Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Disciples for Tomorrow
Hey, Chris Jones here with a brief update on the work environment in
Tomorrowland Terrace in Magic Kingdom. Six of us have been working in
the kitchen for six weeks now and we have had interactions with most of
the cast members there. I would say we've talked to 50/70 members that
work at our location. We've developed relationships with about 35 of
these people alone: getting to talk about their lives, why they're
working in Disney, and developing community. We've developed fairly
strong friendships with about 15 coworkers our age mostly. We've hung
out with them outside of work and brought them to some of our project
events. What we've come to learn about our friends and most of the rest
of our coworkers is that the majority of them believe in God and more
than half claim to be Christians! Our spiritual conversations have
revealed the relationship with Christ they really have and a lack of
community makes it hard for them to grow. Our mission in these last 2
weeks of work is to ask those about their faith who we haven't learned
yet and share the Gospel. For those that know Jesus, give them practical
tools to grow in their faith and help lead others after we're gone.
It's a serious mission, but God is presenting us with the opportunities
so we are responding. Prayer for stronger disciples!
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Kind of makes it all worthwhile, don't you think?
Hi all! Liz Bauer from Duluth, Minnesota here.
This week it's really been sinking in for me that we're almost done here...and it's really been getting me down! I seriously love everyone i work with in the Pecos Bills Kitchen and i don't know how it's going to be not seeing them everyday! We've become a family there and we've had our ups and downs but God is there, and He's moving at Pecos even if it's not extremely apparent right now. It's really encouraging to know that we are making a difference even in our shortcomings and failures. One of the first days there, i snapped at a coworker named Luz, i had plans to sit her down and apologize the next day, just to find out she went on a 3 week vacation. In that i just felt like a complete failure and that i shut every door i could have had at Pecos as far as sharing God's love goes. But in the 3 weeks i built some strong friendships and learned to love people the way God would love them. Luz is back now, and she's the sweetest little thing, i don't think she even remembers that i was snappy.
This is a short update, but it's been crazy apparent to me in the last week just how much we're affecting Pecos through God's love.
This week it's really been sinking in for me that we're almost done here...and it's really been getting me down! I seriously love everyone i work with in the Pecos Bills Kitchen and i don't know how it's going to be not seeing them everyday! We've become a family there and we've had our ups and downs but God is there, and He's moving at Pecos even if it's not extremely apparent right now. It's really encouraging to know that we are making a difference even in our shortcomings and failures. One of the first days there, i snapped at a coworker named Luz, i had plans to sit her down and apologize the next day, just to find out she went on a 3 week vacation. In that i just felt like a complete failure and that i shut every door i could have had at Pecos as far as sharing God's love goes. But in the 3 weeks i built some strong friendships and learned to love people the way God would love them. Luz is back now, and she's the sweetest little thing, i don't think she even remembers that i was snappy.
This is a short update, but it's been crazy apparent to me in the last week just how much we're affecting Pecos through God's love.
Monday, July 16, 2012
Lisa H's Blog Week 6
Lisa Hickman
My Video Blog
My Car Pool Group with our friend Candace and Mickey and Minnie
Sunday, July 15, 2012
This is Lisa J. from South Carolina. I will be a junior at the University of South Carolina in the fall.
One way I have been growing so much this summer is in my friend-making abilities. I grew up in the same house my entire life, so I went to school with a lot of the same people all the way through and never really had to make new friends. My friend group shifted naturally from one grade to the next. Never before had I been in a situation like Summer Project where I knew no one and yet lived with them for ten weeks. Now I have friends from all over the country and world. It's pretty exciting.
Something I have been praying for lately is that these new friends, from work especially, would not just think of us as "nice, fun Christians," although that is a good thing. I want them to see Jesus in us and feel God's love for them through us. One coworker just found out that we were Christians this week and apologized to us for doing and saying things that may have offended us. We have been trying to make her understand that we love her and want her to be herself around us. At the same time, we don't want to tell her that everything she's doing is fine. It's the idea of hating the sin, not the sinner.
This is just one example of how I am growing this summer, but it's kind of a big deal. As in, the whole point of Project. So would you join me in praying that we would change hearts and lives for Christ this summer? Pray for boldness and courage from the Holy Spirit and for Him to give us opportunities to share our faith in His perfect timing.
Thank you,
Lisa J.
One way I have been growing so much this summer is in my friend-making abilities. I grew up in the same house my entire life, so I went to school with a lot of the same people all the way through and never really had to make new friends. My friend group shifted naturally from one grade to the next. Never before had I been in a situation like Summer Project where I knew no one and yet lived with them for ten weeks. Now I have friends from all over the country and world. It's pretty exciting.
Something I have been praying for lately is that these new friends, from work especially, would not just think of us as "nice, fun Christians," although that is a good thing. I want them to see Jesus in us and feel God's love for them through us. One coworker just found out that we were Christians this week and apologized to us for doing and saying things that may have offended us. We have been trying to make her understand that we love her and want her to be herself around us. At the same time, we don't want to tell her that everything she's doing is fine. It's the idea of hating the sin, not the sinner.
This is just one example of how I am growing this summer, but it's kind of a big deal. As in, the whole point of Project. So would you join me in praying that we would change hearts and lives for Christ this summer? Pray for boldness and courage from the Holy Spirit and for Him to give us opportunities to share our faith in His perfect timing.
Thank you,
Lisa J.
Mind. Blown.
Hi all! I’m Abby Jean Ray and I will be a senior this
upcoming year at Ball State University in Indiana…yeah that’s right…chirp
chirp!! Anyway, this summer I am serving the Lord in a unique way. The purpose
of project was to fulfill a partnership between Walt Disney World and CRU
through students sharing and spreading Christ’s love through the workplace. Let
me tell you….this mission has been fulfilled and so much more!!! The Walt
Disney Summer Project not only offers the opportunity to share the gospel at
the workplace with our coworkers, but God just blows my mind with the
international prevalence all around us. I have literally met people from
Mexico, France, Haiti, Hong Kong, China…and of course college students from all
over the country. I honestly never thought that I personally would have a heart
for the nations until God brought me here. I am so glad He did and I am so
blessed to be here.
One way that I have seen God work is in my personal walk
with Him. The second week of project when I found out my exact working
location, I was not the happiest camper. In my mind, I did not come to Disney
World to work in a fast food location…and what do you know? I work in the
back-of-house kitchen with absolutely no guest interaction. This was a blow to
my expectations and because of this I did not start the summer with God at the
forefront of my mind. However, throughout the continuing week the Lord began to
show me that His purpose is greater than anything I could dream up. The
question started as “what will make me happy?” and turned into, “Lord, how can
I serve you with the circumstances that I am in?” Though this was not an easy
question to face and one that found hard truth in, God began to answer this
question quickly. I have realized that my mission here is to serve as Christ’s servant
to my coworkers. I love them!! God has blessed the Tomorrowland Terrace with a
great community of people. It was so easy to come in and bond quickly with our
location. God allowed me to scratch below the surface of my expectations and
find joy in His. I know I will have life long friends from working here, and he
has grown my faith tremendously by His wonderful provision.
A pressure that I constantly feel is that while spending a
lot of time with coworkers, I am not always intentional with the Gospel. I
sometimes don’t mention Jesus, and feel that that is time wasted. God proved me
wrong on this assumption too. I really have learned on project what it means to
“build relationships.” One night after work we went out to eat with one of our
coworkers that we didn’t know so well. Nothing about the Gospel specifically
was proclaimed that night, but we definitely showed Christ’s love to this
coworker and had a phenomenal fun time. The next day on one of the days that we
had walk-up, random evangelism time, a few of us ran into the same coworker at
the mall. He was excited to see us and asked us why we were there….and what an opportunity
to answer, find out where he stood with the Lord, and share the Gospel. Because
we had built up the relationship the night before, the doors were open and he
was able to trust us…and yet again, God provided an opportunity for that. So in
summary, I have personally learned what it means that no time is wasted and
that He uses everything to work together for the glory of His Kingdom.
I know God has big plans for these next two weeks, and no
way will WDWSP12 stop riding the waves of faith!!
Abby Jean Ray
Do the Twist!
Hi, my name is Janelle Podruchny! I am an incoming freshman at New Mexico State University. Let me just say, being the youngest child on project is one of the best experiences I could ever have. I am surrounded by the most encouraging and God seeking friends here, and it is one of the best atmospheres for spiritual growth.
Some awesome things have been going on for me and every member on the project!
This summer project has recently made a twist that came out from nowhere! We've all been sharing stories about some neat experiences and they are all very similar. For instance, one of our coordinators (leader, manager position at Disney) expresses some form of thankfulness, or gratitude for our work ethic, or optimism during our work hours, or just a compliment with gratitude that we have come here. A lot of us have been thanked for changing the entire atmosphere of our workplace! That is so cool to hear because, that is exactly what we want to happen!
We came here to Walt Disney World, to change lives through God's love. Our greatest ambition is to show others the love that Christ shares with us, and to extend it among the nations! So, to hear that our workplace has changed for the best since we've been here, and for us to see changes in our co-workers, is such a blessing.
Have you ever walked through the kitchen of a restaurant, as an employee, and had almost every co-worker wave at you and smile because they are happy to see you, even though you see them every day? That has been happening here and it is so neat to see the joy in their faces reflect off your own.
Who knew that we would make so many friends while working here? I have met friends from all over the world; Some of the places my friends are from are Poland, Puerto Rico, Colombia, Turkey, China, France, and Haiti. I hear so many different languages strewn across the kitchen every day, to imagine the Gospel being carried by those voices back to their own countries, it's incredible.
I am so blessed to be here, I am growing in my faith, and sharing God's love to His kingdom! What more could a girl ask for?
Some awesome things have been going on for me and every member on the project!
This summer project has recently made a twist that came out from nowhere! We've all been sharing stories about some neat experiences and they are all very similar. For instance, one of our coordinators (leader, manager position at Disney) expresses some form of thankfulness, or gratitude for our work ethic, or optimism during our work hours, or just a compliment with gratitude that we have come here. A lot of us have been thanked for changing the entire atmosphere of our workplace! That is so cool to hear because, that is exactly what we want to happen!
We came here to Walt Disney World, to change lives through God's love. Our greatest ambition is to show others the love that Christ shares with us, and to extend it among the nations! So, to hear that our workplace has changed for the best since we've been here, and for us to see changes in our co-workers, is such a blessing.
Have you ever walked through the kitchen of a restaurant, as an employee, and had almost every co-worker wave at you and smile because they are happy to see you, even though you see them every day? That has been happening here and it is so neat to see the joy in their faces reflect off your own.
Who knew that we would make so many friends while working here? I have met friends from all over the world; Some of the places my friends are from are Poland, Puerto Rico, Colombia, Turkey, China, France, and Haiti. I hear so many different languages strewn across the kitchen every day, to imagine the Gospel being carried by those voices back to their own countries, it's incredible.
I am so blessed to be here, I am growing in my faith, and sharing God's love to His kingdom! What more could a girl ask for?
Saturday, July 14, 2012
Remember Why...
Hey there!
My name is Marie Hallberg, and I will be a junior at Michigan State University in the fall. I am actually from Plainfield, IL which is about an hour south of Chicago, so needless to say, Florida has been quite an adjustment for me this summer!
I feel like I haven’t had much time in the past couple of weeks to sit down and write a somewhat detailed blog. So here’s my attempt at that. It’s a little late, but today was my day off, so I’m not completely exhausted. I guess I need to seize this opportunity! Lately, that has been my life. Seizing opportunities. And remembering why I have them.
I mean this in a few different ways. One is in a physical sense. Last Thursday, on my day off, I got to join some friends and head to Animal Kingdom for the second half of the day. I do enjoy this park, although it always makes me feel like I’m just going to a zoo, not a theme park. Either way, this was the second time I had been with a big group that included my friend Whitley. The first time I chickened out of going on the ride Expedition Everest. This is why:
Yeah.
Um, if you don’t know me, I don’t do rollercoasters. Especially ones with big drops. They freak me out. I am fully aware that I am being a baby, wimp, etc., you don’t have to tell me. But I hate big drops. They freak me out, I start to have a mini panic attack and can’t breathe for about 5 seconds while I’m going down the hill. But enough about my cowardly ways.
Whitley was not going to let me leave the park before “climbing” Everest. Literally. I finally resigned myself to the fate that I would have to ride it. She explained every detail of the ride and the whole route to me. I texted one of my best friends from back home who told me to “go be a warrior!” (thanks Trina!) and finally decided to be a big girl and get over it.
And I did it!
Whitley sat next to me the whole ride, telling me what was coming up next, what I should look for, and how long it was going to last. It was shorter than I thought it would be. And the drop was over in about 3 seconds. All in all, I won’t be running to go on it again, but it felt to good to say that I did it.
One of the best opportunities of this trip is the chance to meet all these new people. And not just the other 58 other students on this project, but also the coworkers I would (hopefully) get to meet and hang out with. It has been wonderful to meet all these people. Truly wonderful.
I feel as if I have known these people for years, not just weeks. I feel like my roommates and I have gotten fairly close, and like we’ve been living together for a while now! My carpool group has been such a blessing to me and between my discipleship group, bible study, and ministry team, I feel like I have at least gotten to interact with eveyone on project. Which is quite a feat, with the size we’re at!
At the same time, this has been somewhat emotionally draining. When I leave school, I leave with the knowledge that when I come back in the fall, the majority of them will be there as well, and we can pick up right where we left off. Granted, I only have 2 years left and soon I won’t be going back, but we’ll talk about that later (like in 2 years). But I have been reminded several times in the past week that I only get the privilege of knowing, learning about, growing with, and living with these people for 10 weeks. And there are only 3 and a half weeks left. I don’t exactly know how to leave all these friendships here. I might never see some of these people again in my life. How can I just go back to IL and then go back to school and act like my life was not changed by these people this summer? It’s just not possible.
I also have the opportunity to go out and share my faith during our evangelism times and/or at work. This has been something I’ve had to grow in lately and I’ve been pushed out of my comfort zone quite often. We usually head to the outlet malls on Tuesday mornings around 10:30 a.m. to do some initiative evangelsim for an hour. We have a few different surveys and questions as tools to lead into conversations. My carpool group has had earlier shifts on Tuesdays (meaning we have to leave for work around 12 or 12:30 p.m.) so we haven’t really had as much time as some of the other groups. Lately thouhg, I have let this become my excuse to not focus on this time. I figure it’s “pointless” or “not enough time.” I find myself not even wanting to get into a conversation because I just don’t know what I would say to them. My mind is so focused on other things.
Like I mentioned in an earlier post, I got sick Monday night/Tuesday morning. My nose has been stuffy the past few days and I’ve had some sinus pressure to go along with it. This is just one more way I am being distracted from the opportunity of sharing the love of Christ with people. And it just hits me: How selfish am I?
How selfish am I that I would deny someone else the opportunity to learn about how much God loves them? How He sent His son, Jesus Christ, to die on a cross because He could not stand the thought of being separated from that person? How I have a joy that will never end and a hope that is unending because Jesus is the Savior and Lord of my life?
Satan attacks us in a lot of ways. Being in an environment like this, I believe we are all under attack even more. He knows how much power we have in the Spirit. He knows how much of an impact we could make for God’s kingdom if we lived to our full potential this summer. Therefore, he attacks us emotionally, spiritually, and even physically (half of our project has probably been sick at some point during the summer) to break us down.
In moments like these, I have to remember why. Why I am here. Why I decided to raise $2500, get on a plane, pass up a more comfortable and familiar atmosphere and job back home, and spend a summer in hot, humid Florida. Why I interviewed, trained, and prepared for a job that consists of filling drinks, stocking tomatoes, and changing ketchup volpacks (a process during which some ketchup usually ends up transferring to my shirt). Why I decided to co-lead a ministry team that is heavily involved with planning events on project and anxiously hoping people would like what we come up with for that day.
In women’s time for the first half of the summer our theme was F.I.G.H.T. Each of these letters represents a certain quality we should focus on in our relationship with Christ. One of our leaders made a good point while talking about the first quality-freedom. We don’t have to fight for freedom or any of these other qualities. They are already guaranteed through God’s promises to us. But we have to fight to remember.
Remember why I am here. Remember why God called me on this trip. Remember why…
The physical, emotional, and spiritual exhaustion has been taking a toll on me lately and most of my project friends. We’re in such an intense environment, it’s hard to consistently take time out of our days to recognize why we’re here and to look at our circumstances with an eternal perspective. In other words, recognize how God is using us in this place and time to glorify His kingdom. I would really appreciate prayer with that, this is a hard thing to do!
I am also praying for all of you! That you may remember why you are you. Remember why you are where you are. And to remember why your life never has to be the same.
Because God. loves. you.
That’s why.
My name is Marie Hallberg, and I will be a junior at Michigan State University in the fall. I am actually from Plainfield, IL which is about an hour south of Chicago, so needless to say, Florida has been quite an adjustment for me this summer!
I feel like I haven’t had much time in the past couple of weeks to sit down and write a somewhat detailed blog. So here’s my attempt at that. It’s a little late, but today was my day off, so I’m not completely exhausted. I guess I need to seize this opportunity! Lately, that has been my life. Seizing opportunities. And remembering why I have them.
I mean this in a few different ways. One is in a physical sense. Last Thursday, on my day off, I got to join some friends and head to Animal Kingdom for the second half of the day. I do enjoy this park, although it always makes me feel like I’m just going to a zoo, not a theme park. Either way, this was the second time I had been with a big group that included my friend Whitley. The first time I chickened out of going on the ride Expedition Everest. This is why:
Um, if you don’t know me, I don’t do rollercoasters. Especially ones with big drops. They freak me out. I am fully aware that I am being a baby, wimp, etc., you don’t have to tell me. But I hate big drops. They freak me out, I start to have a mini panic attack and can’t breathe for about 5 seconds while I’m going down the hill. But enough about my cowardly ways.
Whitley was not going to let me leave the park before “climbing” Everest. Literally. I finally resigned myself to the fate that I would have to ride it. She explained every detail of the ride and the whole route to me. I texted one of my best friends from back home who told me to “go be a warrior!” (thanks Trina!) and finally decided to be a big girl and get over it.
And I did it!
Whitley sat next to me the whole ride, telling me what was coming up next, what I should look for, and how long it was going to last. It was shorter than I thought it would be. And the drop was over in about 3 seconds. All in all, I won’t be running to go on it again, but it felt to good to say that I did it.
One of the best opportunities of this trip is the chance to meet all these new people. And not just the other 58 other students on this project, but also the coworkers I would (hopefully) get to meet and hang out with. It has been wonderful to meet all these people. Truly wonderful.
I feel as if I have known these people for years, not just weeks. I feel like my roommates and I have gotten fairly close, and like we’ve been living together for a while now! My carpool group has been such a blessing to me and between my discipleship group, bible study, and ministry team, I feel like I have at least gotten to interact with eveyone on project. Which is quite a feat, with the size we’re at!
At the same time, this has been somewhat emotionally draining. When I leave school, I leave with the knowledge that when I come back in the fall, the majority of them will be there as well, and we can pick up right where we left off. Granted, I only have 2 years left and soon I won’t be going back, but we’ll talk about that later (like in 2 years). But I have been reminded several times in the past week that I only get the privilege of knowing, learning about, growing with, and living with these people for 10 weeks. And there are only 3 and a half weeks left. I don’t exactly know how to leave all these friendships here. I might never see some of these people again in my life. How can I just go back to IL and then go back to school and act like my life was not changed by these people this summer? It’s just not possible.
I also have the opportunity to go out and share my faith during our evangelism times and/or at work. This has been something I’ve had to grow in lately and I’ve been pushed out of my comfort zone quite often. We usually head to the outlet malls on Tuesday mornings around 10:30 a.m. to do some initiative evangelsim for an hour. We have a few different surveys and questions as tools to lead into conversations. My carpool group has had earlier shifts on Tuesdays (meaning we have to leave for work around 12 or 12:30 p.m.) so we haven’t really had as much time as some of the other groups. Lately thouhg, I have let this become my excuse to not focus on this time. I figure it’s “pointless” or “not enough time.” I find myself not even wanting to get into a conversation because I just don’t know what I would say to them. My mind is so focused on other things.
Like I mentioned in an earlier post, I got sick Monday night/Tuesday morning. My nose has been stuffy the past few days and I’ve had some sinus pressure to go along with it. This is just one more way I am being distracted from the opportunity of sharing the love of Christ with people. And it just hits me: How selfish am I?
How selfish am I that I would deny someone else the opportunity to learn about how much God loves them? How He sent His son, Jesus Christ, to die on a cross because He could not stand the thought of being separated from that person? How I have a joy that will never end and a hope that is unending because Jesus is the Savior and Lord of my life?
Satan attacks us in a lot of ways. Being in an environment like this, I believe we are all under attack even more. He knows how much power we have in the Spirit. He knows how much of an impact we could make for God’s kingdom if we lived to our full potential this summer. Therefore, he attacks us emotionally, spiritually, and even physically (half of our project has probably been sick at some point during the summer) to break us down.
In moments like these, I have to remember why. Why I am here. Why I decided to raise $2500, get on a plane, pass up a more comfortable and familiar atmosphere and job back home, and spend a summer in hot, humid Florida. Why I interviewed, trained, and prepared for a job that consists of filling drinks, stocking tomatoes, and changing ketchup volpacks (a process during which some ketchup usually ends up transferring to my shirt). Why I decided to co-lead a ministry team that is heavily involved with planning events on project and anxiously hoping people would like what we come up with for that day.
In women’s time for the first half of the summer our theme was F.I.G.H.T. Each of these letters represents a certain quality we should focus on in our relationship with Christ. One of our leaders made a good point while talking about the first quality-freedom. We don’t have to fight for freedom or any of these other qualities. They are already guaranteed through God’s promises to us. But we have to fight to remember.
Remember why I am here. Remember why God called me on this trip. Remember why…
The physical, emotional, and spiritual exhaustion has been taking a toll on me lately and most of my project friends. We’re in such an intense environment, it’s hard to consistently take time out of our days to recognize why we’re here and to look at our circumstances with an eternal perspective. In other words, recognize how God is using us in this place and time to glorify His kingdom. I would really appreciate prayer with that, this is a hard thing to do!
I am also praying for all of you! That you may remember why you are you. Remember why you are where you are. And to remember why your life never has to be the same.
Because God. loves. you.
That’s why.
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