Week 2 and 3

I cannot believe tomorrow will be the 3 week mark for my time here in Santa Cruz. It seriously feels like I have been here for months with people I have known my whole life. Life in Santa Cruz has completely exceeded any hopes of what I thought it would be.  I love this city and the people I live with at the Peter Pan Motel.

               

Home Four Five

I reside in room 45, with four other amazing girls who have been such a pivotal part of my life while on summer project, and I am so thankful to be sharing bunk beds as well as discipleship time with them. Each one of them encourage me with my relationship with the Lord as well as keep me laughing non-stop. I (lil KB) am SO thankful to be rooming with Lauren (DJ Lala), Savannah (Vonnie), Leslie (Mama LeLe), and Hannah (Hannah Banana).

                

 Hannah, Savannah, me, Leslie, Lauren

Outreach.  

Last Saturday night, we walked downtown the streets of Santa Cruz and used different evangelism tools to try and start conversations with people. As we made our way downtown, I was sharing with my roommate Leslie how nervous I get whenever we do outreach and how I struggle having confidence in approaching and sharing the gospel with strangers.  She then encouraged me with a passage in 1 Corinthians that completely changed my focus for the rest of the evening.

“ When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling.  My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.”   1 Corinthians 2:1-5

Paul, an apostle of Christ, shares in his letter to the church in Corinth that it is not him who is doing the work, but the Holy Spirit which lives in Him. He is merely a vessel that God uses to proclaim the gospel.  Paul didn’t focus on what words he would use or how he might try to impress the people with his knowledge of God, but instead he took his eyes of himself and instead focused on Christ. Nothing that I say or do can change the heart of a person. It is solely Christ who works in me by the power of the Holy Spirit. That night, Leslie and I had a powerful conversation with Diana, a lady seeking to get her life back on track and rekindle her broken relationship with her mom. We talked her through the Knowing God Personally booklet and were able to share what Christ had done in our lives. After praying for Dianna and leaving her with the booklet as well as our phone numbers, I broke down and cried. My heart was breaking for these people and the darkness in this city. I was completely overwhelmed with the conversation we had with Dianna and how God took away my fear and worry. Instead, He softened my heart to listen to her story and encourage her with how I had found the true meaning of love and what it meant to follow Christ. I will never forget that night.

“For it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.” 

Philippians 2:13

Barn Party

This past Saturday was our first theme party, and I was so happy because it was Barn Party!! All of us students got all dressed up, decorated the Peter Pan, and enjoyed an evening of barbeque, sweet tea, and line dancing. We had such a wonderful turnout of all the co-workers that came and joined us. Two of the students on summer project shared their testimonies at dinner, and it was awesome to let our friends and visitors hear the gospel being shared through their own personal experience with Jesus. Barn Party was a true success! What a great reminder of how much I love being a southern gal.

 

San Francisco

Last Thursday, about 12 of us had the day off work, so we decided to pile into 3 rental cars and take a road trip to San Francisco! It was such a fun day of exploring such a beautiful city full of gorgeous sceneries. We drove on the Golden Gate Bridge, got lost a couple times, walked through Chinatown, and ended the day at Fisherman’s Wharf with an In n Out Burger for dinner. It was a perfect way to spend my day off!

Work

I love being able to work on the boardwalk and look out the door to the store and see a breathtaking view of the pacific ocean. What a perfect way to spend long 8 hour shifts. :) I really love my job though, and I am enjoying getting to know my co-workers more. The people at Miller's are so nice and friendly and have made me feel very welcome. There are so many people that work at the surf shops and because there are 7 different stores on the boardwalk, I rarely work with the same people. However, it is nice to get to know so many new faces and hear about everyone's life in Santa Cruz. My prayer is that I really begin to be intentional with my conversations and my time with each person I work with from here on out. 

one of the stores I work at

I have been stretched beyond limits by God these past three weeks. I never thought I would grow to love a city or a body of believers as much as I have grown to love Santa Cruz and my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ on summer project. God has given me a deeper love and earnestness for the heart of those who do not know Him, and He has continually shown me His power and the confidence that I can only find in Him. I have learned how to dive deeper and learn more from scripture as well as understand the power of prayer and how it is one of the most important ministry strategies. I am surrounded by students that have a genuine love and desire to grow in the Lord and to share that with their co-workers and the people in this city. I praise God for the opportunities He has already placed me in to love on the people in Santa Cruz, and I pray that this city will see the beauty of living for Jesus through us as we remain faithful to what He has called us.

"Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; 

   I have summoned you by name; you are mine. 

When you pass through the waters, 

   I will be with you; 

and when you pass through the rivers, 

   they will not sweep over you. 

When you walk through the fire, 

   you will not be burned; 

   the flames will not set you ablaze. 

For I am the LORD your God, 

   the Holy One of Israel, your Savior; 

Since you are precious and honored in my sight, 

   and because I love you”

Isaiah 43:1-4

Week 1

I am so glad to have the chance to finally update my blog on everything that has been happening this past week in Santa Cruz, aka "the land of the layers". It has been such a tightly packed schedule full of orientation, training, and getting to know our Action Group (roommates) as well as everyone else here on summer project. However, it has been an awesome week and I am absolutely loving it!

Eclectic. That's the best way I can describe Santa Cruz. Its a little bit of everything compressed into one city. literally. Oh and it has this really awesome and super fun beach boardwalk that makes you feel like a kid every time you walk through the entrance :) Santa Cruz is beautiful in so many ways and I am falling more and more in love everyday.

A lot has happened this first week. A LOT.  Last Friday, we had orientation for the jobs that all of us were blessed to get this summer! I started my first day of work on Saturday, and it was so fun! I work for a family owned retail store, Miller's Sun Shops, which is located on the boardwalk. I really enjoy it, and am loving getting to know my co-workers more. The weather was very rainy and cold most of last week which put a damper on a couple of events we had planned, but today was beautiful and we are finally getting to experience the beautiful California sunshine.

We had our first outreach Sunday afternoon. We were supposed to go to various laundromats around the city and engage in conversations while doing some laundry, but our group (long story short) ended up on the side of the road near UCSC (University of California Santa Cruz). We had stopped because it was a beautiful area that overlooked the bay area and miles beyond, so we were going to take some pictures and what not before heading to do some evangelism. There happened to be a man who was with his girlfriend and they were checking out the beautiful scenery too, so we all kind of started small talk. It was so awesome to see how the Lord had planned for us to meet Victor at that appointed time. And so, the conversation got deeper and we were able to share with Victor about how the three of us came to know the Lord personally and what  it meant to us. It was such an awesome way to see how God completely took over and used us to share the gospel to Victor. Only God can change his heart, and I pray that Victor will come to know Him and have a personal relationship with Jesus.

All in all, I love Santa Cruz. This first week has been crazy and awesome and I am so excited to see what else God has in store for us these next 9 weeks :)