The End...

Summer Project 2005 is officially over.

The past week and a half has been a blur of encouragement, excitement, sadness, and joy. All in all, I come away so amazed by God. Only He can provide the Love that defined this past week.

1 John 4:8 “…because God is love.” How true it is!

Coming into this summer, I knew that I would have to leave early. By accepting the position of Community Advisor for a dorm at school, I had to leave project four days early. While this may not seem like that big of a deal, let me try to paint a picture of the last few days.

Last week’s theme focused on going to the nations. The week was focused on missions to other countries. It is incredible to realize the need for people across the world. One of the coolest things we did that week was to just take a half an hour and pray for a country. The countries I choose were Finland and the Central African Republic. I know those countries sound so random, but if you sit down and just pray for another country, you cannot help but develop a heart for it.

This past week was the closing stage of my project job of being and Action Group leader. To emphasize the struggles and persecution other Christians around the world go through to worship God, we held our bible study in the bathroom. While this may sound weird or extreme, people across the world will go deep underground or go to any place to be able to worship our Lord and Savior.

I went into visit work this past Saturday. It was nice to be able to see my head boss for one last time. In many ways, it was a pretty ideal send off. We rode around the course together reflecting on the year. God provided the opportunity for me to just express how much I look up to him and respect him. Now, my time at Greate Bay Golf Course is over. My job this summer may have been one of my biggest blessings.

Throughout the week, God provided so many blessings in big and little things. Last Tuesday, the three of us from the golf course had the chance to eat dinner at one of our co-workers homes. He is a 67 year-old man who is understanding and caring. We got have dinner with him, his wife, and one of his wives friends. Even though Eric, Drew, and I were extremely tired going into it, God just provided great conversation. We got to the point were we did not even want to leave. The maturity of the conversation was something I was longing for so badly. It is funny how God provides in weird ways sometimes.

Also on Tuesday, it was raining extremely hard. So a couple of us guys went to a mall about 25 minutes away to buy a few things. At the same time, we made it a point to be intentional to share the Good News with the people we came in contact with. It was incredible the conversations that started. Often times we get intimidated thinking people would get offended or do not have the time. Man, those are usually lies.

On Saturday night, I went out sharing on the boardwalk for the last time. Wow, the crowds were so huge. As I looked at people as they were passing on my right and left, I could not help but be overwhelmed by the fact that many of them may not know what it is to have a personal relationship with Christ. It broke my heart that most of them were going through life empty, which will eventually lead to an eternity separated from God.

After the outreach, a group of about ten of us got together to make a late night run to the ocean. This was probably one of the most fun times of project for me. Just spending time with the many of the people I cared so deeply about. I thank God so much for laughter and fun. Oh the joy that a great laugh can bring to the soul!

Sunday was officially the last full day of project. And boy, was it a good one. The day started with the women of the University of Minnesota making all us guys from the U breakfast. This was the first time in my life that my fellow sisters in Christ have ever served us guys. Not that that is a bad thing; however, usually it is us guys taking the girls out. I am going to take this space right now to just write how I truly love the women from the U. It is so incredible to see their hearts for God.

Following the usual Sunday School and Sunday Service, I had to say bye to my adopted parents for the summer. Wow, I did not know that would be hard. It blew me away that these people who were complete strangers at the beginning of summer could grow so close to my heart. Their warmth and acceptance of us was incredible.

Sunday night was probably one of my best memories from project. We went on the beach and had a bonfire. It was so cool to get everyone together to just hang out. Late into the night, we just sang some worship songs. How amazing is our Father!? I remember standing on the cool beach, in front of a small burning fire, staring up into the sky at the stars and the moon. Can you believe that all that we see in nature is the glory of God?!

Late Sunday night was tough. The realization that I may not see some of these people ever again in this life started to kick in. There were so many things that I wanted to tell people. Different ways each had encouraged me, things that had inspired me among other things were thoughts running through my head to tell people. Amidst all this, I needed to pack my bags to go home. As the things in the room began to get put away, the relationships I had developed over the summer came to a temporary ending. For some, I know I will not ever see them again. While this is not something I want to happen, I do understand that it is a reality. On the other hand, there are those people I wish were next to me for the rest of my life. However, I know that is not reality. While saying by Sunday night and even Monday morning, my heart had been heavy with joy, sorrow, and sadness. Even now, my heart beats with these same feelings. However, my outward expressions may not have done the justice of the feelings of my heart. So many times, there were all these things that I wanted to say to show the love of my heart; however, my mouth could not articulate words to describe the deep sense of fellowship.

Monday morning, my Impact Group got together for breakfast. It was nice to have one of my last memories of project with some of the people I respected the most. Sharing some great times we had this past year, it was nice to reflect with these people. In addition to all that, I got to see a ton of people that I did not get to see the night before. However, there was a ton of people I never formally got to say bye to. What a bummer!

All in all, these past few days have truly been a whirlwind of encouragement. The sarcasm that was so prominent the last few weeks was almost non-existent. The realization that we may never get to spend this time together is truly starting to hit project as we left. It was so cool that no longer were people busy joking around; instead, people wanted to just spend time really loving the people around them.

There are so many more things I want to write. I will try to post again in the near future with a better reflection on this incredible summer.

Do Not Have Time to think of a Title

Alright, since my last posting title was “No Time,” I could not think of a different title to show how busy everything is. I’m sorry if that first sentence made no sense at all.

Last week’s theme was “Because He is worthy, we cannot be silent.” It was a week truly devoted to sharing how unbelievable God’s grace is on the boardwalk and wherever else we have been. The week was great. It ended with a huge party at our house where we invited friends from work and what not for dinner. One of the coolest things to see was how the body truly has to work together. It is seen various times in scriptures how there are different parts to the body (1 Corinthians 12:12-31). I had the opportunity to invite a guy that I work with at the golf course. The only thing that stood in the way of myself sharing with him was that he could only speak Spanish. However, it was so cool to see that he would accept our humble invitation. Think about how difficult that would be to go into a place and really not know anyone that knows your language. Anyways, our friend from work came to the party and I started to realize there was a few people who knew Spanish extremely well. It was incredible to see the love the people on this project poured into him. One girl even had the opportunity to explain to him how to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ in Spanish. How great is our God!!! Another person on project invited a friend from work. The friend came and so did that person’s deaf friend. Luckily, there was a person on project who knew sign language. The body of Christ is unstoppable.

A huge thing God has been putting on my heart is my responsibility to tell people I can actually communicate with the gospel. God has given me the ability to speak English, so it is my responsibility to communicate with those of the same language.

While still on the topic of work. My last day at work is this coming Tuesday. Only four full days of work left. Can you believe it!?! I look back at my experience at Greate Bay Golf Course and leave fully satisfied. I have had the incredible opportunity of sharing the experience with two other guys that are here on project. The relationships I have developed with Drew Stevenson and Erik Kuhn are truly God-centered. This past week, we were able to share the full gospel and reality of those that do not believe with our bosses. It was a convicting time but at the same time good. I look back at the last few months at work and can say to myself that “I left it all on the floor.” What that means is that God gave us three guys the ability to share with every single one of our co-workers that spoke English. Let all the glory go to the One that deserves it!

I am extremely sad to leave the golf course. My bosses have been incredible. Not once this entire summer has my boss raised his voice in disappointment or anger. He is a cool, calm guy who works hard. He is just so encouraging. Often times throughout the day, our bosses will just come tell us how great of a job we are doing. It is such an incredible environment. We three want to work harder for our boss just because of his attitude. He is such an example for my life in my faith and leadership. He does not freak out and stays in control. His daily encouragement and care for us is contagious. Often times we go through life not encouraging each other. He has been an example of the opposite.

Speaking of encouragement, this week’s theme is: “Because He is Worthy, We show real love.” The week’s focus is on showing love to the people around us and to experience the fellowship that God has provided for us. It has been an incredible week just encouraging people and building them up in their faith. One of the biggest things I have been learning is the true importance of fellowship between believers along with our fellowship between Jesus. In 1 John 4:12 it states how “No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.” While this statement may not make sense to those who have yet to entrust their life to Christ, it should be an awakening experience for those who have. Seriously take one minute to think about that verse right now. You guys, we are the essence of God’s love to the rest of the earth. No one can physically see God’s true love, but we have the ability as believers to express that to the world. Wow, how that has hit me hard this week. So many times my speech is sarcastic, discouraging, or just plain bad. My actions often have selfish intentions. What is your life like? How is your speech? Can people see God’s love in your fellowship with other believers? God’s love is not discouraging. While it is tough to admit, sarcasm is usually negative. When was the last time you personally complemented or encouraged another believer? I challenge you and myself to live a life that reflects the love of God to the world.

Over the past two weeks, I have also been learning of how short my life here on earth truly is. The average life span for an individual is 74 years old. It was incredible, because last Sunday, I had the opportunity to hear two incredible sermons on our life. The first one was at church by a guest pastor from Yonkers, NY. He talked about the shortness of our lives what we should do because of it. The second talk was by Brendan Manning. Manning is a relatively famous author and former priest. He talked about how great God’s grace and love is for everyone. The things we do here on earth will last an eternity. The Bible is a reality. There will be people that go to Heaven, and others who will unfortunately go to Hell. What are you doing to make a difference? Are you personally getting into the game of sharing your faith? Or are you satisfied with just supporting missionaries? Do not get me wrong, God calls us to support those who give their lives to share the gospel, but are you still standing on the sidelines of evangelism? People are dieing everyday without hearing the incredible Good News, who is responsible for that? Who is responsible for that person that works in the cubicle next to you? Who is responsible for the person that cuts your hair? Who is responsible for the person sitting next to you on an airplane? Next time you see a person you know who is not a believer, ask whose responsibility it is to let that person know the Good News. Supporting a missionary in India is not going to reach that person! Now do not get me wrong, I struggle with this daily. It is difficult for me to talk to my friends about the amazing news. However, I have to know that it is not me that is talking and it is not me they are rejecting. I will never be able to convince anyone that the Gospel is right and true. The talking, acceptance, and convicting is entirely done by our amazing guide, the Holy Spirit.

I know this blog has been long and maybe a bit winded. There is just so much more I want to share with all of you. I cannot believe in less than two week I will be home. Not that that is a bad thing, but I may never see some of these people until I get to Heaven. While that is a sad thing, eternally, I cannot wait to see them in Heaven. At the same time, I am convicted of the many people I know that will not be there. What am I doing? Do I not love them just as much?