For kids week I worked with the elementary school kids at their different stations, which included snacks, crafts, games, and the lesson. I really enjoyed this time but never realized before how much energy young kids have and how quickly they can tire you out.
For my pastoral internship I am working with Jason Gaston, the student pastor at the Summit. One of my jobs for this is helping out with “Elevate,” which is a Wednesday night gathering for all the 7th – 12th grade students at the Summit. This summer is the first time in several years that the student ministry has met during the summer and on a Wednesday night. However, there were over 100 kids there the first week. At least 2 kids came to Christ the first night, and I was able to talk with one of the guys immediately afterwards. It was a true blessing to see his excitement after coming into God’s family. My other main duty in the student ministry is hosting a guys’ bible study along with Brian, who is also on The City Project. The Summit has not previously held bible studies during the summer and only two people were at the first one, but it was still a blessing getting to share in both guys’ lives. We are praying that we will have more people at our next meeting.
For my community internship I am helping Child Evangelism Fellowship of Durham reestablish sports camps, mainly basketball and soccer, for underprivileged children in the area. I was very excited when I learned that I was going to be helping out on this, having helped out with several basketball camps over the years and having done nearly the exact same thing for my Senior Project. Right now we have made significant progress on tying down a coaching staff and finding a location for the camp and hope to hold our first camp in early August. We are also considering having Saturday clinics during the school year which I hope to be able to help with even after the summer ends.
The seminary class has proved to be very challenging, as the class lasts only four weeks, and within that four week period we have 9 quizzes to take, 3 books to read, 2 tests to take, and 1 paper to write. Not to mention the fact that simply understanding many of the concepts we discuss takes awhile. There is now only a week left of the class however, which seems hard to believe, and it has turned out to much more enjoyable than I thought it would be. The past several classes have been very discussion based and we have been tackling problems such as: The problem of evil? Do we have free will? Does God really work everything together for our good? Ultimately though, we must remind ourselves that our salvation lies not in getting all our theology right, but simply in the grace of God.
Other fun events from the past three weeks include playing basketball every Thursday morning at 7am with the Summit pastors, planning and grocery shopping for “meals” with the other 3 guys in my apartment, going to my first Durham Bulls game, having to do my own laundry, dressing up to go bowling with my team, baby sitting for the first time, dealing with leaking bath tubs and ceilings in the apartment, learning to play the guitar, taking advantage of free time for naps, and learning which nearby business and restaurants have free wi-fi since our apartment has no internet or TV (which we admittedly haven’t missed much with how busy most days have been).
My team leaves for Malaysia in two weeks now. I am excited to leave the country for the first time and to be able to experience a religious and social culture that is totally different from what I have known. Continue to pray that God works in the lives of my team members and I and all those we come in contact with.
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