A New Opportunity

Last semester, I was approached with a new opportunity to grow: leading a mission trip to Ecuador. Since then, I have been working with my boss to plan a trip for a group of students and staff from FSU to travel to Ecuador to work with a missionary who ministers to children in the jungle. We began with interest meetings to tell the students what the trip was about and what we would be doing while there.

Since then, we have had 11 students and three staff commit to the trip. We have been busy meeting every week and discussing in further detail what we'll be doing to help the missionaries in Ecuador. We also have some fundraisers scheduled, the first one being this Sunday at a local restaurant, Red Elephant. Our next big fundraiser will be a yard sale in April. The students are busy sending out support letters to family and friends asking for financial support and are very excited for the trip.

While there, we will run a three-day Vacation Bible Schools in two locations. The students were broken up into groups to help with crafts, games, snacks, and teaching the lessons. I'm excited to see how God leads these students to come up with teach these kids and minister to them.

I am excited for this new learning opportunity for me, but at times I also worry that I am doing something wrong or overlooking some aspect of the trip that will come back to haunt me later. This is a whole new learning to lean on the Holy Spirit for guidance and wisdom as I make decisions that will affect not only me, but the team as well. It's also a learning opportunity to not let little glitches stress me out, but know and trust that God will work it all out, even when I can't see the end result. I can't wait to see how God uses our team in Ecuador and what He teaches us through this trip and opportunity to serve.

Update

I realized this morning that it's been a while since I updated my blog. We've had a number of events, so I'll give you a quick run through:

* November 18th was our annual Ladies' Fashion Xchange. We asked our girls to bring clothes, shoes, accessories, etc. they no longer wanted and gave them the opportunity to exchange them for "new to them" items. The girls loved going through the clothes and finding new outfits. We enjoyed yummy fondue and other snacks and had a great time ministering to our ladies.

* I enjoyed a few days in VA with my family for Thanksgiving. It was great to see my family again, both close and extended members. I also got some great deals on Black Friday and went to see the Mannheim Steamroller Christmas concert in Roanoke.

* Our Christmas banquet was Dec. 11. We had the event catered by Red Elephant, a local restaurant. The food was super yummy and we had a great time hanging out before final exams began.

*Mosaic Finals Cafe was held the following week for our students to study for their final exams. We set up tables and provided free wireless internet and coffee. We had around 20+ students come study and hang out.

*Christmas break I traveled back to VA to spend time with family. It took around 12 1/2 hours to get home without any problems. While home, I finished Christmas shopping, went to the dentist, saw a good friend, and celebrated Christmas with my family. I also celebrated my birthday with my parents and younger brother the day after Christmas since I wouldn't be home for the actual day. I left early on the morning of the 27th for the drive back to Tallahassee...it took 15 hours because of traffic.

*On the 28th, the Chi Alpha staff met in the office to finish preparing for the SALT conference. On the morning of the 29th, we got on the road to Jacksonville for the SALT conference. We spent 3 days soaking up knowledge of Jesus, worshiping, and fellowshiping with fellow believers from the Southeast area. I'll have a separate blog posted for that soon.

Fall Newsletter

My fall newsletter was recently sent out. If you do not receive it and would like to, please send me your email address and I will add you to my list. Here is a preview:

Glam and Dine

Our group of ladies, all dressed up!

Last Friday, Oct. 21, we has our second women's ministry event of the year, Glam and Dine. The idea was that us ladies would dress up, eat dinner together, and have girl talk. Our menu for the night was salad, homemade lasagna, garlic bread, and chocolate cake. Two of our students, Anna and Jenny, did most of the work decorating and cooking; Suzi and I were there to help in whatever ways needed.

The girls began arriving at 6pm and we sat down to eat at 6:45pm. I had the opportunity to sit with some girls who are new to Chi Alpha this year and get to know them better. As the night went on, we answered "get to know you" questions and talked about how the semester was going. We also chose a piece of scrapbook paper, put our name at the top, and passed it around the table. Each of the other girls wrote an anonymous encouraging note to that person. We ended the night by taking plenty of pictures.

I had a great time spending the evening with these ladies. It was fun to get all dressed up (*gasp* yes, I did just admit that :)), wear something out of my usual jeans and t-shirt, and straighten my hair. I was also very blessed and encouraged to spend time with these ladies who are on fire for God and who are so loving. God has certainly blessed our Chi Alpha group with amazing, Godly women.

Daytona Beach Retreat 2011

Sunrise at Daytona Beach, FL

Last weekend, Sept 30-Oct 2, I went with two students, Jenny and Nick, from FSU Chi Alpha to the Penn. FL Fall Retreat. While FSU XA is in the West FL district, we were invited to join Chi Alpha groups from Univ. of Florida, Florida Gulf Coast Univ., Univ. of Central Florida, Univ. of Miami, and Univ. of South Florida. It was an amazing experience to see so many college students from different campuses coming together to worship God and learn more about Him.

We arrived Friday afternoon after about 4 hours on the road. We checked in and headed out to find some dinner. We found a pizza place across the street from our hotel, grabbed a pepperoni pizza, and ate together as a team. We also walked down the beach for a little while before returning to our rooms to get ready for the first session. We began the session with worship and continued with a teaching from our guest speaker, Chris Owen, from Southeastern University (an Assemblies of God college in Florida). Chris spoke on 2 Timothy 1, focusing on verse 7. When he was done teaching, he encouraged students to spend time in prayer releasing their fears to God and I had the opportunity to pray with both students from FSU. We ended with a prayer and headed to the pool for chili and fellowship. Jenny and I found some lounge chairs near the beach and talked for a while before joining a group on the beach for an impromptu worship session. Near midnight, we headed up to our room and turned in for the night.

Saturday, Jenny and I got up and headed out to the beach at 6:45am to watch the sunrise over the beach. We grabbed a blanket from my car and sat for a little while waiting for the sun. When it began to rise, we walked closer to the water, took pictures, and watched the sun as it seemed to appear from no where. We ran to the lobby, grabbed breakfast (and coffee of course) and took it to our room. After getting ready, we headed to the conference room, met Nick, and began the session with worship. Chris spoke again, this time on the different ways Jesus prayed and modeled prayer for us: for others, with others, alone, and in nature. We broke up for a small group exercise where we read the Lord's prayer, prayed, and talked about what stood out to us. We ate lunch, took group pictures, and watched as a group of students were baptized in the ocean. We had the rest of the afternoon free, so I returned to my room and decided to take a nap (that lasted about 2 1/2 hours) and caught up on what was going on in the world (aka Facebook). We met as a group and went to dinner at Cracker Barrel; I asked Nick and Jenny what they thought about the retreat so far and shared some experiences that I have had going to retreats during my time in Chi Alpha. We made it back to the hotel just in time to catch the beginning of the evening service with Chris Owen. After Chris was done speaking, we had a time of prayer and seeking after God. It was amazing for me to see this group of university students seek after God during this time. Afterwards, the Univ. Florida vs. Alabama football game was shown. Jenny and I watched part of it, went outside for a little while, and came back in for the talent show. Most of the universities had groups go up and present a talent. It was a great way to end the night.

Sunday morning, we met at my car and loaded our stuff before going in the conference room for our last session. Chris gave us four points from the weekend he wanted us to remember. He then had each university to stand up and we prayed for them and their campus. We closed out in prayer, checked out of our room, jumped in the car, stopped briefly at Starbucks for caffeine, and hit the road. We stopped at Sonny's for lunch and had more good discussion about topics from the retreat. We returned to Tallahassee around 4pm Sunday afternoon. I dropped Nick and Jenny off at the church and headed to my house. After unpacking and putting everything away, I crashed on the couch for the remainder of the night.

Although I was tired when I got home, I was glad I had the opportunity to go on this retreat with these students. I had a great time getting to know them better and pour in to and encourage them on a spiritual level.

Small Group Begins!

Small Group girls at Grassroots Coffeehouse in Thomasville, GA

Our small group Bible studies started three weeks ago. I was asked to lead a women's small group this year, so about a week before we kicked off, I began thinking of different topics I could address. Different ideas came and went, but the one that stayed was the reliability of God's character. Studying this topic is not something I have been challenged to do before, so I knew I would be learning right along with the girls I would be leading.

The first night, we ate cookies and ice cream and got to know one another through ice breaker games. The second night, we discussed what it means to be reliable, why it's important for us as Christians to be reliable, why it's important for us to know that God's character is reliable, etc. We had good group discussion, shared prayer requests, enjoyed warm, gooey, brownies and spent some time just hanging out.

Tonight, we're taking a little trip to get out of Tallahassee for a few hours. We're driving up to Thomasville, GA to a little coffee shop called Grassroots. Thomasville has become a favorite place of mine because the little town reminds me so much of Farmville (where I went to college) and Grassroots has the best coffee there. We'll also begin our first lesson, looking at the story of Noah and the flood and how God proved his reliability throughout the story. While I was planning, reading, and researching for this lesson, I realized there is so much more to the account of Noah than the simpler version I learned as a child. God's reliability shines throughout this story and I'm excited to share this lesson with my small group tonight. I'm also excited to hear their reactions and feedback.

Some of these girls were in my small group last year and some of them are new to Chi Alpha this year. For me, it's great to see them bonding together to form one cohesive group who care about one another on a level deeper than the surface. My
prayer for this group is, not only will they learn and grow in their walk with Christ, but that they also will form a tight-knit community and friendships that will last well beyond their college years.

First Chi Alpha Live of the Fall 2011 Semester!

Last night was our first Chi Alpha Live gathering of the semester! We spent a lot of time praying and preparing for this meeting since we typically have a good number of new students attending.

We also launched our small group Bible studies; we have groups available for both guys and girls on Monday and Tuesday nights. I was asked to plan how to present the groups during our first meeting. I wanted to find a different way to introduce our group leaders; the only way I saw as a student and on staff was to invite all of the leaders to the front and each group introduces themselves and tells a little about their group. I wanted something different, something new and that would allow our students to have a conversation with the leaders. I saw another campus pastor at UNC Chapel Hill advertise a "small group fair" for her Chi Alpha on Facebook. The wheels started turning in my mind and I talked with the other staff members. We decided we would try the fair approach and see how it worked.

Thursday, we set up the chairs in the sanctuary and left the back half open. We put out small tables, one for each small group with Monday groups on one side and Tuesday groups on the other. We encouraged our leaders to stand beside or in front of their table and talk with students, to tell them what their group was going to be studying, when they would be meeting and where. As students began to arrive, we explained what the tables were for and encouraged them to visit the groups and talk with the leaders. I was very pleased with our students, how they stepped out and began conversations with new and returning students and talking with them. I also was pleased with the results of the fair; we had several students sign up for each group, with the plan to continue the fair approach for the next few weeks.

Since one of our core values in Chi Alpha is discipleship, we believe it is very important for our students to get plugged in to a small group. These groups allow the students to interact in a more personal level than our large group meeting (Chi Alpha Live) allows. I have heard many testimonies and know from my own experiences that small groups are where the closest friendships are formed in college, friendships that will last for many years beyond graduation. I am very excited to see how God is going to use our small groups this year and what He is going to do through them.