Boulder Dash

For our most recent Project Day, we went to Boulder, CO for some outreach. Most of the other project groups go to Pearl St., a closed off walking area with a bunch of shops and street performers, to talk to people, but we decided to do something different, joining in the nonconformist atmosphere of Boulder.

Instead, we went to the campus of the University of Colorado and talked to students who were chilling in the main Quad. CU's campus is beautiful. I have never felt grass so soft or thick. Here are some pics of us hanging out on campus:



There were quite a lot of students hanging out for a summer semester, and so we broke up into groups of two (mine was the odd three) and went out. My group talked to only two people, but both conversations probably lasted half and hour. They were VERY interesting and I feel that I've grown a lot in having those types of conversations from my interactions with them.

The first person we talked to was Michael, and he was a character. He is trying to find the answers to life and is very interesting in spiritual things. His plan right now is following a different religion every month. Of the ones he's tried so far are Christianity (Catholicism, Protestantism, Baptism), Islam, Hinduism, Paganism (currently for the month of June), and next he will move on to Christian Science. He was a pretty eccentric guy, an English/Philosophy major, who often (it seemed) said outrageous things to test the waters with us and gauge our reaction. For instance, he said that he has tried animal sacrifice with baby kittens, and God didn't like it. I think it helped our credibility a lot by not judging or acting offended, because he was very open with what we said. He seemed a little confused by certain things, especially areas of morality, but I commend his efforts in searching for truth open-mindedly. Please pray that Michael finds what he is looking for!

The second person we talked to was Chelsea, a philosopher follower. She liked to pick and choose various ideas from philosophers and religions, especially Buddhism. We talked about morality, whether humans are innately evil (she believed that every human has complete control over their actions and could be perfect if needed), and happiness. Looking back, a mistake we saw was that we dwelt to much in abstracts and didn't personalize the conversation to her life. That aside, I think it was a great conversation and hopefully she will reflect on it many times. I think the best way to pray for Chelsea would be to pray that God would use circumstances in her life to show her that she cannot do this on her own and that there are certain areas that we cannot simply "good-will" away.

I just saw an elk walk within 5 feet of my dorm window....anyways...

This project day was one of the best I've had so far. We had a lot of awesome hangout tome that night on Pearl St. watching a guy juggle flaming sticks and knives on 10 ft. unicycle, amongst other things. It was an awesome growing, bonding, experience. Thanks for all your prayers about the trip!

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Contoversy!

This last week we've had a very interesting couple be guest speakers at our LT meetings. Dale and Jonalyn Fincher live in Colorado and have a ministry called Soulation (soulation.org). They specialize in giving sturdy answers to hard questions and other topics in apologetics. They gave a talk on Tuesday about gender myths and roles in the Church. While it wasn't the central theme of the talk, Dale had some things to say about the widely acclaimed book "Wild at Heart" by John Eldredge. Coming from a church where Wild at Heart is accepted as accurate, it was very interesting to hear an opposing viewpoint. If you would like to hear his talk, you may download or stream any of the LT session talks here. The talk I am referring to is Gender Myths on June 8. I would encourage you to listen to it and evaluate it for yourself. He does put an interesting spin on it. He also answers some questions about it in the next session (Living with Questions, June 9) which was a Q/A session.

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SICKNESSS!

I'm sick right now and I thought this the perfect time to update el blogo while I'm bedridden with a fever and sore throat. Nyquil and I are good friends, currently.

So far I've had two project days and we'll have our third tomorrow. I can't tell you how cool the people in my project group are! It's amazing to see how a random group of 16 people can click so quickly. Our project name is Wolfpack, and of course we have hand signs and howling to go with it. We have been doing a lot of training for evangelism and talking about how to share our faith and start conversations in culturally relevant ways. Next Monday (6/21) we will be going to Boulder, CO to do some street evangelism with some people on Pearl St. Boulder is home of the University of Colorado and can be known for hostility toward Christianity. It will be exciting and intimidating at the same time to boldly go and talk about our faith with strangers. Prayer is absolutely necessary!!

Almost every year there is a book that we as a project group will go through. This year we are going through "TrueFaced" by Bill Thrall, et al. with the tagline, "Trust God and others with who you really are." I'm excited to see God use this book to make my life and those of my project group more open and transparent. The world needs more honest and open Christians who are not whitewashed graves.

We ALSO are all in a workshop seminar that goes into more depth in certain areas. I have chosen "Questioning Evangelism" which seeks to teach us how to approach evangelism using a rabbinical questioning method to cause the answerer to examine their motives and beliefs. I'm very excited about this class and I'm learning a lot about how it can help take me from simply trying to defend my faith with arguing to honest conversations that can go somewhere.

LT is very busy with all that you've read so far, but even then we still have our 40 hour/week job. I haven't cut off any more appendages and I'm learning a lot about cooking and food prep. Yesterday I cooked 100 lbs. of scrambled eggs and dished up 50 gal. of oatmeal...

BUT we still have so much fun!! Often I go for a long, all-day hike on one of my days off. Here's a picture of some of my project group on a recent hike to Emerald Lake

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First Week!

LT is often a time where you just hit the ground running. Upon arriving, I found out within 24 hours that I was going to be a Project Group Leader. Project Groups are the heart of LT and are basically small groups of about 15 that meet once a week all day. There are two leaders per project and it's their responsibility to plan the project day and be the spiritual leaders of the group. I was pretty nervous and uneasy about it at first, but I can feel God using it already to grow me in many ways. A lot of issues about my insecurity as a leader have come up even though we haven't even had our project day yet (it's tomorrow). It's just hard to imagine that God could use me to be an effective leader. But it's been good as I step outside my comfort zone and depend on God to fill in where I'm lacking.

Since I was at LT two years ago, I fell back into a routine surprisingly quickly and it was like I never left. My job in food service is assistant cook and I'm having a lot of fun cooking and prepping for meals. I have all morning shifts which means I start work at 5:30 AM everyday (and hence go to sleep at 8 PM every night). So it is true that even a night owl like me can change (temporarily, of course).

I had quite the adventure yesterday when I was cutting tomatoes for a tofu medley when I hacked off a chunk of skin from my left ring finger (pictures on facebook of course...). Even though I wasn't mentally freaking out, I went into shock and almost blacked out in the kitchen. Rest assured that the finger chunk was not added to the tofu because then it wouldn't have been vegetarian! So as I nurse my bloodied stump of a finger (not really), I realize just how much you use your left ring finger . . .

I would appreciate all of your prayers for my project group, my confidence in leading, that I would follow God's will as I lead, and for quick healing of my finger (I can't play guitar or cello for worship right now!)

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FINALLY HERE!!!

I'm finally here in Estes Park, CO after a grueling 20 hour drive through the night. I am running on 20 min of sleep since Friday night and will be looking forward to sleeping. Here's some pics of my bedroom where I'll be staying...





On the way up here I had a chance to talk to a roommate of mine from the last LT. He has a crazy story of redemption and transformation. When he first arrived at LT, he was a only a week out of a prison in Michigan after he led cops on a high speed chase when he was high on drugs. During LT, he became a believer and God has been using him in amazing ways ever since. Just recently he spent an extended time in Ethiopia evangelizing and all sorts of stuff. He called me from NYC where he's doing street evangelism and involved with the IHOP (International House of Prayer) movement. When I compare the Danny I moved in with two years ago to the Danny now, it blows my mind to think that that kind of change could happen so soon. Only by the Blood of Christ! It was beyond encouraging to talk to him and have him pray over my summer with blessing and reflect upon the work God did in him during the last LT I attended.

Soon I will meet my assigned project group and we'll have our first meeting. Please pray that we would supernaturally be cohesive and unified from day one! We are all starting new jobs and training so also please pray that it is a smooth (and enjoyable...) transition for all the YMCA Staff. Maranatha!

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Baby Church

Today my church in College Station sent off a church plant to San Marcos (Texas State)! It's the first time I've witnessed a church being born and it was pretty awesome. I feel so blessed to be a part of the body of believers here in CS that are hyped about fulfilling the great commission (Matthew 28:19)

I think it would be awesome to go on the next church plant; our church's goal is to send one every 10 years (I would be 30...weird). The only thing would be if I stay here that long...

Something that struck a chord with me today was something my pastor said: "The immediate fruit of an apple tree is an apple, but the ultimate fruit is another apple tree. That's why our ultimate goal as a church is to produce more churches." Why doesn't that happen more often? I guess when you're older and have a family it's harder to uproot yourself and move to another city to start a new church. Maybe that means we have a problem with complacency and materialism, which shouldn't be news to anyone...

The new church is called "242" which is based on Acts 2:42-27:

"42They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. 44All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. 46Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved."

I desperately desire to see the Church (big C) live like this.

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Summer Awaits...

So most of you reading this have received my support letter that led you here. As I finish up finals and prepare to move to Colorado, there are a couple of things on my mind that I would like prayer for:

-that God would move greatly in me and through me this summer
-unity and cohesiveness in project groups (small groups we will be organized into)
-safe travel for all the LTers
-provision for sub-leasers over the summer for people who need it

I am becoming very excited for LT to start and to head up there! My departure date for Colorado will be May 22nd.

Maranatha!(Our Lord has come)

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