HBSP'11 Church Participation

Just finishing student orientation week for Hampton Beach Summer Project 2011 (HBSP)!

This week, we had three Project-wide meetings with all 25 students in our three church partnerships. These churches are a huge part of HBSP! They not only allow us to use their facilities for our big meetings (pictured right) but they also support us through “adopting” students for the summer. Students are dividedly equally between each church partnership: Bethany Church, Faith Community Church, & Hampton Falls Baptist Church. Members within each congregation “adopt” a student by feeding them a home-cooked meal or taking them to a restaurant after church, taking them to buy their groceries Sunday afternoons, and sitting with them in church. Another way the churches partner with us is by helping us train students to participate in their church leadership as much as possible. This gives our students experience and training but also encourages the church body. Some of our students have already “signed-up” for their positions at churches. Some may be working with children, while others are helping lead worship.

Living in Hampton Beach, NH

I'm currently in Hampton Beach, New Hampshire as staff with Campus Crusade for Christ for the first month of a Summer Project. A Summer Project is an opportunity for students to engage in spiritual conversations in a new community, be trained in ministry and leadership roles, and grow in their faith.

A tool used to share the Gospel

As staff, I will be...

• discipling three of our 25 students attending this project
• helping lead a small Bible Study
• training my students to share their faith at their new jobs
• sharing my faith on the beach alongside these students
• and training students to conduct a weekly meeting (emcee, worship, speakers, etc.)

One of the ways that we show our students to walk with Christ for a lifetime is to take the training we've given them in leadership and using that at a local church. Most college students move away from their familiar environments after they graduate due to job opportunities. One of the most important things for them to have in this transition is a strong understanding of how to seek fellowship in a new church and engage with it's community. This will help keep their walk with Jesus afresh instead of stagnant or fading.

As staff, we want to be an example of a lifetime laborer for Christ. So the first Sunday staff were here, we checked out the three different churches that partner with us. I had the opportunity to attend Bethany Church in Greenland, NH. To my surprise the Pastor was a Puerto Rican man from Brooklyn! Of course he and another couple were the darkest in the congregation aside from me (I'm trying to catch a tan, but the weather isn't complying), but the service was great!  
Can't wait til my students get to experience the worship and Biblical teaching I was able to. :)

D-Ship....AKA Discipleship

Make Disciples...

The last Friday in April, the Jersey Metro team was able to send off our seniors as lifetime laborers for Christ at our last Jersey Cru (monthly statewide meeting) of the semester. It was a great honor to see three of the women I discipled this past year give their bit of wisdom to the student body and praise God for what He’s done in their lives.

 

Ash Bivins (pictured left) is one of the wonderful students I was able to work with this past year. As lead singer in the JCru worship band and a student leader in the Cru ministry at her school (Jersey City University),  Ashley was under a lot of pressure to get many "things done" this year. Early in the semester, Ashley realized that amidst all the craziness she was beginning to lose an eternal perspective on the relationships God had placed her in. She immediately prayed about this and brought it to my attention. As her discipler, there were only two things I could do: point her to what God has to say and pray for her as she follows Him. As Ashley continued to seek God throughout the year, her eyes were immediately opened to those with whom God had been calling her to enter into relationship with. Now as she prepares for Grad school, Ashley is readying her heart for ministry with the young women at NJCU. She plans to pour into other young women while she pursues a masters degree in music education at Jersey City University.

Jenn Lee (pictured right), who I discipled at Montclair State University my internship year and this past year, is graduating and preparing to help lead the Botswana Summer Project. Last year Jenn went to Botswana as a student on a 5 week Summer Missions Project to work with orphaned children. Here is a video link to show you more what she did: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbYRkSzWwPY At the end of this past semester, Jenn Lee met with me to tell me her full testimony of how God pursued her heart in the midst of what felt like emotional chaos. Jenn Lee always knew her relationship with God could not depend upon that of others and now she's helping teach that to the youth in her church. I’m so proud of the woman of God she’s become. If you'd like to support Jenn in her trip to Botswana you can email her at: imjenniferxp@yahoo.com

 

Rachel Wallner (pictured right) is one of two student women at the New Jersey Institute of Technology  involved in Campus Crusade for Christ. This past year I’ve had the honor of getting to know her the final year of her undergraduate degree. Rachel is graduating and moving to Virginia for a job this June and one of her highest values before graduating was to learn how to walk with Jesus away from family and “Cru”. Rachel has such a sweet thirst for Jesus in her life and makes sure to pursue Him at every new turn. She’s learned how to study the Word, be vulnerable in community and grow in fellowship. I am confident that Rachel will continue to pursue God anywhere He may bring her.

On some occasions, I have the privilege of helping the student president of a ministry walk with Jesus for a lifetime. Although Sharon is just a junior at Kean, I thought you'd like to hear a bit about her story. This past year I was able to coach and disciple Sharon Hawkins, the student president of Campus Crusade for Christ at Kean University. Sharon has grown in her ability to share her faith shrewdly with grace and truth. She even had the opportunity to train others on how to share their faith on our Spring Break missions trip to Daytona, Fl. She is truly growing into a woman after God's own heart.

February 2011

Something I painted Valentine's Day

God has been lavishing His relentless love upon me every week this month! We sang a song in the church I grew up in (Patmos Fellowship) that describes my heart all month: “I just keep falling in love with Him over and over again. He get’s sweeter and sweeter as the days go by. Oh what a love between my Lord & I. I keep falling in love with Him over and over again!” To those of you who have been faithfully praying for me and seeking to encourage me—THANK YOU!

Candy Grams!

Each year, the staff encourage students from around the state to partner with each other in ministry beyond their schools. We call this a “campus cross-over event” and the purpose of this event is to encourage students to recognize they all have a common goal now and when they graduate: To take the state for Christ!

This year, Farleigh Dickinson University (FDU) invited Kean University and County College of Morris to make “candy grams” together. The students gathered at FDU   with printed scripture to cut out and candy to pack into small bags. They prayed together and learned new things about one another before working together to share God’s love with those who don’t yet know Him .

What Happened?!

· Feb.21-24th I took a much-needed vacation in Miami with a sweet friend of mine. Praise God for God’s sovereignty and provision for our lives!

·  
     Feb.25th The 1st Jersey Cru of the semester was packed out with students from all over New Jersey including a few High School students checking out what it looks like to be a Christian in college! Praise God for the works He’s done through JCru!

Upcoming Schedule!

· March 12-20th - Panama City Beach, FL - Spring Break missions trip where we share our faith with thousands of students on the beach. (www.BIG-break.com)

· March 28-April 1st - Quest Week— Staff and students around the state of New Jersey make it a point to share their faith each day of the week using tools like “Soularium” and “Quest Survey” along with the “4 Spiritual Laws”.

· End of May-July 5th - Hampton Beach Summer Project missions trip where we teach college students how to share their faith while at a full-time secular job and in community with other believers. (www.gosummerproject.com)

· July 17 –26th - National Staff Conference at Colorado State University in Ft. Collins, Colorado where thousands of staff from all of the ministries of Campus Crusade for Christ join together for the sake of unity and refocusing on the vision to “build spiritual movements everywhere so that everybody knows somebody who truly follows Jesus Christ.”

Thanks for your prayers and support!

 

“And I will betroth you to me forever. I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy. I will betroth you to me in faithfulness. And you shall know the LORD.” Hosea 2:19, 20

Student Summer Missions!

Jenn Lee (pictured below) is a student of mine from Montclair State University (MSU). She appears in a few pictures to the right but has also appeared in quite a few of my Prayer Letter Updates. As an intern with Campus Crusade for Christ, I was able to disciple Jenn her freshman year. This year she will be a senior at MSU, so this summer is Jenn's last opportunity as a student to go on a Student Summer Project. For this summer, Jenn has decided to share the gospel with students overseas as she simultaneously works with orphans in need!
Here is a piece of her first blog from Botswana!

Today was our first day when we went out to the feeding station and saw the children at the orphanage. It was definitely an eye opening experience. As soon as we pulled into the orphanage in our cars, the kids were running to greet us! They were just full of energy and joy that I had a really hard keeping up with them! They welcomed us by teaching us several games (one seemed like duck, duck goose)! The kids were also extremely friendly and full of so much love. Everytime I got dirt on my skirt…they were brushing it off to make sure it was clean. And, everytime a piece of my hair was in my face…they would move it back for me. It just really broke my heart to see the condition they were living in and how most of the children were really thin. But yet, they praised and worshipped AND even said the Lord Prayer in English before their meal. I was able to learn a lot from them today and I am really greatful for the experience.