Sunday, March 28, 2010

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!

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

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!

Friday, March 12, 2010

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!!!

Thursday, March 11, 2010

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!!!

Monday, March 8, 2010

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