It's Only the Beginning

Hey, I’m Sarah Fowler and I will be a junior at North Carolina State University this fall. Here’s a little of what I’m learning this week:

First off, goodbyes stink. As Pocahontas says, “I like hello better.” …But life isn’t always like a Disney movie, and unfortunately sometimes we have to move on.

I work in the kitchen of Tomorrowland Terrace (TLT), where college students make up a majority of the work force and the environment is relaxed enough that we have been able to get to know each other really well. We sing and dance while making orders in the hotline, talk about life over grimy dishes, and joke around with each other on a daily basis. After seeing my coworkers nearly every day for two months, it’s hard to imagine any other way to spend my day.

Many of our coworkers are returning home in a few days. Those who aren’t leaving are being sent to new work locations for the winter as our restaurant closes for the season on Saturday. In a way it’s sad to see everyone going their separate ways, and it’s easy to think of this as the end. The end of project. The end of TLT for the season. The end of having these people in my life.

So all week I’ve been preparing my emotions to put a period at the end of this summer. I’ve been trying to figure out how I’m going to leave my amazing coworkers, my sweet roommates, and all the other wonderful people I have met this summer.

But you see, for many of our coworkers and people we’ve met along the way, this summer is only the beginning. The first time they’ve had coworkers that actually cared about their life. The first time they’ve met Christians who didn’t judge them because of a choice they’ve made. The first time anyone has really asked them what they believe. The first time anyone has offered to pray for them. The first time they learned who Jesus is. The first time they've seen Christianity as something more than just rules to follow.

And as easy as it is for me to mentally put a period on their story, I know Jesus isn’t finished. His work in their lives will continue long after this summer. He knows them each so deeply and intimately and longs to have a relationship with each of them. His passionate pursuit of the hearts of these people won't end just because Walt Disney World Summer Project is over or because we are leaving Orlando in a few days. I believe God is starting something at Walt Disney World that can’t be stopped. A story that begins with His love on the cross over 2,000 years ago and will continue literally for ever and ever with people from all nations falling at His feet and praising His holy name. And even as this summer comes to a close, I can say with confidence, it’s only the beginning.

“I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now,  being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”

-          Philippians 1:4-6

Ambassadors for Christ

  Yo! This is Travis Cook and I go to the University of Texas. I just wanted to share an experience I had during outreach this Tuesday and what it taught me.
  I went to downtown Celebration for evangelism on Tuesday. We were walking around the little town, not seeing very many people to interact with. But then we saw a man I had talked to weeks before in Celebration. So I went up to Charlie and talked to him for awhile. The last time I had talked to him, he acknowledged that God was watching over us. I wanted to ask him more questions about that but it started to rain, so he bid us good day and left. Now talking to him this time, I definitely wanted to get more into spiritual conversation. I asked him if he went to church here in Celebration. He said he used to when he lived in New Jersey, but he doesn't anymore. His reasoning for not going to church was "you have to pay to get in". He expanded on it a little more by talking about how the church he went to didn't use the money they collected in the right ways, and even used it to give themselves lavish lifestyles. Because he had a bad experience with this one church, he was completely turned off from the idea of ever going back to church.
  This conversation made me think about how much responsibility we have as Christ followers. Claiming the name of Christ, we represent Him in everything we do. The world can see Christ through us. If we are claiming His perfect name, engaging in dishonest practices can turn people away from Him, questioning His goodness and love. We definitely do not want to do that. Our desire is to show love and compassion for people, bringing a message of hope and goodness that is the gospel. "That God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people's sins against them. And he has committed to use the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God." 2 Corinthians 5: 19-20.
  This is just one of many things I've learned this summer. Hope it made some sense! I ask you to pray for Charlie, that he would be able to recognize that one bad experience with a church shouldn't keep him from going to worship and grow in another church. Thanks!
 

Hello! My name is Lauren May and I will be a junior at Appalachian State University. I just wanted to share what God has put on my heart regarding our work here this summer. 

“Bring all who claim me as their God, for I have made them for my glory. It was I who created them… You are my servant. You have been chosen to know me, believe in me, and understand that I alone am God. There is no other God- there never has been, and there never will be. I, yes I, am the Lord, and there is no other Savior… From eternity to eternity I am God. No one can snatch anyone out of my hand. No one can undo what I have done.” Isaiah 43:7, 10-11, 13

Today was a perfect instance of the clarity and timeliness of God’s word in my life. As I sat down to read a passage I had read and re-read many times, the Spirit stuck these verses to my soul. As summer project is winding down, I believe many of us are panicking about the little time we have left with our co-workers. Personally I feel nagging doubts every day about if I am saying or doing enough to share God’s word. The encouraging thing is that God uses every single thing for his glory! It doesn’t matter if we say or do the right thing, because God can use it to impact others in his eternal story of salvation. There are so many stories I could share about how God has used little things this summer for his purpose. We need to remember that it is not our responsibility to save other’s souls- only God can do that. We can only help lead others in the right direction. Its comforting to remember that anything that happens in our co-workers lives this summer cannot be changed by what we do or don’t do, because as God reminds us “No one can undo what I have done.” And I thank Jesus for that.

Lessons from the Lord

Hey! My name is RaeLynn and I'll be a sophomore at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. I just wanted to share a little bit about what I've been learning on this project. There's a lot, so I definitely can't talk about all of it.

Most of all I've learned how to grow. I had never heard of the concept of Grace + Truth over Time thing. When I first heard this at the beginning of the summer I didn't think anything of it. But God really used this in my life this summer. I have grown more than I ever have in the last 19 1/2 (yes, the 1/2 matters) years.

I've also learned how to extend grace to others, develop patience beyond what I could imagine, and understand different cultures and lifestyles. I had a lot of expectations of what I thought I would learn this summer, and these things weren't exactly on my list. I had put God into a box, but He broke out of that box immediately.

He's also taught me how to manage time wisely, how quickly time can go, and how to cherish every moment He blesses me with. At the beginning of the summer I thought we had so much time here. I figured I would take my time doing the things I had set out to do this summer, but before I knew it project was half way over and it was crunch time. That's when I really started to realize that I am here for a purpose and I have not been fulfilling that purpose to the best of my abilities. God gave me grace in that area and helped me to quickly develop relationships with people at work and deepen the relationships I made already on project.

This is a very quick, not complete list of what God's been doing in my life at Disney World. Take heart in the fact that He is indeed working in the lives of every student on project and our co-workers. I want to sincerely thank everyone who donated to this project whether it was financially, prayerfully, just thinking about us, or even reading this blog. This project couldn't have functioned without you, so thank you!

Wlat Dnesiy Smeumr Pcrjoet (It's all out of whack. That's life, kid. Ees not so bad a thing.)

Fifty-eight other college students from around the nation and I have been on a summer project with Campus Crusade for Christ at Walt Disney World for the past seven weeks.  People frequently ask what the purpose of this project is and how I could feel morally okay with the fact that I’m asking for money from people to work at Walt Disney World for the summer.  In the simplest form, the purpose of this project is to spread the Gospel to people who don’t know or believe it.  The term, “The Gospel” gets thrown around thoughtlessly sometimes.  The Gospel that I am trying to present to my coworkers here in Walt Disney World is that God loves us each personally so much that he would send his son, Jesus, to die for us so that we would not be separated from Him forever because of our sins.  He’s saved us because he loves us and I know that prior to this project I took that for granted. 

There is a thriving college program that works with Disney World that is not associated with Campus Crusade for Christ.  This is huge group of students/Disney World cast members who are comprised of young people from many nations all over the world.  This project is geared very much towards the international college students that come to the United States to work at Walt Disney World. 

I work in the Outdoor Foods department in the Magic Kingdom.  Some of my coworkers are from France, Haiti, Morocco, Puerto Rico, Turkey, China, and Australia.  Over the last seven weeks I have had the opportunity to share how God has changed my life with His eternal love and grace.  I recognize how cliché that may sound, but we as Americans are spiritually spoiled with how accessible the truth of the Gospel is to us.  This is knowledge that we have no right in hoarding.      

God is alive, well, and working.  Before this project, I thought of him largely as a dormant volcano or a sleeping giant, but this is not who God is.  I have woken up to the reality that God is at work and the harvest is absolutely plentiful.  What has surprised me the most so far on this trip is how hungry people are for God.  They don’t even know this until you lay out to them who God is and what He does/has done in your life.  But they desire this much more than I had anticipated.  They are not at all in need of religion or rules or a new mask to put on.  They need who God is.  I need who God is.  It’s this beautiful, reality-shifting realization that I get the privilege of being a part of in other people’s lives here at Walt Disney World.  

Life on Project

My name is Nicole Staggs and I am from Wichita Kansas. This is a blog I wrote for my suppoters a coupple of weeks ago. They had some questions and this is my reply.
     Before I left for my mission project a lot of you were asking how could there be a mission trip at Disney World? I got quit a bit of skepticism from a lot of people, including my best friends and close family. I began to say that every mission trip has a purpose and something that is sacrificed. On this mission trip, The purpose is simply to tell others from around the world about the Gospel, raise up new leaders in other countries to share in their home land. It is easy to just go to a country and do this but you miss several others when you do that. This project has the countries come to us, and their are thousands of potential leaders right here in Disney World to share the Gospel with. What is sacrificed on this mission trip is sleep. This may not be as large as pluming like you would have to sacrifice in other mission trips, but sleep is very much apart of a healthy lifestyle. On any mission trip, there is always one defining thing that they all have in common, and that is God. God is the center of every mission trip anyone goes on. Let me tell you, God is definitely represented on the mission project I am on.
So now that we have established that, lets move on to what this particular project looks like.
Physical:
      I live in a condo resort in Kissimmee, FL, Just 15min away from Disney World. All the buildings are fun colors like blue, green, pink and orange. Don't get hung up on the condo living. It is not as fancy as you think. We have found lizards, frogs, cockroaches, and spiders the size of a large baseball inside our condos that we have had to deal with. We have also had to deal with broken microwaves, A/C not working, and towel racks falling off the wall. No matter what the problem in our own individual condo, we deal with it as a group. There is about 5-7 of us living in a condo and some of us have decorated it with compliment boxes, princess posters, and other various items. The condos consist of 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms as well as a kitchen and living room. OH! and some of us have a harry potter closet. lol
Day to Day:
      In the morning, we wake up and go to a project event from 10:00am to about noon. (Monday-Bible Study, Tuesday-Evangelism, Thursday-Men/Women's time, Saturday-Ministry teems) After those activities if we have work, then we go to work for the rest of the day. Friday we don't have any project scheduled but if we have work, again, then we go to work. On Wednesday we get the whole day off of work and do an activity as a project all day long. I also meet with my discipler once a week and get disciple in how God would like me to live and learn how to better Evangelize.
Work:
     Working at Disney is like any other Job. Clock in, Work, Break, Work some more and close. While we are at work however, we are making friends with our coworkers. The only thing different about working at Disney is that most of your coworkers are not from the U.S. I could write an entire post about this (Witch I will).
Family:
     Being on Project is amazing. I have gotten shown so many things about how a family works and how God wants me to live. This is shown from my room mates to my car pool group, to going surfing at the Beach. I have gained so many brothers and sisters in the short time that I have been here. The staff is amazing in guiding everyone to be just like them. My new mommy's and Daddies (Staff) will be leaving soon and we will be in charge of the direction the project will take.

Patience goes a long way

     Hi guys! I am Megan from Omaha, NE. I work in Stands West at Aloha Isle, selling dole whip, Sunshine Tree Terrace, and the egg roll cart. I have had a few good conversations with my coworkers these past few weeks, but I feel like just as people are starting to open up, we have to leave. I had one guy I met for the first time tell me that Disney World is the perfect mission field and there are a lot of lost people here, which was really encouraging to hear. I wish we were here longer, so I could go deeper with my coworkers, because I've gotten close to most of them. My plan is to be super intentional in the week and a half I have left with them and really let God show through my actions. I'm also not looking forward to the end of project, because I have gotten so close with everyone here. The atmosphere here is like none other.

    I have grown SO much in my personal walk with the Lord. I have grown more this summer than any other time in my life. One way I have seen God especially work in me is in my patience. When the billionth guest comes up and asks me what the difference between dole whip soft serve and dole whip soft serve swirl, in the beginning it took all I had in me to politely tell them. Now when people ask in my opinion "dumb" questions, I have a little more patience.

    This is an excerpt from my project blog about my new attitude:

           "A couple of weeks ago at our group meeting, we were all given a piece of paper with an encouraging bible verse we could easily put in our pockets at work. My verse is Colossians 3:23 "Whatever you do, do it enthusiastically, as something done for the Lord and not men." I have been trying to put that into practice at work by making every dole whip with a smile on my face instead imagining the rude customer that it is going to. I also enjoy listening to Hillsong in Shannon's car before work and having those uplifting songs stuck in my head at work all day."