(Everything) From My Perspective

The Everything skit is usually looked at from the perspective of the girl, which makes sense, since she more or less represents anyone and everyone. You can place yourself in her shoes. You can feel for her.

Her pain. 

Her anguish. 

Her struggle.

As I was approached a couple weeks ago to be a part of the skit, I tried my best to avoid being in it because I knew what part they needed me for: The seductive guy. 

Ya.. That guy.

The guy who represents impurity and sexual temptation.

The guy who leads the person that he supposedly loves away from Christ.

The guy who leaves her hurting, but still wanting more.

I had struggled with the decision of whether I was going to take part in it or not up until the day of the 1st actual practice. As I began to get into my character, I realized that I had known this character all too well. 

I had previously fallen into deep impurity and sexual temptation.
I had lead somebody I had supposedly loved away from Christ.
I had left her hurting but still wanting more.

Convictions had swept over me like a tidal wave. Convictions that should have occurred a long time ago. This same character that I was now portraying was once a large influence in my own life. He was a dreadful reminder of some iniquity I had yet to truly confront. 
Sin that nags at me constantly.
Sin that tries to establish its old threshold again.
Sin that haunted my memories.

Not only did the main character have to deal with me, but all of the other temptations as well. It's something that can be easily forgotten or overlooked. I'm not the only person or object influencing her to make terrible choices.
Temptation surrounds her from every side.
Temptation invades and consumes her.
Temptation does not give up.

Each time that I acted out the scene of beating up the girl, I looked forward to the verse in the song triggering Christ stepping in to save her. Even as we were being held back we fought so hard to break through to her. 
We knew nothing now but rage and anger
We sought only to corrupt her and make her ours
We hated the fact that she was unreachable

"For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
 Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,
 That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man;
 That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,
 May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;
 And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God."

- Ephesians 3:14-19


In the end sin lost its power and was defeated
In the end the Lord loved us enough to sacrifice everything for us
In the end we have been set free

Days 42-59

Community
2 events that we did as a community were canoeing and a $5 prom. They were both extremely fun but also tiring as well. When we first went out on the bay side of Assateague to canoe, it turned into a giant battle of flipping canoes, throwing mud, and splashing water. It was such an awesome bonding experience. Afterwards we cooked burgers and hot dogs. You just can't go wrong with planning events at Assateague.
This last Saturday was the $5 prom. After getting home from work I went to the local church thrift store. It was perfect.. There were soo many weird outfits and clothes, and they were all so cheap. I ended up finding an outfit completely from girl's clothing. I'll probably post some pictures of it later on.


Prayer
I must say, our ministry teams do a great job of being creative and bringing new, exciting ways to serve God. Prayer team came up with a couple cool ideas the last few weeks. We decided to do a 24 hour prayer/fast from Saturday to Sunday. Each person was given a country in which they were to pray for specific missionaries doing ministry in that country. I decided to do the Philippine Islands where the Pedan family is serving. I chose the Pedans, because they reminded me a lot of my own family... The younger, missionary version of my family. My prayer time was from 1pm-2pm. We had a guide to help us pray for specific topics. I tried to stick to it as close as possible, but I realized that I was praying a lot longer than I had thought. Honestly, I thought an hour of prayer for something that was only just recently placed on my heart would be difficult, but it wasn't. I found it pretty cool that when one person finished praying the next person would join in prayer and they would be prayed for. Also, we were fasting for the entire length of the prayer. Callie thought that it would be a great idea to go food shopping the last few hours before breaking the fast, so a few of us went to Food Lion during that time. I don't think we could have done anything worse, to be honest. As I walked through the frozen food aisles, I saw "Hungry Man" food brand. Bad Day was also playing on the radio, and every single item of food looked more delicious than it ever has. It was my first time fasting so it was a pretty cool experience. Pretty much every time I felt the pain and weakness of hunger, I'd just reflect on Christ and how much more he suffered for me. Then my hunger didn't feel so bad.


Outreach
We had been practicing a set of dances for 3 weeks and were finally going to perform them on the beach. The first one was a workout dance by Beyonce called "Move Your Body". It was pretty cool, because the dance moves pretty much were named in the lyrics. Yet, I still found ways to mess up here and there during our performance. Our second dance was "Light Will Shine" by Hillsong United. I had never heard the song before the dance but I really like it. The dance includes a lot of cool references to being a light unto the world, and at one point we form a cross. Maybe if I have free time ill post the videos. There were small crowds that came to watch, but we also had a few Soulariums set up around us and those are usually pretty effective. Our last act consisted of holding up cards to the song "Grace Like Rain". I give a lot of credit to Marcus for pulling it together in the last minute. It was necessary in order for our outreach to transition to the gospel better. On top of that, all of the dancers were wearing the prayer shirts we made with 2 Timothy 1:6 written on it. All good ways of inspiring conversation. After we finished dancing, I went over to talk to a guy checking out the Soularium. Long story short, he is a journalist/professional photographer on a break at OCMD. He is a Christian and as I was talking to him, we were able to relate on several interesting topics. One was about how as Christians, sometimes we forget that we have to listen intently to the people we're sharing with, otherwise how do we expect them to listen to us when we present the gospel.


We decided to have a tie-dye/cookout outreach at our house. It was a pretty cool idea, but I felt like it was executed very oddly. At times I just didn't know what to do. At one point, Jesse and I decided to cross the street and ask random people if they were interested in free food and tie-dye. Of course most people were not. Finally, this older guy comes over, and kind of stops and stares at our house. We asked him if he was interested and he kind of said sure. He was more interested in our purpose, so we explained to him why we were doing this. He (Glenn) told us that he grew up in the church, had dreams of becoming a minister, and then turned from God, and became an open agnostic. For some reason every time me and Jesse team up for evangelizing, awesome things happen. We were able to answer all of this guy's questions and provide him insight into some stuff that he was skeptical about. I decided to give him a copy of "The Case For Christ". I figured that since he was a retired lawyer, that this book would be perfect for him. He was very kind and thankful, and I felt that the Holy Spirit had really been speaking through us. It was an awesome feeling.

Days 33-41

There are many international kids who live and work here in OCMD during the summer. Usually they're fairly easy to pick out when you see them. It's not necessarily because of what they wear or how they look, but what they say, how they say it, and what they do. Every time I go to Mcdonalds, there is a set of foreign girls who stand at the registers. They wait there patiently and provide all their attention to customers when they arrive. This heavily contrasts that of the typical American fast food worker. If there weren't any customers in the restaurant, most American workers would probably be walking around or distracted by something. Not the international kids. I've seen them, in the midst of an empty restaurant, wait patiently at the registers. They stick out over everyone else even though they look like any other American girls.


I've come to realize that those of us on project have also been like those international kids in a different context. Wherever we go, we praise and worship God and we stick out from everyone else, especially on outreaches. It definitely draws a lot of attention, sometimes good, sometimes bad. But nevertheless it brings attention. During outreaches there will always be insulting comments here and there. It makes me remember the set of verses that i had from 1 Peter 3 a few weeks ago:


But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. “Do not fear their threats; do not be frightened.” ¹⁵ But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, ¹⁶ keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. ¹⁷ For it is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.


Jason spoke on suffering during family night and, at least for me, it fit perfectly into what was going through my mind the last few weeks. Sadly, many of us have been suffering at various points on project because of the loss or severe illness of a family member. It should be expected that something would happen in the 10 weeks we are here though. The important part is how we decide to handle tragedy and what impact it has on us. James talks about how we should consider it joy when we have trials, because they give us perseverance. It's definitely not easy to be joyful after loss or anything, but it's possible. I think some take this verse, and those like it, in the wrong way. I don't believe James means that anyone should be happy about tragedy. However, in seeking God completely, there will be a joy given to you that can get you through anything. And through the experience, a perseverance is gained.




Also it's always good to remember that Christ suffered for us, so our own suffering wouldn't be in vain.




Our last couple of outreaches have included two large boards with "Who is God" and "What is Love". These boards usually draw in large crowds which is awesome. Anyone is free to write whatever they want on the boards. Interestingly enough, about half the comment written on the boards were about spiritual things like: "Love is God" or "Love is patient, kind..." etc.. Brittany took some pictures of both the Soularium and Outreach Boards that I'll put up at the end.


One girl was writing on the "What is Love" board the description of what love is from 1 Corinthians 13:4. However, she couldn't remember all of them so I went over and tried to help her. I asked her where she had her of this and she told me she first saw it in a movie and then she heard it was from the Bible. I decided to ask her if she was involved in a church since she mentioned she knew some scripture. It turns out she was in a women's Bible study, but that was as much time she could put into learning about God. I asked her if I could share the Gospel with her and she and her friend let me. After I went over everything, she seemed really excited. No one had ever presented her the Gospel to her apparently. I asked if she was interested in accepting Christ and she decided to do so but on her own. So I gave her a KGP and prayed with her.

Days 26-32

Outreach: Cardboard Testimonies. I've never actually seen these done in real life, but it was our plan to all do cardboard testimonies and stand on boardwalk. We all wore white shirts which was extremely awesome!


On the back I put: "Spent most of my life looking for joy and fulfillment."
On the front: "Through Christ, I have found a joy that will never end."


I guess our goal was to stand there and flip our testimonies back an forth in hopes that people will curiously walk over and ask us questions. On my way out the door, I randomly thought to go back in and get a Soularium and a New Testament. I don't know why I wanted one, I just wanted to have one on me. Nothing else, but a Soularium and a NT Bible.


We got out there and started our cardboard flipping. It was actually fairly awkward, since we didn't have too much of a game plan of where we were going to stand or what style of cardboard flipping we should use. I was posted at the end with Jesse, one of the guys from my Bible study. As we stood out there, people curiously watched us. Some laughed, some encouraged, and some just didn't care. But for the most part, very few actually stopped to talk. After waiting for about an hour or so, Jesse and I decided to walk further down the beach and set up a Soularium. As we began setting up the cards, people immediately came and asked us what they were for. Within a few minutes a couple of girls came over and the one stated that she had done this before with another girl from our ministry. Jesse sat down to talk with her as I ran through Soularium with the other girl. Her name was Melissa. As I went through the Soularium I could tell she interested in the reasoning behind the questions. Eventually she asked about it, and I stopped talking about Soularium and asked her if I could summarize my faith in 4 points. I was so excited to tell her I didn't even think to open up a KGP, I just went right into it. Before I got to the last point I threw in my testimony. I don't remember exactly why I did, but at the time, it seemed pretty important. She was extremely receptive to everything I had said, so I explained to her the last part about receiving Christ. She didn't even hesitate. She asked me what she needed to do to receive Christ and we prayed together. The image is pretty firmly planted in my head, but I remember looking up and seeing her pray after I was finished. I handed her a KGP and a Bible, gave her my contact info, and told her to constantly get in the word. Apparently, while we were talking, Jesse had been talking with the other girl about how she wanted to live a life for Christ and go to church, but she had no one to go to church with. Well Jesse prayed for her to find a person and when he finished, I just got back to tell him that Melissa, the girl's friend, had just accepted Christ. So God just worked awesomeness into the situation all around.




I was officially selected to lead half of the men in Bible study. I'm really looking forward to this even though I don't really have any experience with it. This will definitely prepare me for any future studies I lead in the future. Within the last couple of weeks I felt God's call to lead a Bible study, so this was definitely awesome news. I will be leading the Bible study that I was in plus another 2 guys.


The week closes off with the staff leaving their positions on Wednesday and leaving OCMD Friday. It was extremely surreal to see the staff leave and know that we would be calling all of the shots. It was also pretty emotional for many. I will sincerely miss all of the staff and their wisdom/guidance, but I know that this part of the project is what is most important. Truly putting what we learned and are learning to the test. Leading, guiding, risking, and building community all for the glory of the Lord. I've already seen many of my friends here take awesome steps of faith. I look forward to what God has in store for us for the next 5 weeks on project.

Pictures!

Days 13-25

We haven't really had too much internet access lately which is why I have to summarize the last week and a half in just one entry. Hopefully I'll be able to remember some key stuff. To make it easier i've listed just important updates or events going on in my life and on the project in general.


1. I finally got a job! I work at Paul Revere's Smorgasbord. I've heard mixed reviews about the food there, but I've never had it, I only prepare it. Unfortunately, since I work food prep, nobody else comes in while I'm there besides the boss. I work with only one other person, and he's from project, so there isn't much of an opportunity to witness. However, I'm still determined to be creative. Luckily we do have an hour or so right before I leave to see all the other workers come in. I've befriended a couple and asked them to hang out sometime. Most of them are foreign kids from Romania or other European countries.


2. Speaking of international kids, our project Cru goes to this cafe for the international kids every monday and wednesday night. We build relationships with them and share the gospel with them as well. I have a great passion for international students. Just a couple days ago (22nd) I met a girl who told me she had recently found Christ and was very passionate about her newfound faith. It's definitely something that's very inspirational to hear. She joined a missions trip from her country, the Ukraine, to OCMD. I invited her to come to some of our events and church. She came along today and grew close to some of the girls.. Hopefully they will be able to help her grow in her faith.


3. I've volunteered to help out with our church (Sonrise). I wanted to help out in the kid's ministry. They asked me to be a volunteer as well as teaching. So I will be officially be teaching some kids this Sunday!! I'm really excited. I love our church (there's 6 of us who attend, and 2 staff members). They've sent our project soo much food and have been extremely welcoming. Earlier this week we had our testimonies video taped (It felt awkward to do it on tape. I'd much rather give it in person). I think mine will be presented this sunday.


4. As far as learning and growing goes, this trip has caused me to grow spiritually and closer to Christ than I've ever been before. In fact, through this trip I have recommitted my life to Christ. In short, I've lived the past several years not really completely surrendered to the Lord. Truthfully, I had my ups and downs of being on fire for God, but it was naturally descending. I had let sin enter my life and take control while I placed God off to the side whenever it was convenient for myself. I had no accountability. I pushed away from church. And worst of all I was ashamed of Christ.


Thankfully, I was greatly convicted of my sin before coming on this trip. I will tell you, I've seen God impact lives both in the community and on project; And I am definitely among those people. In being here I have learned and continue to learn about the power of prayer, having true joy, keeping short accounts, having accountability, becoming a leader, being a man of God, cojourners, being a servant, importance of discipleship, reflection, and much more.


5. This leads me to my last few things. I ask you to bear with me since I am still thinking and praying greatly about this. I also ask that you pray for me since some of these are major life decisions.


First off, I've recently felt God's call to lead a Bible study back at the Campus Crusade in Pittsburgh. However, I don't want it to be the typical Bible study. And when I say that I mean that I don't want it to be where we read a section of verses from the Bible every week, have a few good discussions and then leave. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but I long for a more challenging Bible study. Even if it technically becomes something much more than just a Bible study.


I want to lead a men's group that is


1. Challenged. Every week doing something that may be not be easy or comfortable, but at the same time grows them closer to the Lord. Application is so important and often avoided. I've been taught and told for years what to do to follow Christ, but I've never really felt personally challenged to do so. I want to provide a proactive environment of guys taking steps of faith.
2. Vulnerable. I want a group that knows each other personally and isn't afraid to be open so that barriers can be broken and that healing, through the Lord, can be accomplished. The book I'm reading by Joe Dallas, The Game Plan, brings up a great point: When have you ever been in a Bible study or men's group where somebody says, "Guys can you pray for me, I'm struggling with sexual purity". I have nothing against people giving testimonies, but they can sometimes mask deep emotions and struggles that may need to be talked through in order to truly get to know them. We gave life stories here on project the first week in our Bible study groups. Each story was between 30 mins and an hour. My story was last and as I told it, I held back nothing. I revealed suppressed memories and emotions that I had been holding for almost half of my life. The shock and pain of telling my story almost brought me to tears. I was telling this story to guys I had just met..


6. I want to be a leader. I have a passion for Christ to share the gospel. I have a passion for teaching and instilling the lessons I've learned to Christians who may have trouble fully submitting themselves to Christ. I wish to see them go down a much better path than I had initially. Yesterday, our project leader, Michael Frey, made the statement:


What if in a few years, you and a group of your Christian peers decided to take a year out of your life to go on a missions trip.


I was overwhelmed with joy about the idea of taking a year out of my life to do something I've been craving so much recently. I know it's a big commitment, but I've analyzed my life where it currently is. I'm not satisfied with my major, Accounting. I long to do something more with my life. Maybe God wants me to use Accounting somewhere in the ministry field and maybe not, but either way, I will serve as a missionary whether I'm travelling across the world or stuck in an American office for the rest of my life.


As I mentioned before, I'm in constant prayer about all of this awesome stuff, and I ask that you would also do the same for me. It is much appreciated.

Day 12

Today was an amazing day. I had my discipleship with Ben earlier on, and we had some really good spiritual conversations. Ben does a really good job listening and talking things out. It often makes me forget that we're the same age. Normally, during discipleship, we would go outreaching on the boardwalk/beach but since we were already planning on doing that as a group later, we decided to wait until then.


Our plan during outreach was to use Soularium cards. Basically, you have this set of cards that have some sort of picture on them. There's a large variety of pictures that can be seen and interpreted in many ways. The point of Soularium is to break the ice in conversation with others. Then transition to the Gospel through the same pictures. The questions are:
1. Pick three cards that describe your life
2. Pick three cards that describe how you want your life to be
3. Pick a card that describes how you view God
4. Pick a card that shows where you are with God or your walk with Christ


After walking around and praying for a while we found a couple who was willing to do Soularium. The couple was a Mormon woman and a catholic man. (I think they were either engaged or just planning on getting married). We talked to the lady for a while since she was extremely open to talking to us. We told her to pick 3 cards to describe her life and she ended up picking like 10... which was awesome because she was willing to be really open about herself even though we had just met. After a little while I asked her what she believed as a Mormon. In a quick summary of our 30 min talk, she told us about how she got divorced and was going to remarry a catholic man, but the Mormon church looked down upon this. They told her she needed to go through a "confession process" in order to get right with God. She told us that she didn't agree with a lot of the things the Mormons were telling her. Ben and I tried to encourage her to look into discovering truth outside of the Mormon religion. We left her with a KGP and prayed with her. She was so happy and excited to have us talk to her. She had aspirations to have her kids grow up and follow God. We told her to use the KGP if they desired to have a relationship with Christ. It was an amazing conversation. So when 90% of the people I talk to reject the gospel, the 10 or so percent that do accept make it all worth it. And even still, God is teaching me that I'm not here to save souls, just to plant seeds.

Day 8 & 9

So today was sort of a free day for me after I searched all morning for a job. I've been pretty exhausted from looking. Ben and I decided to get fighter kites. Since Brittany works at the Kite Loft we went there. We tried to help make Brittany look good by having friends who were customers. Probably had no effect. We took our kites back to the house to fly them behind the house. Practice was needed before we showed off at the beach. All went well until my kite got stuck in a pole. After numerous times of trying to free it, we had to sacrifice some line to get the kite back. The handle remained stuck in a groove in the top of the pole.


I woke up the next day and decided to get in shape. I ran until I met up with two others: Jake and Callie. We eventually cooled off in the ocean which was freezing cold still. I decided to wait until 4 to go meet the manager of Tony's Pizza. That was 1 of the 2 leads that I had going for me. Unfortunately, they fell into the same time slot, so I could only go to one. Before I stopped off at Tony's I went to the Kite Loft to get new string. I asked the lady there that dealt with kites, and she said that kite string for my particular kite came out to be like 5 dollars less than the cost of the actually kite which made no sense to me. Anyways I decided to just leave but I made sure to say hi to Brittany as I left. I walked down to Tony's to ask if they were hiring but they said not until next Wednesday (which is really late). So needless to say I was feeling pretty down.


Later at the house I decided to get back on a regular schedule with my quiet time. Lately, the search for a job has thrown off any type of routine. Michael mentioned today during his lecture that we can't go out ministering and sharing the Gospel if we, ourselves, aren't well prepared and well versed. It's true though. The few times we've gone sharing, I've been caught off guard by stuff that I realize the answer to later. And a good fix to this is to be in the word more often.


Anyways when I got home Brittany had a gift for me. Apparently, the manager saw me say goodbye to her and asked her a few questions: "Do you know him?" "Is he nice to you" and/or "Does her treat you well?" After answering yes to all of those, they gave Brittany a new set of string for me. It's pretty convicting when you let a few small, simple things ruin your day, and God has had a plan to provide for you all along. It is a lesson in trust that I am slowly learning everyday. Especially as I continue to not have a job.


Btw, I ended up losing a part from my kite tonight, in the middle of the dark. Callie miraculously found it (while not even searching for it). And then I lost my sunglasses as well. Haha it was a pretty rough day, but I'm still looking forward to tomorrow.

Day 7

My main focus this morning was job searching. Six of us went out: Brianna, Jake, Chris, Callie, Emma, and I. We went all the way down to 132 Philadelphia and worked our way back (to 5). I'd say we stopped at about 5 or 6 various outlets and explored every shop and store in each. I was able to put in three applications, but about 90% of the places we went to were not hiring or needed us for times we couldn't work. Pizza Hut wanted me as a driver, but nobody gets pizza in the morning so they couldn't use me. Although I would take practically any job at this point, I really wanted to stay away from fast food. But the more I thought about, the more I realized that fast food places may actually have the best outreaching opportunities. In fast food you're constantly working with others, so there is always the opportunity to build relationships. I've had to constantly remind myself that I am not here for myself.


"Count it all joy... when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness" James 1:2-3


Those of us who don't have jobs are working very hard to find them. Typically I've never really worried too much about finding a job, because there was really never any time constraints. But I'd be lying to myself and everyone else if I said I wasn't stressed out at all. However, through this experience, I feel that I am building perseverance in my faith. It's easy to trust the Lord when the cards are laid out perfectly, but when things aren't running so smoothly, it definitely takes some greater trust that God will provide. And I know he will provide.


I'm putting up some pictures of some of the project members. They aren't great pictures, but I will take better ones later. I'll probably create a separate blog later to profile each person, for future reference.

Day 6

Today my life group went to our assigned church, Son Rise. We met Pastor Daryl and a bunch of other church members. The church was held in a local high school cafeteria. The people were very friendly and lively. We felt very welcomed there, and I could tell we were going to really love our church. The band was great and the message was good as well. At the end, we were given three large boxes of random carb items. We accepted the items very graciously. Apparently they receive a lot of bread type items every week and they were willing to give us all that we wanted. After we got back I made dinner for our life group. Pasta! I'd have to admit, it was delicious (I was actually kinda surprised). Anyways we finished up with a night of prayer as a group.

Day 5

Today was our second outreach. We split up in pairs again, and I went with Ben. Before we headed out we got to know each other a bit more. The goal of this outreach was to use a questionnaire to break the ice. Ben and I decided to hit the beach first. Unfortunately, the beach was very unresponsive. We finally ran into a couple, but half way through the questionnaire we figured out that they were already Christians. A few guys we decided to ask cursed us off (they were also on drugs most likely). It had been the first time that I felt a little bit nervous while trying to talk to someone. After 6-7 unsuccessful attempts we ran into a couple in their 20s. The girl was very receptive and interested while the guy was a bit apathetic. We got through half of the questions when we decided to curve away from the questionnaire and talk about what they believed. The girl seemed to be interested, but she couldn't accept that Christ was the only way to heaven. Since the conversation came to a standstill we gave them the KGP (Knowing God Personally) pamphlets and prayed for them. After searching through a couple more people, we got a drunk guy who had been drinking to cover up pain. He told us his son was fighting in Afghanistan. The man was very verbally bipolar towards us. Sometimes he thrashed out at us, and other times he'd apologize and start crying. We decided to just listen to him mostly, especially since he would start getting aggressive if we said something he didn't like. Eventually he gave us a $20 bill for our organization. We tried to deny his offer but he wouldn't let us.

On a happier note, when we got back we played a scavenger hunt. The students looked for the staff who were disguised on the boardwalk. It was actually a lot harder than I thought it would be.

Day 4

Our goal today was to 'scope' out OCMD. We created a list of survey-like questions to ask to the locals, vacationers and shop workers. In a group of four, we walked across the boardwalk surveying various people. A pair of older women were sitting on a bunch. Interestingly enough, they were also Christian so our discussion with them went very well. We obtained a lot of information about how they view OCMD and why they were there in the first place. Other people that we talked to were not so friendly. They might have thought we were trying to either sell them something or maybe they thought we were J-witnesses.


Later on we broke into our small  groups and took a good chunk out of our days to tell each other our life stories. I ended up going last. I really had never told anyone my life story before, nor had I really pieced it together. But when I finally went over it with them, I realized how broken I used to be. At one point I even got choked up to the point I couldn't speak. It was nice to have the others supportive and encouraging though.


Our last event was for the guys. We walked out to the beach on a cool night and prepared to dive into the water. We would then lock arms and walk out of the water together. Apparently this was a tradition for summer projects, and the water is always freezing cold when they do so. It's supposed to be a memorable event to start off the project for the men.


It was definitely memorable.

Day 3

I'd really love to spend hours blogging about my whole day, because each and every day has been eventful and inspiring. Unfortunately there's almost no free time right now especially for those who are still in search for jobs (me included). Today, me and 4 others drove out searching for jobs. We picked up several applications, but most businesses didn't seem to be hiring. One of the girls with us (Brittany) got a call while we were out driving. She was offered a job over the phone, and we excitedly congratulated her. A lot of us have been successful over the last couple of days but there is still a large handful (again including myself) who have not been very successful. We've been praying about it heavily, and those who have gotten jobs have even stepped up to help those who haven't. Each and every day we become closer and our fellowship together becomes stronger. The last part of our day was choosing a ministry team... Just for a little background, there are three sets of groups:


1. Small group - Small group consists of 4-5. Each is led by a student leader who disciples us and helps us out with anything.
2. Life group - There are 4 churches that we work with during this trip. Eventually we will find ways to help be a part of the church, as well as giving our testimony during a service. Our life groups meet on wednesdays and sundays
3. Ministry team - There are about 5-6 ministry teams, each with an important purpose and goal. I decided to put my skills and interests to the test in the Stewardship Ministry team. This team is in charge of financial stuff along with housekeeping/stewardship. Historically, this team is the most unfavorable team to join, however, it is considered the "glue" of the project. This team helps keep things working smoothly and keeps a system of checks and balances throughout the project. Only 3 of us chose this. We worked together to establish some housekeeping rules.


*The girls are struggling with their AC unit. I fixed it for them, but when I came back it was broken again. While running some tests for them, the power on one side of the wall went out. We eventually fixed it for them, and I am waiting for tmrw to fix their AC yet again. Unfortunately until then, they are either going to be very hot or very cold.


**I meant to mention this last night, but Michael Frey (Director) spoke on a few key points using the exact verse that I was dwelling on during the first day (1 John 9:1). Awesome right?

Day 2

Unfortunately, I've started to realize that I have to keep these fairly short since there will be almost 70 of them (If I decided to do one a day. Today was the first day of job hunting. I, along with Jason and my roommate (Marcus), decided to walk along the boardwalk to look for jobs. We asked around at about a dozen different hotels, shops etc. only to be turned down. Eventually we got a few applications in, but many of those places were probably receiving a storm of other applications from other project members. Thankfully, Jason and Marcus both found jobs (among several others). I am currently still in the search though. We've been praying a lot for jobs to become available to us lately. Tonight we did a prayer walk along the boardwalk. Even with the cold breeze, there was still a warming peace from being among brothers and sisters of Christ and just talking to God. I honestly wish I could spend more time blogging about my experiences. It's only been two days and I can already feel God's plans for us being executed. Each and every day I draw closer to him as well as everyone who is a part of this project.

Day 1

I meant to post something before I came on this trip, but I never got a chance to. In summary though, I felt really anxious and uncertain about this trip in the prior week or two. From reading comments on the OCMD Facebook group, I've realized that I'm not alone. Many of us are going through troubling times, and even doubting the decision to go on this trip. A couple have even dropped out of going. From the outside, the OCMD project seems like the ideal project that couldn't possibly offer any internal dissonance. But after accepting my role in the project, I felt like I was under heavy attack. Sin was invading my life from every possible area, and I became immensely overwhelmed. But even in my darkest hour God is merciful.


"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." 
1 John 1:9


I departed at about 6:30 this morning with two other girls (Natalie and Emma) also on project. We arrived in good time. The rooms are extremely cramped: Two bunk beds, one dresser and a couple of nightstands with a closet. However, there weren't enough guys to fill the boys' rooms and I ended up with only one other roommate (Marcus). He's a pretty cool guy; we've got a lot in common. After exploring the boardwalk and the beach we came together and met each other. Michael Frey, the project director, gave us our first task: sharing our faith with people on the boardwalk. We split up in pairs. I was paired with a kid from our small group (Jason). We were given small pointers which were a little helpful, but i.m.o it's too hard to truly prepare for something like this other than prior experience (which I had none). We talked to a few people on a trek down the board walk. The first set of guys (Dre & D)?? let us partially witness to them. More like we got to talk to them about what they believed in and how they viewed Christianity. We really didn't get anywhere with them but they were happy to talk to us. Another guy we witnessed to turned out to be a Christian. He left us with, "It's good to see brothers in Christ going out and witnessing."


The last thing we did was a couple ice breaker activities to get to know each other better.