Evangelism on the Beach

Yesterday was our project's last scheduled time of evangelism. My group decided to go to the beach and use Soularium to start conversations with people on the boardwalk. Right off the bat we had some really cool opportunities to share the Gospel. The most memorable conversation was with a group of about ten midshipman from the Naval Academy in Annapolis Maryland (this guy's hometown!) It was really cool because they were all really interested in our picture survey. One guy in particular said something along the lines of, "I really respect you guys for not trying to shove anything down our throats, but whats the catch?" To this one of the guys in my group responded by using a few pictures to clearly convey the Gospel. It was awesome to see God at work by using us to plant seeds.

Share the Good News of Jesus!

Tuesday and Wednesday, the project headed out for evangelism. Some people walked around the boardwalk and shared. Here's a story as told by Kristen Kingham:

    We then walked around looking for someone to talk to, and it was my turn to pick someone so I saw a girl ahead sitting alone at a table. I asked her if we could talk to her about her philosophical view on life and she said yes. She told us that her name is Lusi Lu (I don't think you can get more adorable than that!).We started by using Solarium (cards with pictures on them that we use to ask people about where there life has gone, what they believe, and how they see different things in life) and soon realized that her english was not good at all. She came to America from China a few weeks ago, and so we had to make sure to speak clearly and slowly. We found out that her religious past included going to the temple and paying money in order to earn blessings, and doing good works in order to get into heaven. So we then shared the Gospel and what we believe with her. She was a little confused so Jesse went through it again to make it more clear. She understood what we were saying and said it all made sense and that she wanted to believe it. She asked several questions and eventually we got to the point where we asked if she wanted to believe what we did and become a Christian. She said yes. Pretty much exploding inside I continued to explain how it worked. She just wanted to know how she could have what we had. She was desperate for love and happiness and hope in an eternity with God! So we asked if she wanted to pray to God to accept Him into her life and I had her pray after me. She was so happy after our prayer and I could not have been more excited with her! We answered several more questions and explained what it meant to be a Christian every day to her and then invited her to our on campus Bible Study that we have after we share. She said she would come and meet us there! So Jesse and I said goodbye and practically beaming with joy ran to go pray for her! We wanted to find a bible in Chinese for her as soon as possible but when I texted her asking what dialect she wanted she said that she would like one in english. So we ran to the campus bookstore and got her a Bible before our bible study! 

    She came and had so many good questions about the passage we read (Matthew 18:1-5). In the middle of our study a girl nearby asked if we were an on-campus group, we said that we were not exactly but that she could join us. She said she would love to and that she had her bible with her! She ended up being a super strong Christian from campus and by the end said she would love to take someone like Lusi Lu under her wing! If you don't see God in this yet than reread this story! I mean how more planned out could this get! We got both girls connected with the team that is on campus every day and made sure that they had connections with believers after we left! 

You can read more of Kristen's blog at http://kristensdsp.blogspot.com/

PIctures from recent events

Sunset Cliffs Prayer Night

Sunset Cliffs View 

FNL Christmas in July

FNL Christmas in July

FNL Senior Citizen Night

Unashamed

This week's theme is "Unashamed." We have been encouraged this week to go out and be unashamed about our faith when evangelizing. The last 2 nights we have gone out into the community to share our faith boldly. We split into 2 groups and half went to the beach to try to use the Soularium while the other half went to two main streets in the town to share. 

The Soularium works very well in the beach community. We are able to set it up in the sand close to the boardwalk and many people are drawn to it and ask us what it is for instead of us going up to them. On Tuesday night, a group doing  this talked to a guy who told them that he did this on the beach 5 years ago. When he did it, he was an alcoholic and had been lost in the world and didn't know God. After hearing what the college kids on the beach had to say, he took a Knowing God Personally booklet. Later on, he prayed to receive Christ into his life and he turned his life around. He has been 4 years sober and was excited to see more college kids out on the beach doing what saved his eternal life. He was so encouraged by what we were doing and tried getting people passing by to take our "survey." He was truly unashamed of his faith and his Savior and wanted to share with others so they too could experience what he had 5 years ago. 

Along with going onto the beach, we tried starting conversations on the streets and a few people did so by holding signs saying "we will listen." One group started having a conversation with a homeless lady and found out she was a Christian. It was inspiring to see that even something like being without a home couldn't make her lose her faith in the One True God. She clearly knows what it really means to be a Christian. Knowing God is with you is all that should matter.  

As we continue this week, we are encouraged to keep the theme in our minds as we go about our daily business whether it is work or volunteering. This is not just something that we need to do for the week, but for the rest of our lives. Christ told us to take his word to the nations and it is not just a suggestion but a command. We are not to be ashamed of our beliefs or what God did for us and we need to make our belief known to everyone we know. 

Christmas In July!

This week's FNL theme was Christmas in July. Students came dressed in Christmas atire and brought two wrapped gifts. We started off the night by playing a game where students had to sing in front of the crowd after hearing a short segment of a christmas song -- kinda like the gameshow Dong Forget the Lyrics. We then moved into a time of worship with music and even included a Christmas tune. Tyrel Jackson, one of the student leaders on the project, spoke last night about the new birth that occurs when someone devots their life to Christ. He focused on the passage in John 3 where Jesus talks to Nicodemus about being "born again". One thing I never thought about is how much a physical birth represents a new spiritual birth.

After the message, we played a game which involved the gifts we brought. All the gifts where put in the center of the tennis courts while students rolled dice for the chance to select different gifts. After a lot of anticipation, students opened their gifts and found random gifts such as a loaf of bread, plastic silverware, or even an old record. Overall the night was a fun time of fellowship while also being refreshing to the soul.

Sunset Cliffs

     In the midst of this week of "Rekindling," we students needed something to get our minds off of the day to day tasks of the world and refocused on God. What better way to accomplish this than to take a project trip down to the beautiful Sunset Cliffs for a night of prayer and worship?
     Standing at the edge of the land and sea was an incredibly powerful reminder of the sheer strength and grandeur of our Lord and Father. Some sat and listened to the water lapping against the rocks while other marveled at the tiny marine life found in the small rocky tide pools. Either way, they were reminded that God is in control of everything, from the pull of the moon on the ocean's tides, to the next meal for a 3 in crab. As we sat, surrounded by the beauty of creation, we heard its cries for a creator. What we experienced was a mere shadow of the glory of God.
     Students this week are repenting, rediscovering, and rekindling their relationship with God, but they cannot do it on their own. Sunset Cliffs was an excellent display of how small we are and how much we need the help of Jesus Christ and his sacrificial death on the cross. This is why Andrew Raines finished out the night by asking that God would set a fire within our souls and stir up our affections for himself; because we cannot do this all on our own. So our prayer this week is that, as we strive to find desire and pleasure in God, he would fill us with joy in him, abounding in peace, love, and hope in the glory of his steadfast name forevermore.

Rekindle

Last week, the theme was “Commit”.  As a project, we were challenged to commit to something.  Whether that was having a spiritual conversation with a coworker, a quiet time with the Lord every day, or contacting a friend from home and asking them about their beliefs, students made commitments and took steps of faith.

This week, the theme is “Rekindle”.  Some of us are becoming too comfortable.  Some of us are just going through the motions.  Our focus this week is to earnestly seek Christ, to bring our focus back to the cross, or in other words, DO WORK!  We need to remember our purpose and why we are here.  The Gospel is God’s gift to us and needs to be our motivation not only for this week, but for the rest of our lives.  Jeremiah 20:9 says, “…his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones.”

We are past the halfway mark of project and it is easy to lose our focus and become tired; however, there is power in the Gospel.  Through it, we are able to renew our strength and regain our focus, rekindling our fire for the glory of God.

And with Big Steps of Faith Comes Miracles.

Through the Eyes of Lacy Bobb:

One night we had an outreach where we used media such as videos on phones-- to start spiritual conversations with people on the beach. To be completely honest, my heart was a little bitter about using this method of evangelism. I thought it would be ineffective, a waste of time, and no one would want to watch a video on some stranger's phone. Plus it was a cooler night and not many people will be on the beach. Regardless of what was going on in my heart, my small (DNA) group started out little trek along the beach boardwalk. There were a few people we thought about talking to, but eventually we saw three young ladies walking towards us on the beach. We approached them and they were actually wiling to watch the video and were open to discussing and talking afterwards too. This conversation led us to do our Soularium picture survey with the three girls as well. This worked really great because there were five in my small group and we all got to interact with the three girls separately. I got to meet and interact with a girl named Victoria. She had just gotten done with her junior year of high school and she was very searching yet intuitive with the answers she gave for Soularium.  I ended up sharing the Gospel with her and drawing out the diagram from the "Knowing God Personally" booklet in the sand. She understood what I was saying, and it dawned on me that she may want to accept Christ (my bitter heart was obviously in the way). So I went over the prayer and she said yes! It was so exciting and I was so thrilled that God could even use my bitter heart to draw this His lost ones to Himself! 

Heart of Worship

During Friday Night Live (FNL) each week, a group of students lead the rest of the project in worship. It is a large commitment for the members of the band. On top of their jobs and ministry teams they spend free time practicing for the upcoming Friday. However, getting up and singing for the group is not what their heart is set on. The band has their minds and hearts set for God and glorifying Him with the talents given to each of them. The song Heart of Worship has been their inspiration. "I'm coming back to the heart of worship, cause it's all about you. It's all about you Jesus. I'm sorry Lord for the things I've made it, cause it's all about you. It's all about you Jesus." 

Before each Friday's performance, the group prays together to give thanks to God for all he has done and blessed them with. At the end of each prayer, they put their hands together and say "it's not about us!" before they break. Being in the performance can sometimes be a challenge. Wanting to do well and sound good but also remembering that  anything we do can be glorifying to God. He will use all we do for His good. Whether we were up there playing and singing or not, people would still be able to worship our God.

**Video to come!

The Students Step it Up! - Week 6

This past week was the infamous week 5, also known as Staff's last week! Amongst the craziness of a number of students volunteering at Newbreak Church helping rebuild, work, and staff packing up, and the students being placed into their new leadership positions, disciplers (student staff) and disciples (students) alike met for their final one-on-ones. The disciplers gave their students a vision plan, which called out greatness in and set both short and long term goals for each student in their walk with God. This was very encouraging and was bittersweet as it marked the final meeting between the disciplers and their disciples, yet also encouraging as it put emphasis on the bond created. The bittersweetness carried over into the staff farewell banquet friday night (pictures to come), in which each staff member was honored, and each DNA group put together either a poem, song, or speech to recognize their discipler. Amongst the tears and laughs, the new leadership established their prominence with a rejuvinating talk that included a vision plan, and what they want out of this summer.

Since then, the students have began to get accustomed to the staff being gone, and being leaders, even if they are not on leadership. It has been an exciting, but exhausting, past week and a half, but God has brought us through and we all look forward to the spiritual growth we are going to experience over the next month!!

Sharing on Campus - Marcus

Killing the Giants - Summer