Ohhhh. Living on a prayer.
I feel like that part of the song very appropriately fits to this point in my summer. The whole summer I have been focusing on how prayer can shape and change things. And I’ll be the first to tell anyone that prayer is very powerful. It has been the thing that I look forward to every morning during my quiet time, and also the first thing I do when I can tell my attitude is getting bad. The summer is half over, and it sure has flown by! It’s hard to believe that 4 teams have already come through Memphis and have left such an impact not only on the city, but also in my heart. Watching students give up a week of their summer to come somewhere so hot and humid to work continues to blow my mind. I know I did it as a student, but to see so many be willing is just unbelievable. There is so much that has happened since my last update so I guess I’ll just get started in sharing.
Like I said earlier, this whole summer has been focused on prayer and it has been so cool to see how through the prayers that we have said prior to the trips and the prayers during the trip students lives have been changed. I have had so many conversations with students where they have said that they have felt closer to God during the trip because of prayer and how prayer has become something that is fun for them. That makes my heart so happy to hear. Who wouldn’t love to talk to their Father in heaven? Also, watching students who are only in jr. high make such deep connections with the Bible and grow so much makes me realize how wrong society is to judge younger people. God is going to do great things through people who society looks down upon, or who society thinks isn’t good enough. I’m realizing now that these jr high and high school students are the people God is going to start using. I think of the song Hosanna by HillSong, it says “I see a generation rising up to take their place, with selfless faith, selfless faith. I see a near revival stirring as we pray and seek, we’re on our knees, and we’re on our knees.” A generation is rising up and they are coming strong! To know that all over the country and in some other countries there are students serving God and helping those who have less than them is a clear sign that these students get it! And they are going to go back to their schools and they have the ability to start something huge. And I have full faith in them that they will.
These past two weeks the students have been working very hard on a house for an elderly lady, since we hit a few bumps in the road with the original house. It’s been cool to watch because this lady just lost her husband about a month ago and we are studying James and in James chapter 1 verse 27 it says “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and too keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” Being able to live out such a verse is amazing and to point that out to students is even better. We not only got to help a widow but the kids we do VBS with usually come from single parent homes and do not get a lot of attention, some might call them almost an orphan. It’s been a very rewarding experience getting to help these people and to see the looks of gratitude in their eyes, and to see how much the kids love the attention and just love that we are around, fills my heart with such a great joy.
I’m fairly sure we have also been able to experience a miracle as great as when Jesus fed the 5,000. One team got to do their own food shopping and we gave them a budget. They did not spend even half of the budget and when we calculated it they spent $11 per person for the week. That’s less than $2 a day (which is like a third world country). We were all expecting the students to be hungry or for there to not be enough food, but through God alone everyone ate enough and food did not run out! Pretty amazing to me and I know that it was all God, because I have done the food shopping and there was not enough food in their carts to feed all of us. But, that is why God is good!
We’ve had a break week this week and it has been great to just relax and enjoy time with just Julie and Colton. We have been able to see different things in Memphis and also hang out with Steve and Victoria and Erin. Since we have been hanging out with people from Memphis so much, y’all has become a part of my everyday language. J Our next team comes in Sunday then before we know it; it’ll be time to leave Memphis and head back home. It is crazy to me how quickly this summer has gone by but yet how long ago the first week seems.
I hope everyone is having a great summer. Please continue praying for me and the team as we rest and prepare for the next group. Pray for safe travels as they drive to Memphis Sunday. Also, just pray for Memphis, God is at work here but there is still darkness. Thanks for the prayers, I greatly appreciate them!
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