Getting Settled

Finally...I've arrived and settled in North Myrtle Beach! I've been here for about a week, but it seems like it's been a lot longer.  My flight went good and I actually ended up sitting next to a couple of girls who were also headed to Summer Project.  Arriving at the beach apartments after seeing so many pictures of them was very exciting.  I'm living with 5 other girls, and it's been really fun getting to know them better and learn how to make use of our limited space!  We just have to cross the street and the ocean is right there, so it's pretty awesome, and of course, it's always sunny and hot here.

Our first week here was orientation week, so we got placed into men's and women's Bible studies, our co-ed Impact groups, and ministry teams.  I am going to be serving on the Outreach team so I'm really looking forward to learning how to coordinate and encourage our group to go out sharing each week.  We also started looking for jobs last Friday; with 97 students out looking for jobs, you can imagine how busy we were! I applied at a couple of places but didn't hear back from them until 3 days later, so that time of waiting for me was pretty stressful.  Over half of the students had a job by the first day, so for me not knowing if I had a job was kinda hard.  God really used that time to teach me to be flexible on this trip and to trust in Him and not worry.  Although I was very anxious throughout that time, God taught me to take everything this summer as it comes and trust that His plan is the best.  I ended up getting a job for the first position I applied for, a fudge/ice cream/smoothie shop called the Fudgery.  The Fudgery is a unique spot in South Carolina so I am excited to be working at something a little more tuned to this area.  I am so thankful for the job and seeing God provide it was awesome.  When we were applying for the job, we actually had to sing a solo in front of the manager as part of our application; as employees we have to sing and do shows in front of our customers all day.  We make the fudge on large tables for everyone to see and are constantly engaging customers to try some of our fudge.  It's been a fun job so far; although I can honestly say I've never sang and talked about fudge as much as I do every day now! :)

We've gone sharing around town and on the beaches quite a bit lately, and it's been so amazing to hear people's stories and their spiritual views.  Many people that we've encountered here are familiar with our program or are already Christians, so it's awesome to see how God uses them to teach us instead of the other way around.  But there have been so many cool strories so far of how our project people have shared with others; I can't wait to see how much more He will do throughout this summer.  We started having big group meetings and can invite the public to come each week.  Other than that, we had our first Reflection Night, or "date night with Jesus," and Bible studies and meeting with our discipler.  It's good to be getting into our weekly schedule with work and Project activities. 

Thank you for all the prayers and support once again; it's so amazing to see how you helped bring me here; it was all kinda hard to believe at first!! But if you would like something specific to pray for, you could pray for the remaining students on our project to find jobs, and also that we would be a light in those jobs.  Pray that our group will just grow closer and build strong relationships so that we may build each other up in our faith.  And finally, prayer for the people that we will be ministering too would be most appreciated.  Pray for those who we've already encountered that God would nuture the seeds that were sowed, and for the interactions that are yet to come.  God is going to do great things this summer; He already has...