Part III: Sight-seeing and Fun

Sorry this comes so late. I have been messing around on my other blog, hiddenandseeking.blogspot.com. Hidden&Seeking is a light and random blog about myself and my frustrations, fun times, and life in general. Check it out if ya wanna :)

BUT this blog is about the big changes. Like a missions trip to NYC. Speaking of which...
We had so many activities mixed in with all of our serving opportunities. We went to the beach and stepped in the ocean, had a fun experience at Coney Island, went to the top of the Empire State building, ran around the streets of NY (and when I say ran, I mean it in the literal sense!), stood and stared in the middle of Times Square, and had some amazingly fun meal times! I didn't get pictures of everything we did, but here are some pictures I did get (or borrowed from other SMITErs  :):

At the beach in the evening (from like 9 to 11ish?)

Coney Island :)

Holding the guy's stuff while they go for a swim... in the disgusting water lol :)

One of our SMITErs actually made close to $4 while playing and singing his mini-guitar :P

Empire State Building!

View from our first Ferry trip. NYC bright at night :)

Me in the middle of Time's Square. I got lotz of other pics here, but they aren't on my computer yet...

My favorite meal time of the whole trip~ @ Carmines

The SMITE team eating on the way down. What a happy bunch :)

These pictures don't give the trip and the memories justice. But they do give a tiny glimpse into what those days of the trip held. I don't think that I have ever laughed so hard so much, cried so easily, learned so much, taught so much, reached outside my comfort zone so far, dug so deep into myself, or felt so at one with the work of God as I did those two weeks. One of the best weeks of my life. God is so good!!!

Part II: Vacation Bible School

Unfortunately, I only brought my camera the last 2 days, but here are some of the pictures that I DID get :). God did some amazing things!

Not only did several kids accept Christ as their personal Lord and Savior, but God worked in each of the SMITEr's lives as well. We got to teach, share testimonies, work with the kids, play with the kids, talk with the kids, get soaked by the kids (water balloon fight :), and see a different way of life. I was amazed at how open the kids were to us- total strangers who were willing to talk to them and play with them. God broke my heart for these kids and broke down the barrier of fear I had to sharing the Gospel. During the park ministry we had in the afternoons (inviting kids to the VBS, sharing Wordless Book bracelets, showing them God's love), I had the opportunity to go through the Gospel story to two different girls. I will NEVER forget the feeling of joy, happiness, fullness of heart, that I felt when doing this. Makes me wonder why I haven't shared it back home~ it really was the only thing that I have ever done that made me feel full. God did many things to my heart during these weeks in New York.

More later: Part III: Sightseeing and Fun

Experience of a Lifetime

I have been staring at my computer screen for a while now trying to find the words to describe my SummerMissionsInTeenEvangelism (SMITE) trip. I do not believe that there is a concise way to accomplish this...
I guess this will have to do:

{The ride down and first night}

I didn't want to go. Like, really did not want to go on the trip. I almost backed out the night before. I was nervous, NOT excited at all, worried that we didn't know what was going on, and not looking forward to working in the projects of New York. But, I was a "good Christian", and went anyway.

By the end of the trip, I was wishing I didn't have to leave.
God is pretty amazing.

The 15 hour ride to our destination~ Staten Island, New York~ was fun. I got to talk to one of my college freshman friends about my concerns with the trip. She felt the same way, but after talking through of all the wrong reasons why we didn't want to go (example: this trip is not about pleasing ourselves, but bringing glory to God), we were anticipating (instead of dreading) the week ahead and couldn't wait to see what God was going to do in, with, and through us.
The fellowship within the bus, the craziness at mealtimes, and the working together to make a tentative plan for the Vacation Bible School we were leading, are all memories in and of themselves. And the trip hadn't even begun yet.

Meal time :)

We arrived at  the Watkin's (our missionary family) house  later Monday evening. They had a beautiful 100 year old house, that we girls had the opportunity to stay in. The eight of us somewhat overtook their living and dining room areas in the evening...

I was all the way in the back, under the table lol :)

The Watkins were all so sweet and kind to our whole group. They provided us with a marvelous breakfast, lunch, and dinner, every day! May God bless them for their hospitality, godly examples, and memories that we brought back home with us!

I think I will end this post now, but I will continue with Part 2: Vacation Bible School soon. I am nowhere close to explaining all that went on in my life and in my heart the past few weeks.

So stay tuned =)