His Glory Appears

Today I sat on the top floor of the Educational Sciences building (which is conveniently located behind my house) and watched the sunset. It was an unplanned event on my part, but not on God's. The result of me attempting to do homework resulted in God deciding that I needed to spend at least a couple minutes with Him. I decided He was right. I put my quiet time music on shuffle and took out my Bible and journal. As Lifehouse's "Everything" came on, I started to remember a lot about my life. As many of you know, about 3 1/2 years ago, I gave my life to Christ at Fall Getaway while He captured my heart during a drama in which "Everything" was used. So many thoughts and memories came flooding back to me in that moment. I remember everything about it: who I was sitting next to, what I did before, what I did after, who the actors were, where in that gym I was sitting, even what I was wearing. It was the pivotal moment in my life when I truly heard the Creator say to me for the first time "I love you. I want you. Come to me."

I sat in Ed Sci and smiled because I knew that God wanted me to remember Him in a simple, but significant way. He wanted me to delight in the things that I delighted in when I first met Him, His love, His grace, His justice, His life, His glory, HIM. With Lifehouse still playing through my earbuds, I started to write in my journal about how great God is. Then the song reached its end and I heard the final lyrics:

"How can I stand here with You, and not be moved by You? Would you tell me how could it be any better than this?"

I thought to myself..."truly...what could be better this?! Jesus is with me right now. What could be better?" Then the next song on my shuffle started. "His Glory Appears" by Hillsong. The first verse talks about how Jesus died for us and gives us hope because of the cross. I was excited about Jesus. Oh, was I excited. Then I thought again, "how could this get better?" Then I looked at the sun, and right as the lyrics "And his glory appears like the light from the sun. Age to age...He shines" blared through my ears, sun rays appeared from behind very thin clouds. Can you imagine my joy and excitement in that moment? I can't explain in words what I felt. I can't explain how clearly I saw Jesus in the sun. I realized, I was seeing the smallest amount of glory that my human eyes could handle. I felt weak at the knees, head over heels, nervous and giddy all at the same time. I felt like God was physically present. Today was the closest I have ever been to seeing the glory of God to the extent that my human eyes allow me to. None of this experience was of me. I believe God wanted me to go to the top floor of Ed Sci, not do homework and then have an intimate experience with His love and His heart. His glory, His beauty, His radiance. As I watched the sunset over Madison with my eyes closed and the sun on my face, God reminded me that when I come before Him, I can bask in His glory and bask in Him.

God hears me. He knows me. He's everything. He desires me. He delights in me. He wants me to enjoy Him. He wants me to love Him. He wants me. Therefore, He shows me things. He is real. He is who He says He is. In His glory and in His majesty, He wants to love me and protect me. I am His child. Jesus is my King. He loves me. It is in His glory that I rest tonight.

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"This day, we fight"

Because I'm a film major, it's hard for me to watch a movie without analyzing how it was made. The first time I watched Inception in theaters, I counted the shot length (the amount of time the camera remains on something without interruption, when it cuts, it's a new "shot") of a two minute sequence at the beginning of the film (starting right when Arthur is shot in the head in dreamworld). Because I counted shots, I missed what actually happened within the story. I counted to 120 and using my hands, counted the number of times the camera cut. This sequence averaged about 14 seconds (give or take a few seconds). Don't ask me why I remember that. All I know is that sometimes, I just want to enjoy a movie for the story it tells. I unknowingly believe that if I use my knowledge of film theory and film history, I can appreciate a film more. More often than not, I can appreciate a film that others don't like. Not because I'm above them, but because my mind is programmed to search for things that the average Joe film-goer wouldn't look for. However, outside of my film classes, I search and analyze too deep and try to become the director or sound technician or score composer.

This is how I often think about God's word. Unfortunately, I've come to realize that it's a direct reflection of how I think about God. I'll read a part of Scripture and try my hardest to think about it on a really deep level or try to get something out of it that others might not. I don't think this is to say that I want know more than others (sometimes it is), but it's moreso my thirst to know God. And I don't mean that in a boastfully. This isn't the kind of knowing that we often talk about as Christians. When questioning whether or not someone is a Christian, we often ask: "does he/she know Jesus?" We use that term loosely. At least, I have up until now. There's a difference between knowing about God and knowing God, which I'll give my thoughts on soon. The following is a quote from the introduction of John Piper's newest book "Think."

"The way we glorify him is by knowing him truly, by treasuring him above all things, and by living in a way that shows he is our supreme treasure." Then he quotes a segment of Philippians: 'It is my eager expectation and hope that...Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain....To depart and be with Christ...is far better....I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.' (Phil. 1:2--21, 23; 3:8) Therefore the main reason God has given us minds is that we might seek out and find all the reasons that exist for treasuring him in all things and above all things."

I don't think I've ever talked about theology more than I have in the last 5 months. Predestination, creation, God's actions in the Old Testament vs. New Testament, Jesus' 2nd return, homosexuality (this particular one has come up the most), and so much more. I find myself loving theology. A part of me feels intelligent because I have an amateur opinion about these things and understand them on some level. I can confidently talk to someone about theology and play devil's advocate. But I never stop to think about why. Why do I want to understand these things? Right now, as I write this, the only thing I can say is "I have completely missed the point." I've missed the point of what it means to love God with my mind. I believe that I have at least attempted to love God with my heart and my soul, but not so much with my mind. I want to know so much about God and how to defend my faith that I forget why I have faith at all. I get so caught up in intelligence. To be honest, I'm tired of talking about theology and trying to look deeper past the Gospel. The Gospel IS the deep stuff. Jesus is the deep stuff. Even though I enjoy theological discussion and want this world to understand the church and the different ways it sees "gray" areas," I forget that I am made to do that for JESUS. Not for the sake of Christians or for the sake of this world. I was made (we were made) to know God in a sense of standing in His presence and basking in His glory. Through this, we can know Him. I'm still trying to figure out how to do that. All this isn't to say that we aren't supposed to ask hard questions about theology or gray areas. We should. But please, do not forget why. Slowly, I can see that my mind does not fight hard enough to glorify God. Which brings me to my next thought.

One question I'm often asked as a film major is what my favorite movie is. I always say the Lord of the Rings trilogy. I love it because there are thousands of people, a few dozen in particular, fighting for something. It's not something empty. In the second movie at Osgiliath, in the midst of battle between man and Uruk-hai, Frodo pins Sam to the ground and puts a sword to his neck. Sam, frightened, is still able to say "It's me. It's your Sam. Don't you know your Sam?" Feeling defeated by the evil surrounding him, Frodo let's him go, drops the sword. He asks, "What are we fighting for, Sam?" And Sam replies with something that makes my heart soar. "That there's some good in this world, Mr. Frodo... and it's worth fighting for." This is an incredible picture of how Jesus tries to speak to us. Because Frodo is weighed down by the ring and the evil that surrounds them, his vision (metaphorically speaking) and his mind are blurred and he attacks the one person who chooses to walk beside him from start to finish: Sam. Even in our darkest hours where our hearts and minds pin Jesus to the ground with a sword to His neck, I believe He looks at us and says "It's me. It's your Jesus. Don't you know your Jesus?" Jesus giving us possession of Himself is not something we should take lightly.

"Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist and the breastplate of righteousness in place...In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the word of the Spirit, which is the word of God."
--Ephesians 6:14-17

Now picture this. All followers of Jesus coming together to fight a battle. We put on armor and sharpen our swords and secure our helmets into place. You're standing beside your best friends and people you've met that you greatly admire. And we charge against the enemy being told this:

"A day may come when the courage of men fails; when we forsake our brothers and break all bonds of fellowship. But it is not this day. An hour of wolves and shattered shields when the age of men comes crashing down, but it is not this day! This day we fight. By all that you hold dear, I bid you stand: men of the west." (Aragorn before charging to fight in battle)

We charge, and in unison, we are shouting our BATTLECRY:



You'll experience triumph. You'll experience faith. You'll lead troops to beat down the enemy. You'll protect your soldiers. Commanders will acknowledge you for your bravery and swordsmanship. But you'll also get tired. You will experience casualty and failure. You'll be tempted to join the enemy because it's easier to fight on that side. You'll be tempted to betray and abandon fellow soldiers because some are too weak or don't know how to fight like the strongest. In fact, some of the best soldiers will turn against you. You'll be discouraged and will want to give up. You will hate. You won't like how some people fight. But remember this, it is not about you or any soldier. Remember this above all, the war has already been won by the very person you are fighting for. You're invincible and untouchable because of your armor. You'll end up with cuts and bruises...but you will win if you believe that your armor protects you. So don't stop. Fight HARD. Fight like you truly believe that you've won. Ask yourself this: Are you fighting like Jesus is worth it? The only thing we must do is fight til the end. The enemy knows this. He will do all he can to make you believe that these things are false. Don't let the enemy win.

Brothers and sisters, "this day" is EVERYDAY. We must fight with this intensity everyday. No matter how easy or hard a task, this is how we must fight. We fight to know God with our minds, hearts and souls. We fight to proclaim His name to this evil and broken world that we live in. Fight hard. Realize your unique role in the battle and understand the battle you're fighting. You have the Spirit of the LIVING GOD in you. You have the energy to fight. You have the capability to be an amazing soldier. So don't say you don't know how to fight. You do. You were created to do nothing but fight this fight. Believe it.

The Soldier's Creed/Warrior Ethos

I will always place the mission first.
I will never accept defeat.
I will never quit.
I will never leave a fallen comrade.

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A painful kind of Love

A significant aspect of my walk has been understanding just a little bit what it means to LOVE. And not just any love. But AGAPE.

Agape is self-denial for the sake of another. Our English word "agony" comes from agape. When I think of agony, I imagine someone being so passionately absorbed in something that it causes us an emotional or perhaps physical pain. Agony is painful. It hurts. Maybe I'm stretching it...but in knowing this...I can't hear "Agape" and not think that it means to love so much that it hurts. Agape is how God loves us. I don't think Agape is God's love because God himself is love. But I believe that God has agape FOR us. He loves us SO much that it hurts him when we choose people before Him. He loves us so much that it hurts Him to see us hurting as He strips us of pride and the things we believe make us happy.

God has given us certain things because He loves us and wants us to be happy. He doesn't just give because He feels like it. An education, friends, family, clothes, an earthly home...even materalistic things like laptops, iPods, cellphones, cars, MONEY, etc. How on earth can we believe that He blesses us with those kinds of things just because he wants to do it for us? Yes...it's true. But he blesses us with all of these things in order for us to use them to worship Him. Ask yourself this...how have you glorified God through your laptop today? How have you used your homework to love God with your heart and mind? How have you loved God today? Have you loved God at all today?

We live our lives striving to be like Him by doing all the stereotypical things of Christian culture. Christian culture tells you to do good things. Christian culture judges those who only go to church on Easter and Christmas. Christian culture believes they have a right to judge those outside of the church at all. Christian culture says that the music at a church was really great. Christian culture makes clones who walk and talk the same.

But Jesus? He makes radical disciples who realize that they're all different because they're the same in God's eyes. Disciples of Jesus understand and believe that musical worship is about worshiping God in His glory, NOT about how they did or didn't or can or couldn't connect with God because of the worship songs played during that service. Jesus tells us that we're inadequate and righteous at the same time. Jesus tells his disciples, us, that we have a duty to love the people who hate Him. Jesus tells us to take up our cross and FOLLOW him. When you're in a caravan, the leader signals so you know where to go and when. We must look for God's blinker and follow Him. We must mimic Him so we can get to where we are meant to be. We must love like Jesus did.

One of the greatest examples of Jesus loving during his ministry is in John 11 when Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead. The book of John refers to Lazarus as someone that Jesus loves (11:3). Shortly after being made aware that Lazarus is sick, Jesus receives news from Lazarus' sisters that he has died. His response to Lazarus's sisters is "Your brother will rise again...I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?" (John 11:23, 25-26). Jesus KNOWS that He is going to rise Lazarus from the dead. Yet...in John 11:35, Jesus weeps. Even though Jesus knew what was going to happen, His heart still broke when he saw someone he loved helpless and dead. Jesus had a physical reaction because of how much he loved Lazarus.

This is how God sees us. He sees us the way Jesus saw Lazarus. Even though he understood that the one whom he loved would rise again...his heart hurt. When we are hurting, God hurts with us. In fact, I believe that it hurts God more. We're not called to live happily. We're called to live our lives in a manner WORTHY OF THE GOSPEL.

Paul was absolutely right when he said "If I have faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing" --1 Corinthians 13: If we are called to love and live like Jesus and follow Him...we must suffer. We must feel pain. We must cry and sacrifice. This is what love is. GOD IS LOVE. Maybe you're thinking that it's too hard to do. It's too hard to love people who hate you. To be blunt and honest...we hate God everyday when we sin. Or you might say...it's too hard to love God when you're spiritual state is in shambles. We must ask our Father for strength and trust that despite how emotional we get...He will remain steady. Jesus is SEATED at the right hand of God. He isn't pacing. He isn't emotional like humans are. Trust that God will love you. Trust that DOES love you. Trust that he will abound grace to you to help you love Him back.

Jesus said "Whatever you did for the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me"--Matthew 25:40. So...this is what you do: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind." After you get the slightest glimpse of what that means...other things will come naturally. After you experience true and raw Agape, You will understand just a little (and I mean little) what the Father experienced as He was forced to turn away as His Son endured the wrath of His own Father. It was a holy, burning, passionate, joyful, but painful love. THIS is the greatest love of all.

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Fall in love and hold nothing back

So, I work at Chick-Fil-A. It's fast food, so you can only imagine what it's like to work there. We have set up all of these stereotypes about who works at these "fast food" chains and what the atmosphere is like. There was a day last week where I felt every emotion I could possibly have felt. At one point, I wanted to scream in frustration with how far behind we were in orders. (at one point, we were 20+ orders behind. eek!). My patience was tested and I realized something that seems simple: I need God. All the time in everything. Intellectually, I know that. But once I grasped that just a little bit with my heart, a lot of things came flooding to me.

I have a friend named Josh whose writing is just BEAUTIFUL. The rhythm of his words and the incredible pictures he paints leave me feeling refreshed. A few months ago, he wrote about having this cry in us when we most desire to share something but have no words for it.

He puts it better than I ever could:
__________________________
"Sometimes I imagine all of humanity gathered together in a giant field, all staring at the sky and screaming something, our hands not content to remain at our sides and our souls resolved to not stay silent. I can see the image so clearly in my head, and sometimes the roar becomes so loud that it drowns out the noises in reality, but for the majority of my life I could not understand a word we were screaming. I knew exactly what emotions it would invoke as it came out, and I could taste exactly how the words would taste as they left my soul and made their way out of my mouth, but I could not spell them with letters."

Josh Lancette
http://joshlancette.wordpress.com/2010/05/11/for-what-we-cry/
___________________________
His words are the perfect way to describe how I've been feeling as of late. It's like I have all this pent up emotion that has had no release due to pride and honestly, lack of time. Because of this, I have unknowingly become numb to so much. I don't know how to convey my thoughts in words...not even to God. I have had to rely on the faith that God knows my heart. And I know he does, but when your heart is screaming for release, the rest of you becomes entangled in it and consumes your every thought. Don't get me wrong, I love it here and love the people. The Lord is teaching me about leadership and how to share my faith, but I feel as though I am going through the deeds with no faith. I don't have faith that God will move in my life. I was telling a friend the other day that "getting something" out of project may not be the best thing in the world. We often think that But it could very well be something that makes us angry. It could be letting go of a relationship or letting go of unhealthy friendships. It could be the reality that your parents are choosing not to believe in God. It could be the reality that this world is slowly dying and you're not doing anything about it. I've had moments of frustration with the way I've felt while being here. I've definitely felt like I wasn't "getting anything" out of project. In those moments, I've questioned God's goodness. I've even questioned His love for me. I've believed that God would relieve me of my bitter and unfaithful hearts if I did everything in His name. But God reminded me of a conversation that I had with my good friend, Evan. We discussed this: we would feel so much more power and strength if we brought Jesus to life. Meaning...we always say "Jesus is with us all the time." But do we really bring Him to life and picture Him physically with us? Because that's exactly how we should feel! You would feel empowered to love and live radically like He calls us to.

It's been a process...but I'm slowly leaving that stale place of complacency and unwinding the truths of who Jesus is. It's really beautiful the way Jesus is coming into my life more and more. I feel like He's pursuing me. I know He always is. But it's been so great how clear He is making it that HE LOVES ME. Everyday for the past 2 weeks, I have been captured with that simple yet so profound fact: God loves me. God loves me despite my nature to leave Him and sin. He loves me even though I don't love Him all the time. Jesus died and rose again for me. He died for every sin of mine. While I know that no sin is bigger than the other...i just can't wrap my head around the fact that Jesus died because one day, I couldn't help but be a glutton and eat too much. Or that so many times in one day, I envy someone who can sing better than I can, or looks better than I do. Or that I get upset at someone for getting in my way. Or judge someone for talking too much. All these little and trivial things that are still sin...Jesus had to die for it. And that 1. makes Jesus more incredible than I already thought and 2. is such a display of LOVE.

As I try to love the Lord with all my heart, with all my mind, with all my soul and all my strength...one lyric comes to my head by Copeland: "If you fall in love, fall in love and hold nothing back." (Hold Nothing Back).

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Life's a mission

So much for weekly updates, eh? Sorry! The schedule down here is so much busier than I had anticipated so please forgive me! An short update on NMB project itself:

1. Last week, God used the people on our project to initiate over 2500 spiritual conversations, present the gospel over 600 times, and lead 101 people to Christ!
2. There's only one temperature here: HOT
3. I'm working at Chik-fil-A...which is a fast food restaurant that serves a lot of Chicken.
4. I'm now leading the acoustic worship team on sunday nights for the project (something I'm still getting used to saying)
5. My roommates/bible study/impact group are AMAZING
6. Prayer requests!
-For strength and energy for everyone on the project. It's fun...but exhausting
-For unity among the students and staff...it's been awesome...but pray for even more unity :)
-For safety for the project people, but also for the MANY high school kids around who come here to party hard
7. Tonight marks the start of World week! Yay!!
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This is what has been on my mind lately.

For anyone who knows me, they'd say I'm a pretty extroverted person. However, I've found myself wanting to be by myself or in small groups rather than big group stuff. I've definitely included myself, no worries. But I've found that it's only during my alone time that I'm able to think about why I'm truly here: to grow in order to be sent.

As I go from work to project events, I find myself so incredibly focused on my personal growth (it's not a bad thing, by any means...it's the reason I came here) that I forget what burdens I know I'm meant to live with. One of those burdens is the weight of eternal glory. We are taught that eternal perspective means not to live by worldly standards and know with our minds and hearts that things like grades and appearance don't matter. I couldn't agree more with that. But do I live that way? Nope...because I let my flesh take over.

About a month before coming to North Myrtle, I had a conversation with my two good friends Johanna and Emily about what eternal perspective really means. As we sat in what UW-Madison calls "the prayer room" at 1am on a monday night, we realized what it meant to LIVE with an eternal perspective. Over and over again in the Bible, prophecies are fulfilled and nations are changed. The last prophecy of the bible is that Jesus is coming back. Meaning, that is what we're waiting on RIGHT NOW. We're waiting for Jesus to come back. What kind of weight is that to carry? The bible says that "He will come like a thief in the night." No one knows when He will return except the Father. Yet, we discussed this idea: that if somehow, we knew when and where Jesus was to return...true worshippers and believers around the world would drop everything to go to the world. The way we interact with people who walk down the street would change radically. I picture my friends and I sitting around a map and designating others to different places around the globe. Just picture it! What would it look like to see every knee bow at the name of Jesus and what would it sound like to hear every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord? It would be BEAUTIFUL. Other than God, I can't think of a sight more astounding than the sight of everyone worshipping our King and giving Him the praise He deserves. And when I think about Jesus' return, it gets me excited because in heaven, we are seated in the heavenly realms and are CO-HEIRS with Christ! In heaven, it will be an eternity without pain, suffering and sin and only with love, passion, joy and peace. Even further, we will be embraced by our true love and hear "well done my good and faithful servant."

So...my burden is this: I can't wait for heaven and can't wait to stand before Him and rejoice in victory, but I have this heart wrenching fear that-as bad as it sounds-Jesus is going to come back too soon. I'm burdened at the thought of knowing that if Jesus came at this very moment...even though I would be able to spend eternity with Him, there would be people that I could never see again. It scares me that there are people that I love more than I can say that I would not be able to hug or love again because they would spend an eternity separated from their Creator. And I think about the lost around the world that have never heard the good news. I hear all of this and immediately, God places an urgency in my soul that returns a kind of passion and freedom that I so often forget. It's not only an urgency to share the Gospel...but it's an urgency to LOVE others. It's an urgency to truly rejoice in everything as Paul tells us in 1 Thessalonians 5:18.

Even though the book of Revelation scares me...I KNOW that faith, hope, love, and redemption are real. I know that someday...there will be justice for orphans, widows, the oppressed and marginalized. That is why my heart continues in this battle for the Lord. We are brothers and sisters in Christ that need to unite in order to bring home the lost. We are soldiers in God's army fighting HIS fight. It's not ours to win or lose. We know that in the end, we win...so why do we give up so often? God's word, the belt of truth, the sword of the Spirit, the breastplate of righteousness, the shield of faith and the helmet of salvation...take all of that and FIGHT. Fight hard until the end because the battle is not over. Christ has taken the victory and it's just a matter of persevering through the pain and suffering. We will have casualties in our actions and words...but as we puruse Jesus with a steadfast heart and hold the the truths of love, grace, salvation and redemption...the injuries are worth it.

Life's a mission: Activate (NMB motto!)

"Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth." --John 4:23-24

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NMB day 1 & 2

I'm in North Myrtle! It's only been 3 days (including travel time) and I feel like there's so much I want to share!

Seven cars road tripped from the Dakotas/Twin Cities and picked up a few Wisconsinites along the way (like me!). We left at about 4-5 on tuesday and drove straight through the night and I rode with John (NDSU) and Michelle (UW-Steven's Point). I'd say we got to know each other pretty well in the 22 hours that we were together. There was a lot of "what's your favorite ______ ?" I learned a lot of fun and random facts but we were able to talk about Jesus so openly and on such deep levels. I normally do well when meeting people, but knowing that I was going to be meeting 90+ people was a little nerve-wracking. Getting to know John and Michelle appeased the anxiety a bit :) So thanks guys! Anywho...we didn't run into any trouble with cars and we didn't get lost either! Fortunately, our car didn't have a ton of stuff. We were able to turn the backseat into a little bed! 2 pillows + comforter + Jenny = 7 hours of sleep! And the last 20 minutes of the car ride before we arrived consisted of us (mostly John) getting really restless to just get there. But we finally arrived on Wednesday at about 3pm. After registration and settling into the apartment, a few people went to the beach...which was of course wonderful :) From there, we ate dinner as a project at the park.

It's incredible how quickly I have fallen in love with my team. The staff, my roommates, my bible study...I love them all. Shortly after consuming burgers, salad, ho-hos and nutty bars, we all played a game called "The Amazing Pace." Which yes, is like the Amazing Race. There were 5 places we needed to find. We all started in one place and got different clues to each of these places. Someone called it "an intense scavenger hunt" which it was. We had someone throw up from running too much. Eek! But nonetheless...it was fun. Our director (Gary) said that even if someone got sick...we were doing it for the Lord...and it pleased Him. Funny as it sounds, I totally agree with Gary! I'm so ready to dive into this summer and worship Him in all that I do. I'm sure there will be days where I will want to leave and will make some mistakes. But I truly believe that with the power of the Holy Spirit and trusting God, I won't leave with any regrets and will consider this summer one of the best summers of my life...even if it is hard...because the hard things are the best growing experiences and always bring you closer to Jesus.

Last night, Michelle, myself and a few others went outside and sat down to play guitar/sing when these 3 guys came up to us and said "can we listen?!" I thought they were part of the project but they soon told us that they were graduated seniors who came to NMB to came for a vacation. Their names were Josh, Ryan and Shay. As more people joined the group, these three men started asking questions about what why we were here and what we'd be doing. This is where some bold men on the project stepped up and engaged in a sweet spiritual conversation. While I wasn't actually a part of the conversation, I sat along and played my guitar with others and sang. When I could, I listened in on the conversation and heard what Josh understood to be how someone enters heaven. He has the head knowledge and said that he loves the Lord. I believe that with my heart but it seemed like he was trying to say that he hasn't had any fruit from that love. Shay came from a Lutheran background and considered himself and doesn't believe in God. However, due to his need for acceptance, the disbelief in God comes from what thsoe around him and what the world tells him he should/should not believe. Meaning, he believes that he has conformed to what those people believe so that he will be liked/approved of/etc. We all hung out til about midnight and when these guys left, phone numbers were exchanged, hugs were given and we invited them to come back tonight! The 5 of us that were still around when they left were able to pray for them and ask the Lord to continue to work in their lives. So please pray that they do come back :) I could say so much about these guys....but it was an incredible way to end the first day and I'm so glad I'm finally here :)

Email/call/text/write if you want!
(don't use the first one I put in the first blog!)

Jenny Vang
205 2nd Avenue South
North Myrtle Beach, SC 29582

Things to pray for:
-Job for the team
-Developing deep and sincere friendships based on the Lord
-Boldness as we do outreaches (first one tonight!)
-Those we'll talk to on the beach
-That the team would be broken for the people we'll encounter.
-Most of all...pray that we would each walk closely with the Lord and trust Him

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Pre-NMB!

Hello friends and family!

For those of you who don’t know, I’ll be in North Myrtle Beach from May 26^th-August 7^th. It’s a 10 week long summer project with Campus Crusade for Christ. We’ll be with a team of over 100 people that includes college age students and staff from around the nation. We’ll be in bible studies, learning how to share our faith and just growing in community as we pursue Jesus together. I’ll also be working 40+ hours a week at a job that I have yet to get! But…no need to worry...that will be a simple process. Also! We’ll be living one block from the beach!

So…this is where I will be keeping my updates while I’m there. I hope to update the blog at least once a week (don’t hold me to that though!) and keep you all posted about what’s going on in my life as well as prayer request that I/the project might have.

The pre-NMB process has been pretty easy. All I have left to do is pack, which is probably going to be the worst part. I’ll probably do it all the night before because I have no idea how to pack for 10 weeks. Then I’ll be on the road starting at 4pm on the 25^th. It’s an 18ish hour drive. I’ll be with 2 of my fellow NMB-ers. We’re actually caravanning with some of the others going. I love road trips (ask me about my way down to Miami sometime)!

It’s SO exciting to think that in exactly one week, I will be sitting in NMB with my team. There are 16 students from Madison going along with 5 Madison staff. It’ll be nice to have familiar faces around, but I’m already so excited about meeting the rest of the students and staff and just dive into summer. I can’t wait to see what God does through this short summer!

Things you can be praying for:
-Financial support* (I have about 45% of what I need for the summer)
-A job!
-The students and people of NMB that we will be talking to and getting to know

*If you’d like to support me financially, make checks out to “Campus Crusade for Christ” and put my name in the memo line. And mail it to (and there isn't supposed to be a street address because it's picked up at the post office daily):

Jenny Vang
Campus Crusade for Christ
North Myrtle Beach, SC 29582

I enjoy mail though. So if you want to send a letter or postcard, please do! Seriously...I prefer getting letters to getting emails or text messages :)

Until next week!

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