His goodness

      First of all, I just want to thank all those who are continuing to pray for me and my awesome team this summer! I'm feeling so blessed to be a part of The City Project, which to a lot of yall is just a name you remember from me sending you a letter, calling you up on the phone, sending you update-emails.... anyway the City Project is one of the many things God is doing this summer; one of the many ways God is using His children to glorify His holy name. There are just so many people in the city. After recently arriving in NYC two Sundays ago, I was walking, thinking to myself, and commenting to a few others that I didn't really like the city. It's too busy. Too fast. Too many people.
      By the end of that night (and definitely by the end of the week), I was instead saying, "God, if you ever want me here (the city), I'll go." God reminded me that I don't have to be in place that's comfortable to me. That's not what matters. What matters is all the eyes that I looked into during the week we were there. The eyes that were blank, that were hurting, that were just moving along, trying to make it through the day. These eyes that belonged to people, to creations of God that He wants to see come to know Him! I cannot be stubborn about living in a certain place or say that I don't like the city when God LOVES the city!
      Last week was tough. And long! It was our first regular week in Durham. We have devotional times in the mornings, Christian Philosophy class from 9:30-12, M/W/Th, another class after lunch, internships from 2:30-5pm, and then we helped out with KID'S WEEK (woooo!!!!) from 5-8:30pm Mon-Fri last week! So, I was basically going all day. But Kid's Week (formerly vacation Bible school at the Summit) was great, and so was getting started with my community service and pastoral internships. I'm especially excited about working with the student ministry at the Summit!! I'm going to be able to hang out with high school girls and do a Bible study with them, which is kinda exactly what I was hoping for! Thanks, God :)
      It hasn't been the easiest or most restful time in my life, but it has been so good. I'm reminded of Mr. Beaver's reply to Lucy in Narnia about Aslan: "Safe?? Well of course he isn't safe. But he's good." And God is this way too. Yes, He may sound safe: we refer to His comforting arms and His love as our Father; He is our protector, among other things.... but Jesus said, plain and simple, that the world would hate us if we were living for Him (John 15:18-21). Goodness, the title for that passage in my Bible is "The world hates the disciples." That does not sound so safe. But Jesus also assures us that people will do that because they do not know God. There is a huge cost to being a disciple of Jesus Christ. But oh, if we make that surrender, we will be free from the chains that bind us to this world and to sin.
      If you are praying, would you please pray for the seminary class that I'm taking? It's interesting and deep thinking like none other, but it's like adding college-student reading, exams, and book reviews to a "real world" 9 to 5 job (yup, we're busy). It's just a lot, and I don't want to do poorly because I know for sure that isn't glorifying to God. Also pray for the relationships of the students together here this summer, for them to be real, and that we would love each other enough to show both truth and grace (John 1:14) to each other. God bless you!! :)

bro's graduation

      So, basically what I learned from last weekend is that my wonderful mother and I are going to start a catering business.

      Ok, not really. But we sure did prepare a LOT of food last Saturday for my Thomas' Eagle Scout Court of Honor reception. And I'm not complaining... it was great fun. The whole weekend was. Coming back from New York, getting to tell some of the stories from that, making chicken renee (!), assuring my grandma that my henna tattoos would wash off in a week or so... It was great to see grandparents and aunts that I hadn't seen in a while.



The Harts!!



the Blankenships!!

     I'm so blessed with a loving family. I'm thinking about this again today as father's day is soon. How good is our God? Excuse me, how great is our God? Sorry, I'll just stop because for Him, there are no words, I think that can truly describe how He is. The good thing is, even though we fail to do Him justice with our words, He loves that praise from us so, so much. Really, though, I never did anything to earn or deserve a loving family like I have. What a blessing. Also a reminder that anything and everything I have is not actually mine. Everything I have was given to me by God, with the intention of me glorifying Him with it!

      Jesus said, "Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!" (Matthew 7:9-11) He really lavishes gifts on us, even those of His children who don't have a mom and dad that enjoy their daughter returning home for a weekend. Truth is, what we all deserve is hell. And the fact that we can be saved from that separation from God is the best gift anyone could ever have.

NYC: home of henna, hot subway stations, and hallelujahs

      Wow. Our New York trip was awesome. Pretty much because God was all over it. I learned so much... not just about how to reach out to a predominantly Muslim community, but also about God's power, His control, and the way that we should always, in whatever we do, live with a mindset to "make disciples" (Matthew 28:19).
      So each morning we met at a small Indonesian church with Brad Wall, a pastor living and working in New York and trying to motivate and mobilize church planting in the area. There are so many different peoples in NYC, therefore so many different languages. An English-speaking person can only do so much for Christians who speak Hindi or Bengali or Urdu or Spanish or.... you get it. So training someone from Bangladesh to lead a church, or even just a home Bible study, for people from Bangladesh is important. We were split into groups of 3 and 4 and were sent out into the neighborhoods of Queens to just talk to people, hopefully able to share the our story/testimony or the gospel at some point. This is a snippet of what our schedule looked like:

      One of Brad's suggestions to get to talking with people was to get henna tattoos. A great idea, really, because you're all just sitting there and no one can walk away or be busy with something else. So it's a great time to talk. To get to know someone from another country or faith background. And Trace, Jen, and I did just that.

      Long story short, (I'm still wondering if that phrase is even true) the three of us walked around Jamaica, an area of Queens, for over 2 hours Monday afternoon. We hadn't had any great conversations with anyone; we didn't feel like we knew what we were doing; I was tired and hot, and quite honestly ready to sit on the curb and take a break. But we decided to find a henna shop. That was our goal. The one we walked into less than a block away would be a meeting, I believe, ordained by God.

      By the end of the week, we met Rehmani, the owner of the store, his older brother, his cousin Hadiqa, and her two daughters and her son. Pretty much the whole family! It was really just amazing. As the three Jen, Trace, and I got henna tattoos, we talked with Rehmani and got to hear his story. He's from Pakistan. He's a Muslim. He's also one of the most generous men I've met! On Monday he drove us to and showed us around a mosque in Jamaica (we wouldn't have been allowed in without a friend like him); on Tuesday he drove us to a great lunch spot for some Indian/Pakistani/Bangladeshi food, which was DElicious; on Thursday he bought us lunch and we ate with him and some of his family. And we had just met this guy in Queens, NY!! Not something one would be keen about telling her parents: "oh yeah, I met this guy in Queens and we hopped in his van and he drove us around!" But really, it was awesome--just so cool that we had the chance to get to know him, to talk about faith, the differences in our beliefs, to try and share the truth about Christ with Him. And, for the record, it was a mini van.

      There were so many stories of cool things that God did in us and through us while we were there. It was pretty unbelievable. I want to share some of the things God did and taught me last week:

• God uses the weak. He doesn't have to display His power in the strong and important, in a king or even a prophet. On Monday we were weak, discouraged, and tired, yet He used us to build a friendship with Rehmani.
• Suffering is not pointless. God brought us low on purpose before He used us. If we had had an awesome conversation right after we'd been sent out that day, we may have thought, "we're good at this" or "this is easy!" Truth is, it's not easy. Think about Paul and how he suffered. If you put importance in sharing the gospel, the truth about Jesus our Savior, it'll be difficult at times, humbling and refining. Check out James 1: 2-4 (great encouragement sent to me). Joy in sufferings.
• Jesus said GO. He told His disciples, "as you are going out, make disciples." We, as disciples, are not to say, "come here to me, and let me tell you about this great God." We are to go, to meet people where they are comfortable. And we did that last week. We went where Rehmani was comfortable. In his shop, his mosque, his van!
• The way God orchestrates His plan is amazing. Earlier on Monday, around 1pm (we went to the shop around 3pm), some guy came and harassed the women in the shop. Rehmani wasn't there and Hadiqa called him, wanting to close the shop for the rest of the day. Rehmani said no, that he would drive over there. If they had decided to close the shop, we would not have been able to meet them and talk with Rehmani for 3 hours!!!! God is sovereign. He controls even the tiniest of details.
• Prayer is powerful. James 5:16 says, "Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results." (NLT) God tried to discipline me in this last week. As I'm praying hard for Rehmani, I truly believe that God will save Him, that He will soften Rehmani's heart and make Him receptive to the truth about Christ. Matthew 7:7 reads "Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you." (NLT) In Ephesians 6:18 Paul says, "Pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints." (NIV, emphasis added). So, so important, obviously. Something that I definitely need God's discipline to do and believe.

I'm in awe that I can actually say that I made a friend last week. Please, continue to pray diligently!! For Rehmani, for my continued humility and belief that God will save him and his family, for the rest of the students with me, as we start our seminary class and our two internships!! Thank you, thank you for your prayers and your support and your love!

almost in Queens

We’re leaving for NY this morning and will be working hard to carry the name of Jesus among the Muslims we meet there. I struggled with questioning the benefit of trying to do this, given that I might only talk once to the people I meet next week. Basically I want to see the fruit of my labors. Really though, we don’t always see the fruit. I may not be the one to talk with someone just after God has softened their heart to His truth. I just have to trust that He is in control. I may drop that seed into the ground, or cover the seed with soil, or water the seed, but He is the ultimate Gardener, and He will see it through to the end (“He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus”—Philippians 1:6). And it’s just not about seeing the fruit. It can’t become selfish in any way. Selfish ambition will never be fully satisfied fully. I really don't need to see my fruit, because I am satisfied by Christ. I have found the greatest treasure in Him! I will trust in God, in His goodness and faithfulness.

For the prayer warriors! - Please pray that we will abide in Christ. That we will let the Spirit guide us in our conversations. Look at Ephesians 6:10-20…. This is awesome stuff!! Pray that we would find our confidence in God and that He would, in His grace, clothe us with these gifts from Him.

“He [JESUS] must increase, but I must decrease.” (John 3:30) Let this be true of us.
Pray. Pray. Pray.
Thanks, we need it :)

the first from Durham

Oh my, where to start? So I’m on day 4 of the City Project (well, officially). Anyway, wow! I am so excited about what God is doing through this, and yes, you read correctly, it has only been four days!

I’ll start here because this is what we started with on Wednesday morning. John 15:4 records that Jesus says, “Abide in me, and I in you.” Or, “Remain in me, and I will remain in you.” What a promise! That God will continue to dwell within us if we remain grounded in Him. And that is what this summer is really grounded in. All of this that we are doing is because of our remaining in Jesus. Because He first loved us. Because this glorifies His name.

So, here’s some of what’s going on!

·         We split up into our two teams and did a huge scavenger hunt all over downtown Durham. My team had a little trouble with some of the clues and we ended up walking I-don't-know-how-many miles. Actually, we just went above and beyond the task, and that’s why we got extra exercise. Oh did I mention it was the middle of Wednesday? It was real hot. But so fun and a great time to get to know each other a bit. It was intense.

·         I’m sleeping in a water bed! Four of the 15 girls are staying at Wendy’s house. It’s been great to get to know her a bit more the past few days. She has been so generous to us, and we even went with her to a Durham Bulls baseball game Friday night!

·         I found out my internship position within the Summit Church, and I’ll be working with Jason Gaston, the student pastor! So I don’t know yet what that means exactly, but I’ll be hanging out with high school students I think! So cool.

·         My position with the community ministry in Durham is just as vague at this point. I’ll be working within Bless Durham, which is a sort of hub/connector for churches and non-profits and ministries within Durham. The goal is to have communication in between these churches and organizations so that everyone is working side by side, working for the growth of the kingdom and for the glory of God.

This is a cool verse: “So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. For we are God’s fellow workers.” (1 Corinthians 3:7-9).

So, yes!!! I'm really excited!! I pray for all of us to remain in Jesus so that He will remain in us. Because if we do not, all that we do this summer will not have much value. I'm tired! We've gotten a lot of information and logistics to start off this week. Thankfully I'll be able to sleep in a little bit longer this morning. Until later!