Recap.

Well, hey there blog. I remembered you! Let's catch up.

This summer I have been the bible study teacher at a day camp. I have been teaching 1-6^th graders for 10 weeks about different characters in the bible and what we can learn from them. Not only have I learned invaluable things, but I have also enjoyed being in the word every day. Yes, I would get tired of teaching the same lesson 6 times in a row, but that is different. Not all of the lessons would go the same, especially with the older kids. Sometimes we would get off on different subjects and such, which was always interesting and thought provoking.

So tomorrow I will clock out for the last time as the “Camp Pastor.” (You like that title don’t you!) (At first I thought it was super intimidating) Tomorrow we are having a Day Camp banquet were we get to meet the parents and they can view a slide show and watch a video about what their kids did all summer, so that will be good.

As camp pastor I get to lead the whole group in a mini devotional. Less than 5 minutes really. So I chose to talk about obedience. Really Kelsey? That is what you chose? Well, yes.

As we were doing the character studies, I noticed that most of them had something in common- they obeyed God. Not all of them wanted to, or had a choice, but they still did it. And for that, they should be commended.

I want to joyfully obey. I don’t want to ever think that obeying God is something to dread. I know that everything here on earth is groaning for something great- for the glory of God to be revealed. And if obeying God’s wonderful commands gets me even a tiny bit closer to getting a glimpse of that glory, I’ll take it. Gladly.

So what happens when we don’t obey? Well… each case is different I suppose. But one thing doesn’t change: God’s plan will be carried out. I will just miss out on a part of it.

I heard somewhere that we should be asking ourselves a different question than “What would Jesus do?” Rather it should be, “How would Jesus do it?” Right?

I have been thinking about this question. And the answer to my question was that Jesus would not have done what I did. Not that I have committed some horrendous act or anything, but I didn’t obey. So I sinned. Gosh, the day I realized what I just confessed, it was hard. I chose to do something my way because I thought it was the easy way out. Instead it has proved to be something difficult and I have to “suffer” the consequences. If I had chosen a different path, maybe it would have been hard too, but at least it would have been right.

So lesson learned. I need to be in prayer way more than I am now, in order to hear the sweet voice of my Savior that tells me where to go. I do know that the Lord gives me responsibilities and sometime I just need to choose something. Many choices that we make about things do not even matter in the long run.  But, I know Jesus wants to talk to me about them anyway.

Joyfully obey. Ok, I think I got it.

Well, I really want to get it at least.

So where are you on the obedience scale from 1 to 10? Pretty low? Somewhere in the middle? Higher end? Talk to Jesus about it. After all, He is the only thing that really matters.

-Sincerely, 

 Kelsey 

Throw it out the window.

(more beach reach posts to resume after this post) (And please read it all or skip to the end)

Well, I just wanted to throw out there that I have had an incredible Easter Weekend. On Thursday I went to a Maundy Thursday service at my church. I think that was the first time I had been to a service like that. It was beautiful! It really helped me to understand more of what Jesus was going through in the final hours of his life. Not that I will ever identify- or want to, but it was eye opening.

Here is pic that I took of the program: 

My favorite part was the singing of Agnus Dei. It was beautiful. I just sat there, peacefully, in the dimly lit sanctuary and soaked it up. As I listened I tried to imagine what Heaven would be like. I probably looked a little ridiculous if anyone happened to see me- sitting there in the dark with my eyes closed, and smiling! Ha! I don’t care. Heaven is going to be way greater than I can imagine. Being apart of the multitudes singing praises to God is unfathomable. It will be incredible, just incredible. 

Lyrics of Agnus Dei: 

Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis.

Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis.

Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, dona nobis pacem.

which means:

Lamb of God, you who take away the sins of the world, have mercy upon us.

Lamb of God, you who take away the sins of the world, have mercy upon us.

Lamb of God, you who take away the sins of the world, grant us peace.

So I left the service in awe of what Jesus had to endure just so I could be made whole. I feel like I should be indebted to him eternally, but I am free. And with that freedom I choose to live for him. Because goodness gracious he is good! And that there just about sums that up!

On to Sunday- another time of imagining how much greater Heaven is going to be than the earth. The choir probably had near to 100 people this morning. And by golly, if you are not moved by that signing, your heart must be hardened! It again, was great. I thought to myself, “wow- I wish everyone could hear and be apart of this.” And you know what? They can!

“So that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow- of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth- and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Philippians 1:22

(Pic of the choir. Can you spot my sister and grandma? Just kidding....)

This time when I left the service I was thinking about all the people who don’t know Christ as Lord. They might view Christianity as something distorted, something not useful, something undesirable. And I would say that by the way Americans are displaying it- they have every right to think that. Christianity is not about a “turn or burn” mentality. It is not about a bunch of rules that keep you from “having fun.” It is about being reconciled to our creator and finding an abundance of freedom in this life.

I am free from the burden of sin. I am free from all the pressure I put on myself. I am free from the judgments I receive from others. I am freed from the American Dream! I am free from every bad thought, and bad action. Simply put- I am free.

This life of freedom does not mean a life without trials, a life without decisions. It doesn’t mean I am going to wake up and be in the perfect mood for the rest of my life. But it is a life with the promise that my Savior is near, and that he hears every prayer I speak and think, and knows how to meet me right where I am.

I thought for so many years that it was my responsibility to chase after Jesus. Like he was off somewhere and I needed to do all these things to get close to him. I needed to go to church, read my bible and pray. And while all those things are important- they are not the only way to get to know Jesus better.  But here is where I went wrong. I never let Jesus come after me. I was so busy “working” for him that I didn’t let him speak to me. And so when I wanted him to speak to me I often felt like he was hanging me out to dry- like I wasn’t good enough to communicate with.

I am still figuring, out (and I would like to mention failing,) at what a relationship with Jesus means. As a human, I have a tendency to mess things up. I have a tendency to forget- sometimes unintentionally and sometimes willingly, the great sacrifice of Jesus.

So people, there is no need to think you need to wait when it comes to accepting Jesus as your Savior. If you want to wait until you are a “better” person, you might as well never commit. If you are waiting until you get that job, marry that person, or whatever it is- just stop. Would your life get worse if you decide to trust in Jesus?

Take your judgments about Christianity and throw them out the window. The love that Jesus has for you will blow your mind. He wants to make you new. He wants to give you freedom. And that is why He died on the cross friends.

For you.

Sincerely,

-Kelsey

Life inside of the Vans

So now that you know the basics of what was done at Beach Reach, I thought that I would expand a little on life inside of the van.

We spent so much time in the vans! Almost every night I would close my eyes and dream about being on a van, or trying to find someone a ride. So awake or asleep, I was on a van.

This is how the van worked. We had a driver, (that was pretty much the same person the entire week. Some times we would switch when they got tired) a navigator, (the person with the map of the island) and then 2 guys and 2 girls in the back. Sometimes there would be 3 girls and 2 guys or vice versa.

The only other role in the van was Door Mom. This girl is the one who opens up the doors, greets the people, (receives hugs occasionally) and say these famous words: “Guys in the back, girls in the front, and if you have a drink- chug it or chunk it!” (no beverages are allowed, even if they are closed.)

About every other night I was the navigator. So I would document who was on the van, where they were going, and how long it took us to get there.  It is a cool position because you get to do several things: 1. Get to know the island 2. Hear all the awesome conversations behind you 3. Tweet about all the awesome conversations! (I have to admit; I might have been a little too excited about tweeting! Need proof? Check out all of my tweets about Beach Reach here: https://twitter.com/#!/djembekelsey. They should end with #br2012)

Being the navigator was also good for someone like me who has introverted tendencies. Don’t get me wrong, I love people. A lot. But the more and more I am around them, the more time I need to myself- it is how I recharge. So it was good to just listen in on the conversations sometimes.

One thing I noticed the most when I was listening was the missed opportunities to bring up the Gospel, or talk about something spiritual. Some times when you are in those conversations, you don’t hear them. So it made me more aware that I was probably missing a lot too. I tried though, and I know my team did the same.

So anyone on the van that was not the driver or the navigator had one job (other than door mom of course): talk to people. The girls would sit in the first 2 rows and the boys would sit in the back two rows. We would have to move around depending on how many girls/guys we were picking up. Like this one time we picked up 13 guys who were all apart of an engineering frat. (talk about interesting conversations about plastic!) So of course us girls have to smash in with all the guys and keep conversations with them. We try to keep it girls talking to girls and guys talking to guys. But there are exceptions.  

Here is a visual of the seating arrangement.  

So the conversations we were having with the riders were supposed to be very intentional. We were there to share the love of Christ with them, upfront. This is very different than most of the other mission trips that I have been on. I liked it a lot. Talking about what you believe in makes you think about it. It re-affirms your faith and that is a good thing my friend. Even if you are not sure what you believe in, it is good to talk it out with other people. People don’t always ask you the same thing either, so you discover a lot of things about what you believe and who you are. And you learn things about God and Jesus. You help people discover things about Jesus that they didn’t know, and dispel false projections about God that people have. And you are being filled with the Holy Spirit while all this is happening.

Gosh, what a whirlwind! We were not there to convert people. As B.J. (BSM director) told us, we were there to show people the way to wholeness. Wholeness in Christ. You are not going to find that wholeness in the club, in a person, or in a career because we were not made for those things. We were made for Love. The best love imaginable! And it is so close to us, we just have to choose it.

More to come. I am trying to keep these in a length that is readable.

Sincerely,

-Kelsey

Intro to Beach Reach

It has been over a year since i have posted, i thought i would start back up again. Partly because i like blogging, and partly because i actually have something to say this time :)

As most people know, I am a campus missionary at the Baptist Student Ministry at the University of Houston. I started in fall 2011 and my term ends in May of this year- 2012. One of the privileges of working there is that I get to go on "trips" a lot. I have been on countless retreats, (I think I am pretty much set for the next 2 years!) and I have had a lot of fun.

The most fun week however, was last week. Spring Break 2012. I participated in a trip called Beach Reach at South Padre Island, along with about 699 other folks. Let this one thing be known- this was not a normal trip. This was a mind blowing, gospel sharing, people loving experience that I will never forget.

And this is how it worked: Students from across Texas, and one group from Colorado (i think) came to SPI (south padre island) with their BSM or church group to serve all the other college students that come to the Island to party. We come in 15 passenger vans that are used to transport all the beach goers where ever they want.

On the first day we pass out business cards that have a hotline number and information about free pancakes on the front, and a bible verse, question, and quote on the back. We were able to have some conversations with ppl about why we were there and what the number is for, which was good practice for the rest of the week.

So each van makes up one team of Beach Reachers (that was me and the 699 others). Each team is about 10 or so ppl. Each van has a name; most of the names are using the word Van in a funny manner. Our van name was U.S.S. Vanterprise! (Live long and prosper with free van rides!) So we did a play off of U.S.S Enterprise- all of you star trek fans out there know what I am talking about. Other vans were: the Grand Vanale, Los Vanquistadores, Advanture Time.... and many many others. Here is a picture of our van:





Here is the quick run down of what we did. I am going to post more personal experiences in another post- I don't want to 1. make you read a humongously long blog post 2. write a humongously long blog post. 3. I don't even think humongously is a word.

Here it is: We gave people rides! Wherever they wanted to go. We either picked them up because they called the hotline number (that is called an assignment) or we went fishing (picking ppl up off the side of the road.) Sounds creepy, but being on the vans is probably the safest place they could be- honestly. We would take them to the beach, their hotel, gas station, even the liquor store- it didn't matter.

What mattered was the ride there. The people would get on and we would get to know them, do the whole "so, where ya from?" deal and so on. Then we would turn the conversation to spiritual matters. Here is a sample conversation:

Spring breaker- "Wow what you guys doing here is great! Way safer than driving drunk! Why are y'all doing this anyway??"
Beach reacher- "We are doing this to serve you guys. We believe in Jesus and wanted to serve you guys and tell you about him a little bit. So what do you you believe in?"

And the conversation goes on from there. And it is awesome. Sometimes it is not fun, just because not everyone wants to talk about spiritual things, but awesome over all.

Other things we did: serve ppl pancakes, hang out with people on the beach, spend time in the prayer room, and worship. But I'll write more about all that later.

I'll leave you with a pic of my team. (Team Alpha!) Ok, just kidding. I was super impressed with everyone on my team. They represented Jesus like nothing I have seen. And because of that there are more souls in the Kingdom of Heaven. :) Praise Jesus!


-Sincerely,
Kelsey