We are safely back in Orlando after a wonderful visit to South Africa. We were very happy to reconnect with our children, but this time we are finding the transition from winter to the very hot and humid weather quite a challenge.
Monica, our daughter, spent 8 weeks on a missions project in California. We thought you would enjoy reading some of her experiences. Here is what she shared with her partners.
“Thank you for your support and prayers! I just wanted to send some updates from my time on the Lake Tahoe Summer Mission (LTSM). It was beautiful to see how God worked through our time on the beaches, at work, and in community.
Workplace Evangelism: Living for God
I spent the summer working at a coffeeshop, Heaven’s Little Cafe, along with two others from LTSM. It was a blessing to have wonderful coworkers and managers who we were able to connect with, including a Christian exchange student from Jordan. We were able to encourage them to pursue a personal relationship with Christ and it was touching to see how many coworkers showed up to hang out with us during our last few days, including some of their kids. One of our regular customers expressed, “We’re going to miss you, you guys really brought so much light and life to this place.” Our time was a powerful reminder that a life focused on Christ is noticeable and impactful to those around you.
Similarly, many other LTSM students worked at McDonald’s, and on one of our last days, a high school coworker named Angel gave his life to Christ. Students had intentionally pursued him throughout the summer and he shared that he had never been loved like that before. Angel’s story is a challenge for all of us Christians to love intentionally and not neglect to love our cashiers, coworkers, and drive-through workers.
Beach Evangelism: So that everyone may know
Every Sunday afternoon, we would go out at different beaches and engage strangers about their beliefs and spiritual journeys. It was honestly terrifying in the beginning, but also rewarding to see how God opened up incredible conversations in answer to our prayers. On the first Sunday we went, I met a guy named Frankie and we were able to sit with him for almost two hours listening to him and sharing our testimonies and faith. By the end of the time, he was able to make a decision to follow Jesus. Unfortunately, he had to go to work, but please continue to pray for him as he seeks Christ, and for the many others like him that are earnestly waiting to hear about Jesus.
Over the summer, our group of 67 students had:
- 875 spiritual conversations
- 150 gospel conversations that brought people to a point of decision
- 28 people put their faith in Jesus.
Community – Life group
While the focus of the trip was evangelism, there was also a lot of time to build community and grow closer to God. We were all assigned Life groups of 3-7 people at the beginning of the summer, and it was beautiful getting to grow closer to the 4 other girls in my group. I was asked to lead my life group, and that was a real privilege. We studied John and James together and built a tight bond. They have gone back to different places across the US; while I’ll miss them all, I’m excited to see the impact they have on their campuses and communities.
I just really wanted to thank you for saying yes to God in sending me to Lake Tahoe this summer. I personally had a lot of doubts about going, but God worked through your incredible support to confirm that He wanted me there. It was encouraging to see that our God is alive and on the move, and I’m excited to see where He continues to move and how He will guide me.
To Christ be all the glory,
Monica
Prayer Requests:
- Praise God for His protection over us and our children.
- Praise the Lord for Monica’s fruitful project.
- Pray for Monica as she starts her third year at university. This semester, she is studying in Argentina as part of a study abroad program. Pray that she will settle quickly and that her years of learning Spanish will pay off.
- Pray for Stefan while he travels in Central Asia to help develop church planters.