Project Impact- summer 2018
*if you do not know what project impact is... it is a 9 week discipleship and leadership program in Lawrence, Kansas that I applied for and found through my campus ministry*
I honestly don't really know where to start because I wish I could tell everyone and very little detail about project but sadly that can't happen. Thankfully I dedicated a journal for memories and all of my prayer and notes from this summer.
1. MY JOB...
So after prayerfully job hunting non-stop for the first couple of days @ project God provided through a daycare... wahoo, a job right?!!
No... if you know me then you know I've never been good with kids and never really had a large heart for them. I know I sound like a monster lol, but it's true I have always just assumed I never had a natural motherly instinct and kids just don't love me. I was put as an assistant teacher in the headstart classroom. All 8 kids under the age of 2 with only 3 of them actually potty trained. Needless to say I learned patience. But most importantly I learned to have a heart for each of the kids, none of them had good home to go to and they were all developing at vastly different rates. My heart broke that none of these kids got more attention at home. I specifically read books with a little boy named Chase everyday and on my last day in the class we read it and he was able to name every fruit and votable in the book without my help. I cried a lot, all he needed was consistency.
By the end of the summer I no longer questioned why God placed me there. These kids taught me more than I could ever ask for. Patience and what it looks like to be a light and to just simply love on others. I learned a lot from my coworkers as none of them were believers and it put me in an uncomfortable position a lot of the time because I just wasn't used to not being in the Bible Belt of Texas and Oklahoma anymore. My coworkers asked me to cover for them a lot of the time and as much as I didn't want to I chose to put them before myself and help serve them as much as I could in the classroom. (Heart Attitude #1 putting others before yourself, Philippians 2:3-4)
2. LAWRENCE
Like stated previously with no longer being in the Bible Belt or hardly leaving Texas other than vacations and school I was in for a rude awakening. Lawrence opened my eyes to what it's like to leave home, literally and mentally. This might not make a lot of sense to those of you who travel often but I was born and raised in the small town of Decatur all my life surrounded by the 'Christian Culture'. So when we went out and evangelized to the town of Lawrence, the responses we got we extremely hard for me to deal with. Planting seeds was something God taught me a lot through. I remember crying after our first EV night in a ice cream shop realizing that so many people didn't except Christ after telling them about the Gospel. I learned this summer what it is to plant seeds and how that is something bigger than we could ever be and that as a follower of Christ I could be watering that seed in some way or just planting one.
3. COMMUNITY P.1
God already answered the prayer of blessing me with a sweet sweet ministry back at school. BUT God continued to teach me and grow me this summer in so many different ways through my project family.
Going into project I was heckin' nervous that I was going to have a hard time making friends. I didn't really have a reason for this other than that I just let doubt consume me in that way, that I wasn't a good enough Christian or fun enough. Anyways with everyone living in such close quarters/ actually doing life with your small group I soon let all the doubt go. I doubted what God could do through this community, silly me. I learned so much by simply being intentional and vulnerable with others. I made so many new friends this summer I can't help but smile so big when I think about how cool God is like that. He didn't have to provide yet an even bigger community for us, yet he faithfully did. Being able to grow with everyone else this summer left such a big impression on my heart. I remember in the middle of the summer praying for God to give an opportunity for me to interact become closer with the Fort Hayes girls and he answered that prayer SO big by the end of the summer (Now they are all coming to visit Stillwater in November!!). I won't explain everything I learned from my project peeps, but just know that God uses community in some dang awesome ways.
4. INTENTIONALITY + COMMUNITY P.2
Community 2.0 is my second biggest take away from this summer. With Project impact being in Lawrence we are partnered with a church called RockHill with the most amazing and welcoming people you will ever meet. God has already blessed me and taught me so much from my community at school. So I kinda assumed he was done teaching me the power and importance of community ... lol I was so wrong.
Rock Hill really welcomed us and made us feel comfortable and loved right from the first Sunday. All of us had each picked an area to serve in the church from the welcome team to the tear down teach for every Sunday service. With serving we are all given the time to really get to know rock hill people and it was so awesome. I know for a lot of us we didn't really wantttt to volunteer but in the end we all loved what we did because of engulfed it made it us in the community. It just goes to show no matter where you are it is important to find a church, serve there and be involved in your community (there is probably about 100 different types of scripture to back this up). I was extremely convicted all summer to really get involved in my church back in Stillwater. Rock Hill is one awesome church that will forever have a place in my heart.
The whole summer everyone in our little project community had a personal almost unintentional, intention to be intentional... lol does this make sense?!?
I basically mean because everyone was being so vulnerable and honest our summer was the producing fruit from being so intentional with one another and in everything we were doing. Our work situations, our living situations, our new friendships and our temporary church home :)
Rock Hill really welcomed us and made us feel comfortable and loved right from the first Sunday. All of us had each picked an area to serve in the church from the welcome team to the tear down teach for every Sunday service. With serving we are all given the time to really get to know rock hill people and it was so awesome. I know for a lot of us we didn't really wantttt to volunteer but in the end we all loved what we did because of engulfed it made it us in the community. It just goes to show no matter where you are it is important to find a church, serve there and be involved in your community (there is probably about 100 different types of scripture to back this up). I was extremely convicted all summer to really get involved in my church back in Stillwater. Rock Hill is one awesome church that will forever have a place in my heart.
The whole summer everyone in our little project community had a personal almost unintentional, intention to be intentional... lol does this make sense?!?
I basically mean because everyone was being so vulnerable and honest our summer was the producing fruit from being so intentional with one another and in everything we were doing. Our work situations, our living situations, our new friendships and our temporary church home :)
Much love, Celine
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