New Opportunities

Wednesday, we went to Devil’s lake again, just six of us to go hiking. After about an hour and a half, we stopped for some TAWG (Time Alone with God). We had climbed up tons of rock stairs and seen some unique rock formations, and I was reminded of Moses and the Ten Commandments and how Moses had to chisel the tablets out of rock and how God wrote on them. I thought about how each one of the rocks around the lake were placed there by God’s hand, some balanced precariously on others, just right so that they wouldn’t fall over though all kinds of weather would try to topple them. I was amazed at how much care God put into making our home, the earth, beautiful, and then how much more detail was put into making us and forming us into the image of Himself. I was then reminded about how the Israelites followed God in a pillar of fire by night and a cloud by day and thought about how easy it would be to know God’s leading if we could follow a pillar of fire today, but instead, we just have to listen to a still small voice. Would it have been easier to follow God back then, or now today? I’ve been reading through Deuteronomy for my personal devotions, and it seems to me that even without technology, they had a really hard time with God providing for them all of their needs. They saw concrete examples of His providing in the water from the rock and manna every morning, but still they weren’t satisfied; they wanted more. Are we satisfied with what God is providing us today and everyday or are we bugging Him for more?

Tuesday evening, we had another evangelism outing. My team and the guy’s team that we live next to (Josh’s team) went to a motel on the opposite side of town. Before hand, we were told that there were five Vietnamese girls, but when we arrived, we discovered many more foreign students from Turkey, the Dominican Republic, Romania, Bulgaria, and more that I can’t remember. One of them saw us coming and bearing food (We took watermelon and cookies.) and said to herself, “These people are bringing food. They are Christians.” So she came out to meet us and talk with us. Her name is Beatrice, and she is also a Christian! She said that she has tried having spiritual conversations with some of the people that she lives with, but they don’t understand faith and God’s grace. They believe that there’s a higher power and that might be God, but they don’t comprehend their need for salvation and Jesus and what He did on the cross. She also said that it’s really hard living there with all of the partying that goes on after work. While we were there, we gave them food, taught them how to play ultimate Frisbee, and then some of us learned the basic steps to the Salsa, a dance from the Dominican Republic, while others just talked to the students and learned more about them. Please pray for Beatrice and the strengthening of her faith and also for my team and Josh’s team as we go back to their motel and try to do some things with them. Pray that the Holy Spirit would guide the conversations and present opportunities for us to share our faith.

Another new opportunity that my team and our brother team (Tyler’s team) have is at our work place, Holiday Shores. In the past, they have had a church service on Sunday mornings, but during the last several years, the person that normally does it has been decreasing services because no one is coming, and he is not around as much as before. So, we were offered the job of organizing a church service and are trying to get it up and running for next  Sunday. We don’t have anything big planned, but hopefully our efforts will be appreciated and gather some attention so that more people come and hear the gospel. Please pray for Tyler, as he is planning a short message, and for Torrie, Kyle, and I as we plan music. Also pray for the visitors at the campground, that they would be drawn to the service and ultimately to the Lord. Also pray for the Ward family who run the campground, as there seems to be some struggles in their family. Pray that we will be witnesses in our actions, attitudes, and words, and that they will also be interested in our service.

What a week....

Today is another rainy, dreary day; so unlike yesterday which was marvelous! Yesterday, we had a fun day at Mirror Lake, inviting some of the international students along with us. We went out on paddle boats, canoes, kayaks, and paddle boards and found some unique places along the lake, which seemed more like a river it was so narrow. I saw a beaver for the first time, the underside of an interstate bridge, and some awesome scenery. Then in the evening, we grilled out, played frisbee, soccer, and threw a football around. To conclude the night, several of us went to a drive-in movie theater, which was great fun! Today was a catch up day for sleep, grocery shopping, laundry, email, and possibly baking cookies later! It was fun running into different Nav people going to and from Walmart and the laundry room. We also met a Jamaican woman, Antoinette, while doing laundry; she's been looking for some good friends and a Christian group here in the Dells. We invited her to our Nav Nite worship service and Bible study. Please pray that she will feel welcomed in our group.
Another new thing that happened was that my team and our brother team had supper with several coworkers who are Bulgarian. They made us an authentic Bulgarian meal that was really good, especially the main course. We had a salad with a special dressing for our first course. Then a summer soup which was cold. Finally, we had the main course, which consisted of ground beef, potatoes, peppers, some original spices, and a topping.

Dramatically changing the subject, the following passages are from the devotional for this morning.

Mark 10: 42-45 - "Jesus called them together and said, "You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.""

Hebrews 10:24-25 - "And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another - and all the more as you see the Day approaching."

I have always liked the passages talking about being a servant to all, so the passage in Mark was familiar, but I hadn't given the passage in Hebrews much thought before. It also seemed to apply to us (my team) at this time, because we have been quite busy this last week and haven't been as faithful with our devotions and meeting together and talking about them as we had planned. Personally, this week hasn't been so good. I don't feel as if I am getting as much out of our Bible study as I should. I don't feel as if I am doing much to witness to people. I don't feel as if I am doing a whole lot at my job, sitting around waiting for kids to come in and play games. Other things just don't seem to be going right this week either, and then there's bad news to top it off. 

So, I thought about it this morning, how can I spur someone else on toward love and good deeds when I'm down on myself about other things? Well, part of me thinks that I need to deal with my issues before helping someone else, but on the other hand, maybe helping someone else would help me out too. To spur someone on toward love, I think we need to know what love means and then show it to others. To spur someone on toward good deeds, I think we need to do some ourselves, whether it's taking someone to Walmart, giving a hug, picking up garbage off the ground, or just being there to listen to someone who wants to talk.

Please pray for my team this week, that we will continue to be diligent in seeking God and reading His word, that we will make time to "be still" to "cease striving" and focus on His goodness and providence, that we will make time to get to know more of the international students in the area before it gets really busy, that they will be open to friendship and the message that we have, that we will also make time to spend with each other and to resolve differences and talk out problems, and that we will be lights in whatever we do and wherever we go.

Our Entire Being

Yesterday was our first evangelism trip. We went to Madison and split up into pairs to share the good news. In about a two hour time span my partner Torrie and I talked with four ladies. We were surprised to discover that all four of them had some sort of background with Christianity and that two out of the four had turned away from it. Another one, Jessica, was searching for clarity and meaning in life; she wanted to know if she was doing was what God wanted her to do, but didn't think that the community of a church was very helpful, so she has stopped going. The last one, Nikki, was a college student  who took time from studying to talk to us. She had grown up Presbyterian, but found it hard to be dedicated while in college. We also tried to talk to an older gentleman whose clothes were in disarray, but he was very confused and angry at us when we asked to speak with him, so we went somewhere else. After the two hours, all of us regrouped and talked about our experiences.Many of the other groups had different stories than we did. One group spent the whole time talking with one gentleman who thought that everyone was everything and everything was everyone, so God was a part of us and we were apart of God whether we liked it or not; everything was part of "the energy." Another group talked with some Jehovah-Witnesses, but because they didn't know any background about that, they couldn't share any verses or insight. A couple of our leaders had a very good talk with a younger couple, and at the end of the conversation, the woman was ready to accept Christ, but the man was not, so they went over the plan of salvation, but then the woman wanted to think more about it. Another group met this very discouraged lady, who listened to what they had to say, getting more and more downhearted as they went on, but then didn't want to hear about the hope and joy that we have in Christ. For me, it was quite an interesting day, but it also reminded me that I have a lot to be thankful for, especially growing up in a Christian home and environment.

For my devotional today, the passage was Deuteronomy 6:1-9. Part of that passage, verses 4-9, really speak to me. I don't remember where I heard a series of messages about it, but I think it was a passage for a winter retreat at camp. In verse 5, three things are mentioned; we are to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, and strength. The speaker gave definitions for these words: heart - your emotions and feelings, soul - your very life and breath, strength - your abundance. It's easy to think that those are just definitions, that we really aren't that affected by them. To love God with all our heart, our emotions and feelings, means that we don't idolize anything above Him; nothing else takes away our attention or focus. To love God with all our soul, our very breath, life, desires, and being, means that nothing comes first in our life except for God; God is our passion in life. To love God with all our strength, our abundance, means that everything we have is for God's use, our money, time, mental and physical capacities, and material wealth is all for God's use. When I think about it that way, I realize that it is a huge deal, that we aren't ourselves anymore after we come to Christ; we belong to God. He received those wages of death that we were due, so we owe Him ourselves, our entire being. It wasn't enough that He would just take the payment for our sins, but He had to give us an additional gift as well; we have the privilege to freely accept His gift of eternal life with our Father. It is so amazing!!!

Please pray for the people that we encountered yesterday, that they would ponder what was said. Also pray for the people who turned us down and didn't want anything to do with us or what we were offering them. There are also some cold/flu type sicknesses that are going around, please pray that those affected would start to feel better and that those who haven't caught it yet would stay healthy. One more thing to pray for is that everyone on this trip, including me, would experience what it is like to give God our entire being!

It only takes a spark....

I have now been in the Dells one week. It has been quite an experience! I have a job at a place called Holiday Shores; it's a campground that has lots of seasonal renters that have their own trailers and just rent the spot to stay on and then there are quite a few rental trailers, RV spots, and tent sites too. The first day we were treated to their famous doughnuts and were put to work, not necessarily doing the job that we would be doing all summer. We cleaned cabins, trailers, and motel cabins, then put some new trailers together. Two days later, it was neat to see people enjoying the fruits of our labor. Later, I was assigned the job of overseeing the game room and rentint out golf carts. They have a room full of arcade games and a ping-pong table (They are hoping to get a pool table too.) and lots of balls and paddles for kids to borrow to play all sorts of sports. Memorial Day weekend was quite busy and after a few mistakes and troubles with different machines, hopefully we have everything straightened out. I have some wonderful co-workers; one is from our group and is actually from SDSU too, another is a high school student who's kind of quiet, and the third one I haven't gotten to meet yet; I've heard that he's from Bulgaria.
Switching subjects, yesterday we had our first day of recreation with the whole group of Dells STPers. We went out to Devil's Lake and went rock climbing (I didn't actually rock climb. The climb up to the rock climbing was enough climbing for me, plus there were rock stairs, so I'd like to say that I still went rock climbing!). It was so beautiful there; we could see across the lake and all the mountains and trees. The water was so clear and cold; it was amazing! Our team and our brother team stayed out there until sunset. It got a little buggy, but other than that it was really nice outside. I don't know how people can experience nature like that and not believe that God is real and He created everything, forming it with His own hands.
We have quiet times every morning, and yesterday morning the scripture was taken from 1 John 4 where it talks about love (7-21). We are supposed to make several observations about the passage and then figure out our favorite verse and form an application from it. I think most of that passage is a favorite of mine, but the verse that stood out to me the most was 19: "We love because He first loved us." (ESV) That verse doesn't place any conditions on love; it doesn't set any rules; it just says "we love." I thought about how some of us say we are Christians, but then we don't love like Christ. We put limitations on it; we say we can love only those who are from our country, who are neat and tidy, who have homes and food. But that's not what God wants; that's not how He loves. He loves unconditionally. Unconditionally means without limitations, absolute. What if everyone loved with an absolute love? What if we had no limitations on our love; if it didn't matter what people did or didn't do to/for us? What if we loved like Christ and were willing to give up anything and everything for someone that we just met, or better yet, someone who we didn't even know, someone who didn't deserve it? What if...? I think it would affect everything. I think it would start a chain reaction that could affect the whole world. There is only one problem; it has to start somewhere. Whoa, you might be thinking, you're suggesting that I take part in this. Yes, I am. It only takes a spark to get a fire going and that one spark can give warmth to someone that's hurting. Let's be that spark and set the world on fire for the love of God!