what a gift.

During these past weeks I have loved reading "The Cross Centered Life" and learning more about Christ's sacrifice. I just feel like I keep on learning more, and gaining a new perspective of Christ's sacrifice. Not only through the readings, but also through the material we work on throughout the week. Sharing the bridge with others has also helped me really understand what the gospel should mean in our lives. After reading and discussing the book I now see that the gospel should be the focus of our every day lives. It makes complete sense. Our salvation is not supposed to be celebrated on Easter, or Sundays, but everyday. Because of Christ's sacrifice, we have an opportunity of having eternal life with God. The fact that God would sacrifice His Son for me, is so humbling, and amazing. Another chapter talked about how because God sent His Son to die, he understands all suffering. No suffering is greater than what Christ experienced. We will never experience separation from God, because our perfect and sinless Lord died for us. Despite our suffering, we should be joyful because our suffering will never be as severe as our sins, that Jesus took away. I do not think I will ever be able to fully grasp how powerful that is. I did not mean to spoil the book for you guys, but I really would encourage you all to read it. To think about it. This gift is TOO great not to share! I have been so inspired by others here, and their passion to share with others. I am definitely learning a lot.

I pray that I will stay motivated and dedicated to all the things that I have to get done in these next couple of weeks. Thank you all for your prayers and support. I am so thankful for this opportunity to be here. I am growing so much, and it would not be possible without you guys. I am so grateful.

a little catch up!

Hi all! Sorry its been a little while since I have written. I hope you all are doing well. I thought I would write and catch you up on my week. Last week was really busy with a full week of work and then also staying on top of my inductive Bible study and verse memorization, but it was a really good week. Then this past weekend we had relationship conference, which was 2 nights of seminars about how to have a biblical relationship. It was really awesome, and very articulate about what this type of relationship should look like. I am very thankful for what I learned, and I really have no doubt that it will help me in many ways. Sunday we had a great church service, and then we went to Evangelism training. We learned how to prepare our 90 second testimony. Then we added our testimony to the bridge diagram. I really liked adding this to the bridge because it makes it really personal. People can argue with the gospel, but they cannot argue with something that has happened to you, so that is pretty awesome. After we practiced we set out for the beach. I was with a girl named Kelby who is one of the team leaders at Kaleo. It was good to evangelize with someone who has practiced evangelism a lot, and really knew how to make the gospel personal. The conversations we had with some people were more of a challenge then last week, but I really still felt like I learned a lot from those as well. I just pray that the Lord can plant seeds through us, even if the people don't choose to accept Christ when we present the gospel. Sunday night we had everyone get together for a World Prayer over Pune, India which is where Student Mobilization just launched a team (short and long term) there. It was really neat to learn about Pune. There is such a need for Christ there. (I will write more about that later) Last night we had our Bible study with our Dgroup, and it was really great. Tonight is Stumo night, which is a Kaleo church service. It is awesome, and definitely one of the highlights of my week! Have a great week guys!

the Lord listens.

This weekend was a really good weekend. Saturday morning we got to go on a snorkeling trip for free because one of my friend Britton works a snorkeling company and her boss offered for 77 students to go on a tour, and the only thing we have to do is refer others! It was so fun. They took us to the area of shell island and we got see all sorts of sea creatures. I found a sand dollar that was still alive! It was pretty exciting, even though I couldn't keep it. I also got to hold a live star fish. All that to say, it was a lot of fun! Saturday evening we had our first social. The theme for the evening was "Things that come in 4's," but since my leader was gone we only had three. So we dressed up like smores. Our costumes were pretty great, if I can say so myself. After the social, I practiced the bridge with my friend Britton. She was so encouraging to me, and helped give me confidence which I was praying for. I have really enjoyed getting to know her, and I am thankful for her friendship while being here.

Today we went to church, and it was really good. The pastor of the church used to be in the military, so this man does not sugar coat things. It is kinda refreshing to hear the gospel straight up. Sometimes in my journey I forget how real the wrath of God is, and sometimes I think we needed to be reminded of that for accountability, and also to put us in our place. I also think this makes the gospel so much cooler. The reason God's Son died for us was to calm God's wrath. Pretty awesome.

After church we got ready for evangelism training. I was getting a little anxious, and I just kept praying that the Lord would calm my nerves and that the Holy Spirit would speak through me. After training I was paired up with my friend Allison, and we set off to share the gospel on the beach. The first lady that I spoke to was named Rita. She was so confident in her faith, and really encouraging to me and what I was doing.Then she told me that she would love for me to talk to her daughter that had just been baptized, but she was at the pool. I told her that we would try to catch her on our way back so we could show the bridge to her. We went on down the beach and we saw some other Kaleo girls down there, so we decided to turn around. When we walked back I saw Rita with her daughter. I asked her if they had time and she said yes. I met her daughter and her friend Caroline. I got to share the bridge with them and Caroline had never received Christ. I asked her if she wanted to, and she said Yes! It was so exciting to help someone make such an awesome decision. I am so amazed that we (sinners) just have to turn from our self-desired life, and trust that Jesus did die for our sins and conquered death, and we are SAVED! God has made salvation so easy for us! That just amazes me.

Later in the day I got to talk to another lady named Courtney. She was so excited to hear what I was sharing, and she really enjoyed how articulate the bridge was. She was saying how she wishes she could share like I did because her husband is an atheist and she has been praying that he would accept the gospel. She said that he is very scientific, so he really likes to see facts. I told her that I just learned the bridge 3 weeks ago, and that if I can learn it she can. So we exchanged information and I am going to send her some info on the bridge. We prayed for her husband and she was so emotional. It was really neat talking to her, and also encouraging her to share. I just pray that the Lord softens her husband, Jason's heart.

Anyways, I felt much more confident in sharing my beliefs and that was definitely an answer to prayer. Thanks for reading! I appreciate you guys!

the first full week.

This week was my first week on the job. It was good and I really like the people I work with, and now I am tired! I thought I would write this blog and give you a glimpse of what my week at kaleo looks like. A lot of people have asked me if I just get to hang out at the beach all the time, and that is definitely not the case. I do try to visit some on my days off, but not as much as I would like!

Sunday: I attend the First Baptist Church of Panama City with a group of Kaleo people. They assign us different churches so that we are getting involved with more of the community. Then we grab lunch and head to a church for Evangelism training. This lasts about an hour-two hours. Then we set out with a partner to share the gospel on the beach. We return around 5 and have share time to hear about the different experiences on the beach. That is really neat. After we clean our rooms because we have room checks every Sunday night. Then we have world prayer. We have prayer groups, and we rotate to different countries each week and learn how we can specifically pray for countries such as China, India, African countries, etc. It is a great learning experience and great to know how we can be praying for different places and religions. That is a normal Sunday.

Monday: I go to work at Royal American from 6:00 AM to 3:00pm.
That evening we have our discipleship group meeting time. This lasts at least a couple hours. We recite our scripture memory for the week, we discuss the "Cross Centered Life" book and then go over the inductive Bible study. After all of this, we talk about applications and certain ways we can apply what were learning to our lives.

Tuesday: Work-6:00-3:00 Tuesday evening we have our all Kaleo worship service, Stumo. We meet around 6 30 and have pizza, then we have worship and awesome speakers! I really love Tuesdays. After Stumo, Kelly and I go and have a one-on-one, which is a time for accountability and more growth. We read some and she asks specific questions about the text.

Wednesday: Work 6:00-3:00 Wednesday night we have our Inductive Bible Study Training. We are learning how to observe and interpret the Bible. It is a lot to learn, but it is very helpful! After training, we have campus prayer which is a time when we get to break off with our school groups and pray for SNU specifically, and the people on our campus.

Thursday: Work 10-3 Thursday night there is usually activities at a local park. Many people invite the employees they work to join too.

Friday: Work 6-11:30. Friday is one of our free nights, but I usually spend some of it trying to catch up on the things that are due on Monday.

Saturday: Free. This week we are having one of our social events, and the theme is "Things that come in 4," but since Kelly is gone for the weekend, our group is going to have to do 3. It should be fun!

Work has been really good, and I get to work with some great bosses. They look after us, and are very hard working as well. I am really praying that the Lord will give me the eyes to see people that need to hear the gospel that I work with.

I am sorry if this blog is kinda boring, but I thought it might be nice for some of you to see what I am doing. My prayer this week is that the Lord will give me energy so that I can be productive outside of work. Im so blessed to be here, and I am learning so much. I am so excited that I will be able to bring this home.

Thank you all for reading! Love you guys.

cross centered life.

One of the books we are reading this summer is "The Cross Centered Life." It talks about how our lives should always be focused on the ultimate sacrifice that God has given us, his Son. It is amazing how as a Christian we can forget how truly amazing God's sacrifice was. I am learning a lot, and also learning how to apply it to my life. On Sunday we went out and did beach evangelism. I got to go with Kelly which was very helpful. At first we were nervous because people were not as willing to give us their opinion on our illustration, but the Lord definitely opened up some great opportunities. We talked to a lady that was Buddhist. She didn't seem to really follow Buddhist beliefs, but she knew that she did not believe what Christians believed. She began telling us how her nephew was killed in the name of Jesus Christ. I am not sure exactly what this meant, but you could see that her heart was very hardened to Christianity. Kelly and I listened and then explained the "Bridge" illustration. Although she was very avid about not being open to our beliefs, she listened the whole entire time, and I hope that maybe the Lord spoke some truth and maybe some hope into her life.

After beach evangelism we always have share time with the group. It really is amazing to see how God works through people that trust Him and share the gospel.One really neat story was from a guy named Heath from UCO. He talked about how he shared the Bridge with a man on the beach who at first seemed really cold-hearted, and not at all open to the idea of Christianity. He said he just kept praying that the Lord would soften the man's heart. At the end of the bridge he asked the man if he had ever made the decision to put his trust in Jesus Christ, and the man said no, and that he wanted to! Heath was really excited about it, and after he left he ran into the man's sister. She was praising him for what he did. She told him that she had been trying to get him to accept Jesus Christ for 6 years, but the man finally understood what it meant after seeing the bridge! I just thought that was an amazing story, and also really neat to see how the Lord blesses us when we share His gospel.

This week we (people that have not started their jobs) have been helping out with service projects at the City Rescue Mission in PCB. This is outside of the world prayer, small group, church service, and bible study that we have been doing throughout the week. It was fun, but a lot of work. Today I officially am employed at the Royal American after all my tests came back clear. I go in on Monday for a run through and then my first official day is Tuesday at 6 AM. I am excited to get a set schedule and officially have a job. I pray that the Lord will help me to be disciplined to get up before work to spend daily quiet time with Him, and also that I say dedicated to the inductive Bible study, my book reading, and scripture memorization. It is a lot of things, but I want to be able to stay focused even when I get tired and busy with work. If you can pray about these things that would be wonderful. Also, the oil spill is heading our way as of now. We will not be leaving PCB if this happens, but it will affect our beach evangelism, and maybe some jobs if it does hit us. Sometimes I pray, "Lord PLEASEEEEE don't let it hit here", and kinda laugh to myself like that really wouldn't happen. BUT i have been convicted because I am limiting God and his miracles. I believe that he hears our prayers and He is WAY bigger than my thoughts can perceive. I mean he parted the RED SEA! If it does hit, I know he will take care of us and things will work out just the way he wants.

Anyways, this is a really random post but I thought I would send out a little weekly update. Thank you for your comments, and prayers. They really are such a blessing to me. Love you all!