2010 Summer Intern Blogs

So this entry is a long time coming.  It's been exactly 3 weeks since tour came to a close and I'm sure most of us have already started school or went back to our routine. Fall is just around the corner and that summer "high" is fizzling out. And that's natural. Life has its highs and lows...No part of our lives can escape that! Even our spiritual walks have valleys and mountaintop experiences, and the excitement comes and goes. BUT DON'T LET THAT STOP YOU!!

I've seen God use and work through many people this summer. I've seen hearts change and the mindsets of closed-off people open. Circumstances that looked 100% hopeless couldn't stand a chance to the power and sovereignty of Christ. But the love and pull of God doesn't take a vacation when the summer season ends.

No. He is always at work, fulfilling His flawless and perfect plan for our world:  to draw His children to His throne and to save us from our sins. He longs for us to seek Him. He says if we draw near to Him, He will draw near to us (James 4:8).

So what are you going to do about this call upon your life? Holy Hands has been such an vital part of my spiritual growth. It was a time of great stretching that prepped me for...MORE STRETCHING! Holy Hands 2010 conditioned me for overseas missions in the Philippines. But it doesn't matter if you're young or old, got lint or cash in those pockets, or if you're flying across the country or just walking down the street. What are you going to do now that God has asked you to "stretch" for Him?

I pray you run after that goal, but even more importantly: run after Him. No one else can know you, love you and direct you like our God can. Take this day to go full-throttle and leave your self-centered, complacent life behind. I promise living a life to reach out to others, TELLING them about the life you have found in Christ, will never be something you regret. It won't be easy, you probably get laughed at, but at the end of your life you'll never think to yourself, "I wish I had never given my life to further God's kingdom!"

So this is my 3rd time trying to write my final blog because my computer doesn't seem to want to post anything from this site.

Since the last time any of the interns saw each other I've have time to think about everything that we did and the experience itself. I've come to the conclusion that I could've kept going even though I was physically done. There is something about doing an outreach that is just amazing. Even walking around painted different colors and talking about Christ just makes you feel like you are accomplishing something, even if the conversations go nowhere.

I can't thank enough Jason and his family, Beck, and Lexi for everything that they are doing and they did in my life. You all have forever changed me.

To all the students I trained, you guys also taught me things about myself that I never knew. You all were a blast and I enjoyed working with you guys out on the mission field.

To the pastors that spoke into my life and were with me through some crazy times, Pastor Kev you know what I'm talking about ("Well we have to go up cause we sure can't go back down!") You all have changed me and given me wisdom that I will hold close to my heart. I hope to keep in contact and talk with you all sometime in the future.

I couldn't see myself doing anything else this summer. This tour was where I was suppose to be. From here, I have one more year of college, marriage, and a career to look forward too. It is almost like climbing a mountain. Really going hard and putting in time and effort only to reach the top and see other, bigger mountains and wanting to climb them as well.

Through it all, God deserves the utmost glory, honor and praise because let's face it, with Him there wouldn't even be mountains to climb in the first place.

Blessings to you all. 

Words can't express how much I loved and enjoyed tour SO much.

Tour had to come to an end date wise, but tour will never be over in my heart. All that I have learned and completed this summer I will forever take with me into the next stage of my life.

Tour gave me the opportunity to discipline myself and challenge myself in so many different aspects of my life. I didn't just grow closer to God, but I grew in the understanding that God wants me to know who I am and be healthy metnally, physically, and spiritually prior to making ministry a full-time job. I have learned we can easily get so wrapped up in ministry and how much we are doing for God that we forget to take care of ourselves. We sometimes need to take a few steps back and examine ourselves before diving head-on into what God has called us to do. I know God has called me to be apart of His team, but the best thing He told me this summer was to take care of Alysa first.

Holy Hands was the perfect dose of "medicine" that I needed right now in this time of my life. I couldn't have asked for a better team leader, and group of interns to help shape and mold me more into the person God is calling and wanting me to be. There is three foundations that I have developed for myselft after this summer and I will constantly keep in mind: God is with me, God is real, and I am Ok. Nothing is better than knowing that God is always wanting to be real to me and I just have to be willing with open arms to be real with Him back and His love for me will continually become more attainable.

I think it is awesome to think back to when God crafted Holy Hands, and He knew 15 years later that Alysa Smith would be apart of the Holy Hands team. God is so amazing like that; there is peace in knowing that God has it all under control and He knows my future better than anyone else, and better than I even know my own future.

Still there is not enough words to express how much tour has helped launch me into the next chapter of my life. Thank you Holy Hands : ) 

And all good things must come to an end.  Tour has officially ended and people are beginning to leave.  Where did the time go?  This never even felt like an internship for me because I got to hang out with kids and train teens.  Yes, it was work and it was hard, but it was well worth it.   I wouldn't trade this summer for anything.  

This summer, I have learned so much about myself and other people.  I have learned how to be fearless when talking to others about Christ and how to be a great leader for students to follow after.  After given the opportunity to lead outreaches, I am no longer afraid to be goofy with kids or start a spiritual conversation with non-Christians.  I also learned several things about other people such as their personalities, different training techniques, and how they interact with people.  For me, this summer was a journey, a new beginning of my life.  I became more independent and confident in myself, which is something I was lacking before tour began.  This internship has really taught me how to better interact and train students to become leaders instead of followers.  During this summer, I have learned to become a better leader myself, which is why I feel it is so important to teach students to do the same.

After interning, I have learned the importance of witnessing to everyone and anyone.  Everyone deserves to hear about Jesus Christ and anyone can start a conversation about Him.   I am now more comfortable and confident when talking to others about Christ.  Before this internship, I was never trained in starting a spiritual conversation or witnessing to others.  However, I cannot wait to go home and talk to people about Him because everyone needs to know.  Rather than keeping ourselves within the four walls of the church, we need to be out in the field meeting people where they are.  We need to be rubbing shoulders with them in the streets or eating a burger with them at a restaurant.  I will not wait any longer for someone to stand up and start moving.  I will be the one to start the movement in my city.  I was called and I am not going to wait any longer.

Well another summer has come to an end. It's hard to believe that two months has slipped between the fingers of our team. It was by far a more amazing summer than I could have ever possibly imagined it would be. I met youth, children, young adults, homeless people, old people, pastors and the list could continue. All of those people affected me and my life. Coming into this summer I was completely filled with confusion as to where I was meant to be; where God wanted me to be.  I truly feel called to ministry after this summer. I have no idea what the specifics of this calling is so for now I'm just going to follow. I am going to miss the intern team so much. A hymn that I find to be so powerful and relative to what we do this summer is "They'll know we are Christians" by Carolyn Arends. Below are the lyrics:

You know, I really hate saying goodbye... so I guess I'm not considering this to be one. Of course getting to know all the Holy Hands Interns this summer has been a blessing to me, and I will never forget any of them; but I think the end has come at a perfect time. This experience has been more than amazing for me- as you may have read in all of my other blogs, and I can't thank Jay and his family enough for their guidance and incredible leadership throughout tour. I know this year has been a struggle for many of us, but we're a team; we're united as a team, and more importantly, we've established ourselves as a family. These people challenged me EVERY day to be a better woman of God, and I don't think any of us really realize yet how much we've all grown and changed. Holy Hands Tour 2010 has been one of the turning points in my life- one of those experiences you know you'll never turn your back on or forget. This summer has possibly been the most amazing experience of my life; so therefore it's not the end. God has more. He always does, He always will.. until next time,

~I'm Meg. My life isn't over yet.   

Well after two months of non-stop moving and non-stop craziness it has come to an end. We've worked so hard and were faithful to our work and God so I'm excited to relax with God these couple of days and receive his blessing. I've realized this summer that my life and everything I have is called into missions. Whether its what Jason does by going out and telling people about Christ through puppets, human video, and garbonics, or if its to start orphanages all around the world I do not know. God has placed a burden in my heart for people that have not come to know him and I can't ask for anything better than that!

Jason is an awesome person to look up to, he an all around awesome man of God. He's a good teacher, father, husband and friend. I've learned so many thing from him this summer and you can't put a price tag on that! I've learned that if we take bold risks that God will take care of the rest and that everything will fall into His will.

This summer totally changed my life and I can't wait to see what God has next for me!!!

-Andre'

This morning at Northeast Community Church in Philly, Pastor Lu shared with us 1 Timothy 1 : 12 - 17 "I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me faithful, appointing me to his service. Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief. The grace of our lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners--of whom I am the worst. But for that very reason was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life. Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.

As tour has come to an end, God has been so faithful to me. For the first time I completely understand what it means to live by faith. God has given me the strength, patience, mental stablitly, and knowledge to train and help lead multiple youth students this summer. Something that almost seemed impossible became possible through an all-around talented leader/teacher Jason and the determination God gave me to want to develop into a stronger leader.

It also has been a true God-story in how I have let God take control of every circumstance of my life with the understanding that He has everything already ready and planned out for me in the weeks after tour. The question still goes unanswered of what am I going to do after tour, but I am not worried or stressed about it, because God knows and He is my number one priority and I am following in His footsteps.

 I truly feel God has supplied me with all I need, because He has forgiven me of all my sins and shown me so much grace during my worst times of my life. So how can I ask for much more, knowing He is so faithful and He will always take care of all my needs. All I have to do is wake-up each day and live a life worthy of what He has called me to do: share His love to others.

God is so awesome. Ultimatley Holy Hands Tour has changed my life. I will never forget this summer.

Today, instead of doing two outreaches like we normally do, we did one outreach all day. Let me tell you, it was such an unbelievably incredible experience. For me, this whole week has been really special to me. Being in Philly, its like reaching out to people in my backyard, my home turf, so my heart is just right here in this place to reach out to the people. One thing that was said today, that really hit me was said by Lou Torrado, ''This is not a black church and this is not a Puerto Rican Chuch, this is a Jesus Church.'' 

So today was an awesome day! We had two block parties happening today, one in Philly and one in New Jersey! I was in New Jersey with Rebekah, Alexis and Megan. We ran it the whole day and that was an awesome experience just because Jason wasn't there and it was cool to see how Bekah was going to run it all. (she did an awesome job by the way)... 

Anyway at the block party i did my usual thing and that helping with the food truck and also helping the students with garbonics. But Alexis asked me to do children's ministry as well, which i wasnt expecting. Basically it consist of introducing the puppets and leading the dancing and then the salvation call at the end. (the only thing I get nervous about is the salvation call). But it went awesome and I totally loved it! I think like 7 kids raised their hands to receive Christ into their lives!!! It will totally rock your world! 

But it was an awesome day and the Cali team did an amazing time and I'm gonna miss them very much! They have a great leadership team and an awesome student team.

It's crazy to think that tour is almost over but I've grown and have been stretched a lot! It has shown me that I know I'm supposed to do this my whole life and always be on the mission field, which I won't mind at all because I love helping and talking to people. But anyway, it was an awesome opportunity and totally changed my life and relationship with God.

-Andre'