Updating on the Ministry in Clearwater

Hey all,
Sorry this seems so long since my last post. The wifi here does not want to work with my computer, so I am having to write this on my phone.
These past couple weeks have been quite insane actually...
One big thing is that our staff are now gone! That's right. The ministry here is now all college students. Before the staff left, they gave each of us roles to fulfill and responsibilities to take over. I was asked to be a LifeGroup leader. This means that I lead a Bible studies each week, I meet with all 8 guys in my study to check up on them spiritually, and I help them arrange times when they can be sharing their faith and doing ministry in Clearwater. I must say, I'm pretty pumped. I definitely need lots of prayer, though.
I've been growing a lot personally in the last couple weeks as well. I have made huge jumps in my understanding of my identity in Christ. I have been growing in my ability to share my faith and love on nonbelievers through practice and chatting with the staff. I have grown a lot in understanding myself and my sin as well. In the next couple weeks, I think my focus of growth will be understanding and embodying biblical manhood. If you could be praying for this as well, that would be so encouraging.
One last thing to pray for- lately, even amidst all the awesome people here on project, I have felt really attacked with loneliness. If I'm being honest with myself, I do not feel like I am connecting with others well and I feel overwhelmed by petty conflict and drama. I could REALLY use prayer in this area.
Thanks everyone!
Oh and one more thing! Go check this out-
http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DtTv12uxixDc%26feature%3Dplcp&feature=plcp&v=tTv12uxixDc&gl=US

Challenges that We Get to Face

If you have ever heard someone talk about a summer project, sometimes all you hear is the fairy tale version.

I was often skeptical of summer projects during the course of the last two years because of the lack of negative things I heard about them. Every person who ever spoke to me about their experience said: "it was the best summer of my life" "I made my best friends on project" "the Lord blessed me a ton." Honestly, it seemed that nothing bad could ever happen. I don't really remember hearing much in the way of conflict, challenges, trials, or failures.

Now, I'm not dogging on anyone who has ever told me about project. I get it. They wanted to encourage people to come, so naturally, they through out all the Pros. Nevertheless, in my mind, I had decided I wanted  to come back and be open and honest about all the hard things about project. I didn't want to experience a fake paradise, but instead a real-life situation.

I am blogging now to let you know that I am living that conflict, challenge, trial, and failure-filled part of project.

These past couple of weeks have really been hard to put into words, so I'll try my best. To put it bluntly, I haven't really had any of those "rosey, confirming, heart-melting, euphoric" experiences we so often strive for in our walks in faith. Instead, I have been witness again and again to my own brokeness getting in the way of the Lord's Will and Plan. I have had to deal with conflict, which no matter how you handle, is almost always messy. I am currently battling a cold that is taking my ability to concentrate, breathe, talk, and have humor. Lastly, I have been frustrated with my inability to figure myself out psychologically (something I'm usually fairly good at).

So yeah. It definitely been a hard few weeks. BUT! I have been fairly content through it all. Why? Honestly, because I know that despite my brokeness, sickness, and ignorance, the Lord's perfection, healing, and wisdom does not change! He has been teaching me throughout, as my heart draws to Him.

Now don't get me wrong, things haven't been THAT bad. I've still got all 10 fingers, both my eyes, and what's left of my ACLs.

Actually, there have been some pretty cool stuff going on down here!

In the past week, I have building some pretty sweet relationships with the guys I work with. There are a ton of cool guys there. I'm hoping to be able to hang with them after work. Also, yesterday we all went and helped serve in a homeless community in the area. We served dinner and ate with some of the people currently in the community. I got to meet this guy name Shad, a former wrestler who had recently come to begin a relationship with the Lord. He was a tight guy with a cool story of redemption and hope.

I'm going to update some prayers and praises on the other page. Check that out and go to the thrown for me. The prayers of a righteous man or woman are powerful and effective!

Has "In Christ" Become Cliche?

Well, it has for me.

One of the major questions I have been wrestling with over the last few months is "what does it mean for my identity to be 'in Christ'?" Perhaps I'm over thinking it. Perhaps I care enough to gain more than complacent understanding.

Since coming on project, I have been growing in this area with the Lord. Growth has come about through understanding myself and my ways of thinking. I have been identifying some of the lies I commonly believe about my identity. I have been lead to verses that speak about our new-found righteousness in Christ. My discipler and I have talked for quite a while together on the subject, particularly my identity as a man. I do not want to prematurely conclude on some of the lessons I have been learning, for I feel as though I have much of a ways to still travel. By the end of the summer, Lord willing, I will be able to post about this subject in a more in-depth manor.

For now, I wanted to talk a little bit more about the evangelism we do here on project. I had been getting a few questions about what exactly it is that we do.

Well, there are a number of strategies that we have used to engage the community. Before I mention them, I wanted to give everyone a firm foundation. You know missionaries who go to Africa and build an Christian orphanage, which leads to both the example and the preaching of the gospel? Well that's not what we do.

A good foundation perhaps is to go read Acts. You see how Paul simply walks into the market and begins preaching? That's a little more along our lines. Let me explain some of the differences first, though.

Firstly, we don't really just pick a random barrel and start preaching. Rather, most of our evangelism begins through normal conversation. The general way we share the gospel in Clearwater is by engaging people in conversation that is initiated by us students. There are a number of ways we do this, all focusing on allowing the people we meet to share their thoughts before we ever start talking.

1. Spiritual Surveys: Cru collects data each year through these quick spiritual surveys. We will take these out to the beach and engage people to see if they would be interested in taking it. We are trained to transition these surveys to an opportunity to share the gospel.

2. Soularium: This is similar to the surveys mentioned above, but we use picture cards to and ask people to pick cards that represent their answers. (A lot of people think this is kind of fun, whether or not they wanted to talk about the gospel afterwards).

3. Question Boards: Sometimes, we will take massive wooden boards out to the beach/pier with a simple question written on them. For instance, the board I worked with last weekend said "Who is God?" We then invite people to write their answer on the board. After they have finished, we try and engage them about their answer.

These are just a few of the methods we have used so far, and they have been awesome to experience! I have lost track of how many people have come to Christ since being down here.

Please continue to pray for my team and I. We are expecting God to do big things!

Faith within Discouragement

Hey all! Sorry it has been a while since I've really updated on anything. The wireless here hasn't been so hot, and we are kept pretty busy.

This past week has been pretty challenging. I swear I'm probably the first person from Purdue to say it- Summer Project can be hard! Most of us work during the day, where we are trying to be lights to our co-workers, then we come back and usually have some sort of meeting in the evening. Sometimes, we have to help get these meetings ready ourselves. Then there is making dinner and cleaning up afterwards, laundry, random work, and intentionally pursuing the other men and women on the project. It is really easy to wear yourself out here.

However, it has been so good. The Holy Spirit has really been battling bad attitudes and exhaustion within me this past week. With the Lord's help, I'll have the energy to do whatever needs to be done.

So, a couple updates on what I've gotten to do this week:

1. This past weekend, we ministered to people on the beach by playing a game we call Soularium. The way the game works is that we set up about 50 cards, each with a picture of something random (a elderly couple, a tree, a door). Then we ask passerby's questions about the cards. For instance, "which two of these cards best represent your life?" It gives people the ability to start thinking about their life in a whole new way. If people are willing, we also ask some questions about God and the ability to have a relationship with Him. This is our avenue into sharing the gospel with them.

During our time using soularium, it was easy for me to get pretty discouraged. You see, a lot of other groups were having great conversations and people were hearing the gospel. I, myself, was not. In a way, my heart was basically slumped because I wasn't happy with the way the Lord was using me. On top of that, the Lord has really put me in a interesting place at work. Most of the other male workers work the night shift, while I work the morning shift. This has been making it difficult to really work on my ministry at Surf Style. I'm not sure what the Lord's plan is, but I want to trust Him and be faithful!

2. Last night, I got to Emcee our weekly meeting. This meeting is designed to be a recharge for all of us on project. We usually play some sort of goofy game, worship, pray, hear teaching, and enjoy some socializing. Being able to lead it all was such a fun experience! I can't wait to do it again next week!

Thanks again for all your support and prayers! Pray that I am usable for the Lord in His work down in Clearwater!