Transition Time

Hi everyone! :)

Milwaukee Summer Project ended this past Thursday. We had a Project Retreat at the Dells to celebrate what God did this summer in the city of Milwaukee. I am not the same person I was 7 weeks ago when I came on Project. I am so thankful that God brought me and 9 other students together this summer. We grew together as we shared the love of Christ in Milwaukee. It deeply saddens me that we are no longer together, but thankfully in Christ there are no good byes! :) I look forward to seeing how God uses each and everyone one of us as we go back home and return to our campuses this Fall!

I moved into my first apartment yesterday. My future roommate and her family offered to help me move since they lived nearby. My family came later in the afternnoon to visit. As my family was getting ready to leave, I began crying uncontrollably. I didn't want them to leave. I didn't want to be alone. I felt like everyone was leaving me. Thankfully, one of my close friends spent the night with me to keep me company. It was good just to talk things out with someone who knew exactly what I was going through.

At our last Weekly Meeting, our Assistant Project Director Kara told us that the transition would be hard and gave us some advice. I didn't anticipate it being this hard. I'm slowly trying to go back to the way things use to be. I feel lost right now. I constantly remind myself that there is a God who loves me and who will guide me during this time.

Today, I was able to feel at peace about where I'm at right now. I returned to Straightway Vineyard as planned to once Project was over. As Pastor George contiuned preaching about God's love, I began tearing in my seat.

1 John 4:16 says,

And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.
God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.

God is Love. God cannot stop loving. God cannot change His heart. God loves us more than what we can love ourselves.

God will never stop loving us! His love is beyond measure!

I needed to be reminded that God's love will never change! God will never walk away from you!

God's love simply amazes me!

This song expresses the desire of my heart and is my prayer.

After the service today at Straightway, a woman named Joanna (a member of the church and part of the worship team) came to introduce herself. I quickly found out that she was a student at Marquette many years ago. Her and husband Sunder invited me to have lunch with them. I ended up going with them and their baby Anaya as well as their friend Dan for some Indian food. It was such a blessing to have meet both of them today! It just amazes me how God is always looking out for His children. I felt loved this weekend in way that I never had before by my roomie and her family, my family, my close friend Anna, and Joanna and Sunder. I experienced the love of the Body of Christ.

As always, I have a few prayer requests:

1. For my team and I in our transition time. For us to continue being bold and courageous and to do God's will. I've learned this means being outside of your comfort zone. For us to be find comfort in being uncomfortable.

2. To be able to love my roommates well and the people on my floor. Our training for Global Village, starts in 2 weeks. I will be living on a floor with international students. One of my roommates will be from China! :) Also, that I would be able to share God's love with them.

3. To be an integrator and to apply what that I learned this summer this coming Fall. That I would not be afraid to challenge myself or other people around me.

4. For physical and soul rest - This summer has been very exhausting between working full-time and Summer Project. I hope that these 2 coming weeks will be a good time to rest and process through everything God did this summer.

Thank you for your generosity both prayerfully and financially to support my ministry this summer! Expect a newsletter in the next week or two to read some stories about what God did this summer on our Project.

In the meantime, feel free to watch this short video of our ministry summer:

Once again, thank you! I look forward to seeing how God continues to work in the city of Milwaukee and on Marquette's campus this Fall!


With joy,

Rosa Castillo

God's Love

Hi everyone! :)

I hope this post finds you all well! :) The theme of my post for this week is God's love. 1 John 4:7-21 has really been on my heart because it talks about God's love for us and how we should love others.

God showed His love for us by sending His one and only Son into the world that we might live through Him! He sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. These verses really stand out to me because it is how God showed and proved His love for us!

Today we visited Straightway Vineyard. To my surprise, the topic we discussed was God's Love.

John 13:34-35 says,

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.  By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Personally, I cannot say that I fully understand what the phrase"God is love" means. In all honesty, I don't think I've ever truly experienced God's love. I have experienced bits and pieces of it. The reality is that God's love is more deeper than our understanding. In order to experience His love, we have to go to places that we have never gone. We have to be willing to take risks to try to be like Him. Coming on Milwaukee Summer Project for me was a bold step in faith and obedience of what I felt God was calling me to do. We have to be open and willing to do what God has called us to do.

We need to be a particular person. We need to be like Christ. We need to be imitators of Him.

We need to love others! The Greek word agape comes to mind. It is a complete, unconditional, pure, sacrificial love. As Christians, we need to commit ourselves to God and loving other people. This should be our priority and everything else should come second. 

Pastor George said, "We need to fix our eyes on sacrificially loving others." This means doing things that make us uncomfortable. It reminds me of the 3rd of July. As a Project social, we went to Bradford Beach to have a cookout and watch the fireworks to celebrate the 4th of July. We had decided that we would be handing out free water bottles and Bibles as an Outreach. When the moment came to go for the Outreach, I didn't want go. I was tired and just wanted to rest. My peers encouraged me to go sharing and so I did. I was so discouraged the whole entire time. At the end, one of my peers and I encountered a young Hispanic woman. She was a young believer and just really needed encouragement in her walk with the Lord. She felt alone in her walk with the Lord because her family was constantly criticizing her. She was the only one in her family to be a Christian. I was able to share my story with her and encourage her. We ended up praying for her and I hugged her at the end. She was definetely a divine appointment.

Pastor George posed a question towards the end of the sermon:

Are you willing to love people despite what it feels like or what is costs you?

At this point, I brokedown in my seat. I will admit that I struggle loving my parents because of everything that has happened. I continually have to forgive them for what they've done. I am only able to forgive them and love them because of what God is doing in my life. He continues to heal my heart as I allow Him to go into unknown places. The pastor at the end asked for those who were in need of prayer to go up. He prayed for us to be able to love others sacrificially and to be able to continue to serve the Lord out a heart of love for others.

I ended up talking to him after the service was over. I shared with him my story and he prayed over me. I am learning to be more vulnerable with people. I am planning on returning to Straightway Vineyard once Project is over as he is covering a series of God's love and continues to challenge his congregation. He told me his wife is leading a Women's Group and they are talking about God's love as well. I hope to attend the small group called "Crazy in Love" after Project is over. The church seems to be a good fit for where I am at now spiritually and plan to continuing praying about whether I should make it my home church. I definetely felt welcomed and loved today.

I am on a quest as I made a commitment to the Lord  to be single for an extended period of time so that I can experience His AMAZING and ABSOLUTE PURE LOVE on a deeper level!

I LOVE THIS SONG! :D ENJOY!

Remember, God loves you! :)

As always, a few prayer requests:

1. That I would find JOY in serving the Lord! I feel like I'm running on empty now and need to continue serving the Lord well. This coming week is our last full week of Project.

2. For my quest with the Lord in being single for an extended period of time. That I would be able to draw closer to Him and experience His ABSOLUTE PURE LOVE on a deeper level.

3. That I would be able to love others SACRIFICIALLY and that I would put everything else second including my feelings and emotions. 

4. For God to continue healing my heart and that I would allow Him to go continue to go into the unknown places and areas of most pain.

Thank you everyone for your continued support and prayers! It means a lot to me! You are all such an encouragement and blessing to me! :)

With joy,

Rosa Castillo

A Woman's Heart

Hi everyone! :)

Lately, I have been learning a lot about the heart of a woman. Proverbs 4:23 says, "Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life." I have read this verse so many times in the past. I knew intellectually that it was important to guard your heart. It was not until recently that I began to understand the importance of guarding your heart. God knows that our heart is the core of who we are. It is where our creativity, courage, and convictions come from. Also, it is the source of our faith, our hope, and of course our love. This "wellspring of life" is the very essence of our being. Our heart as a woman is the important thing about us. As a woman we long to be desired, to be pursued by one who loves you, to be someone's priority.

This past Sunday night, we had a Women's Night. We talked about purity in four different areas which are physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual. I personally struggle with guarding my heart. On Sunday night, I was convicted that I continually invest myself emotionally in relationships with guys. I had been praying about committing myself to being single for at least a year and focusing on my relationship with the Lord. Getting to know the Lord on a deeper level and continuing to fall more deeply in love with Him. I made the commitment and promise to the Lord Sunday night after the event. I desire to continue being a woman after God's heart.

Last night at our Weekly Meeting, our speaker talked about our identity in Christ. The message was incredible and something that I needed to be reminded of. There is a God who loves us and desires to have a relationship with us. We can know who we are in Him. He talked about how sometimes we can lose sight of our identity in Christ because of the enviroment we may have grown up in. It's hard to believe that there is a God that loves you when you never felt loved by your earthly Father. I constantly have to remind myself of who I am as the daughter of the KING!

Some truths and verses to remind you of who you are as daughter of the KING!

• You are God's possession. 1 Peter 2:9-10
• You have freedom in Christ. Romans 8:1-2
• You are sought after, pursued, romanced, the passionate desire of your fiancé, Jesus. Isaiah 62:1-5
• You are united with the Lord and one with Him in Spirit. 1 Corinthians 6:17
• His thoughts of you are precious. Psalm 139:17-18

I hope that this post encourages many of you! :)

A friend recommended that I memorize this verse:

"We have a young sister, and her breasts are not yet grown. What shall we do for our sister for the day she is spoken for? If she is a wall, we will build towers of silver on her. If she is a door, we will enclose her with panels of cedar." Song of Solomon 8:8-9

I really like the imagery and contrast of the wall and the door. The wall symbolizing her strength in God and her patience to wait on God to show her the proper man. The door paints a picture of a woman who does not know how to guard her heart. She will let anyone come in and out. My desire is to continue guarding my heart and to wait on God. My committment and promise to the Lord to be single for a year is something I will not do lightly. This idea of bringing people alongside you is emphasized in this verse. My accountability partners will  help me in keeping me accountable as well as the ladies in the my Action group. I cannot wait to see what God has in store for me this coming year! :)

As always, a few prayer requests:

1. For my 1 year committment and promise to the Lord. I know it's not going to be easy and that temptation will come.

2. For strength and peace to get through the next 2 weeks. Project ends in 2 weeks, but I have a lot to get done between now and then. That I would not worry about everything that needs to get done, but that I would completely surrender it to Him.

3. For my roommates in the Fall. I will be doing a program called Global Village which is Marquette's program for international students. I will be living with 2 other Marquette students and an international student from China! That I would be able to love them well and that I would be able to share God's love with them. Also, for opportunties to share the Gospel with people in the program.

Thank you everyone for your prayers and encouragement! It really means a lot to me.

With joy,

Rosa Castillo

P.S. Check out this song! I love it! :)

Time of Reflection

Hi everyone! :)

I hope everyone is having a Happy 4th of July! :) Lately, I have been doing a lot of reflecting and a lot of things have happened this past week and a half. Two Sundays ago, we went to visit a church called City Brook Church. We had been told by the Project Staff that they would be having their first baptism as a church. When we arrived we were given a warm welcome by everyone. The service itself was non-traditional. The people being baptized were given their testimonies. As they gave their testimonies, I cried uncontrollably in my seat. I could see their brokeness and sinfulness and how God had redeemed them. It gave me a lot of peace about presenting my testimony at our Tuesday Night Weekly Meeting. I was nervous because it was my first time presenting my testimony to a large group, but I remembered that it wasn't my story. It was the story that God was writing about my life pointing back to His story! The bigger story! It was really cool to see how God worked in that and how He uses people to show himself through them. I felt at home at City Brook Church! I had been praying for so long to find a home church in Milwaukee and I finally found it! God definetely answers prayers in His own timing.

Also, the Project Staff left this past weekend. On Saturday evening, we had our Transition Banquet. We were able to share together what God had done these past 3 weeks. The Project Staff announced all leadership positions for our Project. In a Project of 10 students, everyone is a leader some with more than one role. I am the Memories Coordinator :) If you are wondering what that means, I am responsible for capturing the memories of our Project. My responsibilities include writing a newsletter for our Project, designing & ordering Project T-shirts, and taking and ordering a group picture. I am excited to be able to serve God in this capacity as a leader. I am learning how to follow others which is different for me because I am so use to leading, but I am excited to see how God uses everyone in their leadership position and how we all continue to grow. At the end of Banquet, we were praying and when we closed our eyes the Staff left. As I saw them walk out, I began crying. I was sad because they were leaving. I didn't want them to go, but they had to. It's been hard without them. We are figuring out things for our own. It's a learning experience.

This past Saturday, we visited a church called Liberty and Truth Ministries. The pastor talked about the myth of self-sufficiency. Growing up we are constantly told that we need to be able to take of ourselves. Change is an important part of the Christian life. We are changing all the time. I believe we will all be challenged to change in the next 4 weeks that remain of Project. The pastor defined self-sufficient as being able to supply one's own needs without external help. We cannot be spiritually self-sufficient. Self-sufficieny is a myth. No one is self-sufficient. You always need someone. God does not want us to insufficient either though which means that we cannot function by ourselves. God wants us to be God-sufficient and interdependent of other believers. God wants us to be sufficient in Him. The pastor talked about the idea of a thorn. Situations that make you cry out out God and that help you be God-sufficient. It is the thorns in our lives that make us realize our need for God. Lately, I have been looking back at all the events in my life and I am thankful for the thorns that God has put in my life. It is the thorns in your life that cause you to turn from self-sufficiency to God-sufficieny.

On another note, my discipler Heather Schneider has been a tremendous blessing to me! She has pointed out things that I have been struggling with that I did not realize. I have been hidden them in the depth of my heart. A prime example would be my parents divocrce and my relationship with my earthly father. Both of which have affected my relationship with the Lord and my relationship with others. Two Saturdays ago at our Women's Event, I was finally able to bring some of the hidden things in my heart into light which had been causing me a lot of pain. I truly believe that this a summer of healing for me. Just being able to focus on my relationship with the Lord and growing in my understanding of who He is. Finding my significance in Him and nothing else. My discipler challenged me to pray about committing myself completely to the Lord for a year and being content in dating in Him for at least a year. It is something that I have been praying about. As much as a I desire to be in a relationship, I do not think I am ready for it now and think that a lot of healing needs to happens before that. I believe that if it God's plan for me to be in a relationship that He has someone hand picked for me. He knows me better than what I know myself. For now, I am dating the Lord and being content in that.

As always, a few prayer requests:

1. To find physical and soul rest in the Lord. Lately, I have been really stressed with work and Project Stuff. I'm always exhausted, but lately more than usual.

2. For me and my team for us to continue to serving the Lord well with this summer. For us to be able to love each well and for us to be able to speak truth to one another.

3. For God to be continually glorified by our Project

Thank you everyone for your continued support and prayers! It really means a lot to me! :)


With joy,

Rosa Castillo

Season of Friends

Hi everyone! :)

I just wanted to share what God has been teaching me this week. Especially, tonight at the Women's Event. I titled this blog the season of friends because it is something I have been learning to be thankful for. The season of friends that I've had this past year and a half at Marquette Cru. I got plugged into Cru by Gina George and it was totally a God thing how we met! Needless to be said, she has been a spiritual mentor of mine and I am so thankful for her! Another person who has been very influential in my walk with the Lord is Kathy Clay. She was my Upperclassmen Bible Study co-leader my first semester of sophomore year who I learned so much from. Also, there are two young ladies who have been very influential this past semester in my discernment process of coming on Milwaukee Summer Project. My discipler Kristin Rooney and her roommate Anna Mumm who will both be interning with Cru this coming year! Kristin will be interning with Cru in Montepellier, France and Anna will be in the Metro Milwaukee Team. Her main campus will be Marquette along with other campuses as our Cru woman staff leader Catherine Canham leaves to Minneapolis, Minnesota. She has been promoted to the Upper Midwest Region to serve as a Director of Campus Field Ministry. It was a privilege to have gotten to know Catherine this past year. It is because of the time she took to sit down with me to talk that I am here on this Summer Project. Otherwise, I would of never considered it. It was because of the encouragement and wisdom that I got from these ladies and many others that I am on this Project!

This past week someone from Cru Headquarters contacted me asking me if I could share my story about the obstacles that I faced with my mom and sister in coming on Project. It reminded of how blessed and thankful I am for the family that God has given me within Marquette Cru. I will be writing a story about the obstacles that I overcame to encourage other students in my position to be bold and courageous and to take a step of faith! It will appear on the Summer Project 2012-2013 Brochure.

With that being said, God has been tugging at my heart a lot. I'm considering doing full-time ministry with Cru possibly after graduation whether it be with Here's Life Inner City or overseas in a Spanish speaking country. Today was our third outreach and I was getting frustrated towards the end because people keep shutting me down. Then a young man was walking by and I asked him if I could ask him a few questions. He was like sure and I went through the Solarium with him. It's a tool Cru uses to initiate spiritual conversations. It consists of 50 photographs and 5 questions. Let's just say the guy was from Ecuador. I was definitely blown away by God! It was a divine appointment. He said that he had a relationship with God, but that it could be stronger. He gave me his contact information and hope to be following up with him. I plan on bringing a young man from Project with me to this follow-up appointment. I have been blown away by how God has created these divine appointments where I can use my Spanish. The first person I got to share the Gospel with this summer was in Spanish!

I have been considering doing a mission trip next summer overseas with Cru. Either in El Salvador or Ecuador. Two places that I feel God has put in my heart and where I could use my Spanish. In all honesty, the amount of stuff I have been trying to process this week is so much. I'll try to keep it brief  :)

Last thing, tonight at the Women's Event we did an activity called Stand up for your sister. It was such a powerful experience! We talked about our identity in Christ as his beloved daughters. Being reminded of our identity in Christ. We were able to confess to one another our sin and to be freed from it. It made me think of my parents. I've struggled so much trusting my Heavenly Father because I've never felt loved by my earthly Father. Being reminded that my Heavenly Father loves me at my worst and for who I am was definitely needed. There was so many tears of pain and suffering of things just built up over the years that I was hiding. I'm working on bringing the things in hiding into light which is exactly what we did tonight. I cried tears of joy with my small group because for once in my lifetime I felt completely free. I had been carrying all this pain with me all these years along.

I am constantly reminded that it is the Lord who has brought me this far. I owe it all to Him. This summer is not about me or anybody else. I will continuing serving Him this summer and focus on my relationship with Him. Continuing to grow in my understanding of Him and His heart for Milwaukee. Along with growing in my understanding of what it means to be a Woman of God.

As always, a few prayer requests:

1. For our upcoming Tuesday Night Weekly Meeting at 7pm. I will be sharing my testimony for the first time with a large group of people that God would be able to speak through me and that I would be calm and natural.

2. For my follow-up with the guy from Ecuador. Hopefully, he can find others to come alongside him to encourage him in his walk with the Lord.

3. Patience and being gracious to the Project Staff

4. Project Staff leaving next weekend and for the transition to be smoothly

5. For God to be continued to be glorified through our Project

Once again, thank you all for your continued support and prayers! It means a lot to me!


With joy,

Rosa

New Beginning

Hi everyone! :)

Summer Project Orientation ended yesterday. It was by far one of the hardest weeks of my life. On Thursday and Friday, I returned to working full-time. This summer I will be working with Summer Crew which is through Marquette University's Office of Residence Life. We do renovations and prepare the residence halls and university apartments for the Fall. Also, we have been preparing rooms a lot lately because we host conferences. Some of the residence halls function as hotels for these conferences. The job itself is physically draining. On Friday, I just wanted to cry from how exhausted I was in the afternoon. It's really hard for me to keep myself going all day when I am exhausted all the time. Friday after work I had dinner with my Action group and we formally meet for the first time. This summer we will be studying the book of Ephesians.

Yesterday was the highlight of my week. Probably the best day ever! :) I got to sleep a few extra hours and it felt good just to recharge myself. We did our 2nd Outreach at 2 local parks in Milwaukee. I personally spoke to 5 individuals. I was really blown away at how God is working in the city of Milwaukee. All of the people that I talked to after going through the Quest survey (Cru tool we use to evangelize) with them rate their desire to know God as a 10! I remember one conversation in particular that really just broke my heart. There was an 8 year old boy alone on a swing and we approached him. One of my Action group leaders gave him a Gospel bracelet and I got to explain what each different color bead meant. We asked him if he went to church and he said no. I asked him if he would want to go to church and he said yes. It just really broke my heart to see the desire this little boy had to know God and pray that God would place people in his life that can pour into him. After the Outreach, we returned to City on a Hill and were left instructions to go find the Staff. They were scattered throughout Brady St. which is a very colorful street in Milwaukee with a lot of restaurants and businesses.

Here are a few pictures from yesterday:

Some of the students on Project

My summer family! :)

Summer Project Staff

My roommate Laura Velasco! :) She's from Sacramento, California.

The Staff Scavenger Hunt was a lot of fun! Afterwards, we went to the Urban's condo for dinner and to watch a movie. We were on the rooftop and the view of Milwaukee was beautiful! Our Project Director Jeff Hoffman shared his love and vision for the city of Milwaukee with us. It was really touching just to hear him talk about the city in that way. I'm starting to see Milwaukee in a whole new different way. My desire is to get to see this city and the people in it the way God does. We prayed last night over the city and the different ministries that we will be working with as well those who are in the Marketplace track.

Beautiful view of Milwaukee! 

We finished the night by watching Remember the Titans. Today is a rest day or what we call a Sabbath Day. We will be visiting an Ethiopian Church this afternoon.

This coming week is our first typical week for us students. Those in the Vocational Ministry Track will be working with various ministries that partner with Here's Life Inner City and will be working with children. As for those of us in the Marketplace Ministry Track, they will start working. In my case, continue working. Please pray over our week and that God would give us opportunities to share the Gospel with these individuals whether it be children or our co-workers. My prayer requests remain the same as my previous post.

Thank you everyone for your continued support and Happy Father's Day to all fathers out there! Have a great week everyone! :)

Summer Project Orientation

Hi everyone! :)

Today was the 5th full day of Summer Project! Although, it feels like I have been here for longer. Everyone arrived safely on Friday. On Saturday, we did a scavenger hunt and got to explore different areas in the city of Milwaukee. On Sunday, we went to Berean Family Worship Center as a Project. Also, we had our first Outreach at Bradford Beach. GOD IS AWESOME! He is definitely at work in the hearts of the people in Milwaukee. I got to share the Gospel with a woman in Spanish and she accepted Christ as her Lord and Savior. Praise God! I was just amazed at how God was already at work in the hearts of people before we even arrived. On our first Outreach 6 people accepted Christ as Lord & Savior! We will be doing another Outreach on Saturday in 2 local parks in Milwaukee. Please pray that God would prepare the hearts of those who will hear the Good News and continue to work in the hearts of those who accepted him as Lord and Savior this past weekend.

On Monday morning, I woke up to one of the Staff members banging on my door. We were told we had 10 minutes to get ready and to be downstairs in the Chapel. We went through a 24 hour poverty simulation and we were homeless for 24 hours. It was a very powerful experience and it definitely brought us all closer together. Our cellphones and keys were taken away at the beginning of the simulation. We were given $15 (fake money for the day). We were allowed to buy breakfast, lunch, or dinner for $5 (each meal) and had to pay $3 for a housing fee. Also, we were only allowed to have 3 possessions for the day. I choose to keep my bag, my toothbrush, and a blanket. 2 out of 10 in the group were really homeless for the beginning. They had no money and no possessions. We were given a list of tasks to complete before we returned at 6:30pm. I bought lunch which ended up being a can of Crush grape soda and a small bag of Lays. One of tasks on the list was to ask someone for a quarter and to give it to another homeless person. I asked someone for a quarter and I was ashamed. I felt my pride and dignity had been taken away as I took the quarter. Also, we had to collect 20 cans/plastic bottles which involved going through people's trash in dumpsters. It was really gross.

For me personally, it did not hit me until my roommate started crying in the morning. She was allowed to brush her teeth or to get a drink of water which were very basic needs. We ended up eating dinner at St. Ben's where they serve meals for the homeless. I was so thankful for the meal. I must admit it was strange being on the other side. I was so use to being the volunteer and not the homeless person. At the end of the day, I felt really gross from all the humidity and sweat. To make matters worse, we slept in the cage which was a room with concrete floor. The floor was very hard and the room was hot making it difficult to sleep. One of the Staff members spent the night with us. It ended up being a sleepless night which is typical for a homeless shelter. The Staff member could not find his water bottle so he turned off the fan. One of girls had a breakdown after wearing a sweater and pants on a hot day. After finding his water bottle, he turned it back on. An hour or so later a Staff member came to turn it back off because they were told to so by City on a Hill. An hour or so later again we were woken up because there was a rat infestation and were told to evacuate the building. Afterwards, we went back to sleep only to be woken up again an hour later. We were told to go back to our rooms because of the rat infestation. In reality, we had a long day ahead of us and the Staff wanted us to get some rest. We were to be out of the building before 7am. We ended waking up on time and meet in the Chapel again. The poverty simulation was over, but mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually it was not.

The poverty simulation gave me a whole new appreciation for things. For the very simple things in life. Like being able to drink water, brushing my teeth, showering, and eating a warm meal. It was that day that I learned what it really meant to rely on God. He was all I needed. It was thanks to the strength that He gives us that I made it through the day and the amazing and encouraging people on my Project. The experience brought us a closer together. We had no choice, but to trust one another. It was neat to see us come together and to see Christ in each one of us.

 This song capture exactly how I felt during the poverty simulation.

I encourage you to click on the link and take a few minutes to listen to the song!

Overall, these past few days have been long, tiring, and busy. I have been learning so much about God and His heart for the poor. I can't wait to see what He has in store for us as the summer continues!


I do have a few ways that you could be praying for me and my team.

1. Pray that God would be my source of strength and that I would be able to find soul and physical rest in Him. Especially, as Project moves forward as I try to get into a new routine of continuing working full-time and with daily Project commitments.

2.  For the people in Milwaukee who will hear about Jesus: for God to prepare the hearts of those who will hear the Good News

• Specifically, for our upcoming Outreach on Saturday that will be in 2 local parks in Milwaukee
• For the 6 people who came to accept Christ as their Lord and Savior that God would continue to stir in their hearts and for the people we initiated spiritual conversations with 

3. For our first Weekly Meeting this coming Tuesday, June 19 at 7pm. These meetings will be open to the Milwaukee community and for many people it will be the first time they hear about Jesus.

4. For honesty and vulnerability in our Action groups (small groups). We meet for the first time yesterday and shared with one another our life stories. We will be officially meeting for the first time on Friday and will be going through Ephesians this summer. Also, I will be meeting with my discipler tomorrow for the first time as well. Just that God would be honored and glorified through both and that we would be able to encourage and build one another up.

5. For all of us to continue growing closer to Jesus and fall more in love with Him as we share the Gospel with people in Milwaukee

6. That Jesus continue be honored and glorified by our Project

Thank to all of you for your continued support! I hope to be able to share updates on a weekly basis as time allows. Have a great week everyone! :)