In Only 4 Days

It’s only been four days and I can’t believe how much has happened! I not only have a handful of new friends that I feel like I’ve known for months, but also have learned so much about evangelism, the Holy Spirit, Godly relationships with women, the culture and spiritual climate in Santa Monica, and myself. I’ve even cried a wee bit already. Wow. All in four days? I’ve got two more months to go!

I actually just finished student orientation. Basically it has been a draining four days full of evangelism and culture teachings, cold contact evangelism around 3^rd Street Promenade, and womanly bonding. It’s been not only spiritually, but physically tough. Before Project started, I was always staying up till 2 am and waking up at 11 am the latest, so getting to teachings at 9 am has been really rough. Also, if you know me, it’s already a bit of a struggle for me to stay awake in any type of lecture or church service.

The teachings so far have been really good. They are the basics of evangelism, so we’ve been using KGP (“Knowing God Personally” little notebook) as well as world view surveys. Then we go apply what we’ve learned and walk to and around the Promenade. Due to the spiritual climate of Santa Monica, we learned the best way to approach people is through conversation and relationship building.

The first time I went out to evangelize was with Sean, a staff member. We got to talk to three people total. The first person was a girl named Ty. She’s had a rough upbringing, but has a pretty positive outlook on life. She was pretty funny and open to sharing her ideas as well as hearing about our world view and the Gospel. She thought she was atheist, but Sean corrected her and said she was agnostic because she’s open to believing in God. I think many people think they’re atheist, but in reality they don’t fully understand what an atheist is. She also is an aspiring cook and wants to cook because food unites people in happy times as well as comforts them in sad times. I got to share with her my love for baking and we said we would meet up again. The other people we met up were two girls, Daria and Mina, from Russia and Tajikistan. They actually go to Santa Monica College, so we might see them sometime soon when we evangelize at the college. They had a colder perspective of life. They think everyone is two-faced and the only way to know anything is genuine is through some kind of proof (they didn’t specify exactly what kind of proof or give us an example). They also just adopted a puppy that day to “do some good in the world.” Today (or rather yesterday), I went out with a Hawaiian girl and boy named Hannah and Chris and we got to talk to two guys. One man, Daniel, was raised in the church but strayed due to laziness, not disbelief. He grew apathetic over time and then placed himself and his comforts before God. He and his wife were actually considering going back to church and he said our timing is really interesting. The other man, John, had a more free-spirited world view. He believed that the reason we’re on this earth is “to do the dance of life.” He thinks that people need to be in tune with themselves, rather than over thinking about the reasons why we’re here. He is concerned about the what, but not the why. Hannah did a great job trying to relate to him, but then tying it back to the Gospel, but he was pretty rigid in his beliefs. It was really interesting talking to him though. I haven’t had many rejections so far and I think it’s because of how we approached people. We have the intention to hear them out and to build a relationship with them and everyone really just wants to be known (like God! Afterall, we are made in His image and are mirrors of Him on Earth). I can’t wait to meet new people and continue to pray for all of them.

Fun fact! The first time I evangelized (on Sunday), I walked barefoot! I just got these sparkly flats and thought I would wear them to church. Sadly it turns out they are uncomfortable and a bit too small for me (should have realized that at the store…), so I got a bunch of painful blisters. I ended up deciding barefoot was better than wearing those shoes, so instead of bleeding blisters, I got raw red feet. I’m convincing myself that this builds character. Hopefully my feet will heal soon so I can wear closed-toe shoes again (still so painful).

Also, the church we go to, Trinity Baptist, is pretty awesome. It’s a really cute church on 10^th Street and California Street. Their worship team is awesome (there’s a 50 some-year-old woman playing bass!) and they started the first song with a trio going “ba-da-da ba-da-da!” I felt like I was in a ‘Glee’ episode. The pastor, Keith Magee, is speaking on Psalm 119 and is going take two years to go through the entire Psalm! It’s really interesting going to a different church, but I’m also a bit sad because RealityLA, which I consider my home church in LA, is so close by and I am drawn to go and be fed there. I’m glad I get this experience though and I will continue to be listening to Tim Chaddick speak on Matthew through the RealityLa podcasts. There’s no such thing as too much Jesus-learnin’!

Tomorrow, I will start feverishly looking for jobs. Lots of places are hiring, but I still haven’t gotten any call backs from the places I’ve already applied to. Wish me luck! Or rather, please continue to pray for me.

Here are my updated prayer requests:

-       Please pray for boldness in faith. I think we can all get pretty discouraged when people turn us down when we want to talk to them.

-       Also please pray for Ty, Daria, Mina, Daniel, and John. Pray that they would have a curiosity and desire to know God more.

-       And again, please pray for all of our job searches. About 25 of us still need jobs. Please pray that employers would be understandable about our circumstances and that we would be able to minister our coworkers.

-       Lastly, please pray for the relationships that are forming between all the students—that they would be God-centered and that we would sharpen each other.

Oh, and lastly (I know I have a lot to say! I have so much more really… I suppose I have to save that up for when we get to talk in person and I get to share!), I just wanted to let you know that I have an awesome discipler here (Sonia’s still my discipler back at ‘SC, but we also have one on Project) and a wonderful small group or ‘Action Group.’ My leader/discipler’s name is Jenny. She’s got crazy fro-ish hair and a big personality to go with her big hair. She’s up for anything and has this child-like eager and enthusiasm that uplifts everyone around her. She’s also an extremely strong woman who has been such a blessing in affirming me. The other two ladies in my group are Rachel and Morgan. Rachel is from Hawaii and actually went to another Project in the Dominican Republic with the lovely Melissa Hughes last year! Morgan is from San Jose and she’s just a plain sweet heart. We’re all getting along and it’s been such a blessing to be vulnerable with each other and learn from one another.

Okay, this entry is over! I hope you are doing well and please please please do not hesitate to send me any of your prayer requests!

Love,

Cindy