End of June update!

What an amazing few weeks it has been. It’s amazing to see the students growing and being challenged as they go out to share their faith! This past week we took the whole team to Stony Brook College where we spent time prayer walking and giving the Soularium survey.

We also had Sy Rogers come out to share what his journey has been like coming from a broken home, being sexually abused, living life as a homosexual, almost having a permanant sex change surgery…then to come to know the Lord and find redemption and restoration through Jesus. He addressed a lot of issues of sexuality and sexual sin that most churches in America shy away from.  He has an amazing story of how God uniquely grabbed a hold of his heart and his life, and you can go to his website to find out more!

It’s been so great to be in a great city, with great people, eating great food,  and most importantly, being part of something bigger for His kingdom has been amazing.

Here is a picture of our team walking across the brooklyn bridge

walking, talking, processing, living…

It’s been the first full week of summer project and I am excited to report that it’s already been a wild journey.  Our schedules are packed with training for the students, campus time, fun hang out times, and even days of serving in inner city ministries.

We are tired but having such a great time getting to know each other and serving together.

For campus times, we’ve been split up into two groups.  Group one (which  goes to City College, Baruch College, or Kingsborough college.  Group two goes to Hunter, Queens College, and BMCC.

Both groups went to our various campuses and “decoded.”  Decoding is to get to know the campus, the students, the student life, and everything that makes that college what it is. We’re excited to go back next week to gauge students’ spiritual interest by using various tools!

Please pray for our times together, that we’d continue to bond and grow with one another.  Also for our times on campus- that we’d all be bold and confident as we go to share the gospel!

time with the Lord

random thought:

i am currently reading anne lamott’s “traveling mercies”

pg 153 “you could tell you were in the presence of the extraordinary…”

this line really hit me.  i think that the times in my life where i felt this way was in the presence of God.  there is nothing more powerful, more captivating, and more overwhelmingly amazing than this.  i can’t think of any other human being that has captured me in this way– and it ultimately allows me believe that He is the greatest and most valuable thing/person/anything in my life.  when i feel like i’m falling away or losing heart, i have to remember and remind myself of those times where i had felt the presence of God because it keeps me where i am and always need to be– at the foot of the cross.

summer project staff team

Epic Staff Team: NYC Summer Project

for the first week, i got to hang out with all those who are staffing the nyc summer projects. i especially have had a wonderful time getting to know my Epic NYC summer project team. Just to give you a glimpse into who the team is i have put together a little bio on each person. please remember that i have known these people for exactly 1 week haha.

jonathan and regina chan (project directors)

jonathan graduated from u of buffalo. he loves photography, playing football, and biking. he is fun to play settlers with but is the deceptacon of nyc (josh chen is the current deceptacon of austin). also a laker hater, but has a cool wife so i will let that slide…at least for now .

regina graduated from brown university. she is so smart and talented in many ways (but have yet to see all that she is capable of doing but am excited to find more of these out as project continues). she is super sweet, is great to talk to, and is a great hostess. i love her already for a few reasons. 1- she makes good dessert 2- she let me come over to her place to watch the laker game. 3- she is able to be open and honest about her life. p.s. regina is neutral towards any nba team.

sunny and glennis (project director) shih

sunny is serving with us part time. he is a pastor, which basically means he is the most spiritual one out of the group. he does all the praying and speaking for us. okay i lied. haven’t spent too much time with him yet–he is super nice,  genuine, and so easy to talk to. he also just got  braces (hope that’s okay to share sunny!). neutral to the lakers and is a mets fan.

glennis (project director): aka g-lo. glennis graduated from cornell university so that basically means that she is the smartest person i know, who is married to the most spiritual person i know. she is so much fun, tells great stories, creates amazing games, and am super excited to work with her this year. love our friendship already! you should also know that she will be the biggest laker fan by the end of this project.

mei ling is the rebel of the group. apparently she climbed the mountain up to the hollywood sign and touched the letters. she later found out that this was very illegal. i love how she interacts with the team- always so genuine and caring.  she doesn’t care about basketball, but love that she watched game 3 with us.

simon pang is a graduate of penn state university. all i know is that he is awesome for fixing the tv in my apartment so that everyone can watch the laker games here. however, i immediately question his “awesomeness” because he is rooting for the magic. he says he likes underdogs, just like his favorite team…the sixers. LOL , sixers? anyway, simon’s love for the Lord is evident in his words and actions. he also loves korean food. yes.

cinelle graduated from Hunter and is pursuing a career in writing. she is sooo sweet! she is filipino, knows how to dress fashionably (can’t you tell?), and is pretty much awesome. i haven’t spent as much time with her as everyone else, but i can’t wait to get to know her more.

lara b griffin. lara, lara, lara. my fellow die- hard laker fan. lara has a great sense for things..she has an amazing ability/gift to be able to see things beyond the surface. i appreciate that about her. i like hanging with her because she has a calming nature about her, where she helps everyone else in the room feel relaxed and comfortable and safe. lara knows and understands the game of basketball, she loves the lakers, and she has the cutest style sense!

that’s it for the staff team. maybe i’ll do this again at the end of project to see if any of this changes..

the big apple

06.03.09:

this summer should be exciting. I’m here with about 40 staff members from around the country, and each of us are part of a track.  The tracks include Campus, Arts, Inner City, and Epic.  The first few days were filled with orientation of the city and the project itself.

For the Epic Track, I am leading one of the Epic specific campus times, and Mei Ling (another Epic staff) and I are both in charge of “fun” time that we are having with the students once a week.

I forgot how much I loved New York.  In many ways it makes me want to move to the east coast.

The housing is great. I’m staying in Herald Towers, which are apts right next to the Empire State building, right in front of H&M, and right next to Macy’s where they hold the Thanksgiving parade.

The thing I love most about NYC is the variety of food. I love food. and the diversity of people here.

more updates to come later..