1301 Central Avenue Ocean City, New Jersey.
The second half of the summer the staff left and gave us their responsibilities as leaders of the project. We were all given different roles and each role was important in many different ways. An example of a role that may not seem important at first was important in setting the moods and inspiring us. That team was the vibe team. The three wonderful young women who were in charge of that did a fantastic job inspiring us to treasure the gospel and to Go among other things.
Anchored in Christ
The responsibility I was given was a middle action group leader. I had a Bible study with the leadership team and got discipled by a pretty stellar dude named Jake Pearring from UCLA! I was blessed and humbled to gain wisdom from this kid who was 2 years younger than me. I also led a Bible study for 4 action group leaders and discipled 3 of them. It was a privilege to pour into these incredible men who were themselves pouring into men of their Bible studies. I was the in between man, that's why I was called the middle action group leader. The action group leaders led bible studies and discipled the rest of the project students. This time of leading felt behind-the-scenes because I don't feel like I got recognized at all for it. Which is fine and great! It was humbling seeing God use me like that and help me grow in different areas outside of any sort of spot light. It definitely helped me prepare to lead a Bible study back on campus and disciple a few solid guys here. I am blessed to have been able to do that.
And then there are all the people from project. I call them family now. The type friendships I created there are unlike any I have ever experienced. It was the most Biblical community I've ever been a part of. The women were so encouraging. The men were so encouraging. We had deep conversations about life, our lives all the time. We shared our life stories, our testimonies with each other. Sometimes sharing for over an hour, going in depth and being open and authentic with each other. I know I will not ever have this type of community ever again, but thats okay. To experience that is to experience a little piece of God. And I want more of it. It only helps my relationship with Christ by remembering those friends from Ocean City in the summer of 2012.
What is even more astonishing about these friendships is how real they really are. A saying on project was campus trumps project, meaning campus is so much more important than anything we had here on project. Project was just a training ground for home. So as a result, some of these friendships may be harder to keep up. Sure, some are better at keeping up than others, but some, myself included, have a hard time staying in contact with everyone. The great thing about that is that if I see any of the guys or girls, I can sit down and catch up on life and have a deep conversations. It is almost as if we have never left each other. The genuine love felt between everyone is great.
If I had no idea what real friendship and community was before, I do now, this is it. Brothers and sisters in Christ, living life together and serving Christ together by telling others about him.
What is even more astonishing about these friendships is how real they really are. A saying on project was campus trumps project, meaning campus is so much more important than anything we had here on project. Project was just a training ground for home. So as a result, some of these friendships may be harder to keep up. Sure, some are better at keeping up than others, but some, myself included, have a hard time staying in contact with everyone. The great thing about that is that if I see any of the guys or girls, I can sit down and catch up on life and have a deep conversations. It is almost as if we have never left each other. The genuine love felt between everyone is great.
If I had no idea what real friendship and community was before, I do now, this is it. Brothers and sisters in Christ, living life together and serving Christ together by telling others about him.
