I'll Make a Man Out of You

Alright, let's get down to business.

So every week on Thursdays our group has been splitting off and been doing separate men's and women's times.  This summer the men are exploring this idea of RACE:
R-Rejecting Passivity (not being idle, taking the initiative, when something needs to be done--do it!)
A-Accepting Responsibility (admitting your failures, following through with your word)
C-Courageously Leading (humbly leading others, being bold, stepping out of your comfort zone, relying on the Holy Spirit)
E-Expecting a Greater Reward (keeping an eternal perspective, not dwelling on Earthly matters)

So yesterday on our Wednesday off we had Men's and Women's time all day.  While the women were getting pedicures and eating ice cream sundaes (not a joke), the guys went to a state park about 30-45 min away.  The first thing we did was canoeing, which was a blast.  Unfortunately, I do have to admit that I was frustrated with one of my peers who could not get the paddling down.  But rather than create "conflict" and try and fix the problem, I was passive and let it happen.  As a result, we were the last canoe down the river and I was even more frustrated.  I failed at rejecting passivity.  Later on, though, I went up and apologized to him for being frustrated.  I accepted responsibility.  It's so neat to see how much grace and forgiveness there is in this group.

Then the metaphor became real.  We had a canoe race, but for you to win, both of your team’s canoes had to finish.  Our second canoe in our team happened to get a hole in it…needless to say, we didn’t come in first.  Oh well.  Then we did another relay race involving running and swimming.  When deciding what tasks each person would do in this race, I felt like I courageously led by figuring out who would be best at which leg, and organizing the positions for our team.  At the same time, it’s difficult to do this without being bossy or arrogant.

After a scrumptious dinner of hobo pies (look it up if you don’t know what it is) we were all blindfolded and taken to a remote location (so sketch right?).  We were instructed to take off our blindfolds one at a time and individually walk through the forest on a path only lit by 4 lanterns held by the staff members.  At each lantern we were read a Bible verse and asked if we promised to live a life that displays each of the 4 letters of RACE.  It was really neat walking through the forest at night and being encouraged like that.

At the end of those lanterns, we each received our own lanterns, so that we could be “lights” to the world and actually apply these ideas of RACE to our lives later on.  We were declared men.  Not as the world defines manhood, but how God wants to use us men for his purposes, whether or not we think we’re qualified or ready or equipped.  He is ready to send us out and spread his word.  We need to be ready and reliant on him.

Hakuna Matata

My crazy busy schedule has prevented me from updating as often as I would like but tonight we got off work at 10:15, so it was an early night...

Let's see.  What's been going on this past week?  Let's start with last Wednesday.  All of us on project have Wednesday off so that we can do group events.  This last one, we all went to Epcot for the day.  And no we didn't go to ride Test Track or Soarin.  We got there and were split into different groups.  Each group was taken to a different country pavilion at the World Showcase, and we did a simulation for a couple hours.  My group was France.  Other countries represented were Morocco, China, Mexico, and Italy.

Through the simulations, each group had to endure struggles (especially sitting in the sun during a Florida afternoon) that all had spiritual analogies.  Each country had “lunch” which represented the availability of the gospel in that country.  Our “lunch” was a stale piece of bread.  In France, we learned, most people call themselves Catholic, but it’s not the American Catholicism that we think of.  Also because the French are very private people (not rude…), it takes years for missionaries to develop relationships before the gospel can even be mentioned.  It was a very interesting learning experience.

Another interesting part of the day was that one of the groups was assigned to be U.S.A. but they were oblivious to how all of the other groups were doing tedious tasks in the burning sun.  They were given luxuries and plenty of food and were so arrogant.  It was humbling and revealing.

The rest of the week has been a lot of work.  Yesterday I worked for almost 10 hours.  It’s exhausting, but so much fun.  I love interacting with the guests, serving them ice cream and egg rolls.  It’s also been really interesting trying to see guests through the eyes of God.  I am constantly reminded throughout the day that each and every person that I serve is loved by God, so I try and keep that in mind in being courteous and loving towards them.  It’s been a lesson in patience, but it’s been so worth it.

I don’t get much sleep because I’m busy all the time, but God has been good in giving me rest.  Life couldn’t be better right now.  I’m so blessed and humbled by this whole summer.  I’m loving God and loving life right now.  Can’t believe how much grace God has showered upon me this summer.  No worries.  For the rest of your days.

Be Prepared

Hey everyone!  So for the past few days we've been completing our training, and as of today our group is fully trained and ready to work!  Woo!  Just got finished with an 8 hour shift serving up Dole whips like crazy, but it really went by so quickly.  It's such a blast getting to interact with the guests, wishing them happy birthday or asking them what their favorite rides are...pretty neat-o.

Well, we get this question a lot: "Are you in the college program?"  The answer is no.  We are not in the official 6 month (June-January) college program.  But this question is a great opportunity to say why we're here.  "No, actually we're just working here over the summer.  We're with a Christian organization called Campus Crusade, and we have about 40 of us working around the Magic Kingdom this summer and we have our own activities and ministry things at the same time!"

I had this conversation on Saturday early on in my shift, and one of our coworkers was like "Well that's neat.  What's your testimony?"  Like straight up.  And I'm like ok...let's do this!  And while I haven't had much practice with a solid (and concise) testimony, I fumbled around my words for a bit and hopefully got it out somehow about how my life has changed since following Jesus.

Later that day we were talking to another coworker and said our little shpeal (sp?) again, and he was like "Oh, so you guys talk about Jesus and stuff?" and I responded "Well, yeah that's part of it." and he said "Ok, go."  So in the stuffy back room of Aloha Isle (surrounded by Dole Whip mixtures), I got to share the gospel with a coworker.  When I got to the part where I explained how because of our sins we deserve death, but Jesus died in our place so we would never have to experience that, our coworker, who had gone to church his whole life but never really understood (yeah...been there, done that), was starting to put the pieces together.  He said that he still has deep issues with some religious stuff, but that he's down to talk about that later.

It's just so cool how God has been providing situations like these so far, and the awesome thing is that our coworkers are doing the initiating of these conversations.  They want to know why we're here and what we're about.  And I've learned so much about how we always need to be prepared to share our own stories and the love of Jesus because you never know when a situation like this will pop up!  I'm super excited for what the Lord has in store for the rest of the summer.

On a different note, yesterday my work group had the day off.  We went to church and then Animal Kingdom in the afternoon.  Later in the evening, we stopped by Magic Kingdom to stalk our co-project people.  Here are just a couple creeper pics of our Project members working at the parks.  Here we have Kayla helping out a family.

Jordan slaving away in the kitchen

Ashton looking ready to help someone purchase some Disney gear from the Emporium

And Derek finishing up an important transaction!



And I'll leave everyone with a lovely picture of the sunset (so artsy, right?) that I took from the boat ride over to the Magic Kingdom.  Hope everyone is doing well!

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious

It’s been a crazy, hectic few days! (hence the chaotic title)  Where to start?

We’ve been doing a lot of Disney training.  Entirely too many “E-Learning” things (basically learning about safety, how to treat guests with disabilities, and the Disney Dining Plan via Disneyfied online programs).  But we finally got some real life, on-the-job training yesterday.  I’ll be working in Adventureland (in the next update, I’ll share a picture of our crazy awesome costumes!) swirling ice creams, serving egg rolls and corn dogs, and…creating the ultimate Disney treat---the Dole Whip.  Now, for those of your who have never had the privilege of consuming such a product, here is a lovely picture of one (from my trip last year).  It’s basically pineapple soft serve, and you can get it in a cup or on top of pineapple juice.

Due to the overwhelming popularity of this delectable dessert, that stand will be crazy busy all day, so I’m hoping that will help the time fly by.  I was trying to perfect the “swirl” of the ice cream yesterday (yeah, it did not look like the above pic...).  Let’s just say, it’s a work in progress, but I’m confident that I’ll be able to get it by the end of the summer.  Tonight I work from 4:30-12:45 (some of our project members work until 4AM!!!  Pray for them!).

On a completely different note, the other day we went to Cocoa Beach (about an hour away from us).  For the first half, we went around on the beach, talking to people about what they believe, and asking them if we could share with them a way to know God personally.  The first lady that me and my friend talked to was a solid Christian and she was so encouraging.  We prayed with her, and she told us that it made her day seeing us out sharing our faith.  Then we talked to another guy, who was very open with us, and seemed to be interested in knowing God, which was also encouraging.  One thing that I’ve learned is that when going out sharing our faith, we should not measure “success” based on how many people are interested in Christianity or sharing their lives with us, but rather the fact that we just had the boldness to go out and talk to people.  It can be intimidating, especially for me because I fear other people judging me, but in the end, I have nothing to be ashamed or fearful of.

We also went surfing at the beach.  Who would have thought that I would have to go to the other coast to surf for the first time?  The waves weren’t that big, but it was a really great experience.  Most people got up at least once, and it was just a great bonding time for our whole group.

One of the biggest things that I’ve been learning is about God’s will.  There have been a lot of things out of my control so far on project, but I have to rely on the fact that God knows what’s up when I can’t understand why things happen a certain way.  If anyone has been to Disney with me (or just know me) you know that I’m a major planner.  I plan out everything, and I get easily frustrated when those plans don’t go well.  I’m working on that.  But what I’m constantly amazed at is how God is THE ultimate planner.  He works all things out for his good will (not just some things or when he feels like it…ALL things), which can be hard to see in the moment, but taking a step back, it’s so true.  A lot of people will say it this way: “Everything happens for a reason”.

Sorry for the super long blog again, but I hope to have another update within the next few days!

A Whole New World

This one might be a long one, so let’s strap in and go for a magic carpet ride.  Two days ago, we went to Disney University and were enrolled in an 8 hour “Traditions” class (aka Disney orientation).  It was a lot of fun.  We learned about Disney’s history and procedures, had our class interrupted by a surprise visit from Mickey himself, and even went to the Magic Kingdom and the tunnels underneath the park.  If you didn’t know before, for efficiency, the Cast Members at Magic Kingdom use this set of underground passageways to get around the park without “ruining the story” (basically the reason why you don’t see Jungle Cruise skippers walking around Fantasyland or Tomorrowland).  It was SO cool!  I’ll be getting to use these tunnels all summer!

Also at Traditions we got our official nametags

as well as our Cast Member IDs.  We obviously use these IDs for identification purposes, but they also act as our admission to the theme parks.  So with a free afternoon/evening and a freshly printed ID, what else is there to do except go to the Magic Kingdom!  We were there from about 4:30 til 12:30 (the park was open until 1AM), and we all had a blast!  Rode some Space and Splash Mountain, met Mickey Mouse and 3 of the princesses, and saw the Electrical Parade and the Wishes fireworks spectacular.  It was the first time for one of the girls in my group, and it was just the coolest thing seeing her reactions to all of the rides, shows, and Disney magic.  It really was a whole new world for her.  Here’s a pic of all of us with Mickey and Minnie.

After coming back really late, I crashed hard.  Yesterday, we got to do amazing things too!  We visited the national headquarters of Campus Crusade for Christ.  Yup, it’s here in Orlando.  It was pretty sweet, nbd.  We got a tour and a presentation about the “Jesus film” project.  Basically, they made a 2 hour movie about the life of Jesus and have translated it into over 1000 different languages, and they have mission trips where people will go to different countries and show it in that native language.  I think that’s really neat.  Although maybe I’m just an ignorant American, but I had no idea that there were that many languages!  And it’s not even in all languages…yet.

Then for dinner/afternoon we went over to the national director of Campus Crusade’s house for socializing, a BBQ, and swimming.  Nbd again.  It was really fun, and they encouraged us and shared with us part of their life stories. 

First day of training tomorrow!  Prayers welcomed!

Be Our Guest

"Put our service to the test!"

The past few days have been a mix of relaxing and busyness.  Saturday morning we went out "evangelizing" in downtown Orlando.  Now, that's a big word, but basically what we did was go up to people, ask them a couple of questions about their life and their spiritual beliefs, and (after asking permission of course) asking them if they would be interested in hearing about the love and mercy of Jesus Christ.  This is a part of glorifying God, and adding to His kingdom.  One thing that I've been learning though, is that we need to do this out of love and compassion for others.  It's really not about being forced to share with others or trying to "convert" as many people as possible.  No. 

Christians can get a bad reputation for having an attitude of superiority.  The truth is that we're all broken and we screw up.  Nobody is perfect (bummer huh..).  That's why we need a savior.  So when talking to others about my beliefs I am learning to love them and understand things from a compassionate, tactful perspective.  I mean, in reality, it was not even that long ago that I wasn't really trying to live for Jesus.  I've been there.  Praise God that one lady at the park where we were was feeling so desperate and lost and found hope in Jesus because of a couple of the girls on our project.  Keep praying for those who we talked to who seemed interested but still have reservations that God would continue to work in their hearts and reveal himself to them.

God also put our service to the test this morning.  Berto, my roommate here, turns 20 today (Happy Birfday!!!), so the guys from the Cabana all woke up early and we made pancakes and french toast for everyone on the project (50 people?).  It's great being able to serve others even if it's as simple as cooking a little breakfast (well, it was a pretty big breakfast).  This morning, everyone was invited to be our guest here in the Cabana.  No smoke alarms went off, and we even have tons of extras for later, so it went better than expected.

Tomorrow we have our Disney orientation (called "Traditions") for 8 hours where we'll get our work IDs.  Our IDs will basically be our admission to the parks this summer!  Wooooo!  After Traditions, we all plan on going to one of the parks and just having fun!  Tomorrow is a very exciting day!

A couple prayer requests:
1. A smooth transition into our work schedule starting in a few days, and that God would bless the friendships and conversations that develop because of our work. 
2. Just a continued sense of unity amongst students here.  That we would be inclusive of everybody throughout the whole summer (I mean, we've only been here like a week...we still have a long time here).

If you have any prayer requests, shoot me an email or fb message or text.  I'd love to be praying for you (even if you don't send me anything!).

Hasta luego.

Just Around the Riverbend

So I've been on WDW Summer Project for about 48 hours (only? seems like more) and every minute has been a blast.  Our first afternoon, our rooms weren't ready on time which gave us an excuse to mingle and meet all of the other students.  There are about 40 of us students, and we're all from lots of different states and places.  I've met some really cool people so far and I'm stoked to form even deeper friendships as the summer progresses.  These are the guys in my apartment (which we've already designated as "The Cabana" and the unofficial hang out spot for the summer).  Just look at how cool we are.

Anyway, for our first night we had a scavenger hunt around Downtown Disney.  Then it hit me...we were at Walt Disney World!!!  Yes, it felt great running around the ginormous World of Disney store, taking the water taxi across the lake, and listening to the talented street performers.  Overall it was great bonding time and an excellent introduction to Disney!  Here's a pic of my group!

Yesterday we had a lot of training on what it will look like to live a life filled with the Holy Spirit.  The main metaphor that we'll be using all summer is: surfing = walking by faith in Jesus Christ.  Like how we might have fears and doubts about trying to surf a big wave (never surfed before...), we have similar reservations about putting our lives out there for God and trusting him with our lives.  Also we must have faith that when we "mess up" (sorry to break it to you, but we're not perfect), that we'll be ok just like how surfers recover from a wipeout and go right back out to catch another (gnarly) wave.

In other exciting news, I got my job position today!  Woo!!!  Well kinda.  I know I'll be working at the Magic Kingdom (which I said before), and I know I'll be working in the Quick Service Food department.  Where exactly?  I don't know.  We went to Disney Casting this morning and finished all of our paperwork.  This coming Tuesday we'll get our official Cast Member (aka Disney worker) IDs and find out our actual work location.  I'll be working so soon!  Can't wait.  Exciting stuff and tons more is waiting just around the riverbend.

P.S. Sorry about the overuse of parentheses (sp?).  I add them in as I go because I feel like it's more conversational and on the spur of the moment.