Check out the project photos here!
http://www.flickr.com/groups/intersection2007
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Summer Project Update #2
Summer Project Wrap Up!
The last student just left for home.
We are tired but rejoicing.
God showed up in a significant way these last three weeks in Compton on the Intersections/Project Revolution - 2007 Summer Project.
Instead of me rambling on let me share with you what the students said... (This is a lot of text, but if you take the time to read it all you will be blessed!)
What an amazing project.
The last student just left for home.
We are tired but rejoicing.
God showed up in a significant way these last three weeks in Compton on the Intersections/Project Revolution - 2007 Summer Project.
Instead of me rambling on let me share with you what the students said... (This is a lot of text, but if you take the time to read it all you will be blessed!)
“I learned a lot on this trip. I learned a lot about myself..a lot about God’s heart. The solid truths that I have heard before have become heart knowledge instead of just head knowledge. I experienced the grace of God and saw what it truly means and what it looks like. The Lord has proven himself faithful. I have seen more of him. I loved this trip because I was able to meet a lot of other people and work at different ministry sites. It gave me a glimpse of other people’s experiences with God and has left me yearning to know more about him.”
Ashley- Akron, OH
“I learned about myself and my heart during this trip. I’ve always wanted to serve the community but learned that to truly serve the community that I must be be ONE with them. Eat, live, suffer and experience joy with them.”
Dalia- Paramount, CA
“I think God is opening my eyes and calling me to change my city- to be a leader in my community. God has really shown me a lot about cultures through the unity in this group. I have different eyes. I know now that I need to feel more compassion for people who are suffering and living in poverty. If we just stop and try to help out people who are suffering…we are doing what we have been called out to do. God is really helping me to understand that we can all really do something to help….One person can affect a family, that family can affect a community, that community can affect a city and that city can affect a nation. God sees something that is going on in Compton. I am happy to be a part of that. I challenge you all to be a light. Be strong. You can make that difference.”
Ramiro- Compton, CA
“I just feel that God has really spoken to me…that I really need to let God do whatever he wants with my life. This week I have experienced dwelling in the presence of God with such peace. I am so glad that I was able to be honest and speak about my life. I am so thankful for the community that I have become a part of. I can just dwell and listen to what God is trying to say to me. God is good.”
America- Paramount, CA
“This trip has flipped my heart and mind 180 degrees. I had a plan for my future, however, this trip has opened my heart to working in the ministry and serving communities like Compton. I feel like God has spoken to me and given me a new passion for life.”
Caylee- Atlanta, GA
“This week has affirmed and made the importance of community resonate within my heart. We got a chance to get away from all the noise and witness true Christianity in its purest form. I was a part of a diverse group of believers who all had 1 vision -to see justice from oppression and salvation through Christ.”
Ahmad- Lynwood, CA
“I came on this trip with the intentions of sharing God’s love with others but rather I experienced God pouring his love into me. That is the most overwhelming feeling I have ever experienced. That is what the inner city did for me.”
Hannah- Canoga Park, CA
“The whole experience has been about being able to hear God. God will put things in my mind, where I would be holding back to say things and others would say them and it would affirm my beliefs. It was amazing that I was able to spend a week with a group of people and feel like I have known them my whole life. I have been able to be myself and I truly appreciate the fact that I was able to have good conversations with people who I just met. What God has been challenging me with is…when all this is over…then what? It is something we really need to think about. We need to serve the community on a daily basis. Our actions of love and for justice don’t always have to be called a revolution or justice…it is our OBLIGATION. Its about love…not only justice. God spoke to our group and we ran with it. This is where its at! If you’re not a part of project revolution this summer then you’re not having fun.”
Celestine- Los Angeles, CA
“The hunger and the extensive physiological changes my body went through made me truly reflect upon the poverty that exists here in LA.”
Sunghee- Los Angeles, CA
“I realized how self absorbed I am through the poverty simulation. I do put a lot of emphasis on my outer appearance and what the simulation revealed to me was that I had a lot of work to do on my inner perception of myself.”
Esther- Buena Park, CA
What an amazing project.
Sunday, July 01, 2007
Summer Project Update #1
From Day 4 of the Project:
Wow, we're off to an amazing start! God is already doing huge things in and through the lives of the college students here.
We have;
Five students are from out of state (Florida, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Georgia and South Carolina), all the rest are locals with six from Emmanuel Reformed Church (our church!) who has adopted Compton for the next 40 years. These students are here as part of that strategy.
Sunday, we attended Faith Inspirational Missionary Baptist Church and the students were blown away. We spent the Sunday School hour with the Pastor, Rafer Owens and his staff hearing his amazing vision for Compton and all of what his church is doing. Then we went into service. Most of the students have never had the opportunity to experience worship in an African-American church before. One of the team leaders came up to me about mid-way through th worship and asked, "Is this ALWAYS this way?" with a huge smile on her face. I smiled back and said , "Yeah, it is".
After the sermon, Pastor Owens called Tonya and I up to talk about the project and what the students were doing here in Compton. We had a few moments to share the vision for the project and what we all are working towards in Compton. Then he had all the students also come up to the platform and told them the church had been praying for them for 10 years to come and help them! It was a huge vision-casting moment for the students as well as the congregation showing both sides that God is doing something big and it's definitely bigger than any one church or group.
Pastor Owens called the group his "Angels". And that he was so touched and energized that they would give up their summer time and come serve in Compton.
The students still have not stopped talking about that, and I don't think they will!
Yesterday, the three teams started their ministry sites. They're doing very well!
Please continue to pray that we will love Compton well, serve our ministry partners and learn more of God's heart as how to reach Compton in the long-term.
-more to come!
Wow, we're off to an amazing start! God is already doing huge things in and through the lives of the college students here.
We have;
- Three African-American students.
- Five Hispanic students.
- One Filipino student.
- Three White students.
Five students are from out of state (Florida, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Georgia and South Carolina), all the rest are locals with six from Emmanuel Reformed Church (our church!) who has adopted Compton for the next 40 years. These students are here as part of that strategy.
Sunday, we attended Faith Inspirational Missionary Baptist Church and the students were blown away. We spent the Sunday School hour with the Pastor, Rafer Owens and his staff hearing his amazing vision for Compton and all of what his church is doing. Then we went into service. Most of the students have never had the opportunity to experience worship in an African-American church before. One of the team leaders came up to me about mid-way through th worship and asked, "Is this ALWAYS this way?" with a huge smile on her face. I smiled back and said , "Yeah, it is".
After the sermon, Pastor Owens called Tonya and I up to talk about the project and what the students were doing here in Compton. We had a few moments to share the vision for the project and what we all are working towards in Compton. Then he had all the students also come up to the platform and told them the church had been praying for them for 10 years to come and help them! It was a huge vision-casting moment for the students as well as the congregation showing both sides that God is doing something big and it's definitely bigger than any one church or group.
Pastor Owens called the group his "Angels". And that he was so touched and energized that they would give up their summer time and come serve in Compton.
The students still have not stopped talking about that, and I don't think they will!
Yesterday, the three teams started their ministry sites. They're doing very well!
Please continue to pray that we will love Compton well, serve our ministry partners and learn more of God's heart as how to reach Compton in the long-term.
-more to come!
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