2024 STP Week Eight Update

What does it mean to abide?

This was a reoccurring question at project, as a result of our summer theme, Abide. Throughout the past eight weeks, we have gained a deeper understanding of this word and why it’s an important part of our faith. Remaining, dwelling, continuing, obeying, and treasuring are all words that reflect what it means to abide in the Lord. To remain in Christ, we must be present and rest in him, making his word our home. When we treasure Jesus and are truly satisfied in him, God is most glorified. This satisfaction isn’t based on our feelings alone but on knowing and believing in God’s love. “God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.” 1 John 4:16. This is an intertwined relationship that follows through in itself. Abiding in the Lord is key to developing a strong relationship with God.

This week was full of fun, excitement, and reflection as staff came back. The buzz of it being our last week filled the grounds of project. The excitement kept us energized to appreciate every minute we had together. We had plenty of time with our campus groups as we talked about how we grew during project, ways we want to continue to grow, and how we are going to keep this momentum going back on campus.

This week was focused a lot on return training. During this time students have a unique opportunity to invite friends who are thinking about going to project next summer, to get a taste of what everyday life is like in SC. My best friend Abbey, from back at school came to visit. It was such a blessing to be able to show her around Garden City and introduce her to people I have grown so close to as she decides if project is the right thing for her next summer.

Our final social of the summer was very timely as it was the Olympics. We split up into our Peg Leg and Sea Dawg teams one last time for a bunch of fun events! The Sea dawgs took home the win, and we all finished the night with a pool party.

Reflections from Ethnee and Sabrina

My decision to attend STP will continue to be one of the most monumental I’ve ever made. While at project, I experienced God’s transformative power in many ways, including in my own heart. I have many takeaways from this summer, but one that stands out is how the Lord taught me the true essence of fellowship and why it is a vital part of our lives as Christians. Before STP, I kept the more vulnerable parts of my faith private, not fully appreciating how essential it is to be in fellowship with other believers and not fully grasping the importance of it. My time at project has been the most precious gift, showing me how to openly share all aspects of my faith. The friendships I formed and the spiritual growth I experienced have reshaped my understanding of the Christian community. I am so grateful to have spent two months connecting and growing with fellow believers who not only fill my cup but also challenge me.

Throughout the summer, a key thought has remained with me: I’ve been blessed so I may be a blessing to others. This perspective gives me a deeper commitment to live out my faith actively. As the school year approaches, I look forward to sharing what I’ve learned through discipleship and intentional time spent with others. Pouring into them as I have been poured into, loving them as Christ has loved me. -E

 As I reflect on my time as a whole at STP, I can’t help but praise God for how He has prepared a way for each one of us to be here. Knowing how He had a different path for each one of the fifty some students that attended, some who did not plan on it and others who had wanted to attend for years, is beautiful to see how He intertwined our stories together. I was told about STP in March, and then went to Project for spring break with our campus. My first thought while I was down there was that there was simply no way I would spend my whole summer down here. I had so many “bigger and better” things to do; get an internship, work a lot, have fun with my friends, go to the cabin etc. But by the end of my spring break, I knew that I would be down here again for the summer. Seeing and feeling God change and prepare my heart and mind for this summer is a beautiful experience that has grown me so much. The change in where I had placed my time and value from grades, status and money to only wanting to know our God more and share His never-ending love with others has been the most freeing feeling.

 This whole summer one big thing that has been on my mind is how great and perfect God’s timing is. We often think that we have so much control over how things happen, but when you take a step back and see how everything has all worked out, it is so clear how God has had a hand in everything. He is such a great father who is for us and cares so much about our wellbeing. He shows his Agape, never-ending love for us through so many things, and it leaves me in awe of Him constantly. -S

 This past summer in South Carolina brought about growth, challenges, and most importantly a deeper closeness to the Lord. It was a blessing to fully immerse ourselves in this enriching and transformative experience. Committing two months to learn more about our savior, without distraction, is a gift I encourage all students to take advantage of.

We want to express our deepest gratitude for your prayers and support throughout the summer. Thank you for following along and staying tuned!

-          Ethnee and Sabrina

2024 STP Week Seven Update

The end of week seven means the countdown of our days left at project has begun. Everyone is trying to soak up the remainder of their time here with one another. Our free days have been filled with beach and pool time, pickleball, and exploring the area. I’m still trying to wrap my mind around the fact that we only have a little more than a week left in South Carolina. It’s sad to think that our time together at project is running out, but that’s also what makes time the most precious gift. Going into week eight, I will definitely try to live in the moment and enjoy the blessing that is summer training project.

Because we must inevitably think about returning home soon, this week’s theme training was on discipleship. This training was very applicable and helped prepare our hearts for any discipleship we may do once back on campus. The talk was given by Bryce, who explained how a disciple knows the truth, loves, and bears fruit. A point that stuck out to me was that love can be shown through a person’s use of time. As disciples, we must invest our time in the church and loving people intentionally.

Our evangelism training this week was led by Stephanie, who talked about sacrificial intentionality. The main three points that Steph highlighted were that a gospel-centered identity leads us to live sacrificially out of love, sacrificial living is displayed by becoming all things to all people, and sacrifices are all gains, not losses. When our identities are gospel-centered, our sacrifices become motivated by love and selflessness instead of mere obligation. This is much more fulfilling and dissipates the sacrificial feeling. It is also one way I have seen myself grow this summer. The reasons for my sacrifices, big and small, have changed from things I felt expected to do, to things I want to do out of love. This points to Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross and the infinite amount of love he has for us.

This week’s social the Peg Leg team chose to have a music-themed social. The highlight of the evening was creating music videos for a song we got to pick within the genre our group was assigned. We had country, rap, R&B, pop, and 80s. All groups had an hour and forty-five minutes to film and edit the video. We had a viewing party to decide the winners, followed by line and swing dancing. Everyone enjoyed themselves and everyone had a blast dancing together and enjoyed the music!

Word training this week was led by Cole and he spoke on how God’s word shapes our prayer life. Cole started by sharing how God’s word – the Bible – is his way of communicating with us and us praying is our way of communicating with Him. Knowing this we should pray often and know that he is really listening to us. Sometimes when we pray it feels like we are talking to nothing but in reality, he is intently listening to us and loves to hear what we say.

Something that has been a fruitful part of our weekly routines here at project is our discipleship groups. Every Wednesday, room leaders lead their roommates through intentional time spent together in discipleship. Having the time to slow down and pour into one another is something I have appreciated very much. It created a space where we felt comfortable leaning into vulnerability and as a result, brought our room closer together. Our discipleship groups have shown me what it means to uplift and support one another as fellow Christians. In Hebrews chapter 10 we are told, “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” The fellowship I have experienced at project fills my heart with gratitude and encourages me to strive to be a light for others.

This summer is the first time that I have participated in a discipleship group, and it has been one of the biggest blessings of my time here. Getting to know the girls I live with on a deeper level through discipleship group has been so sweet and our connection is so strong, and I know we will stay in touch for years to come. Reading the Bible together has helped us to practice the inductive method in a group setting and have a greater confidence in doing it. This group is also the first group I have confessed to. Through this these girls have all listened, prayed, held accountable, and encouraged each other in things that we have opened about. 

 As always, stay tuned for more updates!

-       Ethnee and Sabrina

2024 STP Week Six Update

Week six has passed and we are starting to get excited for return training and to head back to campus. With just two weeks left, we are keeping our minds present where our feet are planted. This week was filled with many powerful talks that have made us recognize that God is for us, and we can take comfort in knowing the Lord is with us every step of the way.

 Brian Phillips, a director on staff with CO for 20 years, shared about understanding our calling. Brian first debunked the common thought that our calling is a major event, but rather that our calling is a process of gaining confidence concerning God’s will for our future. Brian continued with how God has a plan for our lives so there is no need for anxiety because we can’t mess His plan up. A very popular verse from Jeremiah states this in the Bible, giving us truth to cling onto when we are unsure of our path.

“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29:11

 Brian also took the time to introduce us to Campus Outreach Lead. CO Lead is a two-year, post-grad international mission experience with a focus on personal growth. LEAD stands for Learn yourself, Engage the world, Advance the mission, and Develop leadership skills. The program’s mission is to help college students across the globe establish a relationship with Christ and become a leader for others. As many of us will be thinking of post-grad plans within the coming years, we will keep this unique opportunity in mind. It is exciting to think that some of us here, may be called to further the kingdom through this experience.

 At evangelism training this week we heard from Patch again, who shared how God calls the church to the mission, not just the individual. We see repeatedly in scripture how God never intended man to be alone. In the beginning, he created Adam and then Eve so they could be together. When Jesus sent out the twelve disciples, he sent them in pairs so that they did not have to minister alone but together. This caught my attention, as we always go out in two or three when evangelizing with others. Acts 2 talks about how the church is our community and together through community we can plant seeds in the lives of others. We learned that when we are faithful in planting seeds, God is faithful in growing them.

            “And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.” Acts 2:44-47

 This week’s word training was led by one of our team leaders, Cole, and was on the transformative power of God’s word. To understand the power of God’s word, we first must understand the purpose of the Bible which Cole outlined as to know who Jesus is, remember the gospel, and treasure Jesus above all else. Evils will try to conform us to this world, but because we do not belong to it, God’s desire is for us to fix our eyes on him and conform to the likeness of his son, Jesus Christ, who brings us the fullness of joy. If we become what we behold, holding fast to Jesus and God’s Word draws us closer to Him. During the talk, Cole explained that God’s Word has the power to transform us by addressing our sins. The only way to kill sin is not by trying to stop it, but by replacing it with Jesus who is the superior joy in our lives. By shifting our mindsets to focus more on God’s grace than the sin itself, we give him glory. God doesn’t want behavioral modification in our lives, he wants heart transformation. It is the Holy Spirit working through God’s word, that gives it its transformational power.

 Word training ended with a workshop on Biblical meditation and how it helps us delight in God. Psalm 1:1-2 says, “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.” Tiana explained this practice using an analogy of the Bible being food and Biblical meditation being the chewing of that food. Biblical meditation enables us to digest the truth in a way that nourishes us throughout our lives. We then took the time to practice some Biblical meditation of our own. One way to start practicing Biblical meditation in your life is by prayerfully preparing your mind and heart, not giving up when you get distracted, pausing and pondering, and prayerfully letting God’s word press home on your heart. Biblical meditation brings about valuable time spent with the Lord and is something we encourage everyone to consider making a practice in their life.

 Some fun events this week included the social and attending a Mrytle Beach Pelicans game. This week’s social was planned by the Seadawg’s team, and we celebrated Christmas in July beach style. We enjoyed some good rotisserie chicken for dinner then followed the evening with pictures with Santa, a white elephant game, a water balloon fight, and decorated cookies. We attended the Pelican’s game on Wednesday night and were all excited to enjoy a night out together at the ballpark! Many two-dollar hot dogs were consumed, and we all cheered on the team!

 As I write about week six, I have found myself reflecting on how much I have grown in the past month and a half. I have noticed how well these training have shaped me by how I approach different situations and how my heart posture has changed. One of my biggest takeaways from this summer is how to ask questions. It sounds like a simple and mundane thing but asking good questions is a great skill to have. They can lead to having a powerful conversation. Getting to know others through these conversations and taking what I have learned by putting it to use on the beach during evangelism, has allowed me to grow and try new things in a setting I normally wouldn’t have. Learning how to operate in an uncomfortable conversation has been such a skill to have and I am so grateful to have learned how to do that.

 Throughout this summer, something that I have greatly appreciated and grown from is our daily devotionals. Every morning before work we pair up in twos or threes to study a few verses from 1 John. At the beginning of the summer, the staff taught us the inductive reading method, which is what most of us have been using during our devotionals. Also known as OIA, the inductive reading method helps us share our observations, interpretations, and applications. Diving into the Word with others has been a sweet way to begin the day and something I look forward to continuing after project. Intentionally making time to read and study scripture with others has been immensely fruitful in my walk with the Lord. Hearing other people’s perspectives and insights has also helped in my understanding of the Word. Each day has brought new “nuggets” of information and applications I can implement in my everyday life, with each one circling back to how I can abide in God more.

Thanks for reading and stay tuned for more updates!

2024 STP Week Five Update

Hello from South Carolina! Week five was a busy one with trainings, work, and 4th of July festivities. It was a patriotic evening celebrating Independence Day. We enjoyed a potluck, games, swimming, and of course, lots of fireworks. It was so fun to experience the 4th of July down South! We also had the pleasure of hosting some special guests this week! We were joined by 3 CCP (Cross-Cultural Project) participants on their way to New Zealand. CCP is another summer program that partners with local Campus Outreach groups. Their goal is to focus their time on college ministry. We were able to hear a bit about what they will be doing throughout their time in New Zealand and what made them decide to go. Now traveling, we ask that they be kept in your prayers!  

Our week was kicked off with Theme Training after work on Monday night. Before digging into the deep stuff, we had a little friendly competition to warm us up. What better way to begin the night than with an epic rap battle! Four participants faced off against one another and showed us their freestyle skills. With one winner left standing, we moved on with the rest of the agenda and heard a testimony from one of the participants. So far, we have had four testimonies shared during theme nights. It is such an encouragement to hear how others have come to Christ and we are so proud of each one for sharing. It takes a lot of courage and vulnerability to share your testimony on stage, to a room full of people. Its amazing to see how much our friends are opening up and growing while here at project.  

 Zach Simmons then led the talk on sanctification and left us with clarity for our heads and hearts. Similar to justification, sanctification is a concept that can be difficult to grasp, especially when thinking about the difference between the two. Zach described sanctification as being set apart to be more like Christ. We are continually being sanctified because our old selves are still present. As we grow in our love for Christ, we want to be more and more like him, leading to turning away from the sin that was once in our lives. “And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, ‘Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.’” 1 Corinthians 1:30-31. We are declared righteous through justification, and we are made righteous through sanctification.  

Project is designed so that students have a chance to learn and use their leadership skills throughout the summer. Student leaders start training in December to prepare for their leadership role that takes effect in July as staff pass the baton. This team has really stepped up to lead with training and everyday operations of project.  

This past week Patch, our student project director, led a talk for evangelism training. His talk was about barriers that may keep us from evangelizing. Patch did a great job acknowledging all the barriers we may experience, such as seeking the approval of others, lack of confidence in ourselves and desire to be in control. He then reminded us how the Bible speaks that we do not need approval from others because God is well pleased with us, and he has entrusted the gospel to us. We can use 1 Thessalonians 2:4, Luke 10:2, and Psalm 135:6 to hear the truth about each one of these barriers.  

At word training this week Lincoln talked about how important it is to build your life on the word of God. He highlighted how everyone builds their life on something and as Christians we are called to make his word our foundation. Since we know that God’s word is truth why would we build our life on anything else? A verse that affirms this is Hebrews 4:12 “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” Knowing this we can see that when we are centering our life around God’s word, we are centering to God’s design.  

As we reflect more on this week and acknowledge that we are over halfway through with our time here, we are intentionally soaking in every sweet second of Project. While we deeply value the talks and workshop we attend weekly, we have come to appreciate the little moments in-between as they are where we grow closer together. The unplanned adventures have been some of the most memorable. We thank you for your continued support and prayers! 

As always, stay tuned for more updates! 
- Ethnee and Sabrina  

2024 STP Week Four Update

With the completion of week four, we are now halfway through summer training project. Everyday project feels more like a home away from home, and many others feel the same way. Over the weekend we were able to open our doors to host parents and have a co-worker grill out. It was a great opportunity to show our parents what we’ve been up to this summer. Parents got to meet each other and enjoy breakfast together before listening to Patch, Derek, and Brittany talk about Campus Outreach as a whole and how Project specifically has been foundational for us. The grill out gave us time to get to know our co-workers from Walmart, Chick-fil-A, and Surfside Chapel outside of a work setting. We all enjoyed getting to host the people we’ve been working with for the last month.

This week at life training we heard from Zach Simmons about how we are commissioned to work and should use it to glorify God. This was an interesting topic for many of us since society has conditioned us to believe that the main purpose of work is to make money when we should be using it to glorify Him in the process. Through different jobs, we get to glorify him in different ways. Knowing that we are all entering the workforce within the next few years it is comforting to know how we can still help further the kingdom in whatever we do after graduation.

At evangelism training this week we heard Ryan share about how God’s role and ours work together to share the gospel and change people’s hearts. When we take up God’s commission, it’s easy to put pressure on ourselves and feel like we need to fulfill both roles, however, we are to share the gospel and then let God work in people’s hearts. For God says, “And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.” (Ezekiel 36:26) Because God is doing the work and we are simply sharing it, he receives the glory alone. An analogy to help understand this is that we are an axe and God is the lumberjack. An axe cannot boast about the trees it cuts down when it's only a piece of old iron once set aside, but with the lumberjack, it can achieve its purpose.

During word training, Billy spoke about the protection of God’s word. This talk aimed to help us understand how the Bible can fight against sin, temptation, and lies both proactively and reactively. From Ephesians 6:11-17 we are told to put on the armor of God, that will protect us from the schemes of the devil. The truth is our belt, the breastplate our righteousness, and the shoes are readiness given by the gospel of peace. It also says to have the shield of faith in all circumstances. These together are the protection the Lord has given us. A way to always keep the armor of God with us is to memorize scripture. Throughout this summer we have been memorizing a verse a week to keep in our hearts, so we have the protection that has been given to us when in a time of need. Billy shared a new memorization method with us called the 10/10/10 method. A verse is read 10 times, written 10 times, and recited 10 times. We practiced this all together and quickly learned how easy it is to memorize. This is something that doesn’t take a large amount of time but has great value in the long run.

Overall, this week has really set in how great God’s love for us is. God eagerly works with us through our daily jobs to satisfy us and glorify him. As time continues each day is sweeter as we grow together towards the Lord more. It is evident through everything we learn that each piece of enlightenment is coming together to form a deeper understanding of who God is. We are excited to see the fruit of this summer as we continue our walk with him.

Thanks for reading and as always stay tuned for more updates!

2024 STP Week Three Update

We’ve now finished our third week here at Project and time is flying by! It is amazing to see how the Lord is moving through all of us participants as we learn and grow together. As many of the STP staff say, Project is similar to a greenhouse. It’s an environment in which we have the opportunity to cultivate a firm foundation with Christ as the cornerstone. Where we can gain wisdom and habits that will be fruitful throughout our lives.

At Monday night’s Theme Training, Reid Jilek talked about how as Christians, we sometimes use words that can be difficult to understand. One of those words, and what we focused on this week, was justification. If you’re not familiar with justification, it can be defined as the act of God declaring a sinner to be righteous, because of the blood of Jesus and through faith in Jesus. Justification is the reason why a sinner can walk with God in his light. An analogy Reid used to help explain this is a courtroom. Picture you are on trial, about to be condemned before God. Just as you hear the verdict, Jesus jumps in front of you to take your punishment, so you can walk free. Paul explains in Romans how we are justified by His grace as a gift.

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.”

Romans 3:23-26 ESV

Wednesday morning Elisa spoke to us about anxiety. This is a common feeling for many people today, so it was great to talk about it from a biblical perspective. The biblical definition of anxiety is the experience of not fully trusting God. Elisa pointed out that we feel anxious when we face challenges, when we try to handle thoughts and feelings on our own, when our identity is threatened, and when we feel powerless. Psalm 46:1 reminds us “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” Knowing this we can move forward and rely on Him when we are in a time of fear. We can rest in the fact that God is greater than any challenges we may face.

One of this week’s fun highlights was Thursday night’s social event! The guy rooms performed synchronized swimming routines for the girls. We saw a variety of skills including dives, backflips, and dance moves. The girl rooms judged each group to decide if their routine was up to standard. If they met the girls’ expectations, the rooms went on what we call a group date. This is an activity rooms do together that helps us build friendships with one another. This week’s social allowed the guys to practice teamwork and have fun. Their creativity did not go unnoticed!

Overall, this week left us with a lot to ponder and reflect on internally. It has also given us the opportunity to continue discussing what we have learned through conversations, not only at Project, but also on our campuses when we return home. We encourage you to ponder one of these points as well and leave you with a question to reflect on:

What are ways you tend to justify yourself instead of claiming the blood of Jesus Christ?

2024 STP Week Two Update

Hi! My name is Sabrina and I am a junior studying marketing at the University of St. Thomas. I will be working with Ethnee as another communications intern for Campus Outreach this summer! The second week was packed with tons of excitement! Every Thursday we do something fun as a whole group called a project social. This week our social was called “the boat social”. Throughout the week we planned for the Thursday social event. We all were split into teams and tasked with recreating a movie through music and a performance. Requirements included the entire team participating and building a boat with our only supplies given being a piece of plywood, Saran wrap, and roll of duct tape to sail across the pool and back during the performance. This led to a very busy week of planning, practicing, and executing our performances. Teams recreated the movies Encanto, Frozen, Beauty and the Beast, and Cars. When Thursday came, we had plenty to do after our shift at work, putting in all the final touches for our performance. Everyone’s costumes looked great and everyone really committed to their roles. In the end the staff judges voted for Beauty and the Beast as the winners. This social event really taught us all how to work together and use our strengths to put on a show where we could loosen up and have some fun. Between planning and practicing, we listened to very memorable talks on sin, biblical manhood and womanhood, and observing the Word. Below are pictures highlighting the social and the rest of the week.

Monday

Theme training with Dayton hit on the points that sin is anti-God, sin does not fit in the story, sin only leads to more sin, and sin is more costly than we know. To combat this, we can hate sin just as God does. Through this, we see the beauty of the Gospel more clearly and know that God’s promises are sweeter than any temporary satisfaction of sin. 

Wednesday

During Life Training, Chase and Ariana talked about biblical manhood and womanhood. This talk was very insightful and better equipped us on how to support and understand our brothers and sisters in Christ. 

Friday

For Evangelism Training we learned how God uses ordinary people to bring them to himself. This talk from Ryan was very inspiring for us to hear how we can share the love of Jesus with others without having to be extraordinary. 

Saturday

On Saturday we heard from Billy on how to observe scripture through questions. We learned how important it is to remember that the Bible is about one story. The story of God and that everything points to Him. 

Sunday

We attended Surfside Presbyterian Church for Sunday service. We heard a member of the church training to one day be a pastor himself, speak on God’s forgiveness and how his love is never-ending for us.

Between all of our trainings and jobs, we have been soaking up the sun, enjoying the beach, playing lots of volleyball and getting to know each other better every day! As I reflect on the busy week, it is beautiful to see how everything we learn ties back to how we abide in the Lord and he remains in us. He is in us as we are in him. 

Thank you for your prayers and stay tuned for more updates!

2024 Summer Training Project Week One

Hello everyone! My name is Ethnee and I am one of the Communications Interns for Summer Training Project 2024! I’m a senior studying Marketing and Digital Media Arts at the University of St. Thomas. I’ll help keep everyone posted on what we’re up to here in Garden City, South Carolina.

As we wrap up week one of Project, it is evident that the Lord has lots in store for us throughout these next two months! Our first week was filled with introductions, orientation, trainings, a social, and work. We’ve been staying busy and having fun!

At our theme introduction, we learned that this summer’s Project theme is…Abide! Throughout our time here, we will learn what it means to abide in Christ and how it strengthens our relationship with God.

We will be studying 1 John with a focus on our theme verses:

“Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.”

1 John 4:15-16

After settling into what will be our new home for the next eight weeks, we kicked our week off with an orientation and time to get to know one another. Being surrounded by a community of fellow Christians who uplift and challenge each other is a blessing that I am grateful to have. I have no doubt we will all build strong friendships as the summer goes on.

In addition to trainings and socials, STP participants also work full-time at Walmart, Chick-fil-A, or the Surfside Chapel. Our first week of work got us into the swing of things and used to the new pace of life at STP. After a day of work, we were ready for some fun and our first Thursday night social, a Low Country Boil! Embracing the social’s theme, everyone came dressed in country or southern belle attire. We enjoyed a true-fashioned seafood boil, carnival games, a watermelon eating contest, and karaoke.

During our first week, we also celebrated four birthdays. Shoutout to Ella, Belle, Tommy, and Josiah! Tossing people in the pool on their birthday is one of our ongoing traditions here at Project, and a fun way to end the night!

As we begin week two of STP, I ask that you keep us in your prayers, so that we may have a fruitful summer growing closer to the Lord!

Stay tuned for more updates!

God's Plan for the World

This past week our Project hosted the Cross-Cultural Project group (CCP) for Missions Week! The CCP group is also from the Minneapolis region, but they are leaving to do their Project down in South Africa for a month. They are going to partner with the CO group down in South Africa to help them do ministry and outreach at the University of Pretoria.

While down here with us, CCP explained to us about how God has worked in their heart’s towards this trip, what their trip is going to look like, and what God’s heart is towards the world and the lost. Our whole week of talks and content were focused on global missions. We sent them off to South Africa early last week and they have safely arrived in Pretoria and started their work down there! 

Though Missions Week is always a fun week because we get to see some friends from back home and hear and talk about what God is doing in the world, the week is also a convicting one full of self reflection and good conversations. 

The reality of the world’s situation is that there are 3.28 billion people or 41.5% of the world’s population today who would be considered part of an unreached people group. Unreached people groups are those whose population is less than 2% Christian, and so people in these groups have a very slim chance of ever hearing the gospel just from those around them. In America, we have churches on pretty much every street, and it is not very hard to meet a Christian basically anywhere you go. The same cannot be said about unreached people groups. 

So when we talk about this reality, and the truth of the Great Commission that Jesus gives us in Matthew 28 to “go therefore and make disciples of all nations,” that should do some kind of work in our hearts. It should make us feel some kind of way. And that should make us act another sort of way. 

Not everyone is going to go on mission to another part of the world, and that is ok. We need people here too. We need Christians who are doctors and lawyers and business people. But we also need to be aware about the status of the world and have a desire to reach the unreached. 

At evangelism training we were told this sobering truth, “Americans spend more (separately) on twinkies, golf balls, and halloween costumes for their dogs than they do to reach the unreached.” What a sad reality! 

So what can we do about this? At our theme training, one of the CCP leaders Daniel shared a few ways that we can be a part of God’s plan to reach all nations. 

1. Pray. We should be praying that God would raise up laborers and also for people of unreached people groups. The Joshua Project is a great resource to learn more about different unreached people groups and specific things to pray for for each group. 

2. Welcome. Many of us live in areas with high rates of immigrants who are actually part of unreached people groups! We have an incredible opportunity to welcome those around us, be friends with them, and share the gospel with them.

3. Send. We should be sending out missionaries. Sending can mean a lot of things, but in this case we are talking about financially supporting missionaries. We should be good stewards of what God has given us, and we should invest in making His name known to all peoples’ from all nations. 

4. Go. Some of us are called to go. We must be open to God’s call and His will. Sometimes we don’t feel any type of direct “call” from God to go overseas, but we must be obedient to what God has laid out in the Bible about His heart for the world. As Daniel shared, we should be “ready to go, and willing to stay.” 

At Project, we are all considering what our place is in God’s story for the world. We want to impact the world for Christ and be a part of His great mission to bring people from every tribe, tongue, and nation to Himself (Rev. 7:9). We hope that you will also join us and join God in His great plan. 

Another fun and unique thing we do for Missions Week is an optional sunrise prayer for the nations! Last Sunday a bunch of us got up at 5:45 a.m. to go out to the beach and pray for unreached people groups and for the CCP trip. It was a sweet time of community and sacrificing some beloved sleep to intentionally set our hearts on God and pray for His will to be done in the world and in our lives. 

“The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.” Psalm 19:1

The Vision of Discipleship

Students decide to come to Project and get involved with Campus Outreach through many different avenues. Some wander upon Campus Outreach events, some meet a staff person, and some get connected to another student who is already involved. But a common denominator through it all, is that it’s the relationships that make people stay. 

Last Monday, Blake Buckman, Regional Director of CO Louisville, talked on the importance and impact of discipleship. Going through his spiritual ancestry, he shared with us how he and his mentors had been impacted for Christ and how he has been a part of a long chain to keep growing the Kingdom. It was extremely impactful to hear how the staff person he had discipled, discipled one of our team leaders down here who had discipled a couple of the participants down here. What a testament of God’s grace! 

This is the story for many down here. Each member of our crew of team leaders had been discipled by someone who had helped lead us and impact us to Christ and brought us to our first Projects. Then each of us have our own people down here that we have discipled and encouraged to come to Project this year.  It is beautiful to think just how interconnected all of our stories are to each other’s. 

“Discipleship is a command from Jesus to give your life away to someone else while teaching and training them to be a follower of Christ with the goal to multiply.”

— Blake Buckman

Discipleship is a long term vision. We invest in others that they may in turn invest in others that they may in turn invest in others. If every Christian was faithful to doing that, we would reach a lot of people. 

So we want to be faithful with what God has given us and the people he has placed in our lives. We are blessed to be a blessing to others. As we get closer to finishing our time down here, that is something that we want to remember as we go back to our normal lives.

Some Fun Things

Thursday Night Social

Last Thursday the social was Christmas in July! We all had a great time finding some Christmas outfits from Goodwill and celebrating Christmas in the 90 degree heat of South Carolina! We ate Christmas dinner together with candles lit and happy hearts. We then had a blast playing Christmas bingo and having a human wrapping and cookie decorating competition! We ended the night watching Home Alone by the pool.

Fourth of July

Last Monday we were all able to celebrate the Fourth of July together after work and after the Theme Talk. We all had a blast at the pool watching thousands of fireworks go off at the beach and lighting our own sparklers. There truly is nothing quite like a Project Fourth of July pool party!

Ownership and Sacrifice

This last Thursday, all of the CO staff left Project, making Project feel a bit more quiet without all the children and a bit more relaxed as the “parents” are gone. It has been a smooth transition thus far as the student leaders have stepped up to fill all of the roles and ensure that Project keeps running smoothly. 

To some, it seems daunting to have staff leave for a whole month. You may even be wondering why on earth they would leave the exact project that they have planned and prayed for for months. The thing is, it’s all about ownership. Staff are great to help everyone get started, but in the end, every student needs to take ownership of their own faith and their own growth, because when they graduate, they’re not going to have a staff person holding their hand. 

We all need to own our own faith and spiritual development. At some point, we all have to own our faith and figure out how to implement it into our daily lives. We need to learn how to grow together and disciple and lead each other. So, with the staff gone, each student is having to step into their specific role whether team leader, room leader, or participant, and own it. We’ve been trained, and now it’s time to go and do. 

The idea of ownership is interesting because in order to own something, you have to be willing to sacrifice for it. Being a Christian isn’t easy. Being a leader isn’t easy. In fact, it seems that the popular saying is true: “Nothing worth having is ever easy.” 

Last week, the theme talk was about sanctification. Sanctification truly is the life of an exile. In order to be like Christ, we must die to our earthly selves with Christ and be resurrected to new life with Him. But the kicker is that sanctification is a process that takes your whole lifetime; it is neither quick nor easy. 

It is a sacrifice you make when you choose to own your faith. That you would fight with Christ against your old sinful ways and be transformed with Christ to a more holy life. But the fight is just that: it is a fight. 

“No one drifts towards holiness. ”

— D.A. Carson

Sacrifices must be made when it comes to following Jesus, and that is a hard truth for many to hear. Just recently I had another real and hard conversation with my coworker that we have been bringing to talks and sharing the gospel with. To him right now, the life of following Christ isn’t worth giving up his earthly pleasures. It breaks my heart that that is the reality that many choose. 

Please continue to pray for my coworker that God would open his eyes to the goodness and value of the gospel. Because while owning your faith takes a lot of sacrifice, it is the best decision that anyone can make in their entire lives. Please pray that that truth would be seen in our lives to those around us. Jesus truly is better!

Thursday Night Social

Last Thursday, our social was a Tropical Party! The social was a bit on the calmer end as we all just dressed up in our Hawaiian gear, ate “Hawaiian-themed” food, did the limbo, and danced the night away. People have been very dedicated to learning how to swing-dance and improving their skills! And of course, pool parties are always a go-to!

Where is Your Treasure?

Treasure. What are you treasuring, and what does it even mean to treasure something?

Merriam-Webster would define the verb treasure as:

“to hold or keep as precious” or “to collect and store up (something of value) for future use.”

Like Jesus says in Matthew 6, we want to store up our treasures in heaven. One of the most meaningful parts of Project for me this summer has been learning what that means and how treasuring the Bible – the Living Word of God – is a great way to store up treasures in heaven. 

We are three full weeks in, and the lack of sleep and intense schedule is beginning to catch up with us all. Even still, it is amazing to see just how committed everyone on Project is when it comes to getting in the Word every morning. And the most beautiful part – students are excited to get up and read together. Reading the Bible every morning is not required, and yet it is something everyone is committed to doing. This is because we are all learning to treasure the Bible.

Zach Simmons, Campus Director of the University of Minnesota, has been leading our weekly Word Trainings. Each week he tells multiple personal and emotional stories on the value of the Bible and how treasuring the Bible has impacted him and his family’s lives, leading us to understand why the Bible truly is a treasure. 

This summer our Bible reading has been structured around the “Inductive Study Method”: Observing, Interpreting, and Applying. The inductive method has been a great way to learn how to read the Word and look at what is there before simply making our own assumptions about what is in the text. The goal is to create healthy Bible reading habits that we can carry with us for the rest of our lives. We have all greatly enjoyed learning a highly structured method, knowing that with time, more freedom will naturally come while studying.

Last week, our Word Training centered around memorizing scripture. If the Bible truly is our treasure, we should long to fill our minds with it! Memorizing and meditating on scripture is a great way to treasure the Word of God and take it with us to guide and encourage us wherever we go. The simple way that Zach taught us to memorize was to say it out-loud ten times, write it ten times, then say it out-loud another ten times without looking at it. At the training, we all memorized Galatians 2:20.

After this week, I, along with many others, was convicted of not using my mind, which has the incredible ability to memorize, nearly enough. We want to steward the beautiful and complex brains that God has given us well by filling it with the truth of the Bible.

Other Treasures from this Week

Thursday Night Social

This week’s social was the Synchronized Swimming Social! For this social, each guys’ room comes up with a 2-3 minute “synchronized swimming routine” to perform for one of the girls’ rooms. Then the night of the social, each room performs their routine in hopes that the girls will accept their performance and take them on a group date. If the girls are not satisfied with the guys’ performance, they may pass on the room and pick up a different room instead. The rejected male room then gets to wait in the kiddie pool for another girl room to choose them over their initial room pairing. 

The night is full of laughs as guys perform well-thought-out routines in order to win over the girls who are meant to be treasured! Each girl room then gets to plan out a group date that they take the guys’ room on. Group dates are just a fancy name for a group-hang-out. Godly community is another great way to store up our treasures in heaven. On STP, we want to treasure healthy, Godly relationships between men and women, and group dates are a fun and structured way to foster this! All the groups had a great time going on creative dates!

Co-Worker Cookout

We had our first co-worker cookout on Sunday, and it was a success! Most students invited and had co-workers over to our hotel to share a meal, see Project, and just hang-out and meet other students. All the students came together to put on a multitude of different activities for the enjoyment of our co-workers. The cookout was a great way to show Christian hospitality to our co-workers and deepen relationships with the possibility of sharing the gospel with them!

We want to treasure our relationships with our co-workers. We want to be intentional with them during our time together this summer and share with them the treasures that we have laid up in heaven, hoping they too will be convinced that Christ is the greatest treasure!

Going Deeper in the Gospel and Relationships

One of the greatest things about Summer Training Project is the opportunity to be saturated in gospel truth daily, especially in our Theme Night Talks. Last Monday night, Mike Parrett, Regional Director of Campus Outreach St. Louis, shared about the reality of sin in the world and in our lives. He talked through the tragic reality that sin makes the world not run as God created it to in order to help us understand just how much we need Jesus. 

“If you want to think sin is just doing bad things, then it will be very hard to go to Jesus.”

— Mike Parrett

His argument: everyone can be a good person if they try really hard to, but that doesn’t mean they are saved from sin. Sin lingers on. Sin is both an intruder and a parasite along with being disobedience against God. Like being stuck in quicksand, we literally cannot get ourselves out of our sin. We need Jesus to come and yank us out. There is no other way. 

While sin made us exiles from the garden and from relationship with God, Christ restores us and makes us exiles in this world for the Kingdom of God. What an incredible turnaround made possible only through the blood of Christ. 

Having the opportunity to have impactful gospel talks both at project and at our churches, many students including myself have been taking advantage of them and inviting coworkers in to join us. It has been so encouraging to see all the students on Project being intentional about creating meaningful relationships with each other and with their coworkers while down here. 

There has been a coworker from my Walmart that has been engaging with us with interest in gospel conversations and even attended church with us on Sunday. He then also came to this Monday’s theme night talk as well! Since then, we have been able to have great conversations with him, and he has asked us many questions. Please join us in praising God for this opportunity and praying that he would receive the gospel and repent of his sins, and that we would be bold, intentional, and loving  in our conversations with him! Please also join us in praying for this week’s prayer focus – that we would continue to be blessings to our workplaces and would have the boldness and opportunities to share with more coworkers the good news of the gospel.

Some Fun Things

Last week’s social was the Boat Social! For this social, each team decides on a different theme that they choose to bring to life. They each make a boat using plywood, cardboard, duct tape, and plastic wrap that must float and go across the pool twice in their performance. For this social, teams are truly brought together and the different skills sets and personalities of each member really shine. While bonding and building community, we also get to have fun, be goofy, and not take ourselves too seriously together.

For the performance, different people are given different roles. The goal of the performance is to act out the plot through song in under 10 minutes. This year, the themes were The Little Mermaid, The Greatest Showman, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Tangled (which came out in first place and also happened to be my team). 

The night was full of laughs and amazement as each team creatively gave their all to their performances. People walking by even stopped to watch our performances.  

Last Saturday our encouragement for the week was cereal and cartoons after work. Sitting down together after an exhausting day to watch Phineas and Ferb and eat cereals from our childhood was a great way to end the week and lead into our restful Sunday. Overall, it has been another full week of fellowship, growth, and feeling the Lord’s mercy!

All-Project Picture!!

Week One Recap

Hey everyone!! My name is Cailie Bruxvoort and I have the privilege of being the Communications Intern for this summer at Summer Training Project (STP/Project)! I’m a senior Ministry and Communications student at the University of Northwestern-St. Paul, and I am also serving as a team leader for this summer. I am so excited to keep y’all updated on everything that is going on down here in South Carolina and all that God is doing!

It’s been a full week down at Project, but it feels like we’ve been here for a whole month! Leaders arrived on June 3 and participants arrived shortly after on June 5. This summer is a unique one because we have students from three different Campus Outreach regions: Minneapolis, St. Louis, and Louisville. With around 70 students representing 11 different colleges, it has been a great week getting to know and making friends with so many different people! Before I hop into this first week recap, I’d like to define some STP jargon.

STP Jargon

Teams: Project is split up into four different teams led by one male and one female team leader. Each team has their team leaders, room leaders, and participants. The team leaders are in charge of their team, logistics of Project, and leading the room leaders on their team. The room leaders lead a room of two- four other guys or girls. 

Theme Nights: refer to Monday nights where we have a Project meal where all Project eats together followed by a meeting time consisting of a hype, testimony, talk, and worship. The hype is an interactive introduction to the theme night put on by whoever is planning out the week. Theme night is most similar to a camp rally.

D-groups: Short for discipleship groups, a d-group consists of either a room and its participants, or a team leader and their room leaders. In the discipleship group, Bible study, connection, prayer, and vulnerability are emphasized.

Socials: Thursday night we have the weekly social consisting of a Project meal and a planned out activity for everyone to participate in.

Word Training: Word Training is on Friday mornings where we get trained in effective ways to read and study the Bible. 

Evangelism Training: On Saturday mornings, we all meet together to train in why and how to share our faith. After the training, we go to workshop time where we go out on the beach to engage in conversation with people we don’t know.

Life Training: The last training to note takes place on Sunday mornings before church. For these training sessions, we discuss real cultural issues from a Biblical worldview.

Summer Theme

Each Summer Project, a different book of the Bible and Theme are focused on. This summer, we are reading through the book of 1 Peter with our theme verses being:

“And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.”

-1 Peter 1:17-19

The theme for this summer then is Exiles! By focusing on our status as exiles on earth, we get to spend the summer learning about who God is, who we are as Christians, and what it means to live a set apart life as an exile here on earth.

First Week Highlights

Evangelism Training

The first thing I want to highlight from the past week was our evangelism training. For the summer, our training is focused on living a life full of real relationships full of gospel persuasion. 

For the first training, the focus was on why we should want to be laborers for the Kingdom of God. The talk also discussed three common difficulties of living a missional life and how to combat those difficulties. The talk portion ended with a time for small group reflection on why we personally struggle to live lives of evangelism and what most excites us about it. 

After the talk, we were tasked with our group to go out to the beach and engage with strangers in conversation. The goal of the time was to create reps of getting comfortable talking with strangers and asking intentional questions that would ultimately lead to a gospel conversation. While most people were very nervous to go out on the beach, everyone came back excited to debrief their conversations and learn from each other's experiences. So far, this has been both mine and most other’s favorite time and what we are most looking forward to for the future.

Thursday Night Social

On the fun and fellowship side of projects, socials are incredible. This past week, the social was the Low Country Boil, a night for all us Northerners to really embrace and become acclimated to the caricature of Southern culture – hick-hood. 

Imagine a night with everyone dressed in the most hick garb they could find from Goodwill, a feast of boiled shrimp, sausage, potatoes, and onions dumped out into the middle of the table where everyone eats with their fingers, karaoke, and a multitude of competitions including a watermelon eating and toilet plunger throwing contest. Needless to say, many laughs were had and friendships created through such a fun evening together.

Culture of Project

This year, the team leaders and staff have been very intentional about creating a culture on Project where people spend time together and want to be with each other. So far, it has been really encouraging to see all of the friendships blossoming at Project as people are playing games under the tent, swing dancing in the yard, and having endless amounts of “POOL PARTYYYYY”s. 

More importantly though, we have wanted to stress the importance and benefits of getting into the Word of God every day. Only a week in, it has been incredible to see the amount of students excited to get up early before work and study the Word together. It takes around 60 days to form a habit, and we have the incredible opportunity to be down at Summer Training Project for 9 weeks, around 60 days. Summer Training Project is an incredible place to form the habit of treasuring the Bible and carrying it with us for the rest of our lives.

Personal Worship Training

“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take me yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For me yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

— Matthew 11:28-30

If there could be a theme for Personal Worship Trainings this year it would be Matthew 11:28-30. Jesus' call for sinners to find their rest in him has been the unofficial main point of many of the talks that discuss the spiritual disciplines that we can practice to grow in our personal relationship with God. Throughout these talks, speakers have been encouraged to earnestly try these disciplines as apprentices under Jesus. Examples of these disciplines include prayer, memorization and meditation, fasting, and the Sabbath. 

In these disciplines, much of what is being practiced is contentment. The Sabbath’s days rest, fasting from food or other good things, meditating on Biblical truths for fifteen minutes or more in the morning, all are examples that call us to give up time and energy that could be spent elsewhere. This time that we are giving up does not go to waste as we proclaim, “all we have is all we need.” We are reminded of our need for God, our need for rest, our need for food. In these disciplines God shows us more of Himself in our faithful following and imperfect apprenticeship. 

Through the Personal Worship Trainings we are encouraged to gives these disciplines a try in order to experience their value for ourselves. We can implement and try these practices knowing that Jesus freely offers us rest. We can earnestly practice these disciplines with freedom knowing that our relationship with Jesus is secure. It is our ultimate joy in seeing more of God’s faithfulness in taking time to slow down and rest in His steadfast love. 

Thursday Socials

Between Walmart and Talks and Sleep there’s not often a lot of time for us to just sit and hang out as college students. However, Thursday nights when we get off of work and dinner, that is when the REAL fun begins! We have a social every night, which is an upbeat planned activity that everyone at Summer Training Project gets to participate in. Let me tell you, they are the definition of FUN and LAUGHTER and HYPE. 

Monday night is when the social is announced every week and we get excited, preparing and looking forward to that night. Leaders and different groups of students take turns hosting the event and everyone so far has done a fantastic job! During some of these socials it feels like you’re in the middle of a college summertime movie because the activity is so unique and everyone is having a good time and it is apparent in the moment how special it is and that you’re going to cherish it forever! Here’s a list of the social events and memories we've made so far!

• Low Country Boil - With everyone dressed up in southern flannels and cowboy hats, we had yummy food and plaid all kinds of carnival games followed by karaoke and dancing!

• Broadway at the Beach Scavenger Hunt - Rooms were paired up to go over to the large outdoor shopping area and complete tasks on a list such as ‘fake a proposal’and ‘do a snow angel in a water fountain’

• Boat Social - Teams were given a movie and had to create songs and dances to perform. The trick is we also had to create a ‘boat’ out of banana boxes, duck tape and saran wrap, to float and hold two people across the pool and back!

• Synchronized Swimming - The guys had to come up with a swimming routine in the pool to ask girls out! If the girls said yes, they had a fun group date planned for everyone to go on!

• Movie/Board Night - We had a chill social where we had snacks and played cars, while in another room groups of people competed at all kinds of board games!

• Tropical Vacation - Last week we had a Tropical Vacation social that involved everyone wearing their best hawaiian shirts and leis with snacks! There was also limbo and durfing contests, musical floaties and the fan favorite...swing dancing!

As I am posting this, it is monday night and we are anticipating one of the last few socials of the summer! Below are some photos of the blast we have being in community together!

Respecting the Sabbath

Picture around 80 students and leaders all arriving on project the first day, arriving tired but so excited we can barely sleep. Then picture working at Walmart, listening to inspiring talks by staff and doing all you can on the beach with new people for weeks on end… then imagine how tired we all got by the 3rd week…

We were thankful and anxious to finally be here and experience all we can then we realized a thing called Rest. We all need it. From the calmest Introvert to the most chatty extrovert, it is always important to take time to rest and relax. Humans are not built to be “on” or social 24/7. This is something I think every student struggled with here at project. With being around people constantly and having a busy schedule, it is impertinent that one remembers to rest in the midst of business. The talk of FOMO or “Fear of Missing Out” is very big here because it is something people need to overcome. What do you do when you know that you need sleep and would love to take a nap, but you see people going to the beach to learn to surf, the pool to jump in and have fun, and out to eat at a local restaraunt with good food? Here, you’re not just deciding between staying or going, but the many different places to go.

With all that being said, Emma Garcia gave a talk about The Sabbath and the importance of rest. We often forget that it’s one of the 10 Commandments told to Moses by God himself! Emma’s guidance was very timely for all of us to hear because we all long for emotional, physical and spiritual rest, whether we are in South Carolina or not. Thankfully we have a loving and perfect God that sets an example for us on how we should live to the best of our ability. Have you ever thought about how God did not need to rest?

“He will not let you stumble, the one who watches over you will not slumber. Indeed, he watched over Israel never sumbers or sleeps.”

— Psalms 121: 3-4

Emma went in depth to say that maybe the real reason almighty and everlasting God rested on the 7th day was not because he needed it, but because he knew we did! He knows his creation so well that it is no surprise to him that we get physically and emotionally tired.

The Lord in his greatness not only set an example of rest but he GIVES rest. We are able to find all kinds of comfort in him. He eases our minds, he refills our joy and heals our body.

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest”

— Matthew 11:28

This was needed for all of the students and leaders to hear. It is a great reminder that the Lord gives you strength and energy, but he also give you peace and rest. Praise God for both!

Pray for the people here the next few weeks and that we continue to work on a balance of work, fun and rest. 

I could talk a lot more and more about the Sabbath, but Emma does an incredible job! We have posted Emma’s talk titled Practicing the Way of Jesus under ‘STP talks’ and ‘Personal Worship Training.’ I would highly recommend listening to it because she describes a beautiful outline of examples and practical ideas of how to sabbath. 

Listen to the talk and then join us here in practicing sabbath and making time for rest.

Missional Training

Evangelism is something that can either be very scary or very enticing for people. Over the past few weeks one type of training we have been working on is missional training. This is to equip us on how to share the Gospel in a way that is loving, kind, and yet truthful.

In week one we covered the foundation of why sharing the gospel is important. Talking about that if we truly love people as we are called to, we want them to live in eternity with the perfect and pleasing God. How can we make this happen? By walking with them on their faith journey and encouraging them to seek God first, always!

We have also discussed the cost of missional training. Realistically, It can be uncomfortable and not the most fun or glamorous. It also causes some financial barriers for several reasons such as time, money, moving to a new place, etc. It all adds up and can cause a lot of heartbreak and hurt from the world and the people in it. Yet, to see someone receive grace and the gift of eternal life is so incredibly worth it. 

In the past few weeks, we have been working on logistical methods of sharing the gospel by coming up with different questions to start conversations and using diagrams for the gospel based on core verses such as

“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

— Romans 6:23

So now you may be wondering - okay that’s great you’re learning but God calls us to actions and to be doers of the world...what are you doing? That would be a GREAT question!

The first few weeks here we have been working on loving and talking to our Walmart co-workers. As we have gotten to know them over the weeks here there have been several good conversations and bonding that we hope sparks a desire to know God more. There were even a few nights we had cookouts and invited our co-workers over to our project grounds to hang out and talk! This past week we started beach evangelism where we go walk along the beach and just strike up conversations about their experiences with Christianity and God. I think the more students that are being bold in their faith, the more God is equipping our hearts and minds to be more centered towards him. After doing it a few times, we can confidently say it is a lot less intimidating than one may think.

If you are reading this we encourage you to have conversations with people you wouldn’t think to talk about Jesus with and pray for those we talk to they a seed may be planted in their hearts.

Hard Conversations and Life Training

Hard conversations are happening everywhere. Western Culture is consumed with them, conversations on race, relationships, and identity. The world demands you to simply “do you” in this era of self autonomy. For many students, “Life Training” has produced some of their favorite talks so far. With conversations on Biblical Femininity and Masculinity as well as Ethnicity, and Sexuality, Life Training has prompted students to have conversations and think about topics that Western culture is already engaging with, mainly conversations around identity. 

Identity is a powerful thing that helps us understand ourselves and how we relate to the world around us. Life Training has played an important part in how we see more of not just ourselves but God and His good design for us as seen in scripture. Often pointing back to Genesis and the creation of man (Gen. 1:26-28) and woman (Gen 2:20-25), the talks during Life Training pointed participants to God’s good purpose for who they were created to be. 

The main point in Life Training this summer seems to all be very similar, to see that God is good, and Jesus is better. That God is a good God who gives His children good gifts (Matt. 7:11) and that a life following Jesus is far better than living to one's own desires. Life Training has shown us that we as sinful human beings are in desperate need of Jesus' redemption in our lives and as we have these conversations on Project grounds we are taking away necessary skills in engaging with our non-believing friends and the culture around us. As our theme book Philippians reminds us that our prayers for ourselves and others should be that we would abound in love.

“And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.”

— Philippians 1:9-11

This abounding love that comes from knowledge and discernment is being cultivated through thoughtful questions being asked and active listening as we build relationships with our roommates, classmates, co-workers and family and friends back home. 

Sin is a Parasite

One thing that is unique about project that personally energizes and excites me is that all of the students here are from different backgrounds, have different stories, have been hurt and loved back to life in many different ways. Yet we come and are in fellowship, listen to the same stories, pray to God together and come away with individual growth. This can be a wonderful thing, but a lot of times, especially in college when everybody grows at their own pace, it can be hard to not compare seasons of life. 

In a society where social media is such a highlight reel, we get caught in the trap of wanting to compare seasons, imitate others, or rush through the parts of life that are not our favorite. However, in a talk last week by Mike Parrett, he talked about how children imitate parents, the only thing we should imitate is God. If we look to him wide eyed and cheery, we won’t worry about what other people are doing or how we are viewed on earth. Imitating God is a beautiful sentiment because if we lived like Jesus we would fully care for everyone, be righteous and fair, and live with a generous and giving spirit.  Mike talked about Romans 8:28 which says

“and we know that in all things God works together for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose”

— Romans 8:28

saying that everyone is on their own journey and that is planned specifically for you by God. He continued to say some very profound things about how in every good thing there is sin because on earth, sin encompasses our lives and acts like a parasite to every aspect of it. One of the ways sin wrecks our calling is by making us feel that our calling is not as exciting, not as fulfilling, or as glamourous as others purpose God has planned for their life. This can be so detrimental and can not only affect us and our relationship with God, but also affect the people we are supposed to impact through our calling in life. Last week at project thanks to Mike’s words of wisdom we were able to address how sin is an intruder in our lives and how it acts like a parasite. This is a part of all our big problems in life. After all, recognizing the problem is the first step, right? The heart may be fickle with our feelings but God’s plan is good and constant!

Here at project we are having good conversations about how to recognize sin in our lives and to not let that stop us from God’s calling in our lives! We encourage those at home to think about how sin is affecting aspects of their life and pray for God to take control of that.