Very rarely have I ever done ANYTHING where I wasn’t thinking about what I was going to do when I got home. I believe this summer in Santa Cruz was one of the only times I have not really done so, and that speaks a lot about how incredible the summer was for me. There were so many things that were incredible about the summer.
We had an amazing staff team. There truly was a diversity of gifts and personalities represented on our team, and I believe I learned a lot from each of them and enjoyed their company immensely. I especially appreciated the leadership and overwhelming generosity of Mike Mehaffie, our project director, the cheerfulness of Lindsey Hendrix, Brandon Compton’s awesomeness as a student staff, Ben Meredith’s technical wizardry, Ed Hetzel’s energy and company surfing, Misty’s sense of humor and encouragement, Stacy’s verbal processing, Kim’s maturity and wisdom, spending time with the Foltz’s, all of our other staff, and especially spending a lot of time with Collin. Collin is a great friend, and I have a lot to learn from his loyalty, true heart for others, his ability to adapt and be content in all situations, and from his practical knowledge.
I also really grew to love my Action Group this summer. The 5 weeks I lived in a hotel room with 5 other guys was definitely an opportunity to grow in many areas of Christ-likeness: humility, servanthood, patience, and encouragement. I’m not sure I learned anything “new” about these things so much as I had many opportunities to put them into practice, and I “grew” from that. I enjoyed meeting, spending time with, and getting to know Caleb, Johnathan, Zach, Gordon, and Ricky. Some things I miss about them include Caleb’s randomness and different sense of humor, Johnathan’s maturity and openness, Zach’s faith, Gordon’s responsibility and level-headedness, and playing along with Ricky’s guitar on Garage Band. I will always remember our trip to Monterey, the skit they did during the Pass the Baton meeting, and the many good times we had inside and outside of Action Group meetings. I pray that they would walk with the Lord for the rest of their life, and that they would be spiritual leaders in their families and communities, showing Christ to others.
I think one thing I have really learned from staffing this project was how to model and grow leadership. Especially on our outreach servant team, the staff had to work to find a balance of modeling good leadership and delegating tasks to students, preparing them for leadership. I learned experientially the real importance of modeling good leadership, and how to delegate according to a student’s leadership ability and potential. I believe this project was part of a generation that is becoming increasingly used to having things done for them, and that was reflected in their slowness to take initiative and responsibility. The summer project model, however, was perfect for their development in this area.
I truly enjoyed the conversations about the Lord I was able to have on our outreach times. I believe I learned a few things about the way that I currently share the gospel. I feel that I currently communicate it in a way that does not demand a response - that does not press upon someone the urgency of making a decision about these things. I tend to try to communicate something in the least offensive way possible and avoid a “decision point”. One of the reasons I believe I have done this is my hesitancy to produce superficial “decisions” for Christ - I know that a relationship with him is more than praying a prayer or making a decision. However, the gospel itself demands a response from people, and I am not representing Christ completely unless I also present the message in a way that provokes a response.
I’m not sure what more can be said, other than that I also enjoyed all the many side trips I got to take this summer: the Grand Canyon, the Redwoods, San Francisco, an Yosemite. I can think of no better summer job than the one I was a part of this summer. I saw the Lord do amazing things both in growing the staff and students there in Christ-likeness, and in using them to share Christ with others, all to His deserved glory. I pray that He will continue to cause the growth by His Holy Spirit in my own life and in the lives of all of the staff and students who shared this summer together.
