This summer I lived in Raleigh with 9 other Campus Outreach Staff members. We did a lot of work through the church and spent time doing 3 main things:
1. Living in community together (aka a massive house and cooking together at night, laughing all day, praying )
2. Learning through classes at the church and theology (which means the study of knowing God) at a seminary
3. Reaching out to the community, we got involved with a lot of stuff, I loved it!
75 of our students went to the Summer Project this summer... they worked at Sea World. They loved it! Here is a video they made, it is awesome!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5xfuJnjgX8
important words to know:
root beer: there is an A & W next door, people go there at night to get fast food and hang out
breezeway: it is an outdoor corridor leading from our hotel to the pool
shagging: a southern dance we all learned in Charleston! (it is basically the same as swing dancing, at least the way we do it)
Old Town: the community we live in
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Some new pictures...
Our UNC-Chapel Hill Staff Team!
Some of the girls that came with us to our Atlanta Conference (Lauren in the center with the Carolina sweatshirt gave her life to Christ while we were there and is now experiencing the joy of discipleship with some of our student leaders. She came to college not looking for anything spiritual but came to the conference because of the friends she had made in CO)
Some of the girls that came with us to our Atlanta Conference (Lauren in the center with the Carolina sweatshirt gave her life to Christ while we were there and is now experiencing the joy of discipleship with some of our student leaders. She came to college not looking for anything spiritual but came to the conference because of the friends she had made in CO)
A Winter Update!
What's been going on in Chapel Hill? 10 things!
1. It has snowed here twice and both times people have teetered close to the edge of insanity and North Carolina actually declared a state of emergency... it barely covered the ground.
2. Basketball season has started, which means me re-learning the names of all the players.
3. Our house has decided to be a safe zone for all the neighborhood mice, we've caught 4 :(
4. We hosted a super bowl party that 70 students came to
5. God provided my roommate Ashley's support and tonight will be her first time on campus, she will be going into Craige dorm to meet freshmen and we're praying that she meets lots of people who don't know Jesus.
6. I'm helping 3 sophomore girls start up Bible Studies for the freshmen they've met!
7. Our sophomore girls are studying the life of Jesus in the book of John, the staff women at UNC put together a study that looks at:
How Jesus is the Great I AM (Exodus 3:14-15 and John 8:58) How Jesus fulfills the prophecies of the Old Testament, How Jesus relates to women, Jesus as our source of life, Jesus as the light in the darkness, Jesus as the way to heaven, Jesus' relationship with His Father, and Jesus as the Gospel that we respond to.
-Every day they study a different verse or passage
-Every week they read two chapters of the book of John
-We are also leading them through a book called the Master Plan of Evangelism so they are better equipped to reach their fellow students
-They are held to memorizing 2-3 verses each week
-We go with them into the dorms and to meet their friends, modeling before them what ministry looks like!
8. Next weekend we are hoping to have 100 students go with us from NC State, Duke, and UNC-Chapel Hill to Asheville, NC for a Campus Outreach Ski Retreat!
9. When I'm not on campus, I am probably doing one of the following:
-meeting with someone on staff about what's going on in the Women's Movement on campus
-studying the book of Hosea in my personal time with God
-reading C.S. Lewis' Out of the Silent Planet (I love it! It's the first book in his space trilogy) or the Lost Women of the Bible by Carolyn Curtis James (this is what my women's accountability group is reading) and I am also reading Gordon MacDonald's Ordering your Private World (I really suck at time management and end up busier than I need to be!)
-planning for things on campus
-organizing stuff for retreat, campus meetings, meals for students, helping the other staff women with what's going on in their ministries.
10. I joined a church that I L-O-V-E! It's called The Summit and it's really passionate about reaching the city of Raleigh for Christ! Their mission is Love God. Love People. Love the World. They even have a pastor for Church Planting and their vision is to plant 1,000 churches around the world starting in the Research Triangle (Chapel Hill, Durham, and Raleigh). Woo hoo! Here's their web-site-- www.summitchurch.cc
Friday, November 14, 2008
What exactly is going on in Chapel Hill?!
Okay so there is the thing that happens in life where we get really proud of how busy we are. It kinda goes like this...
"How are you doing?" Jack asks Jill
(Jill sighs dramatically and shakes her head) "I am writing a term paper for every class I've ever taken. Then I am playing on 7 intramural teams, each of which I am the captain. In between running for class president, I am running for president of the whole college. I have also decided to take up tap dancing and will be choreographing my own recital.... just another crazy week."
Then Jack starts nodding empathetically and tells Jill that he is doing all those things too but also trying to stop world hunger. He will probably beat her in the campaign for class president. Because of this, Jill gets mad and leaves.
So, the point is... we are busy Jack's and Jill's. I am not the busiest person on the planet, or even in my house. But there are some cool things that I get to do every day. They require a couple of cups of coffee in the morning, and usually one in the afternoon. I thought it'd be fun for you to hear about a typical week in the life of Ally, Campus Outreach staff woman here at UNC... (and included a couple of pic's of the students I meet with)
Sunday, November 9th- met a student at Panera for breakfast. Talked about her walk with God and ways I can help her grow. Drove to a park nearby, sat in the car listening to music, praying, and reading Scripture. Then we had a leaders meeting for the student leaders at my house. Ate at Whole Foods with another student Margaret on our way to church (we go to the pm service at the Summit www.summitchurch.cc). Worked in the nursery at church and tamed crazy 2-year-olds with Hannah Love, UNC sophomore. Drove home and sang Happy Birthday to my roommate Tiffany and ate cake. Did laundry. Brushed teeth, bed time.
Monday, November 10th- staff meeting at Cafe Carolina. Shared how we're doing and talked about recruiting students to Atlanta Conference. Afterwards, met with my campus director Bowe and talked about how my time was visiting my grandma. He told me I might need counseling for all my personal issues! This is kind of a joke, and kind of not. We then talked more about what's going on in the women's ministry. Spent time with Jesus, studied Proverbs 1:1-7. Went to my Summit Life group (Bible Study from the church) it is amazing, we talked about how we carry around a lot of guilt to try to pay for our sins when in reality, Christ did all the work for us on the cross... we are called to "confess our sin and have no further uneasiness about it" -Brother Lawrence. Drove to Raleigh and printed out my newsletters (Woohoo!) This took a very long time and many cusswords ran through my head as I tried to print the newsletters and failed many times before it came out right. Showered and went to bed at 3 am (eww).
Tuesday, November 11th- Got up early and went to Starbucks with Betsy. We talked about why we care so much about how we look and how stupid that is. We prayed that God would use us
here and teach us how to love Him. Then from 9-1 we had a regional staff meeting (this includes the UNC and NC State staff). Drove home and planned for my Bible Study that night. Next I went to pick up acrylic paint and a big white sheet. The girls in my d-group and I painted a huge banner to welcome students to our weekly meeting (Wednesday nights at 9 pm). It was great except I spelled the word FABULOUS-- FABULOS. Big boo-boo, thankfully we had white paint. Then we had our weekly Bible Study together at 8 pm. We talked about and prayed for our friends on campus and studied the book of Galatians together. Love them, love it. The guys next door had a cookout and watched football with students they're ministering to, at 11 pm Jim brought me over a really good piece of bbq chicken. My roommates and I prayed and worked on our powderpuff football tournament.
Wednesday, November 12th- woke up and did my day of prayer (a 5 hour eval/scripture reading time that we do once a month) Then at 1pm, I got to meet with my friend Erin Coomer who is on staff with Campus Crusade for Christ. So great, she told me about a talk that she's giving in December at their big campus meeting and we shared stuff about our lives, realizing we
have a ton in common. Love Erin, she refreshes me a lot! Then I went to the Starbucks on campus and met my friend Kayleigh who is a sophomore. She is thinking about studying abroad in Australia and wanted my advice about it. We talked and prayed together, so great. Next I hung out with Molly, a girl that is in my Bible Study, in her dorm room. We mostly talked about boys, and giggled a lot.
After that is the highlight of the week---- our campus meeting! We call it 104 because we meet in Howell, 104 a room on campus. There were about 40 people there. We played Pictionary and the winner got a 50$ gift certificate for the Atlanta Conference. Daniel, the CO Regional Director at UNC, gave a talk on 6 reasons why people don't like Christians. So great, and at the end of it, he explained that real Christianity transforms your life and comes from understanding you are a sinner and that the only solution to mend your major eternal flaw is to enter into a relationship with Jesus. Afterwards we have food and talk to the students, I always look for new faces and try to make them feel welcome. Erik gave me a ride home and we talked about what we were gonna wear to DT and Kellie's wedding this weekend.
Thursday- went to Wendy's house (her husband is Daniel, our regional director) with Katie (also on staff) we drank coffee and shared what we've been learning. Then At 11, I met Kristi, a junior at UNC. She is trying to grow in her walk with God but doesn't know how. We're going to start studying the book of Romans together. Then I met with Morgan (another girl in my Bible Study) we talked and prayed for the students she is reaching out to (even though Morgan is only a sophomore, she knows a lot of students that don't know about God). Last night, I had 3 students spend the night- Margaret, Anne, and Sandra. It was a blast. We sang and jumped on my little trampoline. Then we went to bed, kind of. We mostly laughed and talked.
Friday (aka TODAY)- woke up early with my slumber party friends went to Bob Evan's for
breakfast. Sandra and I stayed longest and talked about God for a while. She is in an early Judaism class. We talked about Jacob and how he was kind of a jerk. We decided we are really glad that God uses failed people like us to accomplish His purposes. So glad He doesn't ask us to be perfect, or even good. I think this is a new concept for Sandra. Came home and met with Nicole- shared with her Campus Outreach's definition of discipleship. Nicole got so excited! She is ready to reach out to women on this campus, that is an answered prayer. NOW... I am packing, listening to the Supremes sing "You can't hurry love" and getting ready to go to Myrtle Beach for my friends Kellie and DT's wedding!
If you are still reading this post, I am shocked. These are 5 days out of my week. Thanks for taking time to keep up with me and for your ongoing encouragement and support. Please keep me in your prayers :) Ally
"How are you doing?" Jack asks Jill
(Jill sighs dramatically and shakes her head) "I am writing a term paper for every class I've ever taken. Then I am playing on 7 intramural teams, each of which I am the captain. In between running for class president, I am running for president of the whole college. I have also decided to take up tap dancing and will be choreographing my own recital.... just another crazy week."
Then Jack starts nodding empathetically and tells Jill that he is doing all those things too but also trying to stop world hunger. He will probably beat her in the campaign for class president. Because of this, Jill gets mad and leaves.
So, the point is... we are busy Jack's and Jill's. I am not the busiest person on the planet, or even in my house. But there are some cool things that I get to do every day. They require a couple of cups of coffee in the morning, and usually one in the afternoon. I thought it'd be fun for you to hear about a typical week in the life of Ally, Campus Outreach staff woman here at UNC... (and included a couple of pic's of the students I meet with)
Sunday, November 9th- met a student at Panera for breakfast. Talked about her walk with God and ways I can help her grow. Drove to a park nearby, sat in the car listening to music, praying, and reading Scripture. Then we had a leaders meeting for the student leaders at my house. Ate at Whole Foods with another student Margaret on our way to church (we go to the pm service at the Summit www.summitchurch.cc). Worked in the nursery at church and tamed crazy 2-year-olds with Hannah Love, UNC sophomore. Drove home and sang Happy Birthday to my roommate Tiffany and ate cake. Did laundry. Brushed teeth, bed time.
Monday, November 10th- staff meeting at Cafe Carolina. Shared how we're doing and talked about recruiting students to Atlanta Conference. Afterwards, met with my campus director Bowe and talked about how my time was visiting my grandma. He told me I might need counseling for all my personal issues! This is kind of a joke, and kind of not. We then talked more about what's going on in the women's ministry. Spent time with Jesus, studied Proverbs 1:1-7. Went to my Summit Life group (Bible Study from the church) it is amazing, we talked about how we carry around a lot of guilt to try to pay for our sins when in reality, Christ did all the work for us on the cross... we are called to "confess our sin and have no further uneasiness about it" -Brother Lawrence. Drove to Raleigh and printed out my newsletters (Woohoo!) This took a very long time and many cusswords ran through my head as I tried to print the newsletters and failed many times before it came out right. Showered and went to bed at 3 am (eww).
Tuesday, November 11th- Got up early and went to Starbucks with Betsy. We talked about why we care so much about how we look and how stupid that is. We prayed that God would use us
here and teach us how to love Him. Then from 9-1 we had a regional staff meeting (this includes the UNC and NC State staff). Drove home and planned for my Bible Study that night. Next I went to pick up acrylic paint and a big white sheet. The girls in my d-group and I painted a huge banner to welcome students to our weekly meeting (Wednesday nights at 9 pm). It was great except I spelled the word FABULOUS-- FABULOS. Big boo-boo, thankfully we had white paint. Then we had our weekly Bible Study together at 8 pm. We talked about and prayed for our friends on campus and studied the book of Galatians together. Love them, love it. The guys next door had a cookout and watched football with students they're ministering to, at 11 pm Jim brought me over a really good piece of bbq chicken. My roommates and I prayed and worked on our powderpuff football tournament.Wednesday, November 12th- woke up and did my day of prayer (a 5 hour eval/scripture reading time that we do once a month) Then at 1pm, I got to meet with my friend Erin Coomer who is on staff with Campus Crusade for Christ. So great, she told me about a talk that she's giving in December at their big campus meeting and we shared stuff about our lives, realizing we
have a ton in common. Love Erin, she refreshes me a lot! Then I went to the Starbucks on campus and met my friend Kayleigh who is a sophomore. She is thinking about studying abroad in Australia and wanted my advice about it. We talked and prayed together, so great. Next I hung out with Molly, a girl that is in my Bible Study, in her dorm room. We mostly talked about boys, and giggled a lot.
After that is the highlight of the week---- our campus meeting! We call it 104 because we meet in Howell, 104 a room on campus. There were about 40 people there. We played Pictionary and the winner got a 50$ gift certificate for the Atlanta Conference. Daniel, the CO Regional Director at UNC, gave a talk on 6 reasons why people don't like Christians. So great, and at the end of it, he explained that real Christianity transforms your life and comes from understanding you are a sinner and that the only solution to mend your major eternal flaw is to enter into a relationship with Jesus. Afterwards we have food and talk to the students, I always look for new faces and try to make them feel welcome. Erik gave me a ride home and we talked about what we were gonna wear to DT and Kellie's wedding this weekend.Thursday- went to Wendy's house (her husband is Daniel, our regional director) with Katie (also on staff) we drank coffee and shared what we've been learning. Then At 11, I met Kristi, a junior at UNC. She is trying to grow in her walk with God but doesn't know how. We're going to start studying the book of Romans together. Then I met with Morgan (another girl in my Bible Study) we talked and prayed for the students she is reaching out to (even though Morgan is only a sophomore, she knows a lot of students that don't know about God). Last night, I had 3 students spend the night- Margaret, Anne, and Sandra. It was a blast. We sang and jumped on my little trampoline. Then we went to bed, kind of. We mostly laughed and talked.
Friday (aka TODAY)- woke up early with my slumber party friends went to Bob Evan's for
breakfast. Sandra and I stayed longest and talked about God for a while. She is in an early Judaism class. We talked about Jacob and how he was kind of a jerk. We decided we are really glad that God uses failed people like us to accomplish His purposes. So glad He doesn't ask us to be perfect, or even good. I think this is a new concept for Sandra. Came home and met with Nicole- shared with her Campus Outreach's definition of discipleship. Nicole got so excited! She is ready to reach out to women on this campus, that is an answered prayer. NOW... I am packing, listening to the Supremes sing "You can't hurry love" and getting ready to go to Myrtle Beach for my friends Kellie and DT's wedding!If you are still reading this post, I am shocked. These are 5 days out of my week. Thanks for taking time to keep up with me and for your ongoing encouragement and support. Please keep me in your prayers :) Ally
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Insomnia
Okay so I am a pro at sleeping. It typically takes me 3 alarms to wake up in the morning... I have this really, exceptional roommate who is a human alarm as well. She touches my leg everyone 20 minutes, tells me to wake up in the sweetest voice, and sets hot coffee on my night stand... which makes me think that it's gonna be hard for me to find a husband who will measure up to her.
But falling asleep, sheesh, that is another story.
So I can't sleep tonight and thought that I could fill you in on this week. Well, not all of it, so I'll pick one part. And maybe by typing some things out they will leave my head and I will have less going on in my brain. It's like a circus in there.
So tonight I led this Bible Study that we actually call a discipleship group (every Tuesday night it starts at 7:30 pm and goes until someone complains and reminds me that they are college students and have work to do)
The girls in the group are Molly, Morgan, Margaret, and Nicole. We try to be nice to Nicole even though her name doesn't start with an "m" and she's from Honduras. These girls are amazing. They love serving this ministry, but even more so they love serving the kingdom of God
We have this map of the campus- each dorm that we know people in mapped out with multi-colored sharpies and every week we write down the girls we've met this semester and where they live. If any of these girls saw it, they would think we were majorly weird and stalking them. But really, we pray for them. We ask God to take these girls lives and transform them into women that love Him in a really radical way.
A lot of times, doing this gets the girls in my group talking... they tell me about meals they had this past week with girls on the chart. Or ways that they are seeing God move that girl closer to knowing Him. To us, each name is someone who God has made in His image and really, passionately loves. He has a plan for each of these girls and we are really hoping that He'll let us be part of that plan.
But falling asleep, sheesh, that is another story.
So I can't sleep tonight and thought that I could fill you in on this week. Well, not all of it, so I'll pick one part. And maybe by typing some things out they will leave my head and I will have less going on in my brain. It's like a circus in there.
So tonight I led this Bible Study that we actually call a discipleship group (every Tuesday night it starts at 7:30 pm and goes until someone complains and reminds me that they are college students and have work to do)
The girls in the group are Molly, Morgan, Margaret, and Nicole. We try to be nice to Nicole even though her name doesn't start with an "m" and she's from Honduras. These girls are amazing. They love serving this ministry, but even more so they love serving the kingdom of God
We have this map of the campus- each dorm that we know people in mapped out with multi-colored sharpies and every week we write down the girls we've met this semester and where they live. If any of these girls saw it, they would think we were majorly weird and stalking them. But really, we pray for them. We ask God to take these girls lives and transform them into women that love Him in a really radical way.
A lot of times, doing this gets the girls in my group talking... they tell me about meals they had this past week with girls on the chart. Or ways that they are seeing God move that girl closer to knowing Him. To us, each name is someone who God has made in His image and really, passionately loves. He has a plan for each of these girls and we are really hoping that He'll let us be part of that plan.
"Come, follow me," Jesus said. "And I will make you fishers of men..."
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
New Pictures...
This is Stephen and I (in the front row) with our team of students at the Summer Project. There were 4 teams total this summer. In this picture, we just had our field day competition (relay races, team cheers, games) and we won... of course.
Here is a picture of me with the other team leader girls. We lived in a room together this summer and helped run/organize the project. On this night, we dressed up for an event we put on called the "Nursing Home Boogie" all the students dressed up like old people (wore depends diapers, walked around stopped over, put baby-powder in their hair) and we had a dance, an applesauce eating contest, and bingo...
One of the students, Katie a senior at Coastal Carolina University, worked at Liberty Inn in Epcot. This is her in the hotel room one day after work showing off her fancy uniform!
This picture is back in Chapel Hill one Sunday after church- Susie, Anne, Sandra, and Katherine are sophomores at UNC that I met last year and continue to get to know and spend time with!
Two of my favorite students took me out to dinner for my birthday and got me flowers!
Better late...very, very, very late... than never!
Hello friends and family! I am sick today. And after browsing BBC and Nordstroms.com, and responding to old, old e-mails, it popped into my mind to update my blog! Here is what has been going on via a month-by-month update...
1. May 2008- said good-bye to most of the students for the summer, took a course at Wheaton College towards a Masters degreed called: Spiritual Formation and Witness. Had the joy of studying and experiencing God with students from Uganda, Rwanda, Brazil, and Boston, MA! We spent 5 days dialogging over prayer, how not to always be so busy, American materialism, and how to engage with what God is always doing around us. After that I took a vacation with my dad and my best friend Betsy to Nevada! Dad played poker and Betsy and I enjoyed all the lights, swimming pools, good food and a Cirque de Soleil show that Vegas had to offer.
2. June 1st 2008- drove to Orlando, FL for Campus Outreach's Summer Project. Here we had 150 students (31 from UNC and NC STATE!) come to learn about God and work at Disney World for 2 months! Students live in a hotel and we get them a job working 40 hours a week at Disney. In the evenings, they attended meetings where they learned how to grow in their relationship with Christ. There were also a ton of social activities for them.
I was there with the students for 2 months! I was a team-leader. My friend Stephen and I led a team of 35 students. We helped the different rooms on our team get to know each other, grow in their faith by meeting with them one-on-one-- often showing them how to study the Bible, and sought to develop in their planning and leadership skills by putting together a big weekly meeting! (the big weekly meeting includes skits, worship music, and a talk... the students learn how to do these over the summer then they do them on their different campuses throughout the school year!)
3. August 1st 2008- left Orlando (Very, very sad after all the new friendships I made) and drove to Chapel Hill! Two of my roommates from last year got engaged and I had to find a new living arrangement. God is so faithful. The house I live in this year is even closer to campus and bigger. I rent a room in this house along with 4 other girls. 2 are also on staff with campus outreach and the other 2 are graduate students at UNC.
4. August 22nd- 1st day of class! We helped students move into the dorms and showed our sophomore student leaders (those who want to learn how to minister to their peers here at UNC) how to reach out and build friendships with those around them. We asked many of them to go to the dorms with us and meet freshman. We have been following up with the new people we've met ever since... cooking meals for them, inviting them and their friends to tailgate with us, bringing them to our campus meetings, we held a retreat for the students, visited them in the dorms, eat with them in the cafeterias, asking them to our awesome church (www.summitchurch.cc) , but overall building friendships with them and asking God to give us boldness and creativity as we point these students to the purpose life they can find in a relationship with Jesus.
1. May 2008- said good-bye to most of the students for the summer, took a course at Wheaton College towards a Masters degreed called: Spiritual Formation and Witness. Had the joy of studying and experiencing God with students from Uganda, Rwanda, Brazil, and Boston, MA! We spent 5 days dialogging over prayer, how not to always be so busy, American materialism, and how to engage with what God is always doing around us. After that I took a vacation with my dad and my best friend Betsy to Nevada! Dad played poker and Betsy and I enjoyed all the lights, swimming pools, good food and a Cirque de Soleil show that Vegas had to offer.
2. June 1st 2008- drove to Orlando, FL for Campus Outreach's Summer Project. Here we had 150 students (31 from UNC and NC STATE!) come to learn about God and work at Disney World for 2 months! Students live in a hotel and we get them a job working 40 hours a week at Disney. In the evenings, they attended meetings where they learned how to grow in their relationship with Christ. There were also a ton of social activities for them.
I was there with the students for 2 months! I was a team-leader. My friend Stephen and I led a team of 35 students. We helped the different rooms on our team get to know each other, grow in their faith by meeting with them one-on-one-- often showing them how to study the Bible, and sought to develop in their planning and leadership skills by putting together a big weekly meeting! (the big weekly meeting includes skits, worship music, and a talk... the students learn how to do these over the summer then they do them on their different campuses throughout the school year!)
3. August 1st 2008- left Orlando (Very, very sad after all the new friendships I made) and drove to Chapel Hill! Two of my roommates from last year got engaged and I had to find a new living arrangement. God is so faithful. The house I live in this year is even closer to campus and bigger. I rent a room in this house along with 4 other girls. 2 are also on staff with campus outreach and the other 2 are graduate students at UNC.
4. August 22nd- 1st day of class! We helped students move into the dorms and showed our sophomore student leaders (those who want to learn how to minister to their peers here at UNC) how to reach out and build friendships with those around them. We asked many of them to go to the dorms with us and meet freshman. We have been following up with the new people we've met ever since... cooking meals for them, inviting them and their friends to tailgate with us, bringing them to our campus meetings, we held a retreat for the students, visited them in the dorms, eat with them in the cafeterias, asking them to our awesome church (www.summitchurch.cc) , but overall building friendships with them and asking God to give us boldness and creativity as we point these students to the purpose life they can find in a relationship with Jesus.
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