I realize that I have done a really bad job keeping up with this so far this summer, but I do have many excuses. However, I am not going to name them. All that I can say is that I have been relying on the Lord to do some mighty things and He has done just that. And therefore, keeping up with this blog would not begin to give any justice to my experiences this summer.
But here is a quick breakdown of this mighty things that God has done in my life and the lives of the students. Puerto Rico was by far so much more than I ever imagined! The first week we had a total of appox 50 participants, the second week we had 120ish and the 3rd week was abotu 150...so obvisouly we grew as the three projects went on. I can not tell you the amount thigns that God taught me about relying on Him to get me through the piles and piles of work that was laid out in front of me.
During the first week, I was faced with a rather difficult challenge...I didnt have a printer. As an office manager, that causes many problems. As I have explained before, putting the particiapnts into working crews is my responsibility, with the help of the project coordinator and in order to get these things done properly, I had to have a printer...which I didnt! But God provided a way to get everything done without any changes needing to be made.
Another amazing experience of mine the first week was the concert of prayer. This is a time when we have a worship, which is just as the title describes it to be....a concert of prayer. As the service goes, the staff leads the students through a time of praise, confession, commitment, etc. Pretty much a time for the students to reflect on who God is and allowing them to proclaim it to Him. The first week was an eye opening time to me. The students from host church, El Mesias, which is my team leaders churc h (since he is from PR) opened my eyes to how real God is. As the service concluded, we as staff took that time to pray over one another and to encourage one another. In the same aspect, the students from El Mesias took that time to encourage us as well. They all surrounded each of us individually and prayed fro us. Although their many prayers were in spanish, and I could not understand every word they were saying, I felt God's presence in a way unlike any other time before. The students showed me how real they are experiencing God. I cannot begin to describe my understanding of how real Christ is. My desire is that the students (and adult) at Glenstone experience Christ in a huge way this summer. In PR, there is no grey area. You are either a Christian and live it out completely or you dont. In the same manner, that is how committed God wants us to be.
Durng the weeks there, we took some time, (our wednesday nights off) to travel around the island and go to a couple beaches and to go snorkling...which was soooo cool! We also spent some time with the band that helped Brian lead in worship. They were all such amazing people!
(I know that this isnt as detailed as you all wished it would be, but I will give you more details in later blogs about PR...not to today's project)...
We are currently in Lexington, SC for our first state side project. It is definitely different from our PR projects. Not only is the culture different but the students are different and...everything is so much closer here. Makes things a little easier. :) This week we have 98 participants and so far the students are loving it here...as far as I can tell. We have got groups from TN, FL, NC and OK, so there is some differences. Today we had our great send off, which is a time when we have before the students leave the first day of working that we take to pray over all of them and encourage them to be witnesses of Christ. Students are encouraged to do the work on the houses, but we as staff try to encourage them more so to focus on the reason why they are here, which is to share the gospel. Tonight is the concert of prayer so I am really excited to see the Holy Spirit move during worship tonight.
Well, I have to get ready to eat lunch with the rest of the staff. I will update again soon.
Love you all and miss you a million.
Please continue to keep me in your prayers!
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