Hey all! It's Zachary J, back again to give you some more of the scoop on what's been going on! I know it's been a while, but I finally have another day off and plan on using it to the best of my ability.
So, when last we met, we talked about what the job situation looks like for a lot of us here in Virginia Beach. And to recap, I am a server/busser/dishwasher/bartender/concessionier at the Princess Anne Country Club. And my LT coworker is Megan Didier. Also to recap, here's another photo of the dream team:
Alright, now back to business. You're probably wondering what else has been happening. Well let me tell you.
What happened next in this wonderful journey through God's story was our first all-LT project day. Project days are the times where we really get to do some personal growth with each other, ourselves, and the Lord in a very engaged way. Project days (aside from the main session messages on Monday and Thursday nights) are very much the heart of what LT is all about. It's a day where all 45 students and the staff come together with a day off from our jobs and take a plunge into the very spiritual things that God wants us to experience while we're here.
The first part of the summer is dealing with evangelism. Now, for most followers of Christ, this is probably one of the hardest things to do, mainly because it's one of the most uncomfortable things to do with a very unknown group of people. In our case, we are evangelizing every day of our lives: with not only our words, but also our actions and our examples as we try to live out a life that not only edifies God's plan but also shows his heart for the world from the inside out. The point of this first part of the summer is essentially to get us in the feel for what it really feels like to intentionally get deeper with the world around us and ultimately have chances to really let the message of the gospel known to the nations all across the world.
Jesus said to them, "all authority on heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them ALL that I have commanded you. And I will be with you always, to the very end of the age." -Matthew 28:18-20
This is the message that we have been focusing on, and we have been doing it in a variety of different ways. The first project day was a good start to what we were going to be doing.
The morning began with yet another story. It came from the book of Matthew...Matthew 9:35-36 to be exact. The story goes like this: "Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd."
The Story has four main parts: Creation, Fall, Rescue, and Restoration. Creation is the story of who God is, what he did by creating the entire world, and how he formed the first man and first woman: Adam and Eve. Fall is the part that tells about how Eve was deceived by Satan and the repercussions of that into the world that we face today with the trials, the sin, and the troubles. Rescue is the story of Jesus, and how He is the hope of the world through his death and resurrection. Restoration is the part where we come in, and how by believing in Christ our world is able to change, one testimony at a time. Our director of LT (Carl Frost) put the entire booklet into the frame of a story.
Creation: the exposition and setting
Fall: the rising action
Rescue: the turning point and climax
Restoration: the falling action and the resolution
And don't worry, there's an app for that. Feel free to look it up on your smartphones and check it out! :)
The main message we received from this talk: "The perfectly innocent died for the hopelessly guilty."
We have to treat every person that we meet with kindness, dignity, and respect. That's just the way that Jesus did it, so we have to do the same.
It doesn't matter who we are or what we've done, Christ is never too far from our reach. We just have to come as broken as we are and know that He has great compassion and love for us.
After the session, we had a chance to put this all into practice by going out and finally striking conversation with people. We broke into groups and traveled the boardwalk in different blocks. Now, evangelism has never been my strong point. I love conversing with people and having deep talks, but starting them is the hardest thing for me. Luckily, I had a really AWESOME partner that wasn't too afraid to do that. Here she is! The lovely Anna Gibbs from Virginia Tech.
Before we headed out into the world of the VB boardwalk, we prayed that God would reveal to us those that he prepared in advance for us to come in contact with. We asked that we have the eyes to see, but also the ears to hear.
We came across a guy who was working at a hot dog stand. His name was Brendan, and he is from the local VB area. After starting a conversation with him during a dead spout at work, we found out that he is an atheist. The conversation was not one of those where we tried hard to push our side, but to simply engage with him, get to know him, and hear what his side of the story was. After conversing with him for about 40 minutes, we started to learn so much about his heart, even though he doesn't follow God. He is quite enthusiastic, a very hard-worker, and very caring about those he loves. The coolest part of the entire thing was that not only did we get to hear his side of the story, but he wanted to hear ours as well. What started out as really difficult ended in quite the enlightenment and even a new friend.
What the entire experience of the day taught us was that God truly works in mysterious ways. We were able to see how even we can be enlightened while trying to enlighten someone else. His plan, though sometimes quite the opposite of easy, always shows through the leaps of faith that we decide to take for Him and his kingdom. Evangelism is by no means an easy thing to do in our lives, but the hope is that after trying to really engage with God and put our hearts out there for Him he will give us a stronger understanding of everything that He does have planned for us. The world can be a scary place, but when we see God's grace in the daily experiences we have, everything changes! The day was definitely progressive, productive, and successful in many ways!
"And WHATEVER you do, whether in word or deed, do it ALL in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, giving thanks to God the Father though Him." -Colossians 3:17
Alright, now back to business. You're probably wondering what else has been happening. Well let me tell you.
What happened next in this wonderful journey through God's story was our first all-LT project day. Project days are the times where we really get to do some personal growth with each other, ourselves, and the Lord in a very engaged way. Project days (aside from the main session messages on Monday and Thursday nights) are very much the heart of what LT is all about. It's a day where all 45 students and the staff come together with a day off from our jobs and take a plunge into the very spiritual things that God wants us to experience while we're here.
The first part of the summer is dealing with evangelism. Now, for most followers of Christ, this is probably one of the hardest things to do, mainly because it's one of the most uncomfortable things to do with a very unknown group of people. In our case, we are evangelizing every day of our lives: with not only our words, but also our actions and our examples as we try to live out a life that not only edifies God's plan but also shows his heart for the world from the inside out. The point of this first part of the summer is essentially to get us in the feel for what it really feels like to intentionally get deeper with the world around us and ultimately have chances to really let the message of the gospel known to the nations all across the world.
Jesus said to them, "all authority on heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them ALL that I have commanded you. And I will be with you always, to the very end of the age." -Matthew 28:18-20
This is the message that we have been focusing on, and we have been doing it in a variety of different ways. The first project day was a good start to what we were going to be doing.
The morning began with yet another story. It came from the book of Matthew...Matthew 9:35-36 to be exact. The story goes like this: "Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd."
The idea behind the passage was to highlight the idea of compassion: compassion for the world, compassion for those we don't know, and compassion for those we are close with. It is really possible to see how much we are oblivious to the world around us and to not have any idea of the peoples' lives, and this was what we were to reflect on. We split up for a brief time with the Lord (1 hour) to really think about some things and engage with what the Lord was trying to speak to us.
During that time of reflection, I was trying to really think about everything that was communicated. While reading, I came across the story of Paul in Corinthians, and when it comes to evangelism, he was quite the beast. He shared the gospel so much, that he was willing to be imprisoned for it. And in our world, most of the problem that we face here in the US is simply being rejected by those we talk to. So I began to pray. I prayed for a couple of things: to seek strength in embracing my weaknesses, to fear rejection less and fear God more, and to feel God's grace by simply walking in it.
The first mission of the day was to simply seek compassion for those that we see around us. We were to do this by simply praying for people that we come across. We didn't talk with them, but we simply observed and felt lead to pray for people that we felt drawn to. In my personal experience, I noticed a lot of workers: people pulling weeds, people in scaffolding constructing new hotels, and people just being present in the very rough sun doing very tough jobs. I felt compassion for those, because in most cases they probably don't feel like their job is very much, but in all honesty they have great value and worth in this world and also for the Lord. Countless times, I simply prayed not only for their strength in the blazing sun but also that they feel appreciation for their jobs and that they see how much worth they really have, despite the menial-ness they may feel. It was a surprisingly eye-opening experience!
Evangelism is not about us, it's about Jesus.
After lunch and time with the roommates, we had a seminar on a way that people can use to try and incorporate the gospel into conversation but also keep it simple and to the point. It's called "The Story."
Creation: the exposition and setting
Fall: the rising action
Rescue: the turning point and climax
Restoration: the falling action and the resolution
And don't worry, there's an app for that. Feel free to look it up on your smartphones and check it out! :)
The main message we received from this talk: "The perfectly innocent died for the hopelessly guilty."
We have to treat every person that we meet with kindness, dignity, and respect. That's just the way that Jesus did it, so we have to do the same.
It doesn't matter who we are or what we've done, Christ is never too far from our reach. We just have to come as broken as we are and know that He has great compassion and love for us.
After the session, we had a chance to put this all into practice by going out and finally striking conversation with people. We broke into groups and traveled the boardwalk in different blocks. Now, evangelism has never been my strong point. I love conversing with people and having deep talks, but starting them is the hardest thing for me. Luckily, I had a really AWESOME partner that wasn't too afraid to do that. Here she is! The lovely Anna Gibbs from Virginia Tech.
Before we headed out into the world of the VB boardwalk, we prayed that God would reveal to us those that he prepared in advance for us to come in contact with. We asked that we have the eyes to see, but also the ears to hear.
We came across a guy who was working at a hot dog stand. His name was Brendan, and he is from the local VB area. After starting a conversation with him during a dead spout at work, we found out that he is an atheist. The conversation was not one of those where we tried hard to push our side, but to simply engage with him, get to know him, and hear what his side of the story was. After conversing with him for about 40 minutes, we started to learn so much about his heart, even though he doesn't follow God. He is quite enthusiastic, a very hard-worker, and very caring about those he loves. The coolest part of the entire thing was that not only did we get to hear his side of the story, but he wanted to hear ours as well. What started out as really difficult ended in quite the enlightenment and even a new friend.
What the entire experience of the day taught us was that God truly works in mysterious ways. We were able to see how even we can be enlightened while trying to enlighten someone else. His plan, though sometimes quite the opposite of easy, always shows through the leaps of faith that we decide to take for Him and his kingdom. Evangelism is by no means an easy thing to do in our lives, but the hope is that after trying to really engage with God and put our hearts out there for Him he will give us a stronger understanding of everything that He does have planned for us. The world can be a scary place, but when we see God's grace in the daily experiences we have, everything changes! The day was definitely progressive, productive, and successful in many ways!
"And WHATEVER you do, whether in word or deed, do it ALL in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, giving thanks to God the Father though Him." -Colossians 3:17
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