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.