I've been saying that I was going to get my pictures from Northern Ireland up, but I hadn't found a picture site I liked. I've had pictures on Facebook for a while, but wasn't sure if I could link the albums through here. I don't think you have to be a member of Facebook to see them
Album One
Album Two
Also, here's a video I took at Giant's Causeway. You can hear how much the wind was blowing as well as the waves crashing on the rocks. Pretty amazing!
Monday, April 5, 2010
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Georgia on My Mind
The last weekend in March, I went to Georgia for a training conference on how to raise my support budget. A student from UVA rode down to the conference center in Toccoa, GA with me; we spend most of the car ride talking about the ministries we are working with or will work with. She'll graduate in May and is hoping to give a year to Students for Christ (SfC), Europe's version of Chi Alpha.
At the conference, we learned how to present our vision and love for our mission field (for most of us, it was Chi Alpha) to our potential supporter team. We also learned how to connect with people in order to share our vision for the campus where we'll be. We stayed at a wonderful conference center that reminded me somewhat of a modern-day Camp Fincastle. We had a few hours Saturday afternoon to ourselves as a break and a few of us took books and went by the lake to soak up the sun and enjoy the quiet. It was nice to slow down for a few hours. The other hours we were there were filled with a LOT useful information, sleeping, and enjoying meals with the team. I did notice that the conference center where we stayed had a curfew of 11pm and a "lights-out" rule at 12am...these people definitely aren't used to working with collegiate ministries where late nights and early mornings are the norm. I don't think we were even close to following that rule over the weekend. :)
For me, it was great to be around people who are close to my age and who have the same passion and love for campus ministry as I do. There are so many amazing stories just from the 8-10 campuses that were represented there. God is really moving on the college campuses in America and around the world.
At the conference, we learned how to present our vision and love for our mission field (for most of us, it was Chi Alpha) to our potential supporter team. We also learned how to connect with people in order to share our vision for the campus where we'll be. We stayed at a wonderful conference center that reminded me somewhat of a modern-day Camp Fincastle. We had a few hours Saturday afternoon to ourselves as a break and a few of us took books and went by the lake to soak up the sun and enjoy the quiet. It was nice to slow down for a few hours. The other hours we were there were filled with a LOT useful information, sleeping, and enjoying meals with the team. I did notice that the conference center where we stayed had a curfew of 11pm and a "lights-out" rule at 12am...these people definitely aren't used to working with collegiate ministries where late nights and early mornings are the norm. I don't think we were even close to following that rule over the weekend. :)
For me, it was great to be around people who are close to my age and who have the same passion and love for campus ministry as I do. There are so many amazing stories just from the 8-10 campuses that were represented there. God is really moving on the college campuses in America and around the world.
Monday, March 15, 2010
Northern Ireland Spring Break Mission Trip
As I've blogged before, Longwood Chi Alpha took a spring break mission trip to Northern Ireland March 6-13. It was an amazing trip that pushed us all, students and staff alike, out of our comfort zones and helped us grow in our walk with God. We had some difficulties throughout the planning process and even after we left, but God brought us through and showed us what He is doing in the country of Northern Ireland and in Carrickfergus, where we worked during the week.
We left Farmville at 11:30 Saturday morning to drive to Regan Airport in DC. We got there at 2 for our 5:00 flight, but the Continental rep bumped us up to a flight that was leaving at 2:45 because the 5:00 flight was usually delayed. We had to literally run to security and to our gate...we got there as they were boarding the flight. We flew to Newark, NJ and had a long layover. We boarded our flight to Belfast around 9:30pm and flew all night. We arrived at the Belfast Airport at 8:30am their time and were picked up by our OneHope missionary, Mindy, and the local pastor, Pastor Jonny. We then proceeded on to church at a satellite building for Sunday service. The people there were very welcoming and happy to see us. After church, we grabbed lunch at Springsteins Cafe and walked on the road along Belfast Lough. We passed Carrickfergus Castle, but decided to visit it later in the week. We also visited a local ice cream shop and got Pooh Bear ice cream (vanilla ice cream with honey, crisp "combs", and chocolate wafers). Apparently it's a specialty of this shop and it was delicious! Gil, Freeman, and Will went back to the satellite church for their evening service while the rest of the team stayed at the main church for evening service. After the service was over, we were dropped off at our host homes for the night. Our host house had 4 girls from Longwood, plus Mindy, so it was a full house!
Since it was so late when we got in and all of us were so tired, Pastor Jonny said he would pick us up later Monday morning, so instead of beginning at 8am, we began at 9am. We visited one primary school from 11am-2:30pm. We weren't able to take pictures in the school because of security. We also went to the Monday Night Connect youth groups at the church we were working with (Carrickfergus Elim Pentecostal) and did a few sketches for them and hung out with them. Gil, Will, and Mallory went to a local radio station to be interviewed about what we were doing there. After they got back, we all enjoyed some fish and chips (fries). I don't usually like fish, but this was pretty good. We then went back to our host homes for the night.
Tuesday, we left our host homes around 8:30 and went to two high schools. Half of our team went to the girls' school and the other half went to the boys' school. I was with the group at the boys' school. We performed the sketch, Two Masters, for each class and talked to them about choices and consequences. Freeman shared a personal story about how a choice someone else made affected him and his family. Two of our students left halfway through the day to visit a primary school with Pastor Jonny for a few hours. When the groups at the high schools were done, we drove into Belfast City to do some shopping. We went to a restaurant in the mall for dinner then to the church for the Boy's Brigade. BB is a group of 4 yr old boys, similar to Royal Rangers in the states. Mindy taught us a song on the bus to sing with them and she told the story of Jesus calming the sea. Two of our students made a boat, Freeman was Jesus, and we used 3 of the boys to be the disciples. I took a video of it and the boys were so cute. After that, we went back to our host homes for the night.
Wednesday, we left our houses around 8. On our way to the schools, we designated parts for the sketches. When we arrived at the school, we were taken to the assembly hall and the kids came in after us. We performed the sketches Walk of Life, No Touch Ninjas, Gum & Money, and "Wrap an American" with the bullying lesson and discussion questions. We were allowed to take pictures at this school. After we finished, we went to our second school of the day and performed the same sketches. We were not allowed to take pictures at this school. We were supposed to eat lunch at the school, but they forgot to fix us plates, so we got on the bus and drove to a local supermarket deli and got sandwiches, drinks, chips and KitKats (regular and orange-flavored). After we ate, we went back to the school to do the last lesson. We then went to Carrickfergus Castle to tour and take pictures. Being that close to the water, it was pretty windy. The castle is one of the oldest around and the only one in Northern Ireland that has never been breached. They have different rooms set up like they were when it was being used with plaques telling what the rooms were used for or who the people were. The castle closed around 4, so we walked to a local coffee shop to wait for Pastor Jonny to pick us up. We ordered coffee/hot chocolate and had a team meeting (or at least attempted to have one...there was a very distracting cartoon on the TV near our table). After Pastor Jonny got there, we went to the local museum. We were able to see posters from The Troubles with descriptions about what they meant and what was happening at that time. We then went back to our host homes to have dinner with them. Our host family, Darren and Suzanne, fixed spaghetti, salad and bread for us. It was really nice to sit down with them and talk. We didn't see them much because of our schedules (leaving around 8am and not getting back til around 11pm). The church we worked with had a prayer service at 7pm. It was an awesome time of worship and prayer for one another. The pastor asked our team to come up front (along with a team their church is sending to Uganda in a few months) and asked other people there to come pray for both teams and the work we would be doing.
Thursday, after we loaded up and left our host homes, we discussed the plan for the day. Five of our team members (Gil, Freeman, Kelsey, Laura, and Mallory) decided to go to a school for special needs children while the rest of us went to the primary school. We did an assembly and two lessons. The rest of our group met us and we got lunch at Subway and ate on the bus. We went to our second primary school of the day and did two lessons with them. After we finished there, we went to Giant's Causeway (http://www.northantrim.com/giantscauseway.htm). We first visited the gift shops before they closed (got a pair of earrings for Marissa and Jenn), then began the walk down to the Causeway. It's a beautiful natural wonder on the Atlantic Ocean. Neither pictures or words can begin to do it justice. We also visited Dunluce Castle on our way out. We were not able to go in because it was closed, but some were able to get good pictures (my camera battery was dying, so I didn't get very many). We went to a restaurant for dinner; I ordered the peppered chicken (chicken breast, pepper sauce, onions under and onion straws on top) and new potatoes. The chicken was so good, I didn't eat the potatoes. I sat at a table with Pastor Jonny, Gil, Mindy, Will and Mallory and we enjoyed listening to Pastor Jonny talk about his experiences he's had in ministry. We left to head back to Carrickfergus and got back fairly late.
Friday was our last day in the schools. We left our host homes around 8:40ish and went to our first school. We did an assembly and two lessons with them. We were able to go outside during recess and play basketball or jump rope with some of the students. We ate lunch at a local restaurant and went back to the school for one last assembly. We went back into Belfast City since most of us still had money to spend. I bought a cross for myself, a sun catcher for Mom, a chocolate leprechaun for my little brother and a caramel Dairy Milk bar for Dad. We decided to go to the Starbucks and hang out for a while before going to supper. We ate supper at a bistro in Carrickfergus. Most of the meals our team ordered came with either an appetizer or desert and most of us ordered the Pooh Bear ice cream. The bistro took a while to get our food to us, so we had to get our ice cream to-go. They put it in a plastic container and gave us spoons. We stood out on the sidewalk waiting for Pastor Jonny with about 5 of us crowded around this tub of ice cream eating. We went to the young adult service at Elim. We did 2 Masters and I talked to the young adults about having to decide between following the plans I had for my life after college or following the ones God had for me. Freeman talked to them about clogged pipes and had a time of prayer for individuals and the group. Later, we went to the back room of the church and talked about the week, what we learned and what God taught us during the trip. Mindy also had words of encouragement for everyone that she shared. We left the church and went to Tesco's and spent the remaining money most of us had. We then went back to our host homes for the night to pack our stuff and get ready to leave. On the way back, we gave Mindy a jar of pickles (her fav food) and a Thank You card from all of us.
Saturday, we got up early and finished packing our belongings. We said goodbye to Mindy and Suzanne and were picked up at 7:20am and went to pick up the rest of the group. On the way to the airport, we signed a Thank You card for Pastor Jonny. We got to the Belfast Airport, got checked in and said goodbye to Pastor Jonny. We went through security (one of our students and I got randomly searched) and settled in at the food court. Most of us got coffee and fruit while we waited. We headed to our gate and boarded our plane back to the US. I sat in a row with Lane and Freeman. I watched the movies "Everything's Fine" and "Old Dogs", listened to my music, took a nap, ate lunch and a snack, and had a good conversation with Lane and Freeman during the 8 hours it took to get back. We landed in Newark, NJ around 1pm East Coast time. We had to go through immigration, claim our luggage, go through customs, and recheck our luggage. We tried to find our gate only to discover our tickets were printed with the wrong gate number. We got that straight and went through security again. We must've been in the original terminal of Newark's airport...it was a circular room with a ton of people. The weather was rainy and several flights were delayed, including ours. We were supposed to leave at 5, but didn't board the plane til 8pm and didn't take off for DC til 8:30 for several reasons. After we landed in DC, we called Mark, got our luggage, and met Mark with the bus. We loaded up all of our luggage and got on the bus for the ride back to Farmville. Most of our team slept the whole way from DC to Farmville. We got back to Farmville around 1:30am and unloaded the bus. The students who lived on campus walked back from the Banton's house and Freeman gave me a ride back to my house on his way home. I put all my stuff in the corner of my room, put my pajamas on, brushed my teeth and crawled in bed. Getting in that late was a blessing because it helped all of us to adjust back to East Coast time easier (along with the time change, which made it a 4 hour difference instead of 5). I slept til around 10:30am Sunday, then spent the day unpacking, doing laundry, transferring pics to my computer, and hanging out with Marissa.
We left Farmville at 11:30 Saturday morning to drive to Regan Airport in DC. We got there at 2 for our 5:00 flight, but the Continental rep bumped us up to a flight that was leaving at 2:45 because the 5:00 flight was usually delayed. We had to literally run to security and to our gate...we got there as they were boarding the flight. We flew to Newark, NJ and had a long layover. We boarded our flight to Belfast around 9:30pm and flew all night. We arrived at the Belfast Airport at 8:30am their time and were picked up by our OneHope missionary, Mindy, and the local pastor, Pastor Jonny. We then proceeded on to church at a satellite building for Sunday service. The people there were very welcoming and happy to see us. After church, we grabbed lunch at Springsteins Cafe and walked on the road along Belfast Lough. We passed Carrickfergus Castle, but decided to visit it later in the week. We also visited a local ice cream shop and got Pooh Bear ice cream (vanilla ice cream with honey, crisp "combs", and chocolate wafers). Apparently it's a specialty of this shop and it was delicious! Gil, Freeman, and Will went back to the satellite church for their evening service while the rest of the team stayed at the main church for evening service. After the service was over, we were dropped off at our host homes for the night. Our host house had 4 girls from Longwood, plus Mindy, so it was a full house!
Since it was so late when we got in and all of us were so tired, Pastor Jonny said he would pick us up later Monday morning, so instead of beginning at 8am, we began at 9am. We visited one primary school from 11am-2:30pm. We weren't able to take pictures in the school because of security. We also went to the Monday Night Connect youth groups at the church we were working with (Carrickfergus Elim Pentecostal) and did a few sketches for them and hung out with them. Gil, Will, and Mallory went to a local radio station to be interviewed about what we were doing there. After they got back, we all enjoyed some fish and chips (fries). I don't usually like fish, but this was pretty good. We then went back to our host homes for the night.
Tuesday, we left our host homes around 8:30 and went to two high schools. Half of our team went to the girls' school and the other half went to the boys' school. I was with the group at the boys' school. We performed the sketch, Two Masters, for each class and talked to them about choices and consequences. Freeman shared a personal story about how a choice someone else made affected him and his family. Two of our students left halfway through the day to visit a primary school with Pastor Jonny for a few hours. When the groups at the high schools were done, we drove into Belfast City to do some shopping. We went to a restaurant in the mall for dinner then to the church for the Boy's Brigade. BB is a group of 4 yr old boys, similar to Royal Rangers in the states. Mindy taught us a song on the bus to sing with them and she told the story of Jesus calming the sea. Two of our students made a boat, Freeman was Jesus, and we used 3 of the boys to be the disciples. I took a video of it and the boys were so cute. After that, we went back to our host homes for the night.
Wednesday, we left our houses around 8. On our way to the schools, we designated parts for the sketches. When we arrived at the school, we were taken to the assembly hall and the kids came in after us. We performed the sketches Walk of Life, No Touch Ninjas, Gum & Money, and "Wrap an American" with the bullying lesson and discussion questions. We were allowed to take pictures at this school. After we finished, we went to our second school of the day and performed the same sketches. We were not allowed to take pictures at this school. We were supposed to eat lunch at the school, but they forgot to fix us plates, so we got on the bus and drove to a local supermarket deli and got sandwiches, drinks, chips and KitKats (regular and orange-flavored). After we ate, we went back to the school to do the last lesson. We then went to Carrickfergus Castle to tour and take pictures. Being that close to the water, it was pretty windy. The castle is one of the oldest around and the only one in Northern Ireland that has never been breached. They have different rooms set up like they were when it was being used with plaques telling what the rooms were used for or who the people were. The castle closed around 4, so we walked to a local coffee shop to wait for Pastor Jonny to pick us up. We ordered coffee/hot chocolate and had a team meeting (or at least attempted to have one...there was a very distracting cartoon on the TV near our table). After Pastor Jonny got there, we went to the local museum. We were able to see posters from The Troubles with descriptions about what they meant and what was happening at that time. We then went back to our host homes to have dinner with them. Our host family, Darren and Suzanne, fixed spaghetti, salad and bread for us. It was really nice to sit down with them and talk. We didn't see them much because of our schedules (leaving around 8am and not getting back til around 11pm). The church we worked with had a prayer service at 7pm. It was an awesome time of worship and prayer for one another. The pastor asked our team to come up front (along with a team their church is sending to Uganda in a few months) and asked other people there to come pray for both teams and the work we would be doing.
Thursday, after we loaded up and left our host homes, we discussed the plan for the day. Five of our team members (Gil, Freeman, Kelsey, Laura, and Mallory) decided to go to a school for special needs children while the rest of us went to the primary school. We did an assembly and two lessons. The rest of our group met us and we got lunch at Subway and ate on the bus. We went to our second primary school of the day and did two lessons with them. After we finished there, we went to Giant's Causeway (http://www.northantrim.com/giantscauseway.htm). We first visited the gift shops before they closed (got a pair of earrings for Marissa and Jenn), then began the walk down to the Causeway. It's a beautiful natural wonder on the Atlantic Ocean. Neither pictures or words can begin to do it justice. We also visited Dunluce Castle on our way out. We were not able to go in because it was closed, but some were able to get good pictures (my camera battery was dying, so I didn't get very many). We went to a restaurant for dinner; I ordered the peppered chicken (chicken breast, pepper sauce, onions under and onion straws on top) and new potatoes. The chicken was so good, I didn't eat the potatoes. I sat at a table with Pastor Jonny, Gil, Mindy, Will and Mallory and we enjoyed listening to Pastor Jonny talk about his experiences he's had in ministry. We left to head back to Carrickfergus and got back fairly late.
Friday was our last day in the schools. We left our host homes around 8:40ish and went to our first school. We did an assembly and two lessons with them. We were able to go outside during recess and play basketball or jump rope with some of the students. We ate lunch at a local restaurant and went back to the school for one last assembly. We went back into Belfast City since most of us still had money to spend. I bought a cross for myself, a sun catcher for Mom, a chocolate leprechaun for my little brother and a caramel Dairy Milk bar for Dad. We decided to go to the Starbucks and hang out for a while before going to supper. We ate supper at a bistro in Carrickfergus. Most of the meals our team ordered came with either an appetizer or desert and most of us ordered the Pooh Bear ice cream. The bistro took a while to get our food to us, so we had to get our ice cream to-go. They put it in a plastic container and gave us spoons. We stood out on the sidewalk waiting for Pastor Jonny with about 5 of us crowded around this tub of ice cream eating. We went to the young adult service at Elim. We did 2 Masters and I talked to the young adults about having to decide between following the plans I had for my life after college or following the ones God had for me. Freeman talked to them about clogged pipes and had a time of prayer for individuals and the group. Later, we went to the back room of the church and talked about the week, what we learned and what God taught us during the trip. Mindy also had words of encouragement for everyone that she shared. We left the church and went to Tesco's and spent the remaining money most of us had. We then went back to our host homes for the night to pack our stuff and get ready to leave. On the way back, we gave Mindy a jar of pickles (her fav food) and a Thank You card from all of us.
Saturday, we got up early and finished packing our belongings. We said goodbye to Mindy and Suzanne and were picked up at 7:20am and went to pick up the rest of the group. On the way to the airport, we signed a Thank You card for Pastor Jonny. We got to the Belfast Airport, got checked in and said goodbye to Pastor Jonny. We went through security (one of our students and I got randomly searched) and settled in at the food court. Most of us got coffee and fruit while we waited. We headed to our gate and boarded our plane back to the US. I sat in a row with Lane and Freeman. I watched the movies "Everything's Fine" and "Old Dogs", listened to my music, took a nap, ate lunch and a snack, and had a good conversation with Lane and Freeman during the 8 hours it took to get back. We landed in Newark, NJ around 1pm East Coast time. We had to go through immigration, claim our luggage, go through customs, and recheck our luggage. We tried to find our gate only to discover our tickets were printed with the wrong gate number. We got that straight and went through security again. We must've been in the original terminal of Newark's airport...it was a circular room with a ton of people. The weather was rainy and several flights were delayed, including ours. We were supposed to leave at 5, but didn't board the plane til 8pm and didn't take off for DC til 8:30 for several reasons. After we landed in DC, we called Mark, got our luggage, and met Mark with the bus. We loaded up all of our luggage and got on the bus for the ride back to Farmville. Most of our team slept the whole way from DC to Farmville. We got back to Farmville around 1:30am and unloaded the bus. The students who lived on campus walked back from the Banton's house and Freeman gave me a ride back to my house on his way home. I put all my stuff in the corner of my room, put my pajamas on, brushed my teeth and crawled in bed. Getting in that late was a blessing because it helped all of us to adjust back to East Coast time easier (along with the time change, which made it a 4 hour difference instead of 5). I slept til around 10:30am Sunday, then spent the day unpacking, doing laundry, transferring pics to my computer, and hanging out with Marissa.
Monday, February 22, 2010
Hot Chocolate
For the past few weeks, LUXA has been handing out hot chocolate to students on their way to class. It seems like a simple gesture, but for some students, it changes how their day is going. I've lost count of the number of students that have told us "This really makes my day. Thank you so much for doing this." During class change, a line of students can usually be found waiting at our table for a cup of hot chocolate (or tea) and brief conversation. An amazing story has come from this table: Gil and I were manning the table one morning and a student stopped to ask us for directions. We asked her if she would like a cup of hot chocolate or tea and began to talk with her. We found out she was a transfer and this was her first day on Longwood's campus. We invited her to Thursday Night Worship. For the next few days, we saw her walking across campus and she would stop for hot chocolate or tea and talk with us. Thursday night rolled around and we saw this student there. That night after Gil's message, he gave an opportunity for anyone who wanted to to accept Christ. This transfer student we talked to all week accepted Christ that night. To me, it's stories like this, reaching students for Christ, that make all of this worth it. :)
Thursday, January 28, 2010
A Day in the Life of a LUXA Missionary: Thursday- TNW and Twilight
Well, I just got back to my house a few minutes ago. I had the opportunity to speak at Thursday Night Worship for the first time tonight. More on that in a little while.
Continuing with my series, A Day in the Life..., today is Thursday, probably the busiest day of the week for me. Got up at 7 this morning to get ready and meet Gil for Chi Alpha's hot chocolate outreach. I plan to write a blog on this soon, explaining what we do and why. Helped prep water and load car, then drove to campus. Unloaded supplies, set up, and parked car. We stayed on campus until about noon, handing out several cups of hot chocolate to students, faculty and staff at Longwood. We also heard some awesome words from two female students. They were making their hot chocolate and they began thanking us for being out there. They said that us giving them hot chocolate really made their day and they got so excited when they saw us out there. Praise God. After we finished with the hot chocolate outreach, I came back to the house to eat lunch and get ready for Thursday Night Worship. Since I was speaking, I still had some loose ends to tie up and an outline to write before going to help load the equipment. Was late getting there (I did text Gil and let him know I would be late), so I wasn't able to type the song lyrics. Gil and I loaded his van up with all the sound equipment and other supplies we would need, then left for leadership meeting. We met with our student leaders to discuss plans they are making for a Valentines Day campus outreach, plans for the retreat next weekend, as well as other activities they are planning. The student leaders helped us unload the van and set up the sound equipment. Then we went to eat dinner together in the dinning hall (wasn't very impressive, but we did have several good conversations). After dinner, we went back to our room in the Student Union. I showed one of our student leaders how to type the song lyrics into the program we use. She typed those for us while I worked on finishing the slides for my message. Then we began setting up the tables for worship centers and getting the rest of the room ready. I went to make copies of the songs for the worship team and announcement sheets for the students. I came back to the Student Union and the worship team, student leaders, and staff prayed together before beginning. I decided that while worship team was practicing I would go look over my notes and re-read the scriptures. Around 7:45, students started arriving and the room was filled with everyone greeting one another. At 8pm, we began with one of our students announcing the upcoming events we have. Gil welcomed everyone, said a prayer, and the worship team began playing. We had an awesome time of worship, including a long prayer time. It was amazing to hear the students in the room praising God and crying out to God. Then it was my turn. I had to rearrange my message a little because there was a part I wanted a specific student to hear, but she had to leave early. I talked about the difference between flattery and affirmation. I connected it to Twilight because the main character, Bella, affirms another character, Edward (the vampire). I talked about ways to affirm one another and why we should be affirming one another as the body of Christ. I also shared a few times when someone has affirmed me and it meant a lot to me and a time when I felt I needed to be affirmed and didn't receive it. The message went well, although it was fairly short. I finished and turned it back over to Gil, who make a few additional remarks, then closed us in prayer. We packed all of the sound equipment and supplies up and loaded them in the van. I met Gil and Freeman (another LUXA staff member) at Gil's house to help unload and put the sound equipment and supplies away. We finished fairly quickly, then went to the kitchen for some chicken wings Freeman got from the abby he's working on. We discussed a little how my message went; Gil told me I need to watch my "um"s. I noticed I was saying it a lot and I've been told before that's something I need to work on when speaking to a group. I was glad I made the outline, although I would have an idea to add, then see something that would distract me and the thought would fly away. I have to say, I have a new respect for people who prepare and deliver messages/sermons every week! :)
Continuing with my series, A Day in the Life..., today is Thursday, probably the busiest day of the week for me. Got up at 7 this morning to get ready and meet Gil for Chi Alpha's hot chocolate outreach. I plan to write a blog on this soon, explaining what we do and why. Helped prep water and load car, then drove to campus. Unloaded supplies, set up, and parked car. We stayed on campus until about noon, handing out several cups of hot chocolate to students, faculty and staff at Longwood. We also heard some awesome words from two female students. They were making their hot chocolate and they began thanking us for being out there. They said that us giving them hot chocolate really made their day and they got so excited when they saw us out there. Praise God. After we finished with the hot chocolate outreach, I came back to the house to eat lunch and get ready for Thursday Night Worship. Since I was speaking, I still had some loose ends to tie up and an outline to write before going to help load the equipment. Was late getting there (I did text Gil and let him know I would be late), so I wasn't able to type the song lyrics. Gil and I loaded his van up with all the sound equipment and other supplies we would need, then left for leadership meeting. We met with our student leaders to discuss plans they are making for a Valentines Day campus outreach, plans for the retreat next weekend, as well as other activities they are planning. The student leaders helped us unload the van and set up the sound equipment. Then we went to eat dinner together in the dinning hall (wasn't very impressive, but we did have several good conversations). After dinner, we went back to our room in the Student Union. I showed one of our student leaders how to type the song lyrics into the program we use. She typed those for us while I worked on finishing the slides for my message. Then we began setting up the tables for worship centers and getting the rest of the room ready. I went to make copies of the songs for the worship team and announcement sheets for the students. I came back to the Student Union and the worship team, student leaders, and staff prayed together before beginning. I decided that while worship team was practicing I would go look over my notes and re-read the scriptures. Around 7:45, students started arriving and the room was filled with everyone greeting one another. At 8pm, we began with one of our students announcing the upcoming events we have. Gil welcomed everyone, said a prayer, and the worship team began playing. We had an awesome time of worship, including a long prayer time. It was amazing to hear the students in the room praising God and crying out to God. Then it was my turn. I had to rearrange my message a little because there was a part I wanted a specific student to hear, but she had to leave early. I talked about the difference between flattery and affirmation. I connected it to Twilight because the main character, Bella, affirms another character, Edward (the vampire). I talked about ways to affirm one another and why we should be affirming one another as the body of Christ. I also shared a few times when someone has affirmed me and it meant a lot to me and a time when I felt I needed to be affirmed and didn't receive it. The message went well, although it was fairly short. I finished and turned it back over to Gil, who make a few additional remarks, then closed us in prayer. We packed all of the sound equipment and supplies up and loaded them in the van. I met Gil and Freeman (another LUXA staff member) at Gil's house to help unload and put the sound equipment and supplies away. We finished fairly quickly, then went to the kitchen for some chicken wings Freeman got from the abby he's working on. We discussed a little how my message went; Gil told me I need to watch my "um"s. I noticed I was saying it a lot and I've been told before that's something I need to work on when speaking to a group. I was glad I made the outline, although I would have an idea to add, then see something that would distract me and the thought would fly away. I have to say, I have a new respect for people who prepare and deliver messages/sermons every week! :)
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
A Day in the Life of a LUXA Missionary: Mon., Jan. 25
Mondays are usually my day off. Each missionary gets one day a week off to spend with family or in my case, work on things around the house that got neglected during the rest of the week. This particular Monday, I went to prayer meeting with some students at 7am, then came back to the house to eat breakfast and get ready for the day. I also got chili started in the crock-pot for dinner. We had worship practice that night and the members of the worship team usually eat with us. One of my roommates, Jenn, didn't have any classes and wanted to go look at dresses to wear to a friend's wedding. We left the house around 10am and dropped my car off at the mechanics to get the oil changed. We went to one of the dress shops in town and Jenn tried a few dresses out. She found some she liked, but decided to look at a few other stores before buying one. We tried Belk and she found a dress she liked, but it needed a little work to it. The dress had several strands of fake pearls attached to the neckline, as well as two strands of metal chains...they seriously needed to be removed and after she did, the dress looked so much better. One of our roommates from last year came to town to visit for a while so we met her at the Daily Grind for lunch. She's interested in moving to Farmville soon, so we went with her to look at apartments. She was worried that she wouldn't be able to find any in the middle of the semester, but luckily the lady that owns several rentals in town had 3 available to choose from. The rest of my afternoon was spent here at the house, hanging out with Jenn, sampling my (yummy) chili, and making some phone calls. One of our XA students called me and asked if I would take him to get his car from the mechanics...that was an interesting trip. Neither of us had been there before, so he called for directions. Apperantly, the lady he talked to thought we were coming from 460 and gave us directions that way. We ended up not being able to find the place and having to call again. I got home from that adventure and began getting stuff ready for dinner. Freeman and Will got to the house around 5:45 and we all sat down for dinner. Our friend that was visiting joined us with another friend, so we had a full table and plenty to eat (I love my crock-pot by the way...it makes dinner soooo much easier!!!). The worship team went to practice and I worked on my on-line classes (I usually sing w/ them, but I'm getting over a cold and I'm speaking Thurs night, so I opted not to sing this week). The night ended with a few rerun episodes of Criminal Minds and conversations with friends.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
A Day in the Life of a LUXA Missionary: Tues., Jan. 12, 2010: The Students Return
I had an idea for my blog recently. I'm going to choose a random day of the week and blog about that day, what I did, students I talked to, things like that. I'm hoping these blogs will give my readers a better feel for what I'm doing in my daily life, instead of looking just at the large events LUXA is doing. So, here goes the first installment! Enjoy!!
Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2010: The Students Return
Today was the first day of classes for a new semester. I can't believe it's 2010 already!! Seems like just yesterday everyone was worrying about the world ending in 2000 (oh, wait, that worry has now been pushed back to 2012). Anyway, since classes resumed in full swing today, LUXA decided to set up our hot chocolate table and bless students. We had a few difficulties getting to campus (like the water containers, full of hot water, turning over in the back seat of my car at two different turns. Luckily I have leather seats and a towel in my car, so it was very easy to clean up) and forgetting the table. But after we got set up, we had quite a few good conversations with students. We also had an awesome conversation with the Longwood police department chief. Yeah, turns out he's also a pastor in Buckingham County and was very supportive of our ministry. Awesome!!! We decided to break down the table at 12:15ish because we ran out of cups and we were fairly cold. I dropped Gil off at his house and unloaded the water containers, then ran back over to my house for lunch and a shower.
By 1:30 I was back over at the Banton's for staff meeting. We discussed the Tuesday night mission trip meeting, leadership meeting, and Thursday Night Worship. We also put strings on the guitar I borrowed from Dad. Hopefully I'll be able to begin learning to play soon. Today was learning how to string and tune. Then it was on to WalMart to pick up ingredients for Cesar salad, to be served with the pizza at the mission meeting.
At 5:45, I began putting said salad together and the students began arriving, as well as Gil with the pizza. Most of the mission team was able to attend, except for those students that had class during that time. We chowed down on the pizza and salad and began talking about our trip. We shared the things we were excited about and the things that we are concerned about. We also spent some time in prayer, not only for our team, but for those who are financially helping us to go and the country we will be visiting and the people that we will be working with and ministering to. At the end, we took care of the financial part and talked/hung out for a while. I drove a few of the students back to their dorms/appartments, then came back home.
Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2010: The Students Return
Today was the first day of classes for a new semester. I can't believe it's 2010 already!! Seems like just yesterday everyone was worrying about the world ending in 2000 (oh, wait, that worry has now been pushed back to 2012). Anyway, since classes resumed in full swing today, LUXA decided to set up our hot chocolate table and bless students. We had a few difficulties getting to campus (like the water containers, full of hot water, turning over in the back seat of my car at two different turns. Luckily I have leather seats and a towel in my car, so it was very easy to clean up) and forgetting the table. But after we got set up, we had quite a few good conversations with students. We also had an awesome conversation with the Longwood police department chief. Yeah, turns out he's also a pastor in Buckingham County and was very supportive of our ministry. Awesome!!! We decided to break down the table at 12:15ish because we ran out of cups and we were fairly cold. I dropped Gil off at his house and unloaded the water containers, then ran back over to my house for lunch and a shower.
By 1:30 I was back over at the Banton's for staff meeting. We discussed the Tuesday night mission trip meeting, leadership meeting, and Thursday Night Worship. We also put strings on the guitar I borrowed from Dad. Hopefully I'll be able to begin learning to play soon. Today was learning how to string and tune. Then it was on to WalMart to pick up ingredients for Cesar salad, to be served with the pizza at the mission meeting.
At 5:45, I began putting said salad together and the students began arriving, as well as Gil with the pizza. Most of the mission team was able to attend, except for those students that had class during that time. We chowed down on the pizza and salad and began talking about our trip. We shared the things we were excited about and the things that we are concerned about. We also spent some time in prayer, not only for our team, but for those who are financially helping us to go and the country we will be visiting and the people that we will be working with and ministering to. At the end, we took care of the financial part and talked/hung out for a while. I drove a few of the students back to their dorms/appartments, then came back home.
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