The last week has been a whirlwind and kind of the midpoint of SDSP. The week started out with our typical schedule of Bible studies on campuses across San Diego. I was actually surprised Tuesday when my group at SDSU (the other SDSU, not the Jacks) got together and three Muslims decided to come. I can't say I have ever had a study with Muslims in it so I was nervous but it was a great experience and they are going to continue coming. Some of our staff here worked in an Islamic area in Russia so thankfully they have given me advice for what to do the rest of the summer. We also held up the "I Will Listen" signs on campus this past week and got into some great conversations. It felt really weird to sit in the middle of the busy campus holding a sign all by ourselves but it was evident that God used them to really bring his Gospel to the students in this city. On Thursday night we hosted a farewell banquet for our staff and on Friday night we had our final FNL for them before they departed Saturday morning. It was hard to see all of them leave, especially our growth group leaders/disciplers, but everyone has said the second month of project is the best and we have all been looking forward to taking charge and making this project our own. We used Saturday and Sunday afternoons to regroup and set our theme for the week and really for the rest of the summer. This weeks theme focuses on how we are a body of believers made up of many parts. We will be focusing on recognizing both our strengths and our weaknesses and using these attributes to achieve unity in God's work. Tonight we sat down as a group and listened to Matt Chandler's sermon "Everyone Plays a Part" over Ephesians 4. Those of you who know me know I'm somewhat obsessed with Chandler so I may or may not have had something to do with everyone listening to this sermon and you can download it to at http://fm.thevillagechurch.net/sermons under his Ephesians series. It is interesting to hear how we all have some or all of these gifts, how and why we should use them, why we should be praying for them, and what their role is in God's plans.
My FNL ministry team has really started to become much more rooted in my church here in San Diego. We have started spreading out more during church to meet more people and Sunday morning it immediately paid off. One of our girls, Laura, was sitting next to a man in his mid 20's who was invited to church by his coworker in the praise band. It was the second time in his life that the man had ever been to church. Our church takes communion once a month so Laura could see it would probably be foreign to him and slid over to explain the rest of the service to him. After church he began telling her how he had just gotten out of a 9 year relationship, yes 9 years, and how he had been wanting to make changes in his life, find his purpose, and figure out who God is. It really caught us off guard because none of us had any of the booklets we use to share the Gospel because who would figure people in church would be non-Christians (I'm being somewhat sarcastic here). She eventually began explaining to him how he can know God personally, how Christ died for our sins and how we cannot do enough good to get to heaven and the man accepted Christ right there after the church service. It was a huge praise and we will continue to help him start his journey now as a Christian! It really convicted us on talking to people we don't know at church here and back home because they may be sitting in the pews but still feeling lost and it is our duty to push them toward God. Sunday night we went back to church because it is on the hillside overlooking Mission Bay so many locals sit in the church parking lots at night to watch the fireworks (which out of all the big shows in the area, Sea World dominated). While waiting, we went around passing out snacks and information about church with the ultimate goal of getting into spiritual conversations. I was fortunate enough to meet a man who spent 15 years in prison but became a solid Christian toward the end of his sentence and has grown in his faith tremendously since then. His family has been looking for a good church for many years and has never been to Clairemont Emmanuel so we exchanged numbers and they are going to try to come soon. It was crazy how he went there to watch fireworks and God used the night to help him gain insight on growing deeper in his faith. His testimony brought so much power to my life too and he said I was the first person he'd told it to in years which meant a lot. I actually really put it on his heart to enter prison ministry so pray for Rafael, that his family would find a good church and that he'd spread the story of what God's done for him to others that they may see the freedom they can have through Christ.
Thanks for all of your continued prayers and please keep us in them this last month. Their has been some spiritual warfare experienced the past couple of days and many students, including myself, have come down with colds. We are feeling rundown and tired but pressing on for the sake of the Gospel. We are going to take Wednesday off this week, since we don't really have weekends ever, and we are going to go up to Los Angeles to Santa Monica Pier. I've been there before but it'll be good to retreat with my incredible team and spend a day just thinking about what God has done and building our community we have. Knowing some of my team members who are much more motivated than myself, we will probably do some evangelism in Los Angeles too. I also hope to get some time to post pictures to facebook and email/mail out a mid-summer newsletter our communications team made sometime this week so leave me your email address if you'd like a copy. I leave you all with Philippians 1:9-11 this week, "And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God."
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