Hey everyone!
I’m officially in Ocean City, New
Jersey! I’m here for the summer on a mission project until mid-August with
about a hundred other students from colleges around the nation. I’ve been on
project for a full week now and so much has happened already. As a quarter
student, I arrived on project about two weeks after it officially began. To be
honest the first week of project was a bit overwhelming. There was just so much
going on at one time so trying to balance all of it wasn’t the easiest thing to
do.
Each week on project is given a specific theme
which is meant to stretch us in a specific area; for example, this past week was
“Killing the Giants” week. We were being stretched in the area of evangelism.
We were asked to make two personal goals: (1) the amount of spiritual
conversations we hoped to have, and (2) an evangelistic fear that we hoped to
conquer. An evangelistic fear can be something like sharing the gospel to a
large group of people or with someone close to us. I don’t have much experience
with sharing my faith with people so last week was a huge learning experience.
It was really intimidating to be
jumping in on project during this week. I tend to have a lot of fears when it
comes to sharing with people, but God used last week to put a lot of those
fears to rest. Our goal as a whole last
week was 5,112 spiritual conversations. We ended the week with over 5,300
spiritual conversations. Out of those conversations, 149 people indicated
decisions to accept Christ into their lives!!!
The more I go out sharing with
people, the more I realize that it can actually be a really fun experience.
Although I have been rejected by well over 100 people by now and have had some
pretty tough situations thrown my way, it’s all worth it. A few nights ago I
was with my friend Jeff; we were able to go through a picture survey called
Solarium with some guys. We talked to them for quite a while. I’ve learned that
people are willing to be extremely open about their lives if you show them that
you care and that you’re willing to listen and to be patient with them.
I went out sharing on the boardwalk
the other day with my buddy Jeremy from UCLA.
We got rejected a few times but eventually we ended up talking to these
three guys. After we went through a survey and shared the gospel with them,
they all prayed to receive Christ into their lives! That was the first time any
of the conversations I have had with people ended that way so I was so stoked! I
am so thankful that God has given me the opportunity to be a part of the work He
is doing here in Ocean City.
I also wanted to share that I
finally got a job!!! I’ll be working part time at a local grocery store called
Super Fresh for the rest of the summer. I start tomorrow as a grocery clerk!
One last thing before I let you all go: I still haven’t raised all of the
support I need to pay for project yet so if you all could be praying for me I
would greatly appreciate it! Thank you all so much for taking the time to read
this. I’ll definitely post more blogs so I can keep you all updated on the rest
of my summer here in Ocean City.
With Love,
Daniel
