Remember Samson, the student I wrote about a few weeks ago? He prayed to receive Christ this past week! For me, it seemed to be the answer to many prayers and a confirmation that the Holy Spirit was at work in the different circumstances I had recounted. It happened after a conversation between him and another counselor. Samson realized that he believed everything that a Christian does and that he did not need to first be "good" in order to accept Christ as Savior. So right then and there, he prayed and professed faith. Afterwards, he told me, "Mr. Liu, I just became a Christian!" He was noticeable happy the rest of the day.
Aside from that story, it was a roller coaster week for the counselors. Many were tired and some were carrying the weight of burdens and sorrows. Sometimes, especially after you've spent so much time together every day, you wish you could carry their weights for them.
I've really grown to love this team a lot. When you read over applications in the winter and spring, you try your best to get a sense of each person's strengths, weaknesses, passions and needs. You try to imagine what the team will be like and how the personalities will come into play; but the result usually ends up being a surprise. It's only after you live, work, and grow with each person that you have a chance to really care about them.
The first year that I was a counselor, in '97, this kind of community was new to me, so I really missed the team when PD was over. The same is true again this year-- but maybe even more so. I feel the end of camp nearing and I know I'll miss this team.
Please pray for us this week as the final week is upon us. It is truly crunch time for the different programming elements we have. Also, we try to make final push to point the campers towards Jesus Christ while integrating them into our regular youth ministries. On Friday, we had a huge turnout at the Junior High youth group event-- 67 students! Pray that this would only be the beginning as we try to keep up our relationships with these students.
Monday, July 31, 2006
Sunday, July 23, 2006
Project Destiny Update 4: Good Weather
The third week of PD has just passed. This week, we were facing the prospect of cancelling yet another two field trips. We had already cancelled two previously-- once due to heavy rain and
once due to heat. I remember thinking to myself, it's a good thing our classes and regular programming this year is so much fun, because otherwise, it would be difficult to swallow the loss of 4 field trips. Still, the Lord allowed us to avoid a major tropical storm, and so we had our trips to a berry farm and to a lobstering excursion.
This here is a picture of a visit to a museum we took. Our mentoring groups have been bonding together through field trips like this one, and through their discussion times in the mornings and afternons. They have been discussing what they're learning from the morning chapel times and one student, this week, asked how she could accept Christ!
This week, I got to share about three scripture passages for morning team devotionals. The first was on Colossians-- the supremacy of Christ, the second was on Martha and Mary-- following Christ with joy by listening to him, and the third was on Jesus calming the storm-- the place of peace in Christian's life. I look forward to these chances to share the Word and relate it to our team. Ever since starting to teach at VAC, it is an area of ministry that I've been hoping to grow in. I've got a few opportunities possibly coming up in the fall-- teaching to the junior high youth group. I really enjoying preparing the talks, but the actual delivery is the hardest part.
The team took a retreat yesterday. We read some devotional materials and spent the day resting and doing a little bit of reflection. It was a much needed time for our team. I know I am recharged and ready to go for the next two weeks. Here's a picture of our team staring at a computer one day after camp one day. I don't know what they're all so engrossed by.
once due to heat. I remember thinking to myself, it's a good thing our classes and regular programming this year is so much fun, because otherwise, it would be difficult to swallow the loss of 4 field trips. Still, the Lord allowed us to avoid a major tropical storm, and so we had our trips to a berry farm and to a lobstering excursion.This here is a picture of a visit to a museum we took. Our mentoring groups have been bonding together through field trips like this one, and through their discussion times in the mornings and afternons. They have been discussing what they're learning from the morning chapel times and one student, this week, asked how she could accept Christ!
This week, I got to share about three scripture passages for morning team devotionals. The first was on Colossians-- the supremacy of Christ, the second was on Martha and Mary-- following Christ with joy by listening to him, and the third was on Jesus calming the storm-- the place of peace in Christian's life. I look forward to these chances to share the Word and relate it to our team. Ever since starting to teach at VAC, it is an area of ministry that I've been hoping to grow in. I've got a few opportunities possibly coming up in the fall-- teaching to the junior high youth group. I really enjoying preparing the talks, but the actual delivery is the hardest part.
The team took a retreat yesterday. We read some devotional materials and spent the day resting and doing a little bit of reflection. It was a much needed time for our team. I know I am recharged and ready to go for the next two weeks. Here's a picture of our team staring at a computer one day after camp one day. I don't know what they're all so engrossed by.
Sunday, July 16, 2006
Project Destiny Update 3: Samson, Medical Fiascoes
The second week of PD has concluded and I have a few stories to report. One of them involves one of my students from JQUS-- an 8th grader who was my 7th grade student last year. We'll call him Samson. I remember one day last year, Samson got upet at me during class and challenged me to a fight. "Meet you afterschool and we'll settle this," he had said.
"Ok, you want to settle this? We can settle it," I had said, agreeing to meeting him. What have I just done? I remember asking myself. I've accepted a student's challenge to fight! When Samson arrived afterschool, I tried to think quickly. I wondered what he was thinking. Suddenly, inspiration struck-- I had two play swords mounted on my walls for our drama unit. I challenged him to a fencing match! I got to teach him the rules and beat him a few times before letting him win. Thank God we turned that situation around!
Since then, a lot has gone on with Samson-- he started coming to our Friday night youth groups regularly and he's in Project Destiny this year. Just this past week, I got to "go to bat" for Samson when he unexpectedly found out he had to go to summerschool and thus miss PD. He was pretty upset when I called him on the phone that night. I reassured him, saying I'd go find out what was going on, and that he should not worry too much.
The next day, instead of going to the field trip with the camp, I met with some of the administration at my school. The details of that conversation are not subject to public disclosure, but after talking about a few inconsistencies, we sorted out the fact that Samson would not have to go to summer school. When I finally arrived at the field trip site, several hours later, I got to talk to Samson, whose appreciation and thankfulness could not have been more evident. It was definitely one of the blessings of doing this work. I can see how Samson is becoming a lot more comfortable with church and the people there.
On another note, we sent two students to the emergency room this past Friday. One of them fell off a swing and crashed, chest first, into the ground. He soon started coughing blood. Fearful of a Drew Bledsoe type injury-- remember when he tore one of his arteries in the 2001 season, just before Tom Brady's ascension?-- I called in an ambulance to take him to the hospital. He eventually checked out ok.
The second student had a random piece of debris fly into his eye and it got stuck there. He said the pain rated an 8/10-- 10 being the worst pain you could ever experience. Ouch. So I accompanied him to the hospital, where they removed the debris and gave him medication. The nurse, who had seen our staff there earlier commented, "You're keeping us in business today. What are you doing to those kids?" Maybe she could ask, what are they doing to us? In all 6 years of doing PD, I've never had to talk to our Medical Consultant. On that day, we called her 3 times!
On another note, I am now completely funded. Again, thankyou so much for all your financial generosity and your prayers. Please pray this week for continued energy and health, as I've been feeling a little under the weather. Thanks again.
"Ok, you want to settle this? We can settle it," I had said, agreeing to meeting him. What have I just done? I remember asking myself. I've accepted a student's challenge to fight! When Samson arrived afterschool, I tried to think quickly. I wondered what he was thinking. Suddenly, inspiration struck-- I had two play swords mounted on my walls for our drama unit. I challenged him to a fencing match! I got to teach him the rules and beat him a few times before letting him win. Thank God we turned that situation around!
Since then, a lot has gone on with Samson-- he started coming to our Friday night youth groups regularly and he's in Project Destiny this year. Just this past week, I got to "go to bat" for Samson when he unexpectedly found out he had to go to summerschool and thus miss PD. He was pretty upset when I called him on the phone that night. I reassured him, saying I'd go find out what was going on, and that he should not worry too much.
The next day, instead of going to the field trip with the camp, I met with some of the administration at my school. The details of that conversation are not subject to public disclosure, but after talking about a few inconsistencies, we sorted out the fact that Samson would not have to go to summer school. When I finally arrived at the field trip site, several hours later, I got to talk to Samson, whose appreciation and thankfulness could not have been more evident. It was definitely one of the blessings of doing this work. I can see how Samson is becoming a lot more comfortable with church and the people there.
On another note, we sent two students to the emergency room this past Friday. One of them fell off a swing and crashed, chest first, into the ground. He soon started coughing blood. Fearful of a Drew Bledsoe type injury-- remember when he tore one of his arteries in the 2001 season, just before Tom Brady's ascension?-- I called in an ambulance to take him to the hospital. He eventually checked out ok.
The second student had a random piece of debris fly into his eye and it got stuck there. He said the pain rated an 8/10-- 10 being the worst pain you could ever experience. Ouch. So I accompanied him to the hospital, where they removed the debris and gave him medication. The nurse, who had seen our staff there earlier commented, "You're keeping us in business today. What are you doing to those kids?" Maybe she could ask, what are they doing to us? In all 6 years of doing PD, I've never had to talk to our Medical Consultant. On that day, we called her 3 times!
On another note, I am now completely funded. Again, thankyou so much for all your financial generosity and your prayers. Please pray this week for continued energy and health, as I've been feeling a little under the weather. Thanks again.
Sunday, July 09, 2006
Project Destiny Update 2: First Week
The first week of Project Destiny concluded with a fun field trip to Georges Island this past Friday. Over the first four days of camp, our students bonded together with their mentoring groups through group games, field trips, and discussion times. We've been presenting the gospel in the mornings through the story of Joseph in Genesis (you can ask me how that works some time) via skits and sermons. Our teaching counselors have been training their students in Street Art, Chinese Dulcimer, Guitar, Movie Making, Sports Competency, and more. The students seem to be having a great time and are warming up to their counselors.
Personally, it has been a blessing to be able to talk and relate with campers on a different level than I can as a public school teacher. Even teaching guitar is different because my students really want to learn how to play. They are a nice group of kids. Here is a picture from one of our field trips-- a phot-scavenger hunt in Chinatown. Ignore the gang hand-signs, please.
Please pray for grace, patience, and physical energy for the team. I know I've gotten little sleep while keeping up a very busy day-- and the rest of the staff has a similar schedule. I'm almost completely funded-- I'm down by about 100 dollars, which I am confident the Lord will provide. Thank you for being involved in the work here. I'll have some more detailed stories to tell soon.
Personally, it has been a blessing to be able to talk and relate with campers on a different level than I can as a public school teacher. Even teaching guitar is different because my students really want to learn how to play. They are a nice group of kids. Here is a picture from one of our field trips-- a phot-scavenger hunt in Chinatown. Ignore the gang hand-signs, please.
Please pray for grace, patience, and physical energy for the team. I know I've gotten little sleep while keeping up a very busy day-- and the rest of the staff has a similar schedule. I'm almost completely funded-- I'm down by about 100 dollars, which I am confident the Lord will provide. Thank you for being involved in the work here. I'll have some more detailed stories to tell soon.
Saturday, July 08, 2006
Meet Jim
I spent the last part of tonight hanging out with a man named Jim. Jim has fallen on some tough times-- his girlfriend of 4 years, whom he lived with in Vermont, recently committed suicide. He's been ostracized by his family and neighborhood. Just tonight, he was robbed of most of his worldly posessions. Jim is currently homeless.
I was playing ball with some of the youth, when Jim walked into the ball court area. He stood around watching. I thought, hmm.... I should probably ask him to move along so he doesn't scare the kids. As I introduced myself, and he introduced himself, we found that we had Vermont in common. Gradually, Jim started talking about his girlfriend, Lisa, who had had a drug and alcohol addiction up until she overdosed and killed herself a few weeks ago.
When Jim got to that part of the story, my heart grew heavy. We ended up spending the next hour and a half talking about the messes in his old life, the cruelty of the modern city, street culture, and humanity's inherent sinfuless. That sort of led him to ask me to read him something from the Bible. It's times like that when I wish I had verses memorized. The best I could do was read him Romans 8-- one of my favorite chapters. I also paraphrased Jesus' "Come to me all you who are weary and heavy laden... my yoke is easy and my burden is light."
After that, Jim started talking about how he believes God put him in our church parking lot at the right time to hear those words. There was a lot of just sitting in silence-- and because he was homeless and had nowhere to shower or anything, he kept on moving and squirming-- he was itchy all over. In the end, I prayed for him and he asked me for a Bible to read.
I wanted to give him some detailed information about Boston Rescue Mission, but I didn't know anything about them. Jim says that he'll come to church on Sunday for worship and that he will try to find nice clothes for the occasion. If I see him, I'll give him the information then.
Tonight, the Lord opened my eyes to the plight of people-- how possible it is for a normal somebody to fall into homelessness. Please say a quick prayer for Jim when you read this-- that he would find peace in a relationship with Jesus Christ, and that the Lord would pick Jim back up and take him out of homelessness.
I was playing ball with some of the youth, when Jim walked into the ball court area. He stood around watching. I thought, hmm.... I should probably ask him to move along so he doesn't scare the kids. As I introduced myself, and he introduced himself, we found that we had Vermont in common. Gradually, Jim started talking about his girlfriend, Lisa, who had had a drug and alcohol addiction up until she overdosed and killed herself a few weeks ago.
When Jim got to that part of the story, my heart grew heavy. We ended up spending the next hour and a half talking about the messes in his old life, the cruelty of the modern city, street culture, and humanity's inherent sinfuless. That sort of led him to ask me to read him something from the Bible. It's times like that when I wish I had verses memorized. The best I could do was read him Romans 8-- one of my favorite chapters. I also paraphrased Jesus' "Come to me all you who are weary and heavy laden... my yoke is easy and my burden is light."
After that, Jim started talking about how he believes God put him in our church parking lot at the right time to hear those words. There was a lot of just sitting in silence-- and because he was homeless and had nowhere to shower or anything, he kept on moving and squirming-- he was itchy all over. In the end, I prayed for him and he asked me for a Bible to read.
I wanted to give him some detailed information about Boston Rescue Mission, but I didn't know anything about them. Jim says that he'll come to church on Sunday for worship and that he will try to find nice clothes for the occasion. If I see him, I'll give him the information then.
Tonight, the Lord opened my eyes to the plight of people-- how possible it is for a normal somebody to fall into homelessness. Please say a quick prayer for Jim when you read this-- that he would find peace in a relationship with Jesus Christ, and that the Lord would pick Jim back up and take him out of homelessness.
Tuesday, July 04, 2006
Project Destiny Update 1: Training and 1st Day
Thanks so much to everyone who is giving support to my Project Destiny work, either financially or in prayer. I am just over half-way funded! Many of you have been generous beyond my expectations. If you are still interested in supporting me, check out the prayer letter I wrote in May, in the Archives. You can send a response, along with your e-mail address to 5E Oak St. Boston, MA 02111.
I've been helping out to train our two dozen PD counselors for the past two weeks. Everyday, from 8AM- 5PM, in workshops and lectures, we've covered topics ranging from taking out the garbage to the history of Chinatown; from classroom management to theological understandings of the City. Meanwhile, our group has been gelling, forming a team that works, eats, plays, prays, and worships together. It's exciting to see how the different personalities are coming out and how people are stepping up and helping out.
For me, the past 1.5 weeks, or so, can probably be best described as a working retreat. Sure I've been busy, but I've been a little more sheltered and withdrawn from the City because of our loaded schedule. While it's slightly ironic that most of our staff comes to PD to have an experience with urban missions and I'm engaging the City less in order to help at PD, I think it pays off in the long run because the Lord has definitely used PD in the past raise up people to pray for and serve in the City. So even though I have less time to be directly involved, I feel like I'm helping to lay some groundwork for many more Christians who will, at some point, make the decision to move here and be epicenters of change for Boston.
The First Day was yesterday, so yes, we did meet the youths. We have 52 of them that I would ask you to pray for. I know a good number of them because of connections here and there. They range from the really small and adorable 11 year olds to the kids who are taller than me and speak in baritone voices. I look forward to getting to know them better and to seeing how our counselors learn to care for them.
I've been helping out to train our two dozen PD counselors for the past two weeks. Everyday, from 8AM- 5PM, in workshops and lectures, we've covered topics ranging from taking out the garbage to the history of Chinatown; from classroom management to theological understandings of the City. Meanwhile, our group has been gelling, forming a team that works, eats, plays, prays, and worships together. It's exciting to see how the different personalities are coming out and how people are stepping up and helping out.
For me, the past 1.5 weeks, or so, can probably be best described as a working retreat. Sure I've been busy, but I've been a little more sheltered and withdrawn from the City because of our loaded schedule. While it's slightly ironic that most of our staff comes to PD to have an experience with urban missions and I'm engaging the City less in order to help at PD, I think it pays off in the long run because the Lord has definitely used PD in the past raise up people to pray for and serve in the City. So even though I have less time to be directly involved, I feel like I'm helping to lay some groundwork for many more Christians who will, at some point, make the decision to move here and be epicenters of change for Boston.
The First Day was yesterday, so yes, we did meet the youths. We have 52 of them that I would ask you to pray for. I know a good number of them because of connections here and there. They range from the really small and adorable 11 year olds to the kids who are taller than me and speak in baritone voices. I look forward to getting to know them better and to seeing how our counselors learn to care for them.
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