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

update

So i have come to realize that I am not a very good blogger. I wish I was.

I have like 4 blogs. You would think I could update one every now and then. It is like my thoughts are so random that I am not sure which blog to update. Like I need the blog to be designated for a specific topic. But...it hasn't really worked out.

Oh well :)

so here is some random facts for a random blog.

1. You have helped me raise like $130 for As our own!!! To help out, please see my last entry.

2. I think I am getting shin splints. ouch.

3. I got new toothpaste the other day, and it came with this weird stand up cap. I think I will get used to it.

4. I can play like 3 songs on the Ukulele.

5. I am about to get on skype.

Gotta go!

Time to Run!!!

Everyone, check this out!!

So thanks to social networking I found out about this organization called As Our Own. Here is a little bit about them:




"We are a Christ-based, community-driven movement in India that rescues vulnerable children from certain enslavement and exploitation, caring for them as our own."

So here is what I want you to know. I am going to help raise money for this organization by running in a 10K coming up in March.

OK, kelsey, what can I do? So glad that you asked!

Will you sponsor me? I am going to try and raise $300. That's 30 people at $10. Or 15 people at $20. Or 60 people for $5....and so on.

So what does $300 get As our Own? Here is what the website said:

If you raise $300, you will help our staff transition children rescued from the red light district into our family.

If you raise $750, you will fund programs in Lighthouse Churches which combat cycles of abuse and offer a solution of hope.

If you raise $1,500, you will fund two months of transportation so our children can receive the best education in the area.

Interested? Go here to donate and cheer me on as I run in my first 10K!
http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/kelsey-rogers/houston-bayou-city-classic-10k-2011

Make sure you check out As Our Own's website too: http://asourown.org/


Thanks!!!!!

Sincerely,
Kelsey

Why?

So if you read my last post i discussed my latest prayer. "Lord, teach me how to fall in love with you." And well, it has been good :)

What I have been thinking about lately is why? Why would God listen to my prayer, and why would he answer it?

I was reading Hosea 5, and one of the notes lead me to Hebrews 2:3, and that lead me to 1 John 3. So i am reading 1 John 3 and all of the sudden I stop. I decided that maybe I should start from the beginning of the chapter and check out what it was titled. So my eyes skim up to the top of the page and read "God is love."

Let's recap. Last entry, I wrote that I prayed for God to teach me how to fall in love with him. Instead, He shows me that it is not about me. By leading me to Hosea he was showing me the deep love he had for me. I needed to be reminded about his great love! And then the other day he lead me all around the scriptures and I ended up in 1 John 3 where the title is "God is love."

Wow. Really God? I mean, I know you answer prayers- but for real!? It was like so evident that He was still guiding me in the direction I prayed for.

But why answer my prayer? Why listen to my prayer? Gosh, I am by no means worthy of the God of the universe to listen to my cry! It is just so humbling to feel God's mercy and grace.

(I am going to make another plug for the book i am reading- Humility, True Greatness, by C.J. Mahaney)

I am not sure that I ever need to know why. Just knowing that he does is what faith is about.

"Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know." Jeremiah 33:3

Just something to think about. What are you praying for?

Sincerely,
-Kelsey

Reverse thinking

First of all I would like to say that God is good. Today he showed me something that totally surprised me. And it was a simple story that I have read and talked about many times. But, you know how he has the ability to make us see things in a different light. And that my friend, is why I say He is good!

So, this has been my prayer for the past couple of days, "Dear Jesus, please show me how to fall in love with you." You know, we say things out of habit. And it is not like I don't love him, it's just that I want to be IN love with him.

I was thinking last night and this morning about all the past commitments I have made to the Lord. "I will do this for you. I will wake up this early for you. I will...blah blah blah!" Well, ya right. I have realized just how selfish I have become in putting myself before everything. (reverting back to my oh so humanly ways) A book called Humility, True Greatness, by C.J. Mahaney has really helped me to see how wonderful humility is. And, I totally recommend it :) It has taken me on a journey that I hope continues on for a long time. To aspire to humility and get rid of pride is not a simple task! A very hard one actually.

So i think i might be getting away from what i was going for. I asked God to teach me how to fall in love with him. So I sit on my bed and just ask to receive from him. To hear him guiding me to a passage that would help me fall in love with Jesus. As I sat there, I heard, "Hosea, Hosea, Hosea." Really? But that isn't about falling in love with you. "I know, it is about how much I love you."

What?!?! Oh my gosh I just got the chills. God wanted me to first understand how much he loves me before I could start to fall in love with him! Gosh this seems like a simple concept, but a mighty one at that.

You know, I wasn't expecting that. I had put myself first yet again. "How can I fall in love with you Lord?" And God is like "You can start by seeing how much I love you. It's not about you Kelsey, it is about my love for you. You love because I first loved you."

Amen!!! Experience God's love today! Be blessed by what he is up to :)

Sincerely,
Kelsey

Blush or Flush?

It's so cute!!!! Right?

Wrong. Well, I am not sure actually, I am not a blusher. I am a flusher! If you catch me off guard or happen to ask me a question that is slightly personal (depending on who it is), just wait for it. My face will turn bright red. Oh man, there is nothing cute about that! It is, cough cough, rather embarrassing!

I feel like people can just hear me inside my head when the flush starts to show- "no no no! Don't do that face! Please, not this time!" But sadly, that little talk never stops it from happening.

Here is what a normal blush might look like:



here is a kelsey blush:


See, I think I can connect with all those flushers out there- cause i know what it is like! So flushers- unite! Haha.

So do you blush? or flush? Lemme know :)

Sincerely,
Kelsey