Day 2: 2 believers!

It's day 2 on campus for the summer project team in Uruguay (pictured here), and they saw 2 people come to Christ! I don't have many details, just that some of the project students were sharing the Gospel on campus in the Economics building and saw two students place their place in Christ. Rejoicing in Minneapolis (and in heaven!) for these new believers.

On the flip side, I saw a tweet from the project director today that he shared with 2 guys at the university's law school. The students weren't interested, saying that God bores them, and they have no faith because they believe in themselves.

These two situations occurred on the same day, on the same campus. Our message is taken differently; the Holy Spirit must be at work on hearts and minds for our words to mean anything. We cannot control outcomes. We can only be faithful to share what we know and trust God to use our actions done in obedience to His will.

Sidenote: it's also Tuesday - so many 2s today :)

What do I do for a living?...I'd love to tell you.

What a week! On Sunday afternoon, 151 college students and staff arrived at the Hilton Hotel near the MSP Airport. I watched from a balcony on the 11th floor as students arrived and parents and friends (and significant others) said good bye.

These people are heading to 6 different countries for a period of 4-6 weeks to share the Gospel with college students around the world. Campus Crusade strategically sends these teams each summer, giving encouragement and lift to the teams that are in-country long term, and giving a vision for college students of God's work around the world.

My part in this adventure is an interesting one: financial, logistical, administrative. I track donations, help trip leaders set their budgets, obtain visas for those that need them, book airline flights, ensure that everyone follows the corporate rules we as a global missions organization have in place, etc.

My job is hard to explain to people sometimes. I've tried to come up with a 2 sentence rote answer, but I rarely get across the magnitude of my job in the way I want. I should probably just start telling people I'm a missionary, and if they are actually interested, they will ask more questions after that.

I'm a missionary. Instead of the typical "going to live in a grass hut in the Amazon," that you might think a missionary would do, I work in a cubicle. (Don't worry, I LOVE it!)

I'm a missionary that loves Jesus, that desires for people all over the world to have a chance to hear the Gospel and respond to the claims of Christ. I'm a missionary that happens to have a business degree and a passion for using resources efficiently and effectively. A missionary that is gifted in administrative tasks, has a methodical mind that loves serving others. A missionary that loves supplying people with the resources they need to do what God has called them.

That's my job.

So, here's a breakdown of the mission projects I've spent the last 5 months coordinating:

• 33 students are heading to Accra, Ghana for 4 weeks
• 16 students sent to Uruguay, a country with currently only 2 CCC campus staff
  
• 17 students sent to Montpellier, a city near the south coast of France
• 20 students to a closed country in Eastern Asia where God is moving mightily
  
• 18 students to a country in the Middle East that is less than 1% Christian
  
• 23 students to Brisbane, Australia, where there is a large amount of international students
  

As I write this, there are students sharing their faith, some for the first time, in a foreign country with students, some of whom have never heard the name of Jesus. Glory to God for giving me a passion for using temporal things like e-mail, money, microsoft excel and paperclips to have an impact on eternity. That's what I do for a living.

May Daze

A few weekends ago, we had our annual Upper Midwest staff conference, May Daze. It was my first official time at the conference, and I had a great time! The weekend began with an Operations Team luncheon at the Pizza Ranch in Alexandria, and then we headed to Arrowwood Resort on Lake Darling (the photo below was taken from the balcony of my hotel room).

Some highlights from the conference included seeing my boss MC with one of the other national directors in the office (Steve and Patty, who did a super great job!) and hearing from Steve Sellers, the CCC VP of Oceania and the Americas.

I was reflecting about the weekend on the last night of the conference , and I realized I hadn't sat down at all during the weekend to read my Bible. Regardless, I felt very encouraged. I felt like I had experienced the presence of God in the last couple days by just being with like-minded, dedicated followers of Christ.

Reminds me of the book How People Grow, which I read this year for new staff development. One of the authors described a time in his life when he expected God to do something in his life supernaturally. Instead, God used the community of believers in the author's life. I've been experiencing the same thing lately; God frequently uses people in my life, sometimes very unexpectedly.

Kingdom Called

It's a few weeks late, but finally, a post about Kingdom Called! :) This is one of my favorite conferences (I feel like I always say that!) - it's incredible to sit in a room full of college students and recent grads that are passionate about reaching the world with the Gospel. Their lives have been changed by God, and they seek to be used by Him to change the lives of others.

We provide vital training and development for students going on international summer projects, along with the new US and international interns in our region.

As I stood up in front of a room full of 150 people on Saturday night, I felt overwhelmed with the task of sending these students and staff to the world. This will be the first trip overseas for many of these students, which could lead to many more trips. I feel so privileged to play a part in sending laborers around the world!

Day of Prayer

Today was the CCC Worldwide day of prayer. Being able to pull away from the craziness of ministry and gather with like-minded people to pray for our world was incredibly encouraging.

Last week was so busy, by the time Easter rolled around I was so emotionally and mentally spent I couldn't reflect on the significance of the day. I didn't get a chance to go to a Good Friday service, so getting to spend an hour or so this morning reflecting on the cross and events leading up to Jesus' death and resurrection really made up for that.

I was able to lead the group in 30 minutes of worship this morning. I can honestly say it was one of the best worship sets that I've ever experienced. I sensed that hearts were really engaged in worship; people were connecting with the heart of God, which was my prayer the whole time. And everyone sang so loudly, I could barely hear myself at times...and that just makes it fun. It was about as far away from a performance as you can get, which can be a struggle.

To stop in the midst of a super busy week and sit before God for several hours is very humbling. It leads me to admit that I am only able to do my job because He enables me to; and He can do more in a minute than I can do in a month. He doesn't need my work- He wants my worship. There are times that the two don't gel like they should.

When Pancake People Persevere

I like to dabble. I have a long list of hobbies: photography, songwriting, running, graphic design, crocheting, reading, golfing, playing cards- the list could go on for quite awhile. Recently, I was talking with a friend who used a funny phrase to describe a friend of hers; "all about." She said her friend was "all about quoting Saturday Night Live."

I found this very interesting. What does it look like to be all about something? Is there one thing I'm all about? Is it even a good thing to be all about one thing?

I neglected to include a major hobby in the list above: googling. I love google. I like knowing an instant answer to a question. This is totally normal for the millennial generation (or Net gen, or iY gen, or whatever they call us now). I recently read an article in which my generation was referred to as "pancake people" - due to rapidly advancing technology and instant gratification, we are turning out like pancakes: a mile wide and an inch deep.

This topic continues to run through my head. Last week I received a weekly e-devotional, and the topic was dabbling. The author suggested the opposite of dabbling was a lot less common in our world today: persevering.

If there was one thing I'm "all about," it would probably be strategy. I enjoy using my time wisely. I constantly multitask, which leads me to accomplish a lot in a day. But, I've found that sometimes this leads me to be a little pancake-y. On Sunday I listened to an hour-long podcast while running, but I didn't remember much from the sermon and I couldn't focus very well on my form, so I ended up being pretty sore. I'm not so good at persevering, because I'm more interested in the desired outcome, and getting there as quick as possible.

When I dabble in something, I am satisfied with small results. I've dabbled my training before, and barely been able to finish a 5k. Sometimes, the process of persevering is more important than the goal. This month I started training for a half-marathon. I think I'm about to learn an important lesson; shortcuts in my training now are going to lead to mucho pain later. When I cross that finish line on June 5, I certainly won't be winning any prize money or a trophy. The real reward comes in the health benefits of months of training, along with a deep sense of accomplishment in sticking to a tough training schedule.

I dabble in a lot of things, and I think that's ok. But I should never dabble in my walk with Christ. I may not enjoy the process at times. I may try to take shortcuts so I don't have to walk through tough stuff. But the outcome of persevering, no matter what it is, is in the hands of the God who knows me better than I know myself. It may not be the way I would have chosen...but you said I'll never go alone.

Why do I do things I don't want to do?

Do you ever do something you don't want to do only because you know when it's done you'll feel so good it's over?

We all do things that we don't necessarily want to do. We do them because it's good for us. The benefit, over the long-run, will be worth it. I'd love to eat pizza every day, and watch tv instead of going on a run, but I know that eating healthy foods and exercising is good in the long-run.

But I want to take this subject deeper. Do you ever do something that you really, really don't want to do- something you suffer through- because you think you have to?

Growing up, I could only get away with skipping church if I was sick. I'm talking running a fever or throwing up- there had to be some proof you weren't faking it. You maybe had a similar experience as a kid.

I frequently felt a sense of pride after I made it through another Sunday morning. I gave up an hour of my time for Sunday School class, and an hour for the church service. I read the liturgy, sang the hymns, stood up and sat down at appropriate times.

I felt as though I was suffering for good reason - that I needed to do the appropriate religious ritual to make things right with God. I felt as though the only way to do that was to suffer through a Sunday service.

We're all on a journey, to God or away from him. Looking back, I can see that I engaged in religious activity (church) to try to move towards God. I wasn't sure what else to do, it just seemed natural.

It's kind of sad that I thought this "suffering" for two hours a week would be adequate enough to appease the God of the universe. There's a problem with that logic. If doing good things gets you to Heaven, how many good things do you have to do? Do you just do more good than bad, and that's it? How do you ever know how much is enough?

The solution is both simple and deep. To make God happy with me, I'd have to live a perfect life. That's the standard. That's the only way. So we know the solution, but we can't get there. Even on my best days, I'm nowhere near perfect.

Jesus was perfect. Because he came into this world as a human, and lived a perfect life, he's the solution to the problem of not being able to earn my way to God. I don't have to rely on my own religious activities; I can't rely on them, because they won't hold up. I won't be going to heaven because I read my Bible or go to church or tithe. I'm going to heaven because I trust that Jesus' perfect life covers my messed up one, and I believe that it's the only solution.

Reminds me of something Paul wrote in the book of Philippians: "I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith."

Another version states it this way: "I could not make myself acceptable to God by obeying the law. God accepted me simply because of my faith in Christ."