Day 21
- perspectives (great story-teller)
- heard Brian and Jennifer’s story about getting together...it's soooo cute!
- amber talked about cults (Mormonism, jehovah’s witness, Hare Krishna) to the group. I've never heard of Hare Krishna, and I still don't fully understand it. But we'll be going to one of their worship services this Friday
- prayer and singing with girls on roof under stars...after the lecture on cults, most of the girls at the Project went to the to roof (it's a girl's only roof), and prayed. It was really good, and afterwards we were singing worship songs to God
- In the night, I got to play Frisbee again, but this time w/ Kat, Logan, Trevor, Amy Terry, and Leigh
Day 22
- perspectives (hysterical speaker)
- Pasadena Community College, looking for an international student with Leigh...we were given two hours to find and interview an international student for our paper for the Perspectives class. I think the first hour and a half was spent searching and complaining.
- but we found a woman from China who was really nice
- laundry!
- Hollywood photo scavenger hunt – small group plus Jon the bday boy and Josh...we were given a list of things to do, mainly with a lot of strangers (such as give a piggy-back ride to a stranger walking across a busy street.) It was really interesting the people we got involved, and as soon as I get the photos from it, I'll put them up.
- we took the LONG way to get there, and everyone got sick because of the curvey roads. we were turning around this mountain at crazy angles.
Sunday, July 1, 2007
Friday, June 29, 2007
a Revelation and Night with the Boys
Day 19
- perspectives
- nap and trip to rite aid
- talked to amy (another amy, but I met her at UNR) on the phone. I haven't talked to her since I left reno, so it was nice to talk with her. I had a lot on my mind that I felt no one here understood. I came to the realization that this whole time I thought I wanted a relationship with some guy? I don't. I just want to be needed. and the last time I really felt like that, I was in a relationship with some guy. It was huge for me, and it just makes the whole "i'm single" thing make me feel better. I can now better accept that I AM SINGLE. I'm not looking for a relationship, I'm looking to be needed. Which completely opens up new doors. I love talking to her...she lets me talk about my problems and issues and allows me to come to my own realizations. and then we talked about our birthdays. Her birthday is 2 days after mine, and this year mine's on a thursday and her's is on saturday. So we're going to join together, and celebrate both on friday night. I think we're going bowling, since now most people will have a car, making transportation a whole lot easier. And then dinner will be like potluck in her room, since she's got a kitchen and whatnot. Exciting plans!
Day 20
- perspectives
- small group Tuesday – I paid for dinner, because I've been saying I'm going to do that the whole time I was waiting to get my cards. It was sooo good, the food and the conversation. Small group time rules.
- Frisbee w/ Kat, Logan, and Trevor. It's official. I can't throw a frisbee. But Trevor and Logan are good sports about it, and really trying to teach me. I'm getting better.
- hanging out w/ the guys in their suite. it was nice, because I don't socialize with the guys that often. I was in Tracy's room, and just checking out some of his photos, and then we were in Trevor's room, talking with him and Josh. We made a a lot of Jesus jokes (because Josh looks like Jesus in a lot of ways), and then Logan came and dumped a water bottle on Kat and Tracy dumped a water bottle on me. And then Jesse came in for a "guitar lesson" from Trevor. And then I went back to Tracy's room, said something that sounded really stupid, and went back to Trevor's room to hang with him and Jesse. The evening was a lot of fun for me, and I hope to do it more often.
- perspectives
- nap and trip to rite aid
- talked to amy (another amy, but I met her at UNR) on the phone. I haven't talked to her since I left reno, so it was nice to talk with her. I had a lot on my mind that I felt no one here understood. I came to the realization that this whole time I thought I wanted a relationship with some guy? I don't. I just want to be needed. and the last time I really felt like that, I was in a relationship with some guy. It was huge for me, and it just makes the whole "i'm single" thing make me feel better. I can now better accept that I AM SINGLE. I'm not looking for a relationship, I'm looking to be needed. Which completely opens up new doors. I love talking to her...she lets me talk about my problems and issues and allows me to come to my own realizations. and then we talked about our birthdays. Her birthday is 2 days after mine, and this year mine's on a thursday and her's is on saturday. So we're going to join together, and celebrate both on friday night. I think we're going bowling, since now most people will have a car, making transportation a whole lot easier. And then dinner will be like potluck in her room, since she's got a kitchen and whatnot. Exciting plans!
Day 20
- perspectives
- small group Tuesday – I paid for dinner, because I've been saying I'm going to do that the whole time I was waiting to get my cards. It was sooo good, the food and the conversation. Small group time rules.
- Frisbee w/ Kat, Logan, and Trevor. It's official. I can't throw a frisbee. But Trevor and Logan are good sports about it, and really trying to teach me. I'm getting better.
- hanging out w/ the guys in their suite. it was nice, because I don't socialize with the guys that often. I was in Tracy's room, and just checking out some of his photos, and then we were in Trevor's room, talking with him and Josh. We made a a lot of Jesus jokes (because Josh looks like Jesus in a lot of ways), and then Logan came and dumped a water bottle on Kat and Tracy dumped a water bottle on me. And then Jesse came in for a "guitar lesson" from Trevor. And then I went back to Tracy's room, said something that sounded really stupid, and went back to Trevor's room to hang with him and Jesse. The evening was a lot of fun for me, and I hope to do it more often.
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Sorry for the delay
It's so hard to keep up with class, activities, sleep, showering, eating, AND this blog. So I apologize for not keeping up. I have been keeping track with some notes of everything everday, don't worry! It'll just be chunked instead of daily.
Day 14
- perspectives…how to outreach to international students
- got my credit card and debit card in the mail
- remembered California rock slide and evacuation of van on Zuma beach day…[on the way back from Zuma beach, we were driving down this mountain, and traffic had almost stopped, as people were taking turns driving around the pieces of rock in the road, and we were debating inside our van whether or not to go out and pick up the rocks. but this couple in front of us gets out of their car, so Brian was like “EVERYONE OUT NOW!!” and we evacuated that van like a bus on fire. And we were all just running back and forth picking up rocks, and then got back in the van just as fast, pumped up from that. Then the cars were honking in thanks, and we were all glad we were a part of it.]
- lunch with Christine (a girl from my Perspectives class)
- Pablo (paul) and prayer
- after Paul talked about prayer, we got in groups of five (just like the 5 guys praying by a haystack). But my group was slow, so we were in the girl’s lounge until we got kicked out by an asian woman who wanted to watch tv, so we prayed in Jill’s room
- effort to go to bed early
Day 16
- perspectives
- tennis w/ amy terry and curtis (one of three sons of one of the Perspectives speakers)
- not much time for homework before errands
…Best Buy for Sara’s camera (her’s broke on her. But she got a new one for $30 extra dollars, brought down from $70)
…Wells Fargo (to activate my debit card to finally have some cash on hand! Yay!!!!!)
- mini golf…we were going to do it in small groups, but instead we counted off, and I was in group 3. We played the 9-hole course twice. Your score from the first game determined which group you were in the second time around. Kaboom! (4th of July event with monster trucks – there are 8 front-row tickets available we have competitions for) tickets went to Amy Terry and Josh from Illinois.
Day 17
- Jewish sedar gave the Bible an additional viewpoint. We tend to forget Jesus was Jewish, but it’s so essential to understanding how true it is that He is the fulfillment of the prophecies. Plus, how different Jesus was to everything around them is so understated…
…The fishermen who became Jesus’ disciples? They were fishermen because they had “failed” being a disciple for a rabbi. Boys 6 – 10 MEMORIZED the Torah. Then, the child would seek out the rabbi whom they wanted to become a disciple for. The rabbi would constantly testing them about their knowledge, saying a verse from the Torah, and the student would have to respond with the verse before or after it. Then the rabbi chose a small group of boys saying “Come, follow me,” to the students, while the rest were told to go back to their father’s profession. So the fact that Jesus WENT to the disciples was HUGE for the culture and it was an even bigger privilege when he said, “Come, follow me.” The point of having a disciple, was to make a carbon copy of yourself, to have someone be almost identical in your beliefs and habits and abilities. Cool, huh?
[**Jacci - I impressed him with the knowledge of the difference between the two feedings of the crowds --> Jew versus Gentile. =D Go Mark I!!Day 18
- Messianic Jewish church was not as big of an experience as I thought it’d be, but it was cool. Jewish people are fun people to talk to, and I just love them.
- we went to Venice beach this time. It was kind of weird to be on Venice Beach, and see the Pier from Santa Monica because we were there two weeks ago (with the cast and crew of Monk!!)
- evangelism with Amy Terry was good. We were supposed to be with roommates, but my roommate felt uncomfortable still with the whole process and wanted the same partner as last week, so Samantha’s roommate and I joined together. We talked to this one guy who was really knowledgeable in a lot of areas – vegetables, politics, world religions – that it made discussion really good, for me at least. It was a lot for Amy, and most of it just went over her head, but he and I had a good conversation. He’s in agreement with some things, and he was just glad we were sparking conversations like that. And then we talked to two girls, one with a 4 year old daughter, and not even 20 herself. She seemed like she wanted to be back in a relationship with God, but not because of her family, and didn’t know how to do it. She wasn’t seeking after it that much, so I’m praying that she will remember Mosaic church, and get plugged in again to a fellowship.
- I got to eat dinner at a place called Sean’s Café. It was nice, and little, and priced pretty well. Under $10 for dinner, so it made me happy. It had REALLY good hamburgers and fries. And then walking back to the group, we saw this man with one arm, that’s it, on a skateboard. No wheelchair, no friends around him. It was kind of sad, but he was moving around really well. He was moving around the streets, and then was over by the bikes, and we passed him. I was the only one who said, “Hi,” and he straightened himself up, brightened up, smiled and said, “Hi,” back. It was really touching for me to see the difference in him just from a simple act of saying hello with a smile. It really made me feel blessed that I could reflect Jesus in that moment.
- perspectives homework
- only one van (10 people plus Brian and Justin-the Jewish man who talked to us about the Sedar) went out to dinner at a Mediterranean restaurant and a movie afterwards
- half of us saw Evan Almighty, the other half Pirates III. I saw Evan Almighty, and it wasn’t the best movie, but they did a really good job with what they did.
- because our movie was a lot shorter than Pirates, we went to Cold Stone and asked one another a bazillion questions…
- nancy drew fan!! (Katie from across the hall) So I’m totally addicted to Nancy Drew, the books, but ESPECIALLY the computer games. And I have found a fellow nerd! Haha. I was talking about the movie I saw, and how I wanted to see the Nancy Drew movie, and it turns out we are both really addicted to the computer games and really want to see the movie. Yay for bonding!
Day 18
- Messianic Jewish church was not as big of an experience as I thought it’d be, but it was cool. Jewish people are fun people to talk to, and I just love them.
- we went to Venice beach this time. It was kind of weird to be on Venice Beach, and see the Pier from Santa Monica because we were there two weeks ago (with the cast and crew of Monk!!)
- evangelism with Amy Terry was good. We were supposed to be with roommates, but my roommate felt uncomfortable still with the whole process and wanted the same partner as last week, so Samantha’s roommate and I joined together. We talked to this one guy who was really knowledgeable in a lot of areas – vegetables, politics, world religions – that it made discussion really good, for me at least. It was a lot for Amy, and most of it just went over her head, but he and I had a good conversation. He’s in agreement with some things, and he was just glad we were sparking conversations like that. And then we talked to two girls, one with a 4 year old daughter, and not even 20 herself. She seemed like she wanted to be back in a relationship with God, but not because of her family, and didn’t know how to do it. She wasn’t seeking after it that much, so I’m praying that she will remember Mosaic church, and get plugged in again to a fellowship.
- I got to eat dinner at a place called Sean’s Café. It was nice, and little, and priced pretty well. Under $10 for dinner, so it made me happy. It had REALLY good hamburgers and fries. And then walking back to the group, we saw this man with one arm, that’s it, on a skateboard. No wheelchair, no friends around him. It was kind of sad, but he was moving around really well. He was moving around the streets, and then was over by the bikes, and we passed him. I was the only one who said, “Hi,” and he straightened himself up, brightened up, smiled and said, “Hi,” back. It was really touching for me to see the difference in him just from a simple act of saying hello with a smile. It really made me feel blessed that I could reflect Jesus in that moment.
Day 14
- perspectives…how to outreach to international students
- got my credit card and debit card in the mail
- remembered California rock slide and evacuation of van on Zuma beach day…[on the way back from Zuma beach, we were driving down this mountain, and traffic had almost stopped, as people were taking turns driving around the pieces of rock in the road, and we were debating inside our van whether or not to go out and pick up the rocks. but this couple in front of us gets out of their car, so Brian was like “EVERYONE OUT NOW!!” and we evacuated that van like a bus on fire. And we were all just running back and forth picking up rocks, and then got back in the van just as fast, pumped up from that. Then the cars were honking in thanks, and we were all glad we were a part of it.]
- lunch with Christine (a girl from my Perspectives class)
- Pablo (paul) and prayer
- after Paul talked about prayer, we got in groups of five (just like the 5 guys praying by a haystack). But my group was slow, so we were in the girl’s lounge until we got kicked out by an asian woman who wanted to watch tv, so we prayed in Jill’s room
- effort to go to bed early
Day 15
- perspectives with Steve Shadrach
- hour and a half one-to-one (hour long prayer walk)
- walk to rite aid – dollar cups (really cute!!)
- start on homework
- penguin stolen for “whose stuff is it” ((see conversation below))
- steve shadrach talks again to IT Project group
- logan came to the girls’ floor with cookies, Kevin with a guitar, and tracey just for fun
- “anywhere, anytime, anything” discussed w/ Katie…Steve discussed praying that God may use us anywhere, at anytime, to do anything. Not only that, but to actually mean it. Every word. It was a good discussion with her, because she and I had a lot of the same worries that hold us back from really meaning it.
Me: ok, so the penguin you got me for xmas was stolen today
Jess: WHAT?
Me: yeah. kat stole it for our game show "Who's Stuff Is This?"
Jess: oh geez
Me: and he's describing it, i'm not listening, and no one knows wat he's talking about
Me: and then he continues describing it, w/ like "he arrived 2 weeks ago, over dressed. he's got a plaid hat, and has occassional bursts of dancing"
Me: and i'm like "did you guys take my penguin??"
Jess: lol
Me: and sure enough, there he is, sitting next to jon (kat's brother) and i've got to sing the Prince of Bel-Air rap to get him back
Jess: lol
Me: however, idk the song, so I was able to get amber to help me out to sing it. a hairbrush was our mic
Jess: very classy
Day 16
- perspectives
- tennis w/ amy terry and curtis (one of three sons of one of the Perspectives speakers)
- not much time for homework before errands
…Best Buy for Sara’s camera (her’s broke on her. But she got a new one for $30 extra dollars, brought down from $70)
…Wells Fargo (to activate my debit card to finally have some cash on hand! Yay!!!!!)
- mini golf…we were going to do it in small groups, but instead we counted off, and I was in group 3. We played the 9-hole course twice. Your score from the first game determined which group you were in the second time around. Kaboom! (4th of July event with monster trucks – there are 8 front-row tickets available we have competitions for) tickets went to Amy Terry and Josh from Illinois.
Day 17
- Jewish sedar gave the Bible an additional viewpoint. We tend to forget Jesus was Jewish, but it’s so essential to understanding how true it is that He is the fulfillment of the prophecies. Plus, how different Jesus was to everything around them is so understated…
…The fishermen who became Jesus’ disciples? They were fishermen because they had “failed” being a disciple for a rabbi. Boys 6 – 10 MEMORIZED the Torah. Then, the child would seek out the rabbi whom they wanted to become a disciple for. The rabbi would constantly testing them about their knowledge, saying a verse from the Torah, and the student would have to respond with the verse before or after it. Then the rabbi chose a small group of boys saying “Come, follow me,” to the students, while the rest were told to go back to their father’s profession. So the fact that Jesus WENT to the disciples was HUGE for the culture and it was an even bigger privilege when he said, “Come, follow me.” The point of having a disciple, was to make a carbon copy of yourself, to have someone be almost identical in your beliefs and habits and abilities. Cool, huh?
[**Jacci - I impressed him with the knowledge of the difference between the two feedings of the crowds --> Jew versus Gentile. =D Go Mark I!!Day 18
- Messianic Jewish church was not as big of an experience as I thought it’d be, but it was cool. Jewish people are fun people to talk to, and I just love them.
- we went to Venice beach this time. It was kind of weird to be on Venice Beach, and see the Pier from Santa Monica because we were there two weeks ago (with the cast and crew of Monk!!)
- evangelism with Amy Terry was good. We were supposed to be with roommates, but my roommate felt uncomfortable still with the whole process and wanted the same partner as last week, so Samantha’s roommate and I joined together. We talked to this one guy who was really knowledgeable in a lot of areas – vegetables, politics, world religions – that it made discussion really good, for me at least. It was a lot for Amy, and most of it just went over her head, but he and I had a good conversation. He’s in agreement with some things, and he was just glad we were sparking conversations like that. And then we talked to two girls, one with a 4 year old daughter, and not even 20 herself. She seemed like she wanted to be back in a relationship with God, but not because of her family, and didn’t know how to do it. She wasn’t seeking after it that much, so I’m praying that she will remember Mosaic church, and get plugged in again to a fellowship.
- I got to eat dinner at a place called Sean’s Café. It was nice, and little, and priced pretty well. Under $10 for dinner, so it made me happy. It had REALLY good hamburgers and fries. And then walking back to the group, we saw this man with one arm, that’s it, on a skateboard. No wheelchair, no friends around him. It was kind of sad, but he was moving around really well. He was moving around the streets, and then was over by the bikes, and we passed him. I was the only one who said, “Hi,” and he straightened himself up, brightened up, smiled and said, “Hi,” back. It was really touching for me to see the difference in him just from a simple act of saying hello with a smile. It really made me feel blessed that I could reflect Jesus in that moment.
- perspectives homework
- only one van (10 people plus Brian and Justin-the Jewish man who talked to us about the Sedar) went out to dinner at a Mediterranean restaurant and a movie afterwards
- half of us saw Evan Almighty, the other half Pirates III. I saw Evan Almighty, and it wasn’t the best movie, but they did a really good job with what they did.
- because our movie was a lot shorter than Pirates, we went to Cold Stone and asked one another a bazillion questions…
- nancy drew fan!! (Katie from across the hall) So I’m totally addicted to Nancy Drew, the books, but ESPECIALLY the computer games. And I have found a fellow nerd! Haha. I was talking about the movie I saw, and how I wanted to see the Nancy Drew movie, and it turns out we are both really addicted to the computer games and really want to see the movie. Yay for bonding!
Day 18
- Messianic Jewish church was not as big of an experience as I thought it’d be, but it was cool. Jewish people are fun people to talk to, and I just love them.
- we went to Venice beach this time. It was kind of weird to be on Venice Beach, and see the Pier from Santa Monica because we were there two weeks ago (with the cast and crew of Monk!!)
- evangelism with Amy Terry was good. We were supposed to be with roommates, but my roommate felt uncomfortable still with the whole process and wanted the same partner as last week, so Samantha’s roommate and I joined together. We talked to this one guy who was really knowledgeable in a lot of areas – vegetables, politics, world religions – that it made discussion really good, for me at least. It was a lot for Amy, and most of it just went over her head, but he and I had a good conversation. He’s in agreement with some things, and he was just glad we were sparking conversations like that. And then we talked to two girls, one with a 4 year old daughter, and not even 20 herself. She seemed like she wanted to be back in a relationship with God, but not because of her family, and didn’t know how to do it. She wasn’t seeking after it that much, so I’m praying that she will remember Mosaic church, and get plugged in again to a fellowship.
- I got to eat dinner at a place called Sean’s Café. It was nice, and little, and priced pretty well. Under $10 for dinner, so it made me happy. It had REALLY good hamburgers and fries. And then walking back to the group, we saw this man with one arm, that’s it, on a skateboard. No wheelchair, no friends around him. It was kind of sad, but he was moving around really well. He was moving around the streets, and then was over by the bikes, and we passed him. I was the only one who said, “Hi,” and he straightened himself up, brightened up, smiled and said, “Hi,” back. It was really touching for me to see the difference in him just from a simple act of saying hello with a smile. It really made me feel blessed that I could reflect Jesus in that moment.
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Internet, a clean sink, and a yummy milkshake
The beginning of my weeks aren't that interesting....tonight is "prayer with Paul" which you'll find out about later (because I don't know what it is right now) and tomorrow night is another speaker who's "really good" from what everyone says, and then friday night is miniature golf with one of the guy groups.
***NEWS FLASH***
MY ROOM HAS INTERNET IN IT! After almost two weeks, my room finally has internet in it. Now it'll just be a fight between Kat and me when I get to use it, lol. jk.
Day 12
- perspectives
- homework
- cafeteria and bathroom sink (finally cleaned!)
- perspectives
- homework
- cafeteria and bathroom sink (finally cleaned!)
ok, so this sink has been clogged since like the third day we here. Day 12 it's cleaned and able to use. This picture was taken a couple of days ago, and for the last two or three days, the water has been black. Disgusting, huh?
Day 13
- took a nap for four hours instead of homework
- small group Tuesday
- yummy milkshake and really well seasoned fries and Connals
Prayer requests:
the desire to forgive my dad
the acceptance of being single
the acceptance of being single
Monday, June 18, 2007
To the Beach!
Day 11
Decent hour, that was the plan, right? Well, Kat and I were talking about our lives and about other religions, and before we knew it, it was almost 1am. Vans were rolling out at 8am, and so I had to get up extra early. THAT was difficult, but I did it. I had to dress nicely for the church service. The service was ok. Not my favorite, and I was in a lot of pain for whatever reason, so I wasn’t really focusing on the sermon that well. The bookshop they have is really good, and I was definitely impressed. I would have probably bought so much if I had anything on me. But I didn’t, so I left empty-handed.
Lunch was at a random mall, where we were able to change from our church clothes into our swimsuits and beach clothes. We went Zuma beach, which is right by Malibu Beach. On the way, half the van was playing 20 questions (it was a pillowcase, and we did it in 19) and guess the number between 1 and 100.
The beach had AMAZING waves that were just soo huge! After playing in the ocean quite a bit I calmed down by just sunbathing on my towel. I called my dad to wish him happy father’s day, and it ended up being a short conversation about how I’m supposed to help my sister with the transition from high school to college. It makes me so angry sometimes, like I’m just this tester kid they don’t really care about. And then once I’ve “done it all” THEN they’ll talk to me, so they can help my sister. Like, I’m not worthwhile enough to bother with, and my sister is this incompetent kid. At least my mom tries to care, but sometimes it feels like she’s just humoring me. She can’t relate, and is just amazed I can socialize so well. It’ll be hard going home, and part of me is looking forward to go back, but a large part of me is dreading it. My dad literally has lists going of things I’m supposed to talk to my sister about college, and help her buy whatever she needs, such as a laptop. I feel like I’m complaining a lot, and it doesn’t sound bad, but I don’t know how to get across how little my dad cares about me – I’m treated like a computer…something you turn and off when you please and use to gain information. You don’t give to the computer; you only take its information. That shouldn’t be the kind of relationship you should have with ANYONE, especially between father and son. I talked to my mom a little afterwards, but she’s so clueless about what I’m doing, she doesn’t even try to ask questions a lot. So after so long of awkward silence, I say goodbye and hang up.
Back on topic…the beach wasn’t just to enjoy another day of the beach. We had the same partners from our USC evangelism, and were sent out to evangelize on the beach. Jill talked to this guy Alex who was planning on graduating high school early. He had some really insightful things to say, and I could tell he was definitely stepping towards God, but he wasn’t there yet. But it was good talking to him. I talked to two girls – one didn’t really talk and participate and left like halfway into it, and the other one was Jewish. ANOTHER Jewish girl. She was very opinionated, but I liked it. She was open, and at the end she says, “Ok, so I have one question.” “Ok, go for it.” “So if Jesus died, and then ‘rose up again’ or whatever you believe, that makes Him alive, right?” “Yeah. But he did more than die. He descended down into Hell, and three days later he rose from the dead. He walked among his disciples and other people, and then ascended into Heaven. So He’s not just ‘alive’ walking around, but He’s in Heaven. That’s what makes Christianity so different from other religions – our King is ALIVE.” “Oh, ok…” I could tell she had wheels turning, but wasn’t ready to accept Christ. I gave her my paper, and Jill and I prayed for her.
Later on the beach, I got to see dolphins. DOLPHINS! They were so close to us, and there were like eight of them. It was so amazing to see. And then one of the pairs of girls came and told us that two girls had accepted Christ today, and we gave them one of our Bibles to keep. How cool!
For dinner, we ate In N Out, because almost no one has eaten there. It was fun to see everyone reactions to the fact there are Bible verses on the sandwich wrappers and on the bottom of the cups. And then this guy comes out of nowhere, and walks past us all saying, “Creation does not exist, the Bible is a lie, e=mc^2, the energy…” and we just froze, not sure what to do. He sat by himself for a little bit, and then a small portion of the group talked to him. A lot of us were just listening to the guy, because he wouldn’t shut up about science. In his mind, time and energy is infinity. However, God had to be created. And to create God there has to be a super-God to create him. And then you need a super-super-God to create the super-God, and so therefore religion does not hold up. He knew a lot about history, but you could also tell he wasn’t completely sane.
We left him after awhile, and back at the dorms, I saw how bad the sunburn was. Should’ve put lotion on…and I don’t know why I didn’t. Oh well. Tomorrow, here I come.
Decent hour, that was the plan, right? Well, Kat and I were talking about our lives and about other religions, and before we knew it, it was almost 1am. Vans were rolling out at 8am, and so I had to get up extra early. THAT was difficult, but I did it. I had to dress nicely for the church service. The service was ok. Not my favorite, and I was in a lot of pain for whatever reason, so I wasn’t really focusing on the sermon that well. The bookshop they have is really good, and I was definitely impressed. I would have probably bought so much if I had anything on me. But I didn’t, so I left empty-handed.
Lunch was at a random mall, where we were able to change from our church clothes into our swimsuits and beach clothes. We went Zuma beach, which is right by Malibu Beach. On the way, half the van was playing 20 questions (it was a pillowcase, and we did it in 19) and guess the number between 1 and 100.
The beach had AMAZING waves that were just soo huge! After playing in the ocean quite a bit I calmed down by just sunbathing on my towel. I called my dad to wish him happy father’s day, and it ended up being a short conversation about how I’m supposed to help my sister with the transition from high school to college. It makes me so angry sometimes, like I’m just this tester kid they don’t really care about. And then once I’ve “done it all” THEN they’ll talk to me, so they can help my sister. Like, I’m not worthwhile enough to bother with, and my sister is this incompetent kid. At least my mom tries to care, but sometimes it feels like she’s just humoring me. She can’t relate, and is just amazed I can socialize so well. It’ll be hard going home, and part of me is looking forward to go back, but a large part of me is dreading it. My dad literally has lists going of things I’m supposed to talk to my sister about college, and help her buy whatever she needs, such as a laptop. I feel like I’m complaining a lot, and it doesn’t sound bad, but I don’t know how to get across how little my dad cares about me – I’m treated like a computer…something you turn and off when you please and use to gain information. You don’t give to the computer; you only take its information. That shouldn’t be the kind of relationship you should have with ANYONE, especially between father and son. I talked to my mom a little afterwards, but she’s so clueless about what I’m doing, she doesn’t even try to ask questions a lot. So after so long of awkward silence, I say goodbye and hang up.
Back on topic…the beach wasn’t just to enjoy another day of the beach. We had the same partners from our USC evangelism, and were sent out to evangelize on the beach. Jill talked to this guy Alex who was planning on graduating high school early. He had some really insightful things to say, and I could tell he was definitely stepping towards God, but he wasn’t there yet. But it was good talking to him. I talked to two girls – one didn’t really talk and participate and left like halfway into it, and the other one was Jewish. ANOTHER Jewish girl. She was very opinionated, but I liked it. She was open, and at the end she says, “Ok, so I have one question.” “Ok, go for it.” “So if Jesus died, and then ‘rose up again’ or whatever you believe, that makes Him alive, right?” “Yeah. But he did more than die. He descended down into Hell, and three days later he rose from the dead. He walked among his disciples and other people, and then ascended into Heaven. So He’s not just ‘alive’ walking around, but He’s in Heaven. That’s what makes Christianity so different from other religions – our King is ALIVE.” “Oh, ok…” I could tell she had wheels turning, but wasn’t ready to accept Christ. I gave her my paper, and Jill and I prayed for her.
Later on the beach, I got to see dolphins. DOLPHINS! They were so close to us, and there were like eight of them. It was so amazing to see. And then one of the pairs of girls came and told us that two girls had accepted Christ today, and we gave them one of our Bibles to keep. How cool!
For dinner, we ate In N Out, because almost no one has eaten there. It was fun to see everyone reactions to the fact there are Bible verses on the sandwich wrappers and on the bottom of the cups. And then this guy comes out of nowhere, and walks past us all saying, “Creation does not exist, the Bible is a lie, e=mc^2, the energy…” and we just froze, not sure what to do. He sat by himself for a little bit, and then a small portion of the group talked to him. A lot of us were just listening to the guy, because he wouldn’t shut up about science. In his mind, time and energy is infinity. However, God had to be created. And to create God there has to be a super-God to create him. And then you need a super-super-God to create the super-God, and so therefore religion does not hold up. He knew a lot about history, but you could also tell he wasn’t completely sane.
We left him after awhile, and back at the dorms, I saw how bad the sunburn was. Should’ve put lotion on…and I don’t know why I didn’t. Oh well. Tomorrow, here I come.
Hollywood and
Ok, so I got a little behind...but I was busy! And there's STILL no internet in my room. I deal, I deal.
On the way to Hollywood, Bre found this car called “the thing” on the road, which happens to be her dream car. So in bumper to bumper traffic, we’re like stalking this car, to get close enough for her to take a picture. But then we passed it, so she got a really good picture of it through the mirror. But this guy in the car in front of “the thing” thought she was interested in him. And just by his gestures, you could tell he was definitely interested in her. The female population in the car screams, and it was just really funny. And then it was this constant back and forth between the guy, but we finally got far away from him. Taught her to keep her window up…
Parking was hard to find, but we finally found a place and walked to the mall nearby. It was really interesting the way it was set up. There’s an escalator to go up to the second floor, but no down escalator. It’s three stories, and it’s kinda of an outside mall. The second floor is where the food is, but there isn’t much variety. While we were all deciding where to go, this guy comes up and says he’s a comedian. He wasn’t that good, and wouldn’t leave poor Josh alone.
Leigh, Kat, and I ate at Johnny Rockets. The food was expensive, so we got water, three sandwiches, a
nd shared a “half and half” which is just half onion rings and half French fries. Afterwards, we met up as a group again, and went downstairs to the MANN'S CHINA THEATER – the place with the handprints and footprints. I think it’s funny George Clooney, Brad Pitt, and Matt Damon JUST did their’s a little over a week ago. Jill was cute, because she was posing with the people in costume (such as Spiderman, Yoda, Chewbacca) but wouldn’t pay them. It was just funny because the characters were laughing among themselves about it.
Spiderman told us to go down an alley to the back of Jimmy Kimmel Live because we might be able to see Nicole Ricci. So we got the group together after everyone had seen the handprints and footprints they wanted to, and headed towards the alley. It was a little creepy, and didn’t look that safe, but we went anyways. And then the security guard told us we missed her. There was a comedian that none of us had ever heard of and “some weird musician guy” that we could see, but we walked back.
The Daytime Soap Opera Emmys were that day, and we were there during the After Party (I talked to the bamboo guys about it) but we didn’t recognize anyone, because none of us watch the soaps. There was this random band singing on the side of the street for awhile, though, and we watched them for a good long while. They didn’t play original songs, stuff everyone knows like “Sweet Home Alabama.” Half of us got Coldstone,
and then we played in the fountain. It was cool during the day, but really pretty at night. Jon went through it, and we spent a good twenty minutes at least just posing with different ways with different groups in front of the fountain. I went in the mi
ddle of it, but the picture didn’t turn out well. So I got in front of the fountain and it came out better. (Yeah, my roommate, Kat, French-braided hair…I thought it came out really well.)
After the long evening, a group of five us back at the dorms decided to play a game of Phase 10 instead of going to bed like everyone else. It was me, Josh, Jon, Kat, and Jesse. Jon put in a random movie in the coed lounge, which turned out to not even be in English. It was Chinese with subtitles, and it was an action movie. I had my back to it the whole time, so I didn’t have to watch, thankfully. It wasn’t until 1:30am that we decided to call it quits.
Prayer Requests: everyone at the Project continues to be open with one another
the emptiness is LA would be filled with God’s glory
This is the mall we went to...I LOVE how this picture turned out
Small group: Samantha, Kat (roommate), Jill (group leader), and me
This is one of the hotels, I think. I thought it was funny it said "Nomads Welcome"
This was in the alley.
Day 10
I didn’t get enough sleep which made staying awake during more Inductive training difficult. I took a ten minute power nap between Inductive training and testimony guidance. Mark talked to us about how important it is to have a 90 second testimony, a 5 minute testimony, and a 40 minute testimony, as well as when to use them. Amy Terry was vocal about the same problem I had – we don’t have a distinct moment when God changed us. Plus, I don’t think my testimony is that interesting. I don’t have any super huge moments, I wasn’t addicted to drugs, I didn’t do a lot of “bad” things, I had a hard life with my family but Christ didn’t erase that. He just gave me strength to continue on, especially when I didn’t want to. *shrugs* I have to figure something about by Tuesday to share with my small group leader.
After dinner, it was “Day-O-Fun.” This consisted of most of the girls in the shade talking and playing cards. The guys and the remaining girls played Ultimate Frisbee. I’ve never played before, nor known how to play, so it was a really fun experience for me. It was 10 on 10, and we played to 11. Like halfway through I left to get cold water out of our fridge and change. We were behind 2-4, and I suggested doing a zoning, where we’d have people in specific spots, and then depending where the Frisbee went, we moved as a unit. It worked so well, we crushed the team 11-5. It was really awesome, because my team was really encouraging, high-fiving and congratulating everyone. They called me “the vacuum” because I caught everything tossed to me, and we called our strategy the “Zeller Zone.” It was awesome! I felt like a celebrity! Haha.
After the game, we realized there were two orange trees on the property, and we picked off a lot of the oranges. They were soo good!! We were at first climbing the trees to get them, but then we threw a football at them, and that worked a lot better.
Afterwards, I finished my Perspectives homework and then took a shower. We were on our own for dinner, and everyone grouped up and did a lot of random things. My group went back to Old Pasedena for shopping and dinner. It was fun – we ate Chinese food and some gelato, and shopped at three different stores. It was like three or four hours spent in our group. It was good to bond with Amber – another person in charge of the Project – along with Leigh, Kat, and Bre.
I have to get up early in the morning, so I plan on going to bed at a decent hour.
Day 9
Walt Russell was the Perspectives speaker. He used a lot of Matthew and explained a bit about what it meant to be Jewish back in Jesus’ time, which was really cool. He had a stapled handout that made following along with him really easy. So points for him.
Homework took a long while, and I didn’t finish before group date night. Group date night (not its real name, but Jill and I call it that) is where your group and one or two other groups join and you go somewhere for the evening. My group, Bre’s group, and Jon’s group (which was just himself and Josh) went to…HOLLYWOOD!!!
Walt Russell was the Perspectives speaker. He used a lot of Matthew and explained a bit about what it meant to be Jewish back in Jesus’ time, which was really cool. He had a stapled handout that made following along with him really easy. So points for him.
Homework took a long while, and I didn’t finish before group date night. Group date night (not its real name, but Jill and I call it that) is where your group and one or two other groups join and you go somewhere for the evening. My group, Bre’s group, and Jon’s group (which was just himself and Josh) went to…HOLLYWOOD!!!
On the way to Hollywood, Bre found this car called “the thing” on the road, which happens to be her dream car. So in bumper to bumper traffic, we’re like stalking this car, to get close enough for her to take a picture. But then we passed it, so she got a really good picture of it through the mirror. But this guy in the car in front of “the thing” thought she was interested in him. And just by his gestures, you could tell he was definitely interested in her. The female population in the car screams, and it was just really funny. And then it was this constant back and forth between the guy, but we finally got far away from him. Taught her to keep her window up…
Parking was hard to find, but we finally found a place and walked to the mall nearby. It was really interesting the way it was set up. There’s an escalator to go up to the second floor, but no down escalator. It’s three stories, and it’s kinda of an outside mall. The second floor is where the food is, but there isn’t much variety. While we were all deciding where to go, this guy comes up and says he’s a comedian. He wasn’t that good, and wouldn’t leave poor Josh alone.
Leigh, Kat, and I ate at Johnny Rockets. The food was expensive, so we got water, three sandwiches, a
nd shared a “half and half” which is just half onion rings and half French fries. Afterwards, we met up as a group again, and went downstairs to the MANN'S CHINA THEATER – the place with the handprints and footprints. I think it’s funny George Clooney, Brad Pitt, and Matt Damon JUST did their’s a little over a week ago. Jill was cute, because she was posing with the people in costume (such as Spiderman, Yoda, Chewbacca) but wouldn’t pay them. It was just funny because the characters were laughing among themselves about it.
Spiderman told us to go down an alley to the back of Jimmy Kimmel Live because we might be able to see Nicole Ricci. So we got the group together after everyone had seen the handprints and footprints they wanted to, and headed towards the alley. It was a little creepy, and didn’t look that safe, but we went anyways. And then the security guard told us we missed her. There was a comedian that none of us had ever heard of and “some weird musician guy” that we could see, but we walked back.
The Daytime Soap Opera Emmys were that day, and we were there during the After Party (I talked to the bamboo guys about it) but we didn’t recognize anyone, because none of us watch the soaps. There was this random band singing on the side of the street for awhile, though, and we watched them for a good long while. They didn’t play original songs, stuff everyone knows like “Sweet Home Alabama.” Half of us got Coldstone,
and then we played in the fountain. It was cool during the day, but really pretty at night. Jon went through it, and we spent a good twenty minutes at least just posing with different ways with different groups in front of the fountain. I went in the mi
ddle of it, but the picture didn’t turn out well. So I got in front of the fountain and it came out better. (Yeah, my roommate, Kat, French-braided hair…I thought it came out really well.)After the long evening, a group of five us back at the dorms decided to play a game of Phase 10 instead of going to bed like everyone else. It was me, Josh, Jon, Kat, and Jesse. Jon put in a random movie in the coed lounge, which turned out to not even be in English. It was Chinese with subtitles, and it was an action movie. I had my back to it the whole time, so I didn’t have to watch, thankfully. It wasn’t until 1:30am that we decided to call it quits.
Prayer Requests: everyone at the Project continues to be open with one another
the emptiness is LA would be filled with God’s glory
This is the mall we went to...I LOVE how this picture turned out Small group: Samantha, Kat (roommate), Jill (group leader), and meThis is one of the hotels, I think. I thought it was funny it said "Nomads Welcome" This was in the alley.Day 10
I didn’t get enough sleep which made staying awake during more Inductive training difficult. I took a ten minute power nap between Inductive training and testimony guidance. Mark talked to us about how important it is to have a 90 second testimony, a 5 minute testimony, and a 40 minute testimony, as well as when to use them. Amy Terry was vocal about the same problem I had – we don’t have a distinct moment when God changed us. Plus, I don’t think my testimony is that interesting. I don’t have any super huge moments, I wasn’t addicted to drugs, I didn’t do a lot of “bad” things, I had a hard life with my family but Christ didn’t erase that. He just gave me strength to continue on, especially when I didn’t want to. *shrugs* I have to figure something about by Tuesday to share with my small group leader.
After dinner, it was “Day-O-Fun.” This consisted of most of the girls in the shade talking and playing cards. The guys and the remaining girls played Ultimate Frisbee. I’ve never played before, nor known how to play, so it was a really fun experience for me. It was 10 on 10, and we played to 11. Like halfway through I left to get cold water out of our fridge and change. We were behind 2-4, and I suggested doing a zoning, where we’d have people in specific spots, and then depending where the Frisbee went, we moved as a unit. It worked so well, we crushed the team 11-5. It was really awesome, because my team was really encouraging, high-fiving and congratulating everyone. They called me “the vacuum” because I caught everything tossed to me, and we called our strategy the “Zeller Zone.” It was awesome! I felt like a celebrity! Haha.
After the game, we realized there were two orange trees on the property, and we picked off a lot of the oranges. They were soo good!! We were at first climbing the trees to get them, but then we threw a football at them, and that worked a lot better.
Afterwards, I finished my Perspectives homework and then took a shower. We were on our own for dinner, and everyone grouped up and did a lot of random things. My group went back to Old Pasedena for shopping and dinner. It was fun – we ate Chinese food and some gelato, and shopped at three different stores. It was like three or four hours spent in our group. It was good to bond with Amber – another person in charge of the Project – along with Leigh, Kat, and Bre.
I have to get up early in the morning, so I plan on going to bed at a decent hour.
Chalk art at
a whole new
level.
Saturday, June 16, 2007
Joy and Life
So I know I'm slacking, and I haven't even hit the double-digits! I didn't go to bed until after 1am last night. So this is the last one I've written. I need to write about yesterday and today, and upload photos. Hopefully I'll get a chance to get it all done before I go to bed tonight.
Homework is done, so I should be ok. We'll see what happens.
Day 8
I woke up at 7:45am, willingly. I wanted a morning shower, because it’s been a long time since I’ve had one. And then I had my quiet time with God, then off to optional worship (where it was music this time) and Perspectives class. The speaker today was Larry Walker. I REALLY liked him. He didn’t stay on topic very well, but his stories were absolutely amazing. I was hanging off of every word. He talked about his up bringing in the church, and the missions work he’s been a part of, and a little bit about his family.
Some of the interesting tidbits from his talk:
- the kingdom of God is like an ecosystem with its complexities
- the church focuses on a tree, and this class forces you to look at the forest
- all religions are man seeking God, EXCEPT for Christianity, where it’s God seeking man
- Jesus was more of rebel than we give Him credit for – rabbis didn’t just say “I say to you…”
- the role of the church isn’t to fix all the problems in the world; Jesus didn’t
- each of Jesus’ miracles told more about the Kingdom of God: for example, when Jesus turned water into wine – wine was the symbol of joy and life…GOD IS ABOUT JOY AND LIFE
Nothing really exciting about lunch…but afterwards instead of doing homework right away, I went to Rite Aid with a group of girls, then hung out with Jill checking out the antique shops across the street.
I started homework, after a half hour nap, and didn’t finish by dinnertime. The female leaders have a night off, so we had all afternoon and evening to do this homework, so I wasn’t stressed. It didn’t take me long after dinner to be finished with everything. But then no one is finished, and I’m left without anyone to socialize with. I want to help people with their homework, but everyone is determined to do it on their own, and most of the work is just reading, and you can’t really help someone read.
Not a very exciting day, I know. But tomorrow night will be something REALLY fun. I don’t know what we’re doing…all I know is that my group and one or two other groups are getting together to hang out and socialize somewhere really fun.
Homework is done, so I should be ok. We'll see what happens.
Day 8
I woke up at 7:45am, willingly. I wanted a morning shower, because it’s been a long time since I’ve had one. And then I had my quiet time with God, then off to optional worship (where it was music this time) and Perspectives class. The speaker today was Larry Walker. I REALLY liked him. He didn’t stay on topic very well, but his stories were absolutely amazing. I was hanging off of every word. He talked about his up bringing in the church, and the missions work he’s been a part of, and a little bit about his family.
Some of the interesting tidbits from his talk:
- the kingdom of God is like an ecosystem with its complexities
- the church focuses on a tree, and this class forces you to look at the forest
- all religions are man seeking God, EXCEPT for Christianity, where it’s God seeking man
- Jesus was more of rebel than we give Him credit for – rabbis didn’t just say “I say to you…”
- the role of the church isn’t to fix all the problems in the world; Jesus didn’t
- each of Jesus’ miracles told more about the Kingdom of God: for example, when Jesus turned water into wine – wine was the symbol of joy and life…GOD IS ABOUT JOY AND LIFE
Nothing really exciting about lunch…but afterwards instead of doing homework right away, I went to Rite Aid with a group of girls, then hung out with Jill checking out the antique shops across the street.
I started homework, after a half hour nap, and didn’t finish by dinnertime. The female leaders have a night off, so we had all afternoon and evening to do this homework, so I wasn’t stressed. It didn’t take me long after dinner to be finished with everything. But then no one is finished, and I’m left without anyone to socialize with. I want to help people with their homework, but everyone is determined to do it on their own, and most of the work is just reading, and you can’t really help someone read.
Not a very exciting day, I know. But tomorrow night will be something REALLY fun. I don’t know what we’re doing…all I know is that my group and one or two other groups are getting together to hang out and socialize somewhere really fun.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
