Wow, I can't believe it's already the end of the year. It seems like I just moved to Tallahassee and got started with my internship. We were pretty busy the last few weeks leading up to finals week for our students.
Our Nicaragua mission team had a yard sale, so Friday (4/15), we spent the afternoon at the location setting up and pricing items. We also spend some time collecting items people wanted to donate. We were blessed that a family volunteered their house as well as items they had been collecting for a sale. They were so gracious and helped us not only set up for the yard sale, but also helped us during the sale, rearranging tables as items were sold. Saturday started off very early; we arrived at the house at 6am to finish setting up and hoped to start at 7am, but because of a thunderstorm that was moving through, we had to wait a little while. When the rain finally stopped, we were able to uncover our tables and make our first sale of the day. We had a successful yard sale, raising just over $600 for our trip! We also had a local Starbucks donate a small French Press and a pound of coffee that we were able to raffle off. I had the privilege of delivering it to the winner; she was so excited to have won.
Last Monday kicked off the week with a dinner with my Small Group Bible Study girls. We went to Riverside Cafe in St. Marks, about 30 minutes outside of Tallahassee. The restaurant was right on the water and had open sides. It made for an interesting dinner because of some of the bugs that decided to join us, but we had a great time talking and laughing.
Tuesday, I had a meeting with the Nicaragua mission team. We leave in a few weeks and have started meeting so that we are all on the same page. After the meeting, I went home and grabbed some dinner before going to watch the Chi Alpha intramural softball game. Our team was playing in the semi-finals, but unfortunately lost. The teams were pretty evenly matched, but our team was short one girl and had to take an out every time that position came up to bat. The other team had one power hitter and as a result, he scored the winning runs. After the game was over, the XA team invited the other team to pray with them. I heard several people from other teams commenting on how great that was.
Wednesday night, we had a prayer and commissioning night for our student leaders. We spent time praying for our seniors who are graduating, leaders who are returning in the fall, students who are coming on the leadership team in the fall, for the interns as they take the next step, and for our staff members. It was a great time of prayer with our students, encouraging and building them up.
Thursday was our last Chi Alpha Live of the semester. At FSU, the last XA Live has traditionally been a talent show. This year, we had a total of 17 acts! The staff worked Thursday morning to prepare our "talent" and presented it that night. For a video of us, click here (for those who have not heard of Rebecca Black and her infamous "Friday" video, click here. This is where the inspiration came for our video, "Thursday"). The graduating seniors also did a parody of the staff, which was pretty funny. After the talent show was over, we headed to Rita's Italian Ice for a fundraiser for the Nicaragua Team. We had a great time hanging out and eating cold Italian ice.
Friday night, we had a Good Friday Worship Night. The Mosaic Church band prepared nearly two hours of worship songs and the interns were available for prayer. It was an amazing experience to watch about 20+ college students worship and seek after God. The presence of God was definitely in the room. After we finished, a group went to Applebees for 1/2 off appetizers and to spend some time together.
Saturday was our end of the year picnic at the FSU Reservation (aka the Rez). We played volleyball, some students went out on canoes and sailboats, swam, and had a Full-Contact Easter Egg Hunt. The idea behind the egg hunt was not only to find the eggs, but to steal them away from others, using any means necessary. I saw several students tackled by one person while another came and took their bag of eggs. The students had a blast and those observing had a lot of laughs. We also enjoyed cupcakes with homemade icing (courtesy of Carmen :)), ice cream, and watermelon. It was a chance to relax and hang out before the craziness of finals began for the students.
Sunday was Easter and a great, but very busy day. We had two services at Mosaic, 9am and 11am, with breakfast between and lunch afterward. A group of 5 of us were asked to prepare breakfast, so we got to the parsonage at 9 and began cooking sausage, gravy, scrambled eggs, and biscuits. We hit a few minor snags (like the eggs wouldn't cook fast enough in the oven), but overall, it went great. After helping to clean up, I went downstairs to the sanctuary for the 11am service. We had a great service; two of our Chi Alpha students were baptized! After the service was over, we enjoyed lunch together and one of the staff members took group and family pictures.
This week is finals week for our students. Our sanctuary has been converted in to "Mosaic Finals Cafe" where students can come study, enjoy free coffee and wireless internet, and spend some time together before spreading out for the summer. I had never heard a student say they enjoyed finals week until I came here. I looked at them funny and asked why; they explained to me that it was the Mosaic Cafe that made the week fun, not the final exams. It also amazed me how much work they are able to get done while socializing.
The rest of the internship is looking pretty busy as well. In about 2 weeks, I will be leaving with a team from FSU XA on a mission trip to Nicaragua. We will be ministering to a Chi Alpha group there, helping out on their campus. After I get back, all of the interns have to present a 20 minute sermon as part of our internship preparation. I also have an on-line class to finish and some support raising preparation to do for the summer. I'm glad that it's going to be busy though, I don't really enjoy being bored. :)
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Spring Break Mission Trip- University of Alabama
During Florida State's Spring Break (March 7-11), a group of interns and students traveled to Tuscaloosa, Alabama to serve at the University of Alabama with their Chi Alpha students. We left Monday morning and drove about 7 hours from Tallahassee to Tuscaloosa. We arrived in town that afternoon and had the opportunity to meet some of the students we would be staying and working with for the week, as well as some of the staff members. Our team also met the XA team from Louisiana that was visiting around the same time. We spit up and went to some of the houses where we would be staying and dropped off our stuff and relaxed for a few minutes. We met at a student's house and the guys made tacos and cheese dip for us for dinner. After we ate, we went to campus to hang out and play video games with the students.
Tuesday was Mardi Gras and the Louisiana team decided to buy traditional King Cake and serve it in the Student Union. We hid a plastic baby in two pieces of the cake and the students who found them were told if they showed up at the event that night, they could win a gift card to a local restaurant. We also had a bottle with Mardi Gras beads and students were able to guess the number of beads in the bottle. Students wrote their name, phone number, and guess on a slip of paper and whoever guessed closest to the correct number was called and told if they came to the event that night, they could win a iTunes gift card. That night, one of the students from Louisiana made gumbo and served it to the Chi Alpha students and guests. One of the students that found the baby in the King Cake was there to claim their gift card (the other student had a prior obligation and wasn't able to make it). The student that guessed the correct number of beads was also there to claim his gift card and also brought a friend. We had a great time hanging out with the students.
Wednesday, we went back to the Union and tried some of the conversation-starters we use at FSU to talk with the UA students. We set up a whiteboard with a question and asked students as they walked by if they would like to answer for a free cookie. We were able to start a lot of conversations with the students and invite them to the Chi Alpha service the next night. After we were done at the Union, we went back to the Chi Alpha building for lunch. That night, we ate dinner with the campus pastors at U of A, their children, and our host students. We had a great time hanging out with them before heading to campus for a game night with the students.
Thursday, our team went to the U of A football stadium. One of the students that went with us is a huge fan of their football team and really wanted to see the stadium. It was a great tour and was cool to see the sky boxes, press room, etc. that you usually don't see. After our tour, we headed back to the Union to connect with more students. The weather was chilly, since it had rained the day before, and overcast, but since it wasn't raining anymore, another intern, a student, and myself went out on campus to hand out flyers about the Chi Alpha service that night. After we were done, we went back to the Chi Alpha building and ate lunch. One of the staff members offered to take us to Gigi's cupcakes to thank us. The cupcakes were amazing, with icing as high as I've ever seen it. I got one with caramel icing (I think it was called a Caramel Sugar Momma or something like that); it was the best (and biggest) cupcake I've ever had :) We went back to our host homes to rest for a little while before the Chi Alpha service that night. Our team met at the Chi Alpha building for pizza before the service, then headed to campus. The building where we were holding the service was flooded by the rain the day/night before. Although the maintenance crew worked hard to dry out the room, it still smelled damp and dank when we got there. Luckily after we were in the room for a while, it wasn't as noticeable. The U of A Chi Alpha had invited a band and drama group to do the service that week. It was a great service and there were some new students that we had talked to earlier in the week.
Friday, we loaded up our stuff and met at the Chi Alpha building for breakfast and to say goodbye to the staff members. One group of people left to head back to Tallahassee, while another group went to play disc golf. We were able to find a course close to the campus. It was fun, but one of the most difficult courses I've ever played. Nearly the entire course was in the woods and the layout had us climbing up and down hills, crossing streams, and crawling through brush. One of the girls ended up loosing her driver disc and a few others had theirs go in the stream. We were able to retrieve the ones in the stream, but we never found the lost disc. Afterward, we went to Dreamland BBQ for some yummy BBQ and banana pudding before heading back to Tallahassee. The drive back seemed to take longer than the drive there, partially because of the traffic of U of A students going home for Spring Break. My car got back to Tallahassee around 9. We passed the time with Suzi aloud reading from UnChristian, the book we were reading for our internship. Her reading aloud definitely helped pass the time and made the book enjoyable.
Our team had a great time in Tuscaloosa and were very grateful for the opportunity to serve there. We met a lot of great students who are very on fire for God and have an awesome desire to reach their campus for Christ.
Tuesday was Mardi Gras and the Louisiana team decided to buy traditional King Cake and serve it in the Student Union. We hid a plastic baby in two pieces of the cake and the students who found them were told if they showed up at the event that night, they could win a gift card to a local restaurant. We also had a bottle with Mardi Gras beads and students were able to guess the number of beads in the bottle. Students wrote their name, phone number, and guess on a slip of paper and whoever guessed closest to the correct number was called and told if they came to the event that night, they could win a iTunes gift card. That night, one of the students from Louisiana made gumbo and served it to the Chi Alpha students and guests. One of the students that found the baby in the King Cake was there to claim their gift card (the other student had a prior obligation and wasn't able to make it). The student that guessed the correct number of beads was also there to claim his gift card and also brought a friend. We had a great time hanging out with the students.
Wednesday, we went back to the Union and tried some of the conversation-starters we use at FSU to talk with the UA students. We set up a whiteboard with a question and asked students as they walked by if they would like to answer for a free cookie. We were able to start a lot of conversations with the students and invite them to the Chi Alpha service the next night. After we were done at the Union, we went back to the Chi Alpha building for lunch. That night, we ate dinner with the campus pastors at U of A, their children, and our host students. We had a great time hanging out with them before heading to campus for a game night with the students.
Thursday, our team went to the U of A football stadium. One of the students that went with us is a huge fan of their football team and really wanted to see the stadium. It was a great tour and was cool to see the sky boxes, press room, etc. that you usually don't see. After our tour, we headed back to the Union to connect with more students. The weather was chilly, since it had rained the day before, and overcast, but since it wasn't raining anymore, another intern, a student, and myself went out on campus to hand out flyers about the Chi Alpha service that night. After we were done, we went back to the Chi Alpha building and ate lunch. One of the staff members offered to take us to Gigi's cupcakes to thank us. The cupcakes were amazing, with icing as high as I've ever seen it. I got one with caramel icing (I think it was called a Caramel Sugar Momma or something like that); it was the best (and biggest) cupcake I've ever had :) We went back to our host homes to rest for a little while before the Chi Alpha service that night. Our team met at the Chi Alpha building for pizza before the service, then headed to campus. The building where we were holding the service was flooded by the rain the day/night before. Although the maintenance crew worked hard to dry out the room, it still smelled damp and dank when we got there. Luckily after we were in the room for a while, it wasn't as noticeable. The U of A Chi Alpha had invited a band and drama group to do the service that week. It was a great service and there were some new students that we had talked to earlier in the week.
Friday, we loaded up our stuff and met at the Chi Alpha building for breakfast and to say goodbye to the staff members. One group of people left to head back to Tallahassee, while another group went to play disc golf. We were able to find a course close to the campus. It was fun, but one of the most difficult courses I've ever played. Nearly the entire course was in the woods and the layout had us climbing up and down hills, crossing streams, and crawling through brush. One of the girls ended up loosing her driver disc and a few others had theirs go in the stream. We were able to retrieve the ones in the stream, but we never found the lost disc. Afterward, we went to Dreamland BBQ for some yummy BBQ and banana pudding before heading back to Tallahassee. The drive back seemed to take longer than the drive there, partially because of the traffic of U of A students going home for Spring Break. My car got back to Tallahassee around 9. We passed the time with Suzi aloud reading from UnChristian, the book we were reading for our internship. Her reading aloud definitely helped pass the time and made the book enjoyable.
Our team had a great time in Tuscaloosa and were very grateful for the opportunity to serve there. We met a lot of great students who are very on fire for God and have an awesome desire to reach their campus for Christ.
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