil-A! YAH! My feet kill because I'm on my feet the whole time, but I did it! Now I'm gearing up for the rest of my work week. Work has been going SO well! I have just been praising the Lord for the people I work with and the place He put me. Friday I was planning on doing the register because I had been trained and did a good job at it. WELL, the Lord had a different plan for me. I was put on making fries. I was pretty frustrated at first because I wanted to be the one to talk with people and help people, etc. I didn't feel like I could do that making fries with my back to everyone! I asked the Lord to help me change my attitude because I did NOT want to make fries. The Lord answered my prayer!! As it got closer to the lunch rush, I was starting to like it:) Then we got hit with lunch...and I just kicked those fries out! I had a nice rhythm going so it turned out to be really fun. Actually, my boss told me that she has never had a better fry person! It was just so good to hear that because I had asked the Lord to help me do everything for His glory and He did! I did the best I could do because it wasn't for man, but for the Lord and with the Lord's help. I walked away from work just amazed how my attitude had change from earlier that morning. I now have become the person that can do any of the jobs up front. I can do the register, do the fries, make the sandwiches, fry the filet's or nuggets, or bag stuff. I now LOVE to do stuff on the back line. I still would love to do the register, but I'm content doing whatever they want.
Work took up a lot of my day (8am-5pm, including the driving), so I didn't do too much this week other than the activities planned for us students. We had our first night of outreach on Tuesday and had at least 10 people come to Christ. That was with pretty much no one on the beach and the weather not being very nice. Wednesday we had reflection night, date night with Jesus. It is a night that I know I need in order to get through the rest of the week! I have 6:30-9 (or later) to spend time with Jesus. At first I was thinking I wouldn't have enough stuff to do, but I found out I ran out of time! Thursday we had our weekly meeting. It was hard. I had wanted to be on the worship team, but found out I wasn't on either team. I was struggling with wanting to be up there SO bad and leading 130 people in all-out worship. I knew that the Lord didn't want me on worship team, but it was still hard for me. Throughout the rest of the week I realized how good I'm not on the worship team! It's a lot of work, you practice, you learn the songs you don't know, etc. I now know that if I would have been on worship team...it wouldn't have been good. I would have burnt out way too fast and not have been able to lead people in worship. I am now thanking the Lord that I'm not in that ministry area!
Friday was our evening off! We still had to work, but Project didn't have anything planned. So I got to Skype with Nate:) It was a little difficult because there's not really a place on project that you can have a private conversation. We had a wonderful time together and will next Tuesday be celebrating our 6 month anniversary! It's crazy that we've been together for that long, but at the same time it seems like we've been together for way longer:) It's been rough with both of us trying to adjust to my new schedule and not have too much flexibility in when we can talk, etc. We're doing really good though finding ways we can still have time together and be with each other. I hung out with some of my friends, planned a Sunday School lesson with my impact group. Saturday was a work day, I got home and we had Project Social! We had a huge dinner with all 130 of us! Then we went to the beach to have some fun! There were 3 groups and had sand castle competitions, bike races (on the beach), and beach boche ball! It was a lot of fun...I didn't come even close to winning in any of them. Though we did get a complement on our moat for our sand castle! Then we went back to have some ice cream. This wasn't just any bowl of ice cream...it was a huge mixing bowl that you had 3-4 people eat out of! We put all different kinds of ice cream in it and then put about every type of toppings on you could think of! It was crazy huge and delicious:) After that it was about 9ish and still plenty hot out. So about 50 of us went to the beach to have some fun! I tried something very new to me...skimboarding. You skim the waves with your board that you jump up and stand on. I watched a few people do it, and wanted to try it. I didn't fall, but I didn't go very far. Then I tried it a couple more times, went farther but fell down both times! (I have a bruise on my knee to show for it:) There was a thunderstorm coming in so we had to get out of the water. All of us sat on the beach and watched it come in. It was SO beautiful and awe-inspiring! As I was heading back up I found out that my roommate had hurt her ankle skimboarding and was at the hospital! We had a HUGE prayer time for her in our gathering area. She found out that she is going to have to have surgery on her ankle, because it's badly broken. Brooke had to leave project. It was rough for all of us. She left yesterday, we actually didn't even get to say good-bye or get a roomie picture because we thought she was going to leave today. :( Sunday my impact group and I did a Sunday School lesson for the church we're at. It went well, it was very interesting, but enjoyable to work with my fellow friends! We had a bunch of fun:) I hung out with some friends for the afternoon.
We had our Sunday night meeting, it was SO amazing. The Holy Spirit just filled the room. It's so awesome to sing with 130 other people singing their hearts out! We got challenged to 'Kill our Giants', our fears with sharing. So we made a goal of how many people we want to share with, share the gospel with and a goal of overcoming a certain fear in our life in ministry. So this week is going to be intense! The Lord has already brought so many people to Christ this week it's crazy! Monday was Bible study. It was a sweet time with the other women. I love those girls! It's so cool to see how we've opened up to each other just in the last weeks and we didn't know each other before coming to Project!! How awesome is that?!
Today is my day off. I have lots to do today, but wanted to keep everyone updated! Thank you for keeping me in your prayers!

Prayers for this next week
-Killing the Giants week. That I won't give up before I start. The goal is big for me, and I sometimes have a hard time starting.
-Work. Energy throughout the week. That conversations will open up for me to share the gospel with them. Cathy, Wendy, Andy, Jackie, Marie, Tanika, Courtney, and more.
-Energy in general. I am worn out already and it's only Tuesday.
-That I will make wise use of my time. when i get home I just want to relax, but I need to keep going!
- That I won't bottle up, so to speak. I want to be vulnerable with my bible study girls and leader.
-Friendships, that they will continue to grow and deepen throughout the week!
-My time with the Lord each day will grow me closer to Him!

God Bless!

First week!!

Hey y'all! I thought you'd like to know what's happening down here:) Let's just say it's busy, busy, busy! I knew that it would be busy coming into this trip but WHEW! Your ready to go to bed by 9 every night. I'm loving it here! It's been amazing meeting all these women and men of God. It's funny to hear people say this, but it's so true! "I feel like I've known you for SO long!" You hear that almost every day.
We have a few different groups that each person is a part of. One is our Bible study group. My group has 5 girls (including me) plus one of the staff, Melissa. We are studying Mark together. We meet up once a week on Monday nights. The girls are SO awesome! Some of you might have taken the love language test or have heard of it. WELL, all of us girls' #1 love language is touch. So we're constantly hugging and rubbing each others back and playing with each others hair, etc. For guys that might sound weird, but girls it's totally normal:) We are already getting SO close, view video:) The funny thing about my group is that there is another Liz! It's kind of funny because Melissa will say "Liz I'll meet up with you at 1:30 tomorrow!" We'll be both standing next to each other and be like "which one?!" It's fun! I love those girls already and it's not even been a full week.
The other main group is impact group. Impact group is when we have one of the guys' bible study meet up with the girls'. The guy's have already made dinner for us. The best thing was one of the nights we had an Iron Chef thing going on for the WHOLE group. We used a TON of dishes, and the girls didn't have to wash a single one! It was very nice...we might just have to think of something to do for them:) Every week we'll have dinner together. So we're thinking that each time we'll have to time ourselves when we go pick up the grocery's, to see if we get a shorter time each week as we figure out the store.
The other group hasn't started up yet, but there are different groups of ministry that we will be a part of. The staff actually leave about half way through, which means we have to lead the project! So all of us will have a different group to be a part of to help run the project. Some will be on worship team, prayer team, outreach team, behind the scenes (techy stuff), our group meetings, etc. So next week I'll hopefully know more about that and start to get to know those people in my group!
Some of the things we do daily is work, group get-together's, ministry nights, etc. Each night except Friday night we have something going on from around 6-9:30pm. It keeps you busy especially if you work from 8:30-4:30 or 5 every day! Each night is different. Sunday is dinner with our impact group and we also have our weekly meeting. Monday is dinner with our bible study and then we have bible study after that. Tuesday we have our main outreach day from 6:30-9 and after that we meet together and share the stories from that night. Wednesday we have reflection night, which is where we have 2 1/2 hours of alone time just with God. It might seem like a lot of time, but I know by the middle of the week I'll need that time with Him. Thursday we have dinner by apartments and then our weekly meeting. Friday is when we have our evening off. Saturday we have all 130 of us eat together and then we have a project social! Work is every day for me except for Tuesday's and Sunday's. So on top of all of that I work from 8:30-4:30:) Keeps me VERY busy!
I hope that this gives you a little bit more into the ministry this summer! I can't wait to tell you more of what the Lord does! He has already brought 8 or more people to Christ! Praise the Lord! There have been a number of conversations where the Gospel has been presented to the point of decision. Please be praying for the hearts that have heard the Gospel but did not receive. That people in their lives will talk with them and bring them another step closer to the Savior! Today I'm going out sharing with my discipler so please be praying for that as well!
Other prayer requests are : time. I don't have much extra time during the day, so that I will use it wisely. Friends. That I'll continue to be open and get to know them better. In general just that I will be bold in sharing my faith. Work. That there will be conversations that will open up to share what God has done in my life and what He can do in theirs! Thank you for all of your help in getting me here! Please let me know how you all are doing! I can't promise I'll respond, but I love to hear things from home!

God Bless

I'M HERE!

Just a quick update before I shut the lights off! I got here with the rest of my group all safe and sound! We made GREAT time, and actually we were here an hour and half early! We had some lunch, saw the ocean, got a little burnt (not too much because it was cloudy), then went to check-in! It still hasn't sunk in that I'm here for the summer! It seems like it's a 2 week camp and we'll be here and then we'll leave...but it's for 10 weeks! Man, I'm going to know everyone's name and a lot about them by the end of those 10 weeks! I'm all unpacked (whew!). My building/room is right by the office so my roommates and I can get wi-fi:) Which will be really good for Skyping! We had a scavenger hunt tonight as kind of an ice breaker, we had 6 teams of 14-16 people. We ran all over town unscrambling the hints and having to find the places. At each place we were able to hear about the smaller ministries inside the North Myrtle Beach Ministry. Such as worship, techie stuff, evangelism, prayer, planning, creating...etc. It was a great way to get to know the town, the staff, the heart of NMB, and to get to know your team better. My team got 2nd place (after 45 minutes of looking for the last spot). I got to hear everyone's name tonight...forgive me if I forget, even after 3 weeks! :)
Please be praying as I enter into tomorrow...it's the start of my crazy new schedule! I'm busy from 7:30am-9pm (i'm running in the morning). We have a lot of orientation and information and other necessary things going on tomorrow. I'm really excited to get to know more people! I will hopefully be able to put up a longer blog on Sunday!

God Bless

Packing Day :/

UGH! I usually like to pack, but not this time! Packing for a whole summer with limited space is not cool! :) There's less than 3 days until I leave, and I feel like I'm no where near ready for it. I have almost everything packed, except my backpack and the things that I'm still needing for the weekend. It's insane. My room is completely trashed, full of plastic bags from my many runs to stores to get things. I got a new backpack, blue...room for my laptop! It has many zippers and pockets (YES). I still have to figure out how everything will fit in my car! It might be pretty tight once we stop in Ohio to pick up the last person! I've been more stressed than usual during the packing day. I know I brought too much stuff, but I have no idea what I will end up wearing this summer, so I just left it all in:) I still have to fit in two towels, bleh.
I'm really excited though to head out there! It will be so good, after all this waiting, to actually BE there! I can't wait to meet everyone on the team, the staff, etc. I'm also looking forward to meeting the new people we'll be picking up on the way out! I hope that I will start building close relationships with those girls. It will be a loooooooong trip, but hope that it will be filled with lasting memories!
Some things you could be praying for, for me and for others on the team:
-Joe, right now he is stuck in Kansas with his family, the van broke down (it's the weekend) and he doesn't know if he'll make it back in time to drive out with us.
-the rest of the people who are still looking for rides, we want EVERYONE there!
-for the drive, that all the pick-up times will work well, and everything will go smoothly
-me, I've had a crazy week (and I didn't work at one of my jobs!) and right now I'm pretty exhausted, physically and emotionally. I do not want to go into the summer this way.
-packing, that I will get everything put in and take out whatever I won't need!
-Nate and I as we go through changes with my new schedule and ministry, that our relationship will grow stronger and deeper
This is where I will be in 4 days!!! AHHHH!! :D


God Bless

11 days

I'm sitting here in bed thinking how I only have a little over a week to enjoy this bed before I head off to NMB. I actually have a king-sized bed:) Mom and Dad had a water-bed, but when we moved to the house it didn't fit in their bedroom - which meant I got it! So it will take a little getting used to if I have a smaller bed or if I end up sharing a bed with another girl! Anyway, last night I said good-bye to some of my co-workers. In particular the salad guy Kevin. He doesn't work Saturday's (my last night) so I said good-bye to him. Last summer on a boring night, or after a really busy night he would take a strawberry, cut the top off and put chocolate inside and then top it off with a ton of whip cream! So we had a toast of chocolate strawberry's. I'll have to hopefully do that a couple times this summer with the project people! It is definitely weird knowing that I'm going to be gone from the place I've worked at for 3 years! I'm excited though to find a job for this summer! I don't know if it will be a restaurant job, but I would love to do something fun that I could never do up here in St. Cloud!
So my packing pile is getting bigger! I now have 3 piles: 1. clothing (it will have to move to a bigger area shortly:) 2. bathroom stuff 3. Music/Misc. I realized that I'm going to have to do some major thinking on what I want to bring! I was thinking one suitcase, a small duffel bag and a backpack for the car ride. WELL...I forgot about the guitar, camera, and laptop! :/ I think the small duffel bag will end up holding my camera and music stuff. Here I thought I would be a pretty light packer...not going to happen! It's so hard packing light, knowing that your going to be gone for the summer! What stuff can I live without? What stuff could I just get at the Walmart or Target in NMB? The biggest thing about packing, at least clothes wise, is what warm clothes should I bring with? There's bound to be a couple cool days that I'd want to wear pants instead of shorts. We have 2 drawers and a foot of closet space for each of us so I can't bring too much bulky clothing! I've told many people I want to start packing right now! I'm waiting until after my birthday (the 17th) to allow myself that privilege. lol
This week I got something very exciting done! Our schedule for driving out to NMB. Aaron (the driver of the other vehicle) and I were at Caribou for about an hour. We had to figure out where we were going to pick up the other people and at what times. We also figured out who all was driving with us, something I'm very excited about! So we get to leave Tuesday the 25th at 5 in the morning! *gasp* We will be driving all the way through to NMB. We left enough leeway to give us some extra time to take some fun pictures at the state signs or whatever else we'd like:) If everything goes according to plan, we will be arriving in NMB around 11am on the 26th. As Aaron and I were planning this, I was thinking of all the things that could go wrong on the trip. Then I remembered something someone told me a few months ago when she went on a trip. "You usually pray before trips that nothing will go wrong, everyone will stay safe, we'll get there when we need to, etc. BUT do we ever pray "Lord do what you will." ? We are not in control! Yes, we can still pray that He will keep us safe, but everything shall be for His glory so why not ask Him to do what He will?" I just have been thinking about that a lot. This summer I have given over to the Lord, I'm realizing everyday that I have to give my summer to Him day-by-day, it's a daily thing. So if I give Him my summer, this driving to NMB is a part of my summer! Who knows what will happen on this trip! I would rather have everything work out perfectly, but I have to be open to challenges. :) It's scary, but invigorating at the same time!

God Bless

2 weeks!

I still can't believe I'm heading to South Carolina for the summer! Today I went to the store to buy some things I'll need for the summer. When I got back home I knew that I wouldn't wear the clothes so I put them aside in the...da da dum...packing section of my room!! It has officially started! I am starting to pack! It won't get too serious until next week, but I still have to start at some point! I'm really excited to pack, I love packing! When Nate was leaving for Australia I helped him pack (he HATES packing). I had so much fun doing that, that we decided that I'll Skype with him when he starts packing to head home to the US (not until December, but we plan ahead:). I just have to say that Skype is AMAZING! Whoever invented the idea of videoing people for free from anywhere in the world should be given LOTS of chocolate! I will be able to see my family during this summer, as well as friends (hint, hint, get Skype so I can say hi:). Hopefully I will be close to a wireless place in the building I'm living in so I will be able to talk from my room, otherwise I might have to Skype by the offices:/ Caribou is also a lovely place, but I don't think SC would sell much hot coffee!
It turned into a rainy day as I headed to work this evening. I was thinking about how much I love rain, the smell, the drops on my head, the splash of water as you walk through the puddles, the cleanliness of the ground when it stops. It was still raining when I left work and there were only a few cars on the road, it just felt like there were no problems, no worries, you could take your time getting anywhere. I don't know exactly where I'm going with this, but the peace that I felt as I was driving home listening to piano music playing in the car as the rain came down and the windshield wipers going back and forth, back and forth-it was so good. It's crazy how God uses the littlest things like rain to relax us. Other times it's music, or a book, or just His creation. That's one thing I'm really excited about learning this summer. Worshiping His Creation in another state! I'm so used to evergreens, lakes, etc. South Carolina I don't really know what to expect except beaches and palm trees:) Who knows what the Lord will show me this summer! I can't wait to get there...it will be an amazing summer!

God bless!

20 days

And so the countdown begins...20 days until my life will be changed. 20 days until I will be challenged in ways I didn't know I could be. 20 days until I meet 94 other students wanting the same thing I want:to bring others to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. 20 days until I find out what a summer fully surrendered to God is like. 20 days until I start to understand what ministry looks like (part time at least). 20 days until I start my summer in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina! In 20 days my life will change.
I am now fully supported financially! Praise God! Now what I need the most is PRAYER. I can't go to NMB without prayer support! So here are a few new things I need prayer for:
1. Job. I am going to go there and have to find a job. I have no idea what kind of job I'd like. So pray that I will have direction and that I will be content wherever the Lord leads me to work.
2. Packing. I will start packing next week or so. Pray that I won't bring too much stuff! We have limited space. I am a light packer, but it's for the whole summer so I know that it will be tough
3. Driving. I will be driving with some other people from Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Ohio. Pray that our drive will be safe. That the Lord will get us there how He wants us to.
4. Family. Pray that my family will get adjusted to me not being able to talk to them or see them very much. Pray that I won't worry about Sophina or other family matters.
5. Nate and I. Pray that satan will be bound as we both will be heavily involved in ministry. Pray that we will be able to have quality time together as much as possible. Pray that we will make right decisions. Pray that we will continue to grow closer together through this new challenge.
6. Me. Pray that I will make time every day to get into the Word and in prayer. Pray that I will listen to what the Lord is saying to me. Pray that God will continually deepen my commitment for the cause of Jesus Christ.

I think that's it...well actually I could go on for a long time, but thought this was a good start:) Thank you to you all who are praying for me and supporting me in that way and more! I love you all!

God Bless

50% !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am at the halfway point of raising my support!! How awesome is that?! I have 1 1/2 months to raise the rest of the $1,500! It's pretty amazing getting to that goal but challenging as well. I know that I will want to just sit and not talk to people about giving, BUT in order to go I need to raise that much more! It's definitely something I'm not looking forward to, but so far it's been pretty east so I guess I need a little bit of a challenge! :) I know many people, including my church that are going to give, so patience is also something I need to practice...some days I don't like to practice patience!
Today I was telling my friend Elise how I wanted to start packing for NMB! :) I realized that I could mentally pack, because I will need most of those clothes from now until then! lol Though I am wanting to find most of the things I'll bring and see if there are any necessary items that are needing to be bought...like some cute tank tops? ...no more like necessary things! hahaha I'm getting so excited to get to NMB and meet all my teammates and CCC staff! I'm also VERY excited for the drive out there! Some of my St. Cloud friends and I are planning the drive like -who are we picking up and where, how many mpg's does your car get, where do you really want to stop, etc...ah!! That gets me SO excited!!! I can't wait to get there!

I thought I would let you be in on the 50% celebration:) Hope you are all having a wonderful week!!

God Bless!

GOAL!

wow. That pretty much all I can say! I'm supposed to have $800 postmarked by April 5th. I was hoping to get at least $700 by that time, well I should have set my goal higher! I have almost $1,000 and I still have a week left! I couldn't believe it after I got home after church. The Lord has just kept reminding me that He is in charge! I still wonder why I worry when He keeps providing and providing for me?!
Today I church I got introduce my friend Hannah to my friend Joel, they are both going to NMB. I've known Joel since I was a toddler and Hannah came to Calvary today, so I just had to have them meet-we're going to be spending the summer together! AH! Exciting! I can't wait to meet other people.
A new prayer request is for finding a job. We all have to find jobs for the summer, and so I need to figure out what exactly I'm wanting to do, where I want to be, etc. So please be praying as I look around. A girl from the project said that there is a outlet mall that should have job openings, so maybe I'll work there! :) Thank you all for supporting me in prayer and finances!

The Lord Provides...

This last week I have been really worried about getting all of my money in for NMB. I'm not as worried for the whole amount, but I'm worried about getting $800 in by April 1st...a little over a week! Monday my family and I were driving back from visiting family, and I was just doubting that I could get all the money in! When we get home we pick up the mail, and in the middle of the pile there is a letter addressed to me. I open it up and a $100 check is inside! I couldn't believe it! here I was worrying about $800, and the Lord goes "Here. I'll remind you of Who is in charge!". It was so humbling to see how little I'm trusting the Lord in this area! Most of the time I don't believe I can get the $800 much less the $3000+ I need for the summer, but every time the Lord reminds me through the people I know or by other people who are supporting me, that HE is in charge! I was telling Nate about all of this and something he said was "$3000 dollars to God is a sick joke! It's His money and His economy! The money is always there!". It's so true though! Every time I have gone on a missions trip of any sort, He always provides and last year-when the economy was bad, I had extra money that I was able to put towards supplies that we were needing for Ukraine! So my task for the next couple of months is to TRUST that the Lord will provide everything I need-even the GPS that I'll need to get before leaving! Who knows?! It's pretty awesome to think that way!

GOD IS SO AMAZING!!!!!!!

Don't you LOVE it when the Lord answer's a prayer that you didn't even think could be answered?? Earlier this week I sent a letter to Nate, we are writing hand written letters. We didn't want these letters to be the 'I didn't learn a thing about you' letter's, we wanted to know what the Lord was teaching the other person in the time that we had gotten the other person's letter. WELL, there was something this week before I sent my letter that the Lord really laid on my heart. He reminded me of something that I had done when I was 13 years old. I had put it on the back burner until the last 4 months. He (the Lord) put it back on my heart and said 'Remember?! This is what your going to do for Me!' I told the Lord 'Well, what about Nate? How will that work with him in my life?!' He didn't answer me. :(
Fast forward...today I got to Skype with Nate. He told me about something that the Lord had laid on HIS heart on Friday! IT WAS THE SAME THING!!!! The only problem was was that I couldn't tell Nate because it was in my letter and it was like HALF a page (a BIG page) long! So I had to bite my tongue from screaming out "PRAISE THE LORD!!" hahaha Seriously though! It was something that I was really worried about, but thought, I'll just wait until Nate writes his letter back. Well, God had different idea's! I had such a hard time not smiling a big as I could! The Lord answered my prayer by a hundred fold! I can't wait to tell Nate-it's gonna be another 3-4 days before I can tell him! I just couldn't stop smiling after I was done Skyping with him! I still am in awe of how quickly the Lord answered my prayers!!! I love the Lord SOOOOO MUCH!!! Just when I think I've got things down and pat - He shows that He's still in charge of what happens! :) I take SUCH comfort in that!!!

Procrastination!

UGH! So I have almost all my support letters addressed and stuffed-but now I have to go buy stamps, and I keep forgetting! One of the reason's why is because I am hoping to hand out most of my letters out at church this Sunday! I am so excited to see how the Lord is going to move in people's hearts to give! Something that I am doing this year that I've never done before, is calling people back. Just to let you all know-I HATE talking on the phone except with Nate and some other good friends-I'd much rather go out for coffee,text, or FB people! Something that Nate challenged me to do was to call people and he told me to ask the question "which requires more faith?" For sure calling people! If I had more time to raise support I would have not be calling people, but because of the short time to raise money I have to if I want to come anywhere close to my financial goal!
This last week I got to wear my new swimsuit for hot tubing-I started getting excited to go to NMB and be on the beach! Each day I get more and more excited to get there!! I found out that one of my closest friends, Hannah, found out that she is also going to NMB! I can't wait! There are actually a few more people going to NMB from St. Cloud and Calvary. It's going to be an amazing summer! I just want to fast forward to May 26th! :) It's so exciting!!!

North Myrtle Beach BABY!!

AH! I am so excited! I just finished writing my support letter for North Myrtle Beach! I can't wait for may 26th to come-the day my summer project starts! I won't get back until August 7th! I have to raise $3,040. So here is my support letter
Dear Friends,
I am finally able to write to let you know what I will be doing this summer! I was hoping to have this letter out by the beginning of February, but due to some complications with my application, I was not able to write it until this week! I was waiting to hear back from Campus Crusade for Christ to see if I would be accepted to Ocean City, New Jersey for a summer long evangelism project. Well, Ocean City was filled up by the time they got my application so I was called by my second choice North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. I was told that I was accepted to go to NMB!! I will be arriving there on May 26th and not leaving until August 7th! It will be a lot different than anything I've ever done! 1. I'll be living all summer there 2. There will be no VBS or English camp, I will be on the beach sharing the gospel and at work building relationships with my co-workers 3. I will have 90 other teammates!
The pretty crazy thing is, is that it still costs about the same as the other missions trips I've been on. My cost for living there all summer is $2,490. That does not include food and transportation which Campus Crusade will reimberse me for $550. SO I need to raise 3,040 by the time I get there! Campus Crusade would really like me to have all my money in by May 3rd, it seems crazy that I can raise that much in less than 3 months, but God has always provided every year I've done something with missions! Please think and pray before sending any money.
The thing I know that I will not be able to live without this summer (or the rest of my life) is prayer! I need your prayer! I will be pushed out of my comfort zone like I have never been pushed before! Some of the things that I have thought of are
- I will be able to raise all the money I'll need to be able to go to North Myrtle
- I will grow and be stretched in my relationship with the Lord, I will not have much free time, so pray that I will put priorities on the things that are important!
- the Lord will give me boldness as I talk to students, tourists, and co-workers about Jesus and the saving power of salvation
- my relationship with my teammates will be healthy and I will come away with friends that will last for the rest of my life
- conflict, with 90 students plus the staff that stays, there is bound to be conflict! Pray that we will handle conflict in the way that the Bible teaches us to!
- when I come back, that I won't just forget about the summer, that I will use it every day, at campus, at work, and in my relationships!
- my last prayer request is more of a long one. My boyfriend Nate is in Australia with Campus Crusade for a year doing many (and much more) of the things I will be doing this summer! Please pray as we both become busy with our ministries, that we will continue to grow closer to each other and with the Lord! It will be hard, but we do have email, Skype, and snail mail:) (you can also be praying for him too)
I would love to talk to you more about what I am doing this summer so for those of you that I have phone numbers for I will be calling you in the next 2-3 weeks. Those of you who I don't have phone numbers for I hope I will be able to talk to you at church or wherever we might see each other!

In Christ,
Liz

p.s. I will be keeping and updating a blog this summer you can follow at www.elizabethlindquist.blogspot.com

God's Timing

This last week has been a roller coaster! On monday Nate and i went out for coffee, and he said we needed to "talk about something"...of course i was wondering, he told me not to worry about it. I learned patience the 2 days i was waiting! So we go to Caribou and he asked if i would like to enter into a courtship with him! I said of course! So nate and I are officially courting:D It's been fun getting all the comments on Facebook...some said "i knew it was coming" another one said "WHAT!? SERIOUSLY!!!" hahaha it's been great! We went shopping at the mall because nate needed some new shirts! HA! that was awesome...i picked out the shirts and he bought them:) and we both had a blast! (the shirts look great on him:)
Thursday Dan, Josi, Nate and i went back to the mall for a photo scavanger hunt...which turned into a scanvanger hunt because we weren't allowed to take pictures :( It was guys against girls...we won and the boys only had 9 things done on their list! After that we went skating (it was -15 out!) It was SO much fun! I think we lasted maybe 15 minutes after spending 10 minutes getting our skates on! I haven't been skating in SUCH a long time and i didn't fall once! We went back to my house for some hot chocolate, games, and pizza rolls! YUM!
The downhill part of this week is that Nate's FBI backround check came back. Which means that there is now a time limit. He could be leaving in the next 2-3 weeks! It was pretty hard because i wasn't expecting it to be back until at least next week! I'm just thankfull that he's not leaving tomorrow (that's when the rest of his team leaves)! I'm thanking God for this extra time we get together! Hopefully, Nate will find out more today on when he's leaving!