Friday morning I woke up in San Francisco. My family surrounded me. We hopped on a shuttle, went to the airport and they sent me on my way after a sweet family prayer session. I sat down with my man Aaron Vargas at gate 23 in SFO and then got us some spots on the plane to Vegas together. Since neither of us had finished the book we were supposed to read before project, we did that on the plane. Also, I was made confident that this summer would be a good one just because of the conversation that we had. In the end, Aaron and I got here at 3PM local time and got picked up by one of our project directors, Aaron Miatke. We rolled up to City on a Hill a little before 4 and then I jumped in a van and went on a mini-job search with Sarah, Bryan, Jessi, and Erica. We finished the day with dinner in the cafeteria and some get-to-know-yous. That night I was very encouraged by the chat that we had with most of the guys in the guys lounge. It was the first night and I feel like it was a perfect start to our summer. Got to know the guys a little better and got excited about living with them this summer.
Saturday we had an evangelism training day at Bradford Beach and then a BBQ at adjacent McKinley park. I went with one of our part time staff, Chris Chambers, and we got to talk with a couple of guys from very different situations. Jay was a middle-aged guy, raised Catholic, originally from Minnesota. He had dropped his affiliation with any sort of church or God long ago, since college at the latest. Though he wasn’t interested at this time in knowing God in a personal way, the conversation with him taught me a good deal about how to carry on a conversation with someone who is not a college student attending my university. It’s sometimes harder to establish common ground. Next we talked with Neal, a homeless man who had just that morning been released from the hospital. He too, was very fun to talk to. I learned from that conversation that the Lord will go with you, even if the initiation of the conversation may seem awkward. Wrapping up the day with another group meeting, some game time, and another couple of late-night conversations, I felt that the day was certainly one in which God was gently breaking me from my ideas about summer being anything less than I now know that it will be. I will be attacked from every angle. I will be stretched in many ways. I will be totally inept apart from the power of the Holy Spirit working in me.
Sunday, we went to Berean Family Worship Center and really enjoyed the service there. Never before had I, as a guest, felt so loved by a church body. They knew the word, they taught the word, they sang and proclaimed the word. And even in the small things, the love of God was put into action. I most appreciated the purposeful speech of both the pastor and the congregation(in their responses to his spoken word). I heard no uhms, no uhhhs; only Amens, Praise the Lords and Hallelujahs. We had a debrief after church and before lunch and our group had genuinely enjoyed meeting with the Lord in their building with their congregation. It was a joy to worship alongside some of our ministry partners and to simply observe the way that they served and loved the Lord. At the next meeting Jeff shared with us his heart for the city of Milwaukee by relating it to the story of Nehemiah and Jerusalem. You could tell that this was a man who was moved with a deep compassion for the people of his city. My level of excitement for this summer continues to increase. Also though, God showed me a peace that transcends understanding today. I know that I am free to do any sort of ministry this summer an d that I do not have to worry about my effectiveness, my plans, my desires. God will handle the outcome; all I have to do is concern myself with His business: the business of redeeming souls.
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