Chino

Once again, another busy week that was so jammed packed with activities and rethinking the way church has been done my enitre life. It has been an incredible journey so far and God has been completely redirecting my life and idea for what I want to be doing when I graduate.

Last night I got to hang out with the high school students in Chino for their mid-week gathering. I instantly bonded with 2 girls who are so sweet. Church just seems like a social aspect in their lives right now, but they have such sweet hearts for their age. For one of the girls it was her first time and she loved coming. I could tell immediately that they loved having me there as a college student and just loving on them. They couldn't get enough of me for the night! The 2 other interns bonded really well with the guys in the youth group and apparently this was the best mid-week gathering the students have had with being engaged, according to the youth director Scot. I can really feel the impact we are making in the students lives in the course of one week already.

This Saturday Mosaic will be starting their first gathering at South Bay beach. Please be lifting us up in prayer as we gather for the first time on the beach and that it will be yet another amazing place of rest a refuge for the broken people in LA.

This past Tuesday all the interns had a "learning lab" and it was so incredible. The theme of discussion was being a proactive person. It was such an encouraging lesson to have here. The Mosaic internship is so different from what any typical internship would be because you have almost no idea what you are doing from one day to the next. It is what we make it. We have an extreme responsibility to be active on our own- evangelism, small groups, volunteer, learning, etc. They are not giving us all these set plans and things to do. The intentions of Mosaic are to teach us how to be the most proactive that we can so we can be building relationships with the people at the church, especially the non-Christian and getting involved on our own. It is about making church the place to prepare us to live out real Love and be invited into others lives to eventually share Jesus. Because isn't this exactly how Jesus approached it? Every Sunday we all make it a goal to meet as many people as possible, get phone numbers, and make plans to reach out and build relationships. Because life is really just about relationships and conversation right? From day to day no matter where you are, you are making relationships and talking with people, good and bad. It is an incredible but awesome challenge to honestly just love on every person you meet and in a way where they feel so loved and accepted for who they are, not what they do.

My challenge for you is to do the same. Call up a friend you know doesn't know the Lord and make the plans you have been meaning to. To just sit and share life together. To reach out in love. Accept them. It is not about preaching God to everyone the first time you have the chance. If you are invited into the space of another person's life, you love on them. If you succeed in this then there is no way that Jesus will go by unnoticed in you. Because believe it or not, He is the desire of everyone's heart whether they realize it or not. This is a picture of my friend, Benji, who is a Scientologist that I met at church. He comes to Mosaic and calls it his community because he loves the community and the love he feels when he comes. He has never felt that before. He is still not a believer, but slowly asking the questions. Be praying for him.




P.S. I had to go to the hospital today because of kidney pains. Nothing severe, but I am still hurting. I would love for your prayers for my health so I can be at my best for this summer.