THREE DAYS. That is all that remains between my comfortable life in rural NC and a summer working, pursuing God and being intentional full time in Santa Cruz. Wow. Who am I? I am not the kind of girl that signs up for 10-week-long mission trips far away from home without knowing anyone else doing the same. So let me explain how I got to this point.
In the beginning of the school year, God told me that He wanted me to focus on glorifying Him this summer. At the time I had no idea what that looked like so I began praying and brainstorming. After a little thought I figured I would find a local ministry for which I could volunteer just like I have done in past summers. When some older friends told me about “Summer Project” for the first time, I was quick to think, “Oh, that is too expensive, too long and plus there are so many needs in my local community.” However, as I heard more and more about project I began to see the impact it made not only on the people of the targeted cities, but on the everyday lives of those who went on a SP. I began to see something I wanted. Passion for the Gospel and unrelenting love for the lost. At my home church, evangelism has never been a popular subject and I never received training in how to tell someone about what Christ did for them. This year I have learned that there is only one possible response to belief in the Gospel—a passionate desire for the world to know what you know—to know WHO you know. With a new grip on what the Gospel means for the world, I began to want to learn how to tell people that Jesus died for them. I have always been shy. It is out of my comfort zone just to initiate a “regular” conversation, much less a personal spiritual conversation.
Then I went to Encounter—the Campus Crusade for Christ winter conference. During the first few days I really began to feel God nudging me towards this SP thing. I told my friends that I was considering it, but I would definitely stay on the east coast. Then I was placed in an evangelism group with Mike Mehaffie, the Santa Cruz project leader. After talking with him and being around him for one afternoon, I really felt like Santa Cruz was not just an option; it was my best option. It turned out that the lady who originally pointed me towards Cru from my home church, Mrs. Debbie Worley, had a connection with this project. Her daughter and son-in-law staffed it in 2003. When I got home from the conference, I applied. Remember, I didn’t know anyone else applying at this point. Nobody.
In early March, I met a girl at our NCSU Crusade weekly meeting who said she had just been accepted to the project. PTL! (Beverly!) That night, I got the phone call and I was accepted too. I was in shock. Two prayers answered within a 3-hour time frame. I was going to spend my summer in Cali and I had a beautiful sister in Christ to join me on my journey. Soon I discovered that I had a friend from NC State going as well. (Steven) And Josh Estep was going too!! I could not believe God worked it out the way He did. With two good friends going with me, the fear of not knowing anyone was shattered. Just one of very many testaments to God’s faithfulness in this journey so far.
Now I could not be more excited about spending my entire summer thousands of miles from home. God has shown me that He is totally in control and there is not a thing I need to worry about.
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