Girl Meets Peter Pan

Hey everyone! Tomorrow I will arrive in Santa Cruz and my journey will begin! I will be meeting my first summer project mates at the airport and taking a shuttle to the Peter Pan Motel! It will be a red carpet arrival! Raising support has been a journey in itself. Last time I blogged I still had hundreds of dollars to raise and now I'd like to praise God for helping me raise over four thousand! My support team includes teachers from high school, aunts & uncles, grandparents, friends of my parents, friends of my grandparents, pastors, hair stylist, friends parents, cheerleading coach from high school, Bible study leaders, CRU staff, high school principal, UNCW professors, church members, my boyfriends church family and parents and their friends, neighbors, my dentist, my dental hygienist, UNCW staff, YoungLife leaders, my sister's husbands family, my sister's dad, coworkers of my parents, my coworkers, my parents, my dad's Sunday School class, my dear friends from high school and my friends that attend class with me at UNCW and friends that attend CRU with me! Not to mention everyone who has been praying for me and will continue to pray for me and the hearts of those in Santa Cruz! What a team, huh? God has shown me how powerful and mysterious His works are, which has really helped strengthen my faith in Him. Raising support has given me the opportunity to reconnect with friends and loved ones I haven't been able to stay in touch with over the years. God has brought family back together and opened doors to new friendships that will last forever.

Anyway, I can't wait to get there tomorrow and spend 10 weeks with 60 other amazing college students that share the same love for the Lord that I do! Together, we will "crusade" our way through Santa Cruz and spread the love of God wherever we go. Please pray for our safety as we travel and that the Lord will prepare our hearts for what we are about to encounter.

12 Days!

     Today marks 12 days until I fly from the East Coast to the West Coast for Santa Cruz, CA Summer Project. Since this is my first post, I'd like to explain the background behind SCSP and all the other summer projects. It happens because of a great organization on college campuses across the US called Campus Crusade for Christ, aka: CRU. CRU brings thousands of students together, allowing them  to grow together. This organization is very welcoming to Christians and non-Christians who are seeking to know more about the Lord. They have staff members on campus throughout the day. The staff does a great job at getting to know students and mentoring them through their walk with Jesus.
     CRU holds many conferences during the year to bring students from all over the region together to hear from well known speakers, worship, and perform outreach in the community. After the winter conference, Encounter, I felt called to go on Summer Project, specifically Santa Cruz. This was my first experience being "called" to do something for the Lord, so I very enthusiastically responded to this calling by first applying to the project. I knew this was the most popular project to go on and was trying to keep faith that if God wanted me here, He would allow me to be accepted, which He did. I found out about my acceptance early March, which meant I had a few months to get all my support raised. I started writing letters and sending them out to everyone I could think of. My goal was and still is $3,400, but including food and transportation, the amount needed increased to $4,500. I've never had to raise support before, so this was definitely a new experience, which I'd also describe as scary and a complete leap of faith. So with 12 days to go... God has helped me raise $2,705- praise Him! I still have a good bit left to raise, but I'm not giving up because I know God will provide for those that do His will. So please if you are reading, stop and take a moment to pray for me as I continue to raise support and as I prepare for this mission trip. I'll write soon and give more details about what exactly I'll be doing in Santa Cruz this summer. God is good!