This week I have gotten to see more of what ministry looks like, gotten to see more of God's beautiful creation, and gotten to meet some more people!
On Sunday (Father's Day), I was able to help with Kids Club which is children's church. For the next few weeks, the kids will be learning about joy, so what's a better way to learn about joy than having a party! We wore party hats, danced, worshipped God, and learned about what joy really means! Of course we also had to play some dodgeball when we were done with our lesson! I also tried Indian food for the first time with the college students at church, and it was really good! The college pastor and his wife invited my team over for dinner at their house. They live in a town right outside of Medford, so we were able to get a little tour of their town as well. They cooked burgers for us, and we talked about what the Lord has been teaching us since we have been here! It was fun to get to know them better! They are over the college ministry at SOU called Engage. Engage is partnered with Living Hope. In the month of July they have 25 college students coming to spend two months of their summer getting discipled and sharing the gospel with their community! The Lord has worked in mighty ways through Engage, and I am so excited to see how the Lord continues to work!
Monday, we were invited to go on a jet boat ride and to a big cats zoo with a local family. We were able to ride down the Rogue River. The tour told us a lot of the history, and spun us in circles to where we would get wet! The family we went with is so sweet, and they are such a blessing to the community of Medford! The man over the big cats zoo has worked with the animals since they were born, so during the tour he was able to call up the lions and pet them! It was crazy that these huge cats who can be aggressive loved him so much! It reminded me of no matter who we are God loves us so much. There were many cats there of all different sizes. Some of the cats were endangered, big predators, or a species I had never heard of before. It was a great day to see more of the area we are working in! On Tuesday my team and I made a lot of promotional videos. Some of the videos were for Christmas in July, the upcoming kids camps and their version of Vacation Bible School, and some videos for youth on Wednesday nights!
On Wednesday my team and I spent most of the day getting ready for youth that afternoon. I was so excited for youth tonight because it was going to be the first time that the youth were going to have worship on a regular Wednesday night. The youth normally runs about twenty people, and currently they do not have anyone who can play an instrument. Most of the youth's parents do not go to church, so most of the youth only come to church on Wednesday nights. Worshipping through song is one of my favorite things, so I was so excited to be able to worship with them! About an hour before youth started my team and I were told that we were not going to be able to have worship that night. Honestly, at first I was bitter and upset because I did not fully understand why we could not have worship. I was so excited for the youth to be able to experience another way to worship God, and I was hoping that possibly by the fall they would be able to have worship on their own. I was able to talk to the worship minister here at Living Hope, and fully understand why we were not able to have worship. The culture in Oregon is definitely not like the culture in the South. For Living Hope to reach people with the gospel, they have to form a relationship with the person and get them involved in the church. As a result of this, Living Hope allows people who are not Christian to play in the worship band. They have seen people who use their talents on the stage and get plugged into the church, and then after forming relationships they come to know the Lord as their Savior. As a result of allowing people who are not Christians to be on stage, the worship team has certain protocols that new members of the band have to go through to be able to be on stage singing or playing an instrument. Before we can have worship on Wednesday nights for the youth, we also have to go through those same protocols and steps. In the future we will be able to have worship on Wednesday nights! This showed me a deeper side of ministry, and showed me all of the reasons and thought process behind everything that is done. It also reminded me that God's timing is way better than my timing!
On Thursday we cleaned and organized a closet and it took about three hours. At the beginning the floor was hardly showing, but when we were done so much of the floor was seen! We got the van and the snow cone flavors ready for the next day! Then we started a development meeting where one person talks about a spiritual discipline and another talks about a leadership character trait. It was so good, and I was challenged in my personal walk with the Lord. I also started to give a girl piano lessons. For 30 minutes I teach her about the piano, and then for the next 30 minutes Miah, a girl on my team, and I are discipling her! She is a new believer who has had a rough home life, so I am so excited to see how the Lord is going to work through her in this season! Then we had a game night where we are staying and invited some of our friends for dinner and games!
On Friday Miah, Leah, Kennedy, and I met one of our new friends at a nearby coffee shop! This girl is not a Christian and has been through a few different religions. We are hoping by us continuing to hang out with her that she will truly see how Jesus has changed our lives, and she will accept Jesus as her Lord and Savior! We went back to a local park and gave out free snow cones and cotton candy! We had a lot of people interested in Christmas in July. Then we went to In N Out to meet a new mission team from Summit, Mississippi. That night we went to another local park to play volleyball with several college age students. It was so much fun! On Saturday we went to Yreka, California to work at the church replant there. The mission team from Mississippi joined us, and we got a lot of work done. The church looks like it is still in the 1970's, so there is some remodeling and cleaning out to do. We were able to throw away a lot, organize a lot, and move some big cabinets around. We found many expired foods and seasonings. We found some curry powder from 1978!!!! Then we were able to see Mt. Shasta, Mt. McLoughlin, and Mt. Ashland. God's creation is so beautiful, and I am so in awe about the fact that He cares for me. I also got to play in snow on the mountaintop!
On Sunday Pastor Shawn brought the word and talked about our identity in Christ and prioritizing our time. Miah, one of our new friends, and I went to a local lavender farm because there was a lavender festival this week. We were able to see more of God's beautiful creation, and get to know the area we are serving better!
What you can specifically pray for:
· Engage's Summer Outreach program with the college students.
· Revival in the town of Medford, and many people would come to know Jesus as their Lord and Savior.
· The youth students will continue to come to youth in the summer when they could be doing other things.
· The mission team from Summit, Mississippi as they serve in Oregon this week.
· The girl who is learning how to play the piano and being discipled.
· Our friend who is not a Christian will come to know the Lord as her Savior.
· The replant of the church in California will be able to reach a lot of people and families with the Gospel.
God has showed me how thoughtful He is this week! From His beautiful creation to His perfect timing! I am so excited to see what He has in store for me next! Thank yall for encouraging, supporting, and praying for me!
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