God's Plan for the World

This past week our Project hosted the Cross-Cultural Project group (CCP) for Missions Week! The CCP group is also from the Minneapolis region, but they are leaving to do their Project down in South Africa for a month. They are going to partner with the CO group down in South Africa to help them do ministry and outreach at the University of Pretoria.

While down here with us, CCP explained to us about how God has worked in their heart’s towards this trip, what their trip is going to look like, and what God’s heart is towards the world and the lost. Our whole week of talks and content were focused on global missions. We sent them off to South Africa early last week and they have safely arrived in Pretoria and started their work down there! 

Though Missions Week is always a fun week because we get to see some friends from back home and hear and talk about what God is doing in the world, the week is also a convicting one full of self reflection and good conversations. 

The reality of the world’s situation is that there are 3.28 billion people or 41.5% of the world’s population today who would be considered part of an unreached people group. Unreached people groups are those whose population is less than 2% Christian, and so people in these groups have a very slim chance of ever hearing the gospel just from those around them. In America, we have churches on pretty much every street, and it is not very hard to meet a Christian basically anywhere you go. The same cannot be said about unreached people groups. 

So when we talk about this reality, and the truth of the Great Commission that Jesus gives us in Matthew 28 to “go therefore and make disciples of all nations,” that should do some kind of work in our hearts. It should make us feel some kind of way. And that should make us act another sort of way. 

Not everyone is going to go on mission to another part of the world, and that is ok. We need people here too. We need Christians who are doctors and lawyers and business people. But we also need to be aware about the status of the world and have a desire to reach the unreached. 

At evangelism training we were told this sobering truth, “Americans spend more (separately) on twinkies, golf balls, and halloween costumes for their dogs than they do to reach the unreached.” What a sad reality! 

So what can we do about this? At our theme training, one of the CCP leaders Daniel shared a few ways that we can be a part of God’s plan to reach all nations. 

1. Pray. We should be praying that God would raise up laborers and also for people of unreached people groups. The Joshua Project is a great resource to learn more about different unreached people groups and specific things to pray for for each group. 

2. Welcome. Many of us live in areas with high rates of immigrants who are actually part of unreached people groups! We have an incredible opportunity to welcome those around us, be friends with them, and share the gospel with them.

3. Send. We should be sending out missionaries. Sending can mean a lot of things, but in this case we are talking about financially supporting missionaries. We should be good stewards of what God has given us, and we should invest in making His name known to all peoples’ from all nations. 

4. Go. Some of us are called to go. We must be open to God’s call and His will. Sometimes we don’t feel any type of direct “call” from God to go overseas, but we must be obedient to what God has laid out in the Bible about His heart for the world. As Daniel shared, we should be “ready to go, and willing to stay.” 

At Project, we are all considering what our place is in God’s story for the world. We want to impact the world for Christ and be a part of His great mission to bring people from every tribe, tongue, and nation to Himself (Rev. 7:9). We hope that you will also join us and join God in His great plan. 

Another fun and unique thing we do for Missions Week is an optional sunrise prayer for the nations! Last Sunday a bunch of us got up at 5:45 a.m. to go out to the beach and pray for unreached people groups and for the CCP trip. It was a sweet time of community and sacrificing some beloved sleep to intentionally set our hearts on God and pray for His will to be done in the world and in our lives. 

“The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.” Psalm 19:1

The Vision of Discipleship

Students decide to come to Project and get involved with Campus Outreach through many different avenues. Some wander upon Campus Outreach events, some meet a staff person, and some get connected to another student who is already involved. But a common denominator through it all, is that it’s the relationships that make people stay. 

Last Monday, Blake Buckman, Regional Director of CO Louisville, talked on the importance and impact of discipleship. Going through his spiritual ancestry, he shared with us how he and his mentors had been impacted for Christ and how he has been a part of a long chain to keep growing the Kingdom. It was extremely impactful to hear how the staff person he had discipled, discipled one of our team leaders down here who had discipled a couple of the participants down here. What a testament of God’s grace! 

This is the story for many down here. Each member of our crew of team leaders had been discipled by someone who had helped lead us and impact us to Christ and brought us to our first Projects. Then each of us have our own people down here that we have discipled and encouraged to come to Project this year.  It is beautiful to think just how interconnected all of our stories are to each other’s. 

“Discipleship is a command from Jesus to give your life away to someone else while teaching and training them to be a follower of Christ with the goal to multiply.”

— Blake Buckman

Discipleship is a long term vision. We invest in others that they may in turn invest in others that they may in turn invest in others. If every Christian was faithful to doing that, we would reach a lot of people. 

So we want to be faithful with what God has given us and the people he has placed in our lives. We are blessed to be a blessing to others. As we get closer to finishing our time down here, that is something that we want to remember as we go back to our normal lives.

Some Fun Things

Thursday Night Social

Last Thursday the social was Christmas in July! We all had a great time finding some Christmas outfits from Goodwill and celebrating Christmas in the 90 degree heat of South Carolina! We ate Christmas dinner together with candles lit and happy hearts. We then had a blast playing Christmas bingo and having a human wrapping and cookie decorating competition! We ended the night watching Home Alone by the pool.

Fourth of July

Last Monday we were all able to celebrate the Fourth of July together after work and after the Theme Talk. We all had a blast at the pool watching thousands of fireworks go off at the beach and lighting our own sparklers. There truly is nothing quite like a Project Fourth of July pool party!

Ownership and Sacrifice

This last Thursday, all of the CO staff left Project, making Project feel a bit more quiet without all the children and a bit more relaxed as the “parents” are gone. It has been a smooth transition thus far as the student leaders have stepped up to fill all of the roles and ensure that Project keeps running smoothly. 

To some, it seems daunting to have staff leave for a whole month. You may even be wondering why on earth they would leave the exact project that they have planned and prayed for for months. The thing is, it’s all about ownership. Staff are great to help everyone get started, but in the end, every student needs to take ownership of their own faith and their own growth, because when they graduate, they’re not going to have a staff person holding their hand. 

We all need to own our own faith and spiritual development. At some point, we all have to own our faith and figure out how to implement it into our daily lives. We need to learn how to grow together and disciple and lead each other. So, with the staff gone, each student is having to step into their specific role whether team leader, room leader, or participant, and own it. We’ve been trained, and now it’s time to go and do. 

The idea of ownership is interesting because in order to own something, you have to be willing to sacrifice for it. Being a Christian isn’t easy. Being a leader isn’t easy. In fact, it seems that the popular saying is true: “Nothing worth having is ever easy.” 

Last week, the theme talk was about sanctification. Sanctification truly is the life of an exile. In order to be like Christ, we must die to our earthly selves with Christ and be resurrected to new life with Him. But the kicker is that sanctification is a process that takes your whole lifetime; it is neither quick nor easy. 

It is a sacrifice you make when you choose to own your faith. That you would fight with Christ against your old sinful ways and be transformed with Christ to a more holy life. But the fight is just that: it is a fight. 

“No one drifts towards holiness. ”

— D.A. Carson

Sacrifices must be made when it comes to following Jesus, and that is a hard truth for many to hear. Just recently I had another real and hard conversation with my coworker that we have been bringing to talks and sharing the gospel with. To him right now, the life of following Christ isn’t worth giving up his earthly pleasures. It breaks my heart that that is the reality that many choose. 

Please continue to pray for my coworker that God would open his eyes to the goodness and value of the gospel. Because while owning your faith takes a lot of sacrifice, it is the best decision that anyone can make in their entire lives. Please pray that that truth would be seen in our lives to those around us. Jesus truly is better!

Thursday Night Social

Last Thursday, our social was a Tropical Party! The social was a bit on the calmer end as we all just dressed up in our Hawaiian gear, ate “Hawaiian-themed” food, did the limbo, and danced the night away. People have been very dedicated to learning how to swing-dance and improving their skills! And of course, pool parties are always a go-to!

Where is Your Treasure?

Treasure. What are you treasuring, and what does it even mean to treasure something?

Merriam-Webster would define the verb treasure as:

“to hold or keep as precious” or “to collect and store up (something of value) for future use.”

Like Jesus says in Matthew 6, we want to store up our treasures in heaven. One of the most meaningful parts of Project for me this summer has been learning what that means and how treasuring the Bible – the Living Word of God – is a great way to store up treasures in heaven. 

We are three full weeks in, and the lack of sleep and intense schedule is beginning to catch up with us all. Even still, it is amazing to see just how committed everyone on Project is when it comes to getting in the Word every morning. And the most beautiful part – students are excited to get up and read together. Reading the Bible every morning is not required, and yet it is something everyone is committed to doing. This is because we are all learning to treasure the Bible.

Zach Simmons, Campus Director of the University of Minnesota, has been leading our weekly Word Trainings. Each week he tells multiple personal and emotional stories on the value of the Bible and how treasuring the Bible has impacted him and his family’s lives, leading us to understand why the Bible truly is a treasure. 

This summer our Bible reading has been structured around the “Inductive Study Method”: Observing, Interpreting, and Applying. The inductive method has been a great way to learn how to read the Word and look at what is there before simply making our own assumptions about what is in the text. The goal is to create healthy Bible reading habits that we can carry with us for the rest of our lives. We have all greatly enjoyed learning a highly structured method, knowing that with time, more freedom will naturally come while studying.

Last week, our Word Training centered around memorizing scripture. If the Bible truly is our treasure, we should long to fill our minds with it! Memorizing and meditating on scripture is a great way to treasure the Word of God and take it with us to guide and encourage us wherever we go. The simple way that Zach taught us to memorize was to say it out-loud ten times, write it ten times, then say it out-loud another ten times without looking at it. At the training, we all memorized Galatians 2:20.

After this week, I, along with many others, was convicted of not using my mind, which has the incredible ability to memorize, nearly enough. We want to steward the beautiful and complex brains that God has given us well by filling it with the truth of the Bible.

Other Treasures from this Week

Thursday Night Social

This week’s social was the Synchronized Swimming Social! For this social, each guys’ room comes up with a 2-3 minute “synchronized swimming routine” to perform for one of the girls’ rooms. Then the night of the social, each room performs their routine in hopes that the girls will accept their performance and take them on a group date. If the girls are not satisfied with the guys’ performance, they may pass on the room and pick up a different room instead. The rejected male room then gets to wait in the kiddie pool for another girl room to choose them over their initial room pairing. 

The night is full of laughs as guys perform well-thought-out routines in order to win over the girls who are meant to be treasured! Each girl room then gets to plan out a group date that they take the guys’ room on. Group dates are just a fancy name for a group-hang-out. Godly community is another great way to store up our treasures in heaven. On STP, we want to treasure healthy, Godly relationships between men and women, and group dates are a fun and structured way to foster this! All the groups had a great time going on creative dates!

Co-Worker Cookout

We had our first co-worker cookout on Sunday, and it was a success! Most students invited and had co-workers over to our hotel to share a meal, see Project, and just hang-out and meet other students. All the students came together to put on a multitude of different activities for the enjoyment of our co-workers. The cookout was a great way to show Christian hospitality to our co-workers and deepen relationships with the possibility of sharing the gospel with them!

We want to treasure our relationships with our co-workers. We want to be intentional with them during our time together this summer and share with them the treasures that we have laid up in heaven, hoping they too will be convinced that Christ is the greatest treasure!

Going Deeper in the Gospel and Relationships

One of the greatest things about Summer Training Project is the opportunity to be saturated in gospel truth daily, especially in our Theme Night Talks. Last Monday night, Mike Parrett, Regional Director of Campus Outreach St. Louis, shared about the reality of sin in the world and in our lives. He talked through the tragic reality that sin makes the world not run as God created it to in order to help us understand just how much we need Jesus. 

“If you want to think sin is just doing bad things, then it will be very hard to go to Jesus.”

— Mike Parrett

His argument: everyone can be a good person if they try really hard to, but that doesn’t mean they are saved from sin. Sin lingers on. Sin is both an intruder and a parasite along with being disobedience against God. Like being stuck in quicksand, we literally cannot get ourselves out of our sin. We need Jesus to come and yank us out. There is no other way. 

While sin made us exiles from the garden and from relationship with God, Christ restores us and makes us exiles in this world for the Kingdom of God. What an incredible turnaround made possible only through the blood of Christ. 

Having the opportunity to have impactful gospel talks both at project and at our churches, many students including myself have been taking advantage of them and inviting coworkers in to join us. It has been so encouraging to see all the students on Project being intentional about creating meaningful relationships with each other and with their coworkers while down here. 

There has been a coworker from my Walmart that has been engaging with us with interest in gospel conversations and even attended church with us on Sunday. He then also came to this Monday’s theme night talk as well! Since then, we have been able to have great conversations with him, and he has asked us many questions. Please join us in praising God for this opportunity and praying that he would receive the gospel and repent of his sins, and that we would be bold, intentional, and loving  in our conversations with him! Please also join us in praying for this week’s prayer focus – that we would continue to be blessings to our workplaces and would have the boldness and opportunities to share with more coworkers the good news of the gospel.

Some Fun Things

Last week’s social was the Boat Social! For this social, each team decides on a different theme that they choose to bring to life. They each make a boat using plywood, cardboard, duct tape, and plastic wrap that must float and go across the pool twice in their performance. For this social, teams are truly brought together and the different skills sets and personalities of each member really shine. While bonding and building community, we also get to have fun, be goofy, and not take ourselves too seriously together.

For the performance, different people are given different roles. The goal of the performance is to act out the plot through song in under 10 minutes. This year, the themes were The Little Mermaid, The Greatest Showman, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Tangled (which came out in first place and also happened to be my team). 

The night was full of laughs and amazement as each team creatively gave their all to their performances. People walking by even stopped to watch our performances.  

Last Saturday our encouragement for the week was cereal and cartoons after work. Sitting down together after an exhausting day to watch Phineas and Ferb and eat cereals from our childhood was a great way to end the week and lead into our restful Sunday. Overall, it has been another full week of fellowship, growth, and feeling the Lord’s mercy!

All-Project Picture!!

Week One Recap

Hey everyone!! My name is Cailie Bruxvoort and I have the privilege of being the Communications Intern for this summer at Summer Training Project (STP/Project)! I’m a senior Ministry and Communications student at the University of Northwestern-St. Paul, and I am also serving as a team leader for this summer. I am so excited to keep y’all updated on everything that is going on down here in South Carolina and all that God is doing!

It’s been a full week down at Project, but it feels like we’ve been here for a whole month! Leaders arrived on June 3 and participants arrived shortly after on June 5. This summer is a unique one because we have students from three different Campus Outreach regions: Minneapolis, St. Louis, and Louisville. With around 70 students representing 11 different colleges, it has been a great week getting to know and making friends with so many different people! Before I hop into this first week recap, I’d like to define some STP jargon.

STP Jargon

Teams: Project is split up into four different teams led by one male and one female team leader. Each team has their team leaders, room leaders, and participants. The team leaders are in charge of their team, logistics of Project, and leading the room leaders on their team. The room leaders lead a room of two- four other guys or girls. 

Theme Nights: refer to Monday nights where we have a Project meal where all Project eats together followed by a meeting time consisting of a hype, testimony, talk, and worship. The hype is an interactive introduction to the theme night put on by whoever is planning out the week. Theme night is most similar to a camp rally.

D-groups: Short for discipleship groups, a d-group consists of either a room and its participants, or a team leader and their room leaders. In the discipleship group, Bible study, connection, prayer, and vulnerability are emphasized.

Socials: Thursday night we have the weekly social consisting of a Project meal and a planned out activity for everyone to participate in.

Word Training: Word Training is on Friday mornings where we get trained in effective ways to read and study the Bible. 

Evangelism Training: On Saturday mornings, we all meet together to train in why and how to share our faith. After the training, we go to workshop time where we go out on the beach to engage in conversation with people we don’t know.

Life Training: The last training to note takes place on Sunday mornings before church. For these training sessions, we discuss real cultural issues from a Biblical worldview.

Summer Theme

Each Summer Project, a different book of the Bible and Theme are focused on. This summer, we are reading through the book of 1 Peter with our theme verses being:

“And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.”

-1 Peter 1:17-19

The theme for this summer then is Exiles! By focusing on our status as exiles on earth, we get to spend the summer learning about who God is, who we are as Christians, and what it means to live a set apart life as an exile here on earth.

First Week Highlights

Evangelism Training

The first thing I want to highlight from the past week was our evangelism training. For the summer, our training is focused on living a life full of real relationships full of gospel persuasion. 

For the first training, the focus was on why we should want to be laborers for the Kingdom of God. The talk also discussed three common difficulties of living a missional life and how to combat those difficulties. The talk portion ended with a time for small group reflection on why we personally struggle to live lives of evangelism and what most excites us about it. 

After the talk, we were tasked with our group to go out to the beach and engage with strangers in conversation. The goal of the time was to create reps of getting comfortable talking with strangers and asking intentional questions that would ultimately lead to a gospel conversation. While most people were very nervous to go out on the beach, everyone came back excited to debrief their conversations and learn from each other's experiences. So far, this has been both mine and most other’s favorite time and what we are most looking forward to for the future.

Thursday Night Social

On the fun and fellowship side of projects, socials are incredible. This past week, the social was the Low Country Boil, a night for all us Northerners to really embrace and become acclimated to the caricature of Southern culture – hick-hood. 

Imagine a night with everyone dressed in the most hick garb they could find from Goodwill, a feast of boiled shrimp, sausage, potatoes, and onions dumped out into the middle of the table where everyone eats with their fingers, karaoke, and a multitude of competitions including a watermelon eating and toilet plunger throwing contest. Needless to say, many laughs were had and friendships created through such a fun evening together.

Culture of Project

This year, the team leaders and staff have been very intentional about creating a culture on Project where people spend time together and want to be with each other. So far, it has been really encouraging to see all of the friendships blossoming at Project as people are playing games under the tent, swing dancing in the yard, and having endless amounts of “POOL PARTYYYYY”s. 

More importantly though, we have wanted to stress the importance and benefits of getting into the Word of God every day. Only a week in, it has been incredible to see the amount of students excited to get up early before work and study the Word together. It takes around 60 days to form a habit, and we have the incredible opportunity to be down at Summer Training Project for 9 weeks, around 60 days. Summer Training Project is an incredible place to form the habit of treasuring the Bible and carrying it with us for the rest of our lives.

Personal Worship Training

“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take me yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For me yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

— Matthew 11:28-30

If there could be a theme for Personal Worship Trainings this year it would be Matthew 11:28-30. Jesus' call for sinners to find their rest in him has been the unofficial main point of many of the talks that discuss the spiritual disciplines that we can practice to grow in our personal relationship with God. Throughout these talks, speakers have been encouraged to earnestly try these disciplines as apprentices under Jesus. Examples of these disciplines include prayer, memorization and meditation, fasting, and the Sabbath. 

In these disciplines, much of what is being practiced is contentment. The Sabbath’s days rest, fasting from food or other good things, meditating on Biblical truths for fifteen minutes or more in the morning, all are examples that call us to give up time and energy that could be spent elsewhere. This time that we are giving up does not go to waste as we proclaim, “all we have is all we need.” We are reminded of our need for God, our need for rest, our need for food. In these disciplines God shows us more of Himself in our faithful following and imperfect apprenticeship. 

Through the Personal Worship Trainings we are encouraged to gives these disciplines a try in order to experience their value for ourselves. We can implement and try these practices knowing that Jesus freely offers us rest. We can earnestly practice these disciplines with freedom knowing that our relationship with Jesus is secure. It is our ultimate joy in seeing more of God’s faithfulness in taking time to slow down and rest in His steadfast love. 

Thursday Socials

Between Walmart and Talks and Sleep there’s not often a lot of time for us to just sit and hang out as college students. However, Thursday nights when we get off of work and dinner, that is when the REAL fun begins! We have a social every night, which is an upbeat planned activity that everyone at Summer Training Project gets to participate in. Let me tell you, they are the definition of FUN and LAUGHTER and HYPE. 

Monday night is when the social is announced every week and we get excited, preparing and looking forward to that night. Leaders and different groups of students take turns hosting the event and everyone so far has done a fantastic job! During some of these socials it feels like you’re in the middle of a college summertime movie because the activity is so unique and everyone is having a good time and it is apparent in the moment how special it is and that you’re going to cherish it forever! Here’s a list of the social events and memories we've made so far!

• Low Country Boil - With everyone dressed up in southern flannels and cowboy hats, we had yummy food and plaid all kinds of carnival games followed by karaoke and dancing!

• Broadway at the Beach Scavenger Hunt - Rooms were paired up to go over to the large outdoor shopping area and complete tasks on a list such as ‘fake a proposal’and ‘do a snow angel in a water fountain’

• Boat Social - Teams were given a movie and had to create songs and dances to perform. The trick is we also had to create a ‘boat’ out of banana boxes, duck tape and saran wrap, to float and hold two people across the pool and back!

• Synchronized Swimming - The guys had to come up with a swimming routine in the pool to ask girls out! If the girls said yes, they had a fun group date planned for everyone to go on!

• Movie/Board Night - We had a chill social where we had snacks and played cars, while in another room groups of people competed at all kinds of board games!

• Tropical Vacation - Last week we had a Tropical Vacation social that involved everyone wearing their best hawaiian shirts and leis with snacks! There was also limbo and durfing contests, musical floaties and the fan favorite...swing dancing!

As I am posting this, it is monday night and we are anticipating one of the last few socials of the summer! Below are some photos of the blast we have being in community together!

Respecting the Sabbath

Picture around 80 students and leaders all arriving on project the first day, arriving tired but so excited we can barely sleep. Then picture working at Walmart, listening to inspiring talks by staff and doing all you can on the beach with new people for weeks on end… then imagine how tired we all got by the 3rd week…

We were thankful and anxious to finally be here and experience all we can then we realized a thing called Rest. We all need it. From the calmest Introvert to the most chatty extrovert, it is always important to take time to rest and relax. Humans are not built to be “on” or social 24/7. This is something I think every student struggled with here at project. With being around people constantly and having a busy schedule, it is impertinent that one remembers to rest in the midst of business. The talk of FOMO or “Fear of Missing Out” is very big here because it is something people need to overcome. What do you do when you know that you need sleep and would love to take a nap, but you see people going to the beach to learn to surf, the pool to jump in and have fun, and out to eat at a local restaraunt with good food? Here, you’re not just deciding between staying or going, but the many different places to go.

With all that being said, Emma Garcia gave a talk about The Sabbath and the importance of rest. We often forget that it’s one of the 10 Commandments told to Moses by God himself! Emma’s guidance was very timely for all of us to hear because we all long for emotional, physical and spiritual rest, whether we are in South Carolina or not. Thankfully we have a loving and perfect God that sets an example for us on how we should live to the best of our ability. Have you ever thought about how God did not need to rest?

“He will not let you stumble, the one who watches over you will not slumber. Indeed, he watched over Israel never sumbers or sleeps.”

— Psalms 121: 3-4

Emma went in depth to say that maybe the real reason almighty and everlasting God rested on the 7th day was not because he needed it, but because he knew we did! He knows his creation so well that it is no surprise to him that we get physically and emotionally tired.

The Lord in his greatness not only set an example of rest but he GIVES rest. We are able to find all kinds of comfort in him. He eases our minds, he refills our joy and heals our body.

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest”

— Matthew 11:28

This was needed for all of the students and leaders to hear. It is a great reminder that the Lord gives you strength and energy, but he also give you peace and rest. Praise God for both!

Pray for the people here the next few weeks and that we continue to work on a balance of work, fun and rest. 

I could talk a lot more and more about the Sabbath, but Emma does an incredible job! We have posted Emma’s talk titled Practicing the Way of Jesus under ‘STP talks’ and ‘Personal Worship Training.’ I would highly recommend listening to it because she describes a beautiful outline of examples and practical ideas of how to sabbath. 

Listen to the talk and then join us here in practicing sabbath and making time for rest.

Missional Training

Evangelism is something that can either be very scary or very enticing for people. Over the past few weeks one type of training we have been working on is missional training. This is to equip us on how to share the Gospel in a way that is loving, kind, and yet truthful.

In week one we covered the foundation of why sharing the gospel is important. Talking about that if we truly love people as we are called to, we want them to live in eternity with the perfect and pleasing God. How can we make this happen? By walking with them on their faith journey and encouraging them to seek God first, always!

We have also discussed the cost of missional training. Realistically, It can be uncomfortable and not the most fun or glamorous. It also causes some financial barriers for several reasons such as time, money, moving to a new place, etc. It all adds up and can cause a lot of heartbreak and hurt from the world and the people in it. Yet, to see someone receive grace and the gift of eternal life is so incredibly worth it. 

In the past few weeks, we have been working on logistical methods of sharing the gospel by coming up with different questions to start conversations and using diagrams for the gospel based on core verses such as

“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

— Romans 6:23

So now you may be wondering - okay that’s great you’re learning but God calls us to actions and to be doers of the world...what are you doing? That would be a GREAT question!

The first few weeks here we have been working on loving and talking to our Walmart co-workers. As we have gotten to know them over the weeks here there have been several good conversations and bonding that we hope sparks a desire to know God more. There were even a few nights we had cookouts and invited our co-workers over to our project grounds to hang out and talk! This past week we started beach evangelism where we go walk along the beach and just strike up conversations about their experiences with Christianity and God. I think the more students that are being bold in their faith, the more God is equipping our hearts and minds to be more centered towards him. After doing it a few times, we can confidently say it is a lot less intimidating than one may think.

If you are reading this we encourage you to have conversations with people you wouldn’t think to talk about Jesus with and pray for those we talk to they a seed may be planted in their hearts.

Hard Conversations and Life Training

Hard conversations are happening everywhere. Western Culture is consumed with them, conversations on race, relationships, and identity. The world demands you to simply “do you” in this era of self autonomy. For many students, “Life Training” has produced some of their favorite talks so far. With conversations on Biblical Femininity and Masculinity as well as Ethnicity, and Sexuality, Life Training has prompted students to have conversations and think about topics that Western culture is already engaging with, mainly conversations around identity. 

Identity is a powerful thing that helps us understand ourselves and how we relate to the world around us. Life Training has played an important part in how we see more of not just ourselves but God and His good design for us as seen in scripture. Often pointing back to Genesis and the creation of man (Gen. 1:26-28) and woman (Gen 2:20-25), the talks during Life Training pointed participants to God’s good purpose for who they were created to be. 

The main point in Life Training this summer seems to all be very similar, to see that God is good, and Jesus is better. That God is a good God who gives His children good gifts (Matt. 7:11) and that a life following Jesus is far better than living to one's own desires. Life Training has shown us that we as sinful human beings are in desperate need of Jesus' redemption in our lives and as we have these conversations on Project grounds we are taking away necessary skills in engaging with our non-believing friends and the culture around us. As our theme book Philippians reminds us that our prayers for ourselves and others should be that we would abound in love.

“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.”

— Philippians 1:9-11

This abounding love that comes from knowledge and discernment is being cultivated through thoughtful questions being asked and active listening as we build relationships with our roommates, classmates, co-workers and family and friends back home. 

Sin is a Parasite

One thing that is unique about project that personally energizes and excites me is that all of the students here are from different backgrounds, have different stories, have been hurt and loved back to life in many different ways. Yet we come and are in fellowship, listen to the same stories, pray to God together and come away with individual growth. This can be a wonderful thing, but a lot of times, especially in college when everybody grows at their own pace, it can be hard to not compare seasons of life. 

In a society where social media is such a highlight reel, we get caught in the trap of wanting to compare seasons, imitate others, or rush through the parts of life that are not our favorite. However, in a talk last week by Mike Parrett, he talked about how children imitate parents, the only thing we should imitate is God. If we look to him wide eyed and cheery, we won’t worry about what other people are doing or how we are viewed on earth. Imitating God is a beautiful sentiment because if we lived like Jesus we would fully care for everyone, be righteous and fair, and live with a generous and giving spirit.  Mike talked about Romans 8:28 which says

“and we know that in all things God works together for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose”

— Romans 8:28

saying that everyone is on their own journey and that is planned specifically for you by God. He continued to say some very profound things about how in every good thing there is sin because on earth, sin encompasses our lives and acts like a parasite to every aspect of it. One of the ways sin wrecks our calling is by making us feel that our calling is not as exciting, not as fulfilling, or as glamourous as others purpose God has planned for their life. This can be so detrimental and can not only affect us and our relationship with God, but also affect the people we are supposed to impact through our calling in life. Last week at project thanks to Mike’s words of wisdom we were able to address how sin is an intruder in our lives and how it acts like a parasite. This is a part of all our big problems in life. After all, recognizing the problem is the first step, right? The heart may be fickle with our feelings but God’s plan is good and constant!

Here at project we are having good conversations about how to recognize sin in our lives and to not let that stop us from God’s calling in our lives! We encourage those at home to think about how sin is affecting aspects of their life and pray for God to take control of that.

Comfort Zone

For anyone who does not know what it’s like moving across the country to live in South Carolina for eight weeks to be fully immersed in learning about the Lord and working at Walmart, the only word I can possibly use to describe it is impactful. One of the things leaders said the first week here was that while we were going to be doing a lot, we also have to say goodbye to our comfort zone. A lot of students, including myself felt this arriving in South Carolina. However, I would be as bold to say that the Lord does his best work when we push ourselves and fully submit to him. In the Bible it talks about not being afraid and being confident in the Lord a lot, it’s something we’ve even covered in a few talks these first few weeks of being here. The main verse that comes to mind for me is

“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”

— Joshua 1:9

I love this verse because wherever we travel, live or work, we can have assurance that God has not left us to be on our own, this includes South Carolina! As a first-time student coming to Summer Training Project, it is very evident that the Lord is doing good work here and that gives me peace in the midst of being involved into new experiences.

This first week has been a lot of stimulus with meeting people from several different schools, being on your feet all day walking around and listening and diving deep into the Word of God daily. It is physically, emotionally and spiritually stimulating. However, I am confident that all the students and leaders here are being pushed out of their comfort zone by learning a lot and really developing skills that we can use for the rest of our lives! Each day here ends with a grateful spirit, tired feet and a strengthened heart for the Lord as we get to know each other better and are becoming more unified brothers and sisters in Christ. What better environment to test our growth than in a safe community of Christians that cheer you on and celebrate with you!

I asked some students what are some spontaneous or bold things they that have done that expanded their comfort zone so far here and this is a list of what they said:

-          Sang karaoke in front of a crowd that you just met

-          Learned to skim board

-          Learned to stand up on a surfboard

-          Started conversations with co-workers talking about Jesus

-          Went night swimming in the ocean

-          Randomly been thrown in the pool

-          Threw a plunger in a toilet (we had a FUN low country boil)

-          Had conversations with people about difficult topics such as gender, race, sexuality, etc.

-          Faked a proposal and breakup in public (We had a blast as we did a scavenger hunt!)

-          Walked up to strangers at Broadway at the Beach and asking them if they’re from Minnesota.

-          Went on a helicopter ride

-          Prayed for a customer in a Walmart parking lot

-          Worked 8 hour shifts at Walmart/Chick-fil-a

Not to mention that moving across the country not knowing who you will be living with or anything about the area isn’t a big enough deal, that alone is removing us from our ‘safe place’ at home! We have done so much in two weeks I cannot wait to see what the rest of the summer has in store for us.

If you are reading this, continue to pray for everyone here and that we will continue to really live/grow in the uncomfortable moments here on project that are meant for us to build our faith.

We Made It!

Like the start of many high school commencement speeches I would like to start this post with a “well, we made it.” This statement feels like a long time coming, a lot longer than a 27 hour road trip or a week of packing or even a winter of looking forward to the beach can anticipate. The relief of finally being able to say “we made it” has been a joy a year in the making as we finally take STP back to Garden City South Carolina.

For a few staff and students the hotel that we call home for the next two months is familiar and full of memories of past summers filled with socials, early morning Bible studies, friends and spontaneous trips out to get ice cream. However, for a large portion of students and staff the hotel, STP, and South Carolina are completely new to them. With the COVID-19 pandemic canceling our plans for Project at thebeach the summer of 2020, there is a large majority of students who have not been able to experience STP in its fullest form. With many fresh faces and ideas for what this summer could look like this summer's Project with even more excitement than normal. As many Project-goers are exploring what a summer in South Carolina has to offer, students and staff both are also discovering new ways to “gain God” as we dig into the book of Phillipians. Our theme, “Gain” comes from Philippians 3: 7-8 which says:

But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ.

As we welcome this summer and whatever new experiences it has in store, we look forward and pray that the idea of seeing our losses as gains in light of the gospel is an ever apparent theme in our day to day lives.

Below is a photo of our home away from home where we will be growing all summer long!

GAIN

This year on Summer Training Project we arrived and met up to welcome each other to our home for the summer and to discuss our verse and theme for the year. Gain. This theme is surrounding Philippians 3:7-8 which says

“But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ”

— Philippians 3:7-8

This is the main verse that the leaders chose to have us reflect on throughout our time here as well as dive into the book of Philippians. This is a sentimental verse and there is a lot to unpack in those 2 verses. Paul the Apostle wrote Philippians as a letter to the church of Philippi about 62 AD. That all sounds normal, but he actually wrote this during his time in prison. That fact gives a whole new perspective on this verse and letter overall. When he was put in prison for his faith, it would have been easy for him to have a negative outlook and question God for why he was in this situation. I think that is what most of us would do in a natural response. However, Paul sets a good example in verse 7 of no matter what accomplishments, or whatever you have ‘gained’ in life, nothing is more valuable than the knowledge of the Lord and having a relationship with Christ. Paul goes on to make a bold statement and say that everything else he has been given in life is a loss and meaningless compared Christ. This reflects how important knowing Christ is.

In verse 8, Paul continues to talk about gaining Christ. There is a shift from worldly gains to gaining Christ. Paul is saying that he has gained all worldly possessions and suffered the loss all of them, but nevertheless he gained Christ which is far more fulfilling and substantial than anything else. There is something comforting about God being so consistent in our lives that we always have the opportunity to know and love him.

What an encouraging verse to hear and base our summer on as we learn to prioritize God in our lives! Our goal as students throughout the summer is to really focus on what our own individual gains are, whether they are birth given rights, accomplishments, leadership titles, etc. and really think about the impact they play in our life and to work towards focusing on how we can use those to glorify God. Also, our primary focus is to understand that it is one think to see the goodness of God in others lives and read the words on a page, but it is another thing to individually gain a relationship with him and give in him wholeheartedly. This summer, I am looking forward to all of us gaining a deeper and meaning full connection with not only one another but Christ as well.

Signing Off

It was only a week ago when Dan and Glo waved goodbye for the last time this summer and left the zoom meeting room. And there I sat, alone in my bedroom looking at a blank screen. “Huh, it’s already over.” I thought to myself. That moment was different for many of the students and staff. Some were with family, some were with friends, and some were together in South Carolina. But despite where we all physically were I think we can all say we are thankful for the experience we were able to share in this summer. Although it may not have looked anything like we pictured it to be, this summer still held many sweet memories, new friendships, and transformation. 

If most of us are honest with ourselves, I’m willing to bet that those of us who experienced some form of transformation would say that it wasn’t very comfortable. As Reid talked about in the final talk, the pruning process can be pretty painful. What is it that might need to be removed from your life? Is it an addiction? A friendship? A busy schedule? It can be extremely difficult to let go of those things. However, we can trust that God is preparing us for something better, and in the end will bring fruit out of our lives if we allow Him to. 

“Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.” -John 15:4

My prayer is that we continue to step into what we’ve learned this summer. May we open our Bibles expecting to see more of who God is on each page. Let us take the time to observe, ask questions, and apply the Word to our lives. Let us continue to abide in the vine, trust in the Lord’s process, and produce fruit so others can see just how sweet our Jesus is. And may we never forget the ways in which God has and always will be the ultimate fulfiller in our lives.

Here are a few quotes taken from students about how Virtual Leadership Project has impacted them this summer:

“This summer through VLP, I was reminded that God chooses to dwell with us, He sent His son to be the perfect sacrifice to atone for our sins, and that He is our Living Hope. VLP was an incredible opportunity to connect deeply with other believers, dive into scripture together, engage in meaningful conversations, and have fun in fellowship together! One of my biggest takeaways was from studying John 15. I was reminded of trusting the Lord’s process because He is worth everything.” 

-Alicia Siira, Bethel University

“If our desire for God is a fire in our hearts, then VLP was the gasoline that makes it explode. VLP was an awesome experience because it gave me the opportunity to sit in a Christian community that showed me so much of what that community should look like. From all the other students I felt loved, cared for, listened to, and I felt like everybody around me wanted to see my faith grow as much as I did. VLP is an experience I would recommend to anybody who feels like their faith has been sputtering and even to people who feel rock solid, as you’ll walk away just feeling overflowed with God's presence  and love.”

-Ethan Panchyshyn, University of Northwestern - St. Paul

“VLP impacted my life more than I ever would have expected. I grew in community with other believers, I got to experience project in a way nobody ever has before, and most importantly learned how I’m fulfilled in Christ!”

-Riley Johnson, St. Cloud State University

Ginnie Sannes, Senior

Bethel University

2020 VLP Communications Intern

Sin is Gross

When I think back to Old Testament times and how believers had to make sacrifices every time they sinned all I can think is, “Whew! Thank God I don’t have to do that!”. I mean imagine with me for a moment: 

You’re on the highway driving to meet your friend then all of a sudden someone who is driving like a maniac cuts you off. You slam on your breaks, get angry, say some choice words, and continue driving. Once you become aware of the sin you had committed you immediately take the next exit, pull over and begin your search for a perfect and spotless lamb to be purified from your sins and made right before God.

Man… I feel like I’d be taking exits pretty often… Imagine how many times you’d have to cancel your plans in order to make an atonement for your sins. Good thing that’s not the case any more right?! We have Jesus who came to be our perfect and spotless lamb who died once and for all to be the ultimate sacrifice for our sins. Now we don’t have to take the exit, we can just toss up a prayer to God and move on with our day!

Oh wait. Is that really what God hoped would happen once He sent Jesus to die for our sins? Do you think He wants us to continue with our everyday plans as if nothing has happened? My guess is no...

Just because Jesus died for our sins doesn’t mean we should forget the seriousness of our sins.

I do still believe that the people of the Old Testament had it rough, but they experienced first hand just how serious their sins were. The experience of searching for the perfect sacrifice and offering it on the altar. The reality of a crying animal, blood being spilled, and the smell of burning flesh and bones. Imagine the impact that kind of experience would have on your life when you know that it was your sin that made this action necessary. The frustration you would feel knowing that you would have to do it again, and again, and again, every time you missed the mark. I imagine after doing such a sacrifice these people desired to sin no more. They saw just how gross their sin was, and desired to walk in it no longer. 

Do I have something like the people of the Old Testament to make me aware of how gross my sin is? What causes me to no longer desire to walk in sin? Maybe I don’t have something in the sense of smelling burning flesh, but I do have something they didn’t have access to. I have access to the Spirit. The Spirit that convicts me of my sins and leads me to repentance. The Spirit that allows me to experience the presence of God without going into the temple. I get to experience first hand just how holy our God is, which causes me to realize just how sinful I am. Compared to Jesus I am gross because of my sin. As people who desire to be near to God, we should run from our sin. We should pursue being holy as He is holy, and the only way to do this is by continually confessing our sins to God and admitting that His way is better.

Although I do not have the physical reminder of how gross my sin is to lead me to repentance, I have the Spirit who leads me and guides me. The truth is the sacrifices of the Old Testament were only temporary coverings of sin. Everything that the people of the Old Testament could do would still fall short of pleasing a holy and perfect God. Something better was necessary. Romans 8:3-4 does a wonderful job of telling us why. It states, “For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”

Jesus on the cross saying “It is finished.” fulfilled what sacrifices couldn’t do for us. Because of Him, we will be passed over and seen as righteous before God, not because of what we have done but because of what Jesus has done for us. In response we can walk in the Spirit with thankful hearts knowing that God knew what He was doing when He sent Jesus to be the better sacrifice for us.

Ginnie Sannes, Senior

Bethel University

2020 VLP Communications Intern

SUMMER THEME ANNOUNCED!

For years I have been wanting to go to South Carolina to take part in STP, and this year was finally the year that worked for me. I had heard of all the fun stories of socials, group dates, and adventures with friends. I had heard the stories of my friends' lives being changed by Jesus, and the ways that He moved every single summer at project. When I got the news that we wouldn’t be going to South Carolina for the summer, you could say I was bummed - like very bummed. I dreamed of the mornings spent reading the Bible with the girls in my room or watching the sunrise over the ocean. I even dreamed of Walmart. Asking myself questions like, “What department would I have worked in? What kind of relationships would I have formed with my coworkers?” I had many dreams and ideas of what it would look like to live in South Carolina for the summer with a bunch of other college students, but I knew that wasn’t going to be the reality anymore. It’s okay to still think of the “what ifs” of what the summer could have looked like. It is also okay to be sad over cancelled plans. However, it is just as important to continue moving forward. Although this summer is not the typical STP, I remain confident that God is still going to transform us this summer and help us to see Him in new ways. Without knowing what anything was going to look like this summer, we all chose to participate in this entirely new type of project called Virtual Leadership Project.

Virtual Leadership Project kicked off last week on June 10th. All of the students, Team Leaders, and staff logged onto Zoom to hear more of what this unique summer has in store. We all sat in front of our computer screens, some excited, some sad and wishing to be in South Carolina, some truly not even understanding what this whole thing really even is still. And, after months of planning, and replanning, and keeping it a secret, the theme of the summer was finally revealed! VLP 2020’s theme is…

FULFILLED

This theme word was chosen out of the book of Acts and comes from 3:18:

“But what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ would suffer, he thus fulfilled.”

The night of our first theme talk, Reid Jilek, who is one of Campus Outreach’s North Area Directors, spoke on this word Fulfilled. He began the talk by bringing up the point that Jesus is the fulfillment of all scripture. He showed a video that spoke of how the Bible is a single narrative in which every story and character points beyond itself to the person of Jesus. It talked of how Jesus is true and better than any character of the Bible. For example, Jesus is a true and better Abraham, a true and better Job, a true and better Esther. The Bible is not a series of disconnected stories, rather it is a single story that points to one person: Jesus. 

Later Reid talked of how Jesus is the only thing that can and ever will fulfill us. John 10:10 says, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” The enemy will do everything in his power to make us believe that we won’t find fulfillment in Christ. He will try to convince us that friendships, romantic relationships, success, or even certain wellness practices will cause us to be satisfied. When in reality people are people so they will disappoint us, success will eventually dissipate or lose its excitement, and getting enough sleep, eating the right foods, and having the perfect schedule will still leave us feeling empty. The only thing that can ever truly satisfy us is Jesus. He desires to give us life, a life that is overflowing. He desires us be filled spiritually, mentally, emotionally, socially, and physically. And one day when Jesus returns He will restore all things! We will live with Him in His kingdom forever without sin or temptation to draw us away from Him. We will live in the new heaven and new earth where all illness, division, injustice, brokenness, pain, and tears will be no more. And that is great news.

Reid set a great foundation for the rest of the summer, and I am confident that we will continue growing in even greater understanding of how Jesus is the ultimate fulfiller. I pray that every time we open our Bibles we will see how much each page is soaked with who Jesus is. I cannot wait to continue to unpack this theme as we progresses throughout our time in VLP!

Ginnie Sannes, Senior

Bethel University

2020 VLP Communications Intern

A Metaphor for Growth

I’ve always been told that the Christian life is not a sprint, but a marathon. It’s not about rushing through as fast as you can and getting to a specific destination. It’s about endurance and perseverance. I personally am a sprinter… figuratively that is, and especially when it comes to the idea of sanctification. One thing that I’ve been learning this last year is to be okay with the process of growth in my life. I’d like to think that I’ll reach perfection someday if I weed out all the bad and do all the good, but that’s not the Gospel, and I’ll be glorified and perfected only after my time on this earth is done. I don’t always make the kind of progress I’d like to… sometimes its two steps forward and one step back. Sometimes I have to relearn lessons that I thought I already knew. Life is a little more messy than my black and white mind likes to admit.

The idea that life is a marathon is a very good one in many regards. I think it has helped me and it gets its point across. However, recently I’ve been thinking about another running metaphor that might work too. As much as I joke about not being an athlete, I did run cross country and track in high school. I remember my coach making us do interval training. It was by far my least favorite day. Interval training is an intense workout where you run a set amount of time alternating between sprinting and jogging. For ten minutes you’ll be running at your top speed and then the next ten minutes you’ll be at a slower pace, and then you’ll start sprinting again.

I’ve felt like my life has reflected this the last few weeks here at Project. The month of June was intense for me. There was a lot of struggle and tears and processing and growth. And then all of a sudden everything started to click and make sense and a revelation was made. And now here I am in July, and nothing nearly as exciting as the level of growth I experienced in June has happened. As I was brainstorming about what to write about for this post, I got frustrated because I feel so uninspired by my lull in growth.

I’ve heard that if you aren’t growing, you’re dying, or going backwards in your faith. That always stressed me out and made me feel this pressure to constantly be growing at an intense pace where I am making leaps and bounds of growth every day. And when that’s not the case, it made me feel like I wasn’t doing enough or that something was wrong with me.

I think one thing I’ve seen in both my life and in those around me is that growth is not always a consistent process, and that is okay. That’s why the idea of an interval run seems to fit so well. Sometimes you are sprinting in this life. God is bringing you through an intense period of growth and learning. Sometimes you are jogging. You are still moving forward, but it is at a slower pace. Maybe God is allowing you time to process or is teaching you how to rest in Him or is preparing you for a season to come. And that is a gift! I certainly wouldn’t have the endurance to frantically sprint spiritually through my entire life, even when I am extremely grateful for the results. It is a blessing when he gives us a slower and more relaxing season, and I do think it is rare. My encouragement is to not take it for granted… learn how to humbly accept where God has you. You’re there for a reason.  

Discipleship

Coming back to Project for a second time, I have been asked the question, “How does this summer compare to last summer?”, multiple times. My answer is that I can’t even compare them because they are so different. The people, the culture, the focus, is all so different each summer and I think anyone who has come back to Project multiple times would say the same thing. Summer Training Project is special because it is a place that people can come back to multiple summers, but have a new role and experience a new area of growth. These different roles are disciple, room leader, team leader, and project director. It is designed in such a way that each role is being discipled and discipling another.

Something I believe Campus Outreach does really well is discipleship. Two weeks ago, team leader, Mary Hitt gave a message on the importance of discipleship. One aspect of her talk touched on the phases of discipleship in reference to how Paul discipled Timothy in the New Testament.

            Phase One: Parent

Paul became a “parent” to Timothy because he mentored him (1 Timothy 1:2).

            Phase Two: Pacesetter

Once Timothy understood the Gospel well enough, Paul invited him along to keep up with himself and the pace he was moving at in his Faith (2 Timothy 3:10-11).

            Phase Three: Partner

Paul eventually no longer saw Timothy as someone who needed guidance in their faith, but he saw him as someone that he could do ministry with. He trusted Timothy with leading his own disciples, while still maintaining a relationship (Romans 16:21).

This is what discipleship looks like on project and back at on campus! The staff disciple students and as students grow they are encouraged to start to pour into the lives of other students or people in their lives. Project is the perfect grounds for practicing discipleship because it is such an intentional environment that helps participants learn and understand the value that is in being disciple and beginning to disciple others. One of the biggest lessons I have learned this summer, being a room leader, in a role where I am encouraged and expected to do life on life discipleship with the girls in my room is simply: it is not about me. All of the discipleship we do on this earth is not about if we are “good” at it, if we are doing enough for the person we are hanging out with, or even if the person we are hanging out with thinks we are cool! It is all about learning more about Jesus together and falling deeper in love with Him alongside one another!  Life on life discipleship is so exciting because it allows us to see the intimate ways Jesus is working in the lives of those around us. Therefore, we are able to see and experience more of Him! I think this is truly what discipleship is all about: that we would know Jesus and make Him known together!