Summer Project

God’s Work in Senegal

Posted by mediatechteam on June 12, 2011

Happy Summer!

Hope you are all having a great summer!  As staff, we are praying God would use this summer in a way that expands your soul and deepens your enjoyment of Jesus’ fellowship, not matter where you are or what you are doing.  We have lots of students in our movement serving around the world, and wanted to give you an update from some of them this summer.

Beimnet Baissa will be a junior this fall and is serving on the Sending Team in Cornerstone. This summer she is on Project in Senegal, a predominantly Muslim country.  Her team is keeping a blog this summer, and this is an update from a team member about their time thus far.  Please pray that God continues to set up divine appointments between the members of the Project team and Sengalese students.  Pray that God would open the hearts of the Senegalese so that the light of Christ can shine where once there was darkness!

2 Cor 4:4-6.  Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God.  You see, we don’t go around preaching about ourselves. We preach that Jesus Christ is Lord, and we ourselves are your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, “Let there be light in the darkness,” has made this light shine in our hearts so we could know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ.

Things I am learning…

  1. It is possible to be an American woman and smell like a Senegalese man (this of course is after going a few days without a real shower)
  2. I really love peanut butter and wish we could buy it here
  3. Don’t use a Senegalese public restroom around the times of prayer because the floors turn into a muddy mess from the girls washing in there
  4. No attempt to share the gospel out of love goes unnoticed in the Kingdom
  5. We can not win Muslims to Christ with a good argument… it will only happen through the power of the Holy Spirit
  6. PRAYER IS POWERFUL
  7. The more I share the gospel, the more confident I become in my faith and the more I want my friends (in America and in Senegal) to know Him!

Well I pretty much consider myself Senegalese after 2 weeks here… I’ve learned the basic French/Wolof greetings and communication form, can order my own food, and can get a taxi (without being ripped off because I am an American girl).

**WE HAD OUR FIRST STUDENT PUT HER FAITH IN CHRIST THIS WEEK!!!!!**

This week was our first full week on campus and it was filled with many highs and many lows. We were turned loose on Monday like a bunch of wild animals out in search of English speaking students that we could share the Gospel with. Monday was so encouraging for our team. We found lots of students excited to talk to us AND who spoke English well (very important aspect these days). Some of the guys on our team immediately had other guys to meet up with one on one, but it is not so easy for the girls. We found through out the week that many times when we start to talk to a girl (or a group of girls) the guys come over and interrupt, just out of curiosity, but it completely shuts the girls down from interacting with us at all.

We returned on Wednesday ready to go after our early afternoon. I had a lunch meeting with Hilary, Kevin, and Ben and two male students when we arrived on campus. It was great to see how the Holy Spirit was working in their hearts right there at the lunch table. The comparison between the start of the conversation (which was dominated by defense tactics) and the end of the conversation which was the two guys intently listening to what we had to say about Jesus being the Messiah and sent to earth to save us and completely take the punishment for our sins. I left that lunch feeling so confident in the God that I love and serve that I couldn’t wait to meet more students and hopefully have more of those same conversations.

Observations on East Asia

Posted by mediatechteam on February 26, 2011

You know you’re in East Asia when…

- Talking with your mouth full, slurping loudly, eating off the same dishes as everyone else at the table, and spitting bones on the table are considered good manners.

- You can eat a whole meal, plus some ice cream for dessert, for less than a dollar.

- You are somewhat of a celebrity – everyone stares at you and takes pictures of you on their phones.

- It takes you 30 minutes to figure out how to mail a letter at the post office.

- You feel like you’re illiterate.

- You can’t tell if the person in the store window is alive or a mannequin.

….Those are just a few observations about everyday life in East Asia. But, when it comes down to it, these things — learning the language, exploring the city, getting to know the culture, etc — were more minor parts of my Summer Project experience. The whole time we were there, our larger purpose was to be a part of God’s story for our campus, for the country, and for the world. Never before had I woken up each day with the intent of meeting as many new people as possible that day and sharing the Gospel with each of them. Never before had I realized how completely inadequate I am, but how perfectly and abundantly more-than-adequate God is when I am depending on Him to make His strength perfect in my weakness. The amazing team He put together for our campus, the students he allowed us to meet, the things I needed to go halfway across the world to really grasp, the opportunities He gave us to talk about Him, and of course, the many interesting things we learned about East Asian culture — all of it made for a truly incredible six weeks.

Summer Project: Santa Cruz, CA ’08

Posted by dsmith on February 19, 2010

I spent my summer in Santa Cruz with 50 college students seeking to see Christ clearly while making a difference in this city.  It has been about a year and a half since then and it continues to be an experience that affects me today.  When I think of Santa Cruz, my mind fills with memories of running along the cliffs of the Pacific Ocean, bible studies downtown at Jamba Juice, “rad” California surfers, and especially The Boardwalk, the world’s best seaside amusement park.  The purpose of this project was to grow in our understanding of Christ and Christian community while maintaining a ministry with our coworkers (at an amusement park!).

Two things that have really stuck out to me from the project were the Christian community and accountability I had there and the relationships I had with my coworkers.  As the summer went on, I began to see my imperfections in light of how beautiful Christ was.  I began to realize that God has created us to not only need Him, but to need fellow believers to continue to be more like Him.  Through the community on Santa Cruz, I was able to appreciate the necessity of Christian fellowship and accountability and see how God calls us to that.  By living with 6 guys in one room all seeking to know Christ and to glorify Christ, I was able to be encouraged and grow out of the strengths and weaknesses of each person.  It provided me a view of how Christian community could and should be.

Also, sharing Christ with others went from an awkward, nerve-racking, once a month (or year) experience to an exciting, purpose driven lifestyle over the span of the project.  Before I went to Santa Cruz, evangelism was something I rarely, if ever did.  Summer project provided me with evangelical training to help me share my faith with confidence and purpose.  As God continued to give me a love for the lost, telling people about what Jesus has done for them became a desire rather than a duty.  I’m not saying that I jump on every opportunity to share the Gospel to everyone now.  I’m just saying that summer project can help you desire that as you start the process of seeing God clearly and people clearly.  So overall, Santa Cruz summer project left me desiring and experiencing intimacy with God more than I ever had before.  I began to understand the importance of Christian community and spreading the Gospel.  I was able to work at a seaside amusement park with a diverse group of Californians.  I was able to see the beauty of God’s creation on the coast of California a block from where I lived.  Sign up for summer project, it will most likely be the best decision you made in 7 years.

Jin Lee
lwjin@email.unc.edu

http://gosummerproject.com/

Summer Project: Sweden ’09

Posted by dsmith on February 12, 2010

The first thing that hit me about Sweden was how beautiful everything was. The country has rolling hills, a bright blue sky where the sun rises at 3a.m. then falls at 11p.m., clean cities with both history and modernity, and people that are attractive in body and spirit. Never have I lived somewhere where everything seemed so picturesque but was so truly distorted.

For all the perfection of Sweden, the more I honestly looked at the Swedes the more I realized how dead everyone was. The Swedes live in a state they call “lagom”, which in Swedish means “not too much, not too little, but just right.” Everyone lived a comfortable life with many luxuries, but did not give into extravagance. Essentially, they wanted for nothing. Therefore, Swedes felt no need for religion or God. For many of them, religion is a personal choice to help cope with the world, but not an absolute truth, which makes them very tolerant of religion without ever having to develop beliefs of their own. There is nothing so hard as trying to help someone who has everything they could ever need realize that they truly have nothing without Christ.

Our team’s first mission in Sweden was making friends. The most effective method for me was going out onto the Uppsala University campus for lunch, which we all did most days, and try to get Swedes to eat with us. We would eat at on of the thirteen “Nations,” houses that served like coed fraternities that every student was required to join. My forte was playing the “dumb American who can’t read” card to get people to talk with me in line. From there, I’d try to eat lunch with my new friends and hopefully get their phones numbers and agreements to hang out later from Swedes by the end of lunch. Usually for our second date we’d go to “fika”, which is a Swedish lifestyle of taking about two hours of the afternoon off to get coffee and desserts with another friend. It’s the best idea EVER! Plus, there is no better time to really get to know a Swede and have deep conversation.

Swedes live in a constant state of comfort and security, but in all the wrong ways. The government and the culture tell them that spiritual matters are a waste of time. They never question the general teachings. Just to know that some of my friends were obviously challenged and considering God’s words is enough to make me cry. I know the Spirit was turning something in their hearts.

This is how Sweden Summer Project is different than any of summer project. The Spirit is working on beautiful hearts of stone in a culture of complete apathy. It is the hardest summer I’ve ever experienced and the most rewarding. In a country where God is the furthest thing from their thoughts, I learned the desperate need to keep Him the center of my life. I went on project expecting to personally save the Swedes and it turns out Christ saved me. He showed me how to trust Him again. His Spirit is working amazing things in Sweden, even if we cannot fully realize or appreciate it. A hundred years ago, Sweden sent out more missionaries than any other nation, but it has forgotten the greatness of God. As ambassadors for the Lord we are called to spread His glory and be His vessels.

Lydia
lkwalker@email.unc.edu

http://gosummerproject.com/

Summer Project Myth #3: “I can’t afford the cost of project”

Posted by dsmith on January 29, 2010

Once you go through the application process and receive acceptance, we’ll send you thorough information on how to ask people you know to be a partner in ministry with you this summer through prayer and financial support. You’ll be able to invite others-family, friends, fellow church members, etc.-to invest in expanding God’s kingdom as you go this summer. We’ll guide you with instructions. It is always encouraging to see God bring in the financial support that we need for our summer project staff and students! Be encouraged, every staff member in the world is responsible for building a team of ministry partners and God has done it over and over again. He continues to prove himself faithful and gives abundantly beyond what you can imagine.

The cost of your project will vary depending on length and location. The cost of your project will pay for housing, a portion of your food costs, project materials (Bible studies, notebooks, etc.), and some project activities, such as socials or retreats. In addition to the cost that is already listed for the project, you are able to raise additional support to cover your transportation to and from project or briefing, supplies you bought to raise your support for the summer (save your receipts for stamps, copies, envelopes, etc.) and some other costs that your project leadership will tell you about when you are accepted.

Each student on summer project has the opportunity to grow their faith by trusting God to provide the financial resources needed to attend summer project. God will provide for you to serve Him this summer!

“The heavens are yours, and yours also the earth; you founded the world and all that is in it.” Psalm 89:11

“And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:19

http://gosummerproject.com/

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