wrapping up

as my internship here at 2100 productions is drawing to the close, it has become a time of reflection on what God has been teaching me this summer. when i look back to the beginning of the summer, i can't help but think that i've been changed so much, and i can't ignore what God has blessed me with. here are some things that i've learned this summer:

1) it has been such a blessing to learn that God has a place in the work place. throughout the school year, i've really struggled with depending on God and placing my faith in Him in my work. however, seeing my co-workers pray together and study the Word together has been extremely encouraging, and God has proven to me that prayer works- even in the midst of deadlines and frustrating mind blocks. i know that it will still be difficult for me to trust Him and want to do everything myself, but being at intervarsity has really helped my outlook on God being involved in our work, instead of an entity that exists in His own compartment outside of work.

2) working with the other interns has also been very beneficial to me. first of all, i am the least experienced out of all of them, so i know that i have a lot to learn in that regard. however, God exceeded my expectations and taught me both about them and myself. all of the the interns are so completely different, coming from different backgrounds, locations, ethnicities, meyers-briggs, etc. it was difficult and frustrating at first trying to agree on something, but in hindsight, it has also been a huge blessing being able to hear a different aspect that i would have never even crossed my mind. i've learned how to work with other people who are so completely different from me, and i've learned how to work as a team. the last time i remember doing any group work was high school, and one thing i remember was not being able to trust my group members and taking on the entire project myself. however, this summer, because i was so inexperienced and because we were given such a large project, i couldn't do it all myself. i had to trust other people, and it has worked out beautifully.

3) especially after ONS and NISET, i have been especially motivated, inspired and encouraged in ministry on campus, particularly in Greek life. it has become apparent to me that God provided me with a medium for ministry (alpha delta pi), and i never really realized it at first. initially, i thought it would be a good way to network and form social bonds while being philanthropic. however, i never thought that i would be one to use the strong Greek life on campus as a means to sharing my faith. how amazing would it be if my sisters in my sorority were also my sisters in Christ?

4) though i'm no expert, i have definitely gained a lot of experience working around cameras and editing machines. it's impressive to me that this lesson comes way after all of the spiritual things that God has been teaching me. my initial goal in accepting this internship was to gain experience in the work aspect, but little did i know that i would learn so much more than i bargained for.

5) i'm really lucky. not everyone has the opportunities that i get. not everyone is blessed with an internship at intervarsity. and not everyone will learn as much as i did this summer. looking back on everything, i can truly recognize God's hand in my life in the past 11 weeks. with only one more week to go, i'm becoming more and more afraid of the plunge back into a world not filled with Christians, but i'm trying to cling to the Lord and trust that He will take care of everything.

thank you all for your support either financially or through prayer this summer. as you can see, God has answered all of my prayers, and i really couldn't ask for more. praise the Lord for His hand in my life and for blessing me with great friends like you.

chapel with alec hill

every wednesday, the NSC holds chapel in the lunchroom. each session of chapel is usually opened with a song or two followed by a speaker that has some connection with intervarsity. this week, the speaker was alec hill, the CEO of intervarsity. while his talk was less about his own personal experiences, he shared about the company's statistics from this year (the fiscal year just ended june 30). now, alec hill is actually a pretty big deal in the christian evangelism world. he was just signed on the board of christianity today, a major christian magazine, and he's the CEO of intervarsity, which as 860 chapters throughout north america. since he has just signed on as a board member of christianity today, as he was reading through last month's issue, he noticed about 9 instances of intervarsity, and it was incredible how big of an influence intervarsity is having on people. one of the instances he mentioned was a man he knew who worked in the white house as one of president obama's advisors of faith (or something like that). president obama asked for pointers from the christian aspect as he was writing his speech for cairo, and this man asked alec for his opinion. alec told him what he thought and a couple weeks later, president obama's speech included the very two things that alec had mentioned.

later, alec went on to talk about the statistics of the fiscal year. there have been about 8 campuses that have had 30+ conversions, including smaller chapters like the one at the university of rhode island. he also mentioned that aside from the year that billy graham was involved, this was one of the best years ever in the history of intervarsity. all the numbers for the multi-ethnic and greek ministries were up significantly. and, in light of the recession, while the NSC has had to make some sacrifices, giving for on-campus staff were up. it's amazing that God has really working and providing for His people.

this was just a really refreshing message after researching so much on revelation, eschatology and the end times. it's a wonderful message that God will provide, and a proper response of thankfulness and praise is long overdue.

mass

i spent the weekend hanging out with celeste, and i even went to mass with her. it's been interesting that in my research and study of eschatology, there has been a lot of negative feedback about the catholic church, such as the pope being the antichrist (or his assistant). naturally, as i sat through mass, i was very wary of my environment and looked around the cathedral for satanic or anti-christian icons. i know this sounds absurd and out of line. and then i looked around at the people in the pews, mindlessly reciting the prayers and the responses to the priest. i wondered how many people in the entire building were actually saved, and i wondered how many of these people attended mass only to be considered "good" catholics. i felt so bad for the people because (even though i didn't know for sure), it seemed like they didn't really know Jesus or have a relationship with Him.

it was interesting that the message was about evangelism though. and not to be looking down or judging catholics or anything, but i have never met an evangelistic catholic. but it reminds me of how many times we hear sermons and often forget about them immediately. the weekdays following a sermon about loving our enemies, we often hurt our best friends. or the day after a message about forgiveness, we hold a grudge against someone who has hurt us. we are often too quick to forget what we just heard. as humans, we sin so easily, and do not even recognize or realize that it's sin. we even often forget that our purpose in life is to worship God. our rebellion against Him through sin reveals our forgetfulness.

something else interesting that i never experienced before was as the priest was listing prayer requests, the congregation responded with "Lord, hear our hurt". as i heard this repeated after every request, it really sank in. i thought of how hurt people really are. people long for love so badly and seek all these earthly ways to try to fill the void that only God can fill. they seek love in all the wrong places, and i, myself, am guilty of this too. i think we all are. this is why we need God. only His love is enough for us; there is nothing else on this earth that can satisfy our spiritual thirst like His love.

click here for my study of revelation

forerunner777, excitement, and urbana

lately, i've been experiencing a lot of zeal for outreaching to other students on campus. and when i was talking to one of my friends, she expressed that she thought the end times were near. she had looked into it a lot, and i began to research it some more as well. hypotheses about the pope being the antichrist, the pope establishing a new world order and world currency, and the russian president even pulling out a $1 world currency coin out of his pocket during a meeting was daunting to me. some sites that i've been looking at have even been talking about how if the pope is not the antichrist, he may be the antichrist's helper. there has been a lot of speculation on the pope and the catholic church. i've been looking a lot at youtube videos from a guy with username theforerunner777. he backs up all of his findings with scripture, and they're all based on hard facts. he has spoken a lot about the end times, and even though we don't know the minute or the hour, we should prepare ourselves for His coming. some people have predicted the second coming to be within the next 30 years, but i'm not sure. no one is supposed to know when it is, but hearing a number that is within my lifetime scares me. it scares me that there will be an antichrist, and no one will know who he is. false prophets will pop up. rfid chips, which are used in passports, merchandise purchased from stores, and fast passes for tolls.

that being said, i've been turning to my bible as well. there is nothing better than the Source to tell me the truth. so i'm beginning to read a chapter a day of revelation, rather than turning to other people to interpret it for me. knowing that the end is near, whether it's in my lifetime or not, has become really motivating for me to outreach to students on my campus this fall.

after going to NISET, and filming for some of the classes that were held about chapter building, i've learned a lot about how to effectively grow a chapter, and outreach to students on campus.

on a different note, the interns and i are making good headway on our project about stewardship, and we've come up with some good ideas, so i'm really getting excited about attending Urbana this year. for those of you reading this who haven't registered, do it now: urbana09.org. now i know what you're all thinking. "it's so expensive." "i want to be home for new year's." "it's so far away." but this is a once in a lifetime opportunity to attend a conference with 20,000 other christians, all worshipping the same God. i've heard that it's one of the closest things to heaven that you can come to on earth. and you know what? it's not about you. it's about God. so don't think of yourself when it comes to urbana, because it has less to do with you and more to do with God. don't pass this chance up, because once you're out of college, you won't want to go again with people who are younger than you, unless you have a high tolerance for embarrassment. so DO IT NOW!!

audrey and asians at ONS

today, the 2100 team went to inn on the park to have lunch with the worship and theater teams for urbana this year. we scattered ourselves throughout the tables available, and i sat next to a woman named audrey. audrey is a staff worker in san diego (coincidence? i think not!) and a staff worker named yasmine who is based in seattle. conversation was getting to a slow start, so i just kept my mouth occupied by taking bites of my lunch.

i noticed that audrey kept asking me questions, mostly about school and my sorority. and since i pretty much knew nothing about her, i started asking her how she got to be a staff worker in san diego, and she was telling me how she went from working at UCSD's successful fellowship to helping start up the chapter at southwestern, a community college located a stone's throw away from mexico and whose students are less than ambitious and predominantly from less affluent families. you can imagine how difficult it is to start up a chapter on a campus where students don't live there, and have very little interaction with their classmates outside of the classroom. not to mention, the lack of motivation of the students most likely took a major toll on her ministry. however, audrey found that hanging out in the cubicles where student organizations were located would allow her to completely change one woman's life.

she was just telling me all of these stories from her life and how she made such a big difference in her acapella group in college unknowingly, and her experience with a student who completely changed her life around, becoming willing to give up the pleasures of life to follow the Lord. she kept reinforcing how God used her in so many ways that she would never expect, and she was even telling me that He could use me to make a difference, especially in the greek scene. when audrey initially told me this, i had heard all of this before, either from my friends or myself. however, hearing it from a complete stranger had a much greater impact than i could ever expect. i understood that God really could use me to reach out not only to the girl in my sorority, but to all the other broken people on campus that are hiding their brokenness by pretending that everything is swell.

i knew that everything she was telling me were things that i already knew, but hearing it from someone who has been out there and who knew nothing about me, yet could see me being used in so many ways was extremely eye-opening. i could hear that God was using her to speak to me, and i could also see that God could use me in the same way as well! she gave me her contact info, so that i could get more in touch with greek ministry, and i can't wait to creepily friend her on facebook.

then i got to thinking, and i realized that none of this was by chance. it was no coincidence that i got an internship with 2100, it was no coincidence that i attended the luncheon with the theater and worship teams this afternoon, and it was not by chance that i sat at the table where i sat, and it was not by luck that i sat next to audrey, and it was definitely positively not coincidence that she was telling me what she was telling me. there was no way that she could've known that what she was saying would have such a large impact on me, but it did.

then tonight, we went to the evening session of ONS and helped to welcome the asian american new staff. it was great to see the great number of asians going on staff, especially when the culture emphasizes success and prosperity versus dependence on the intangible. hearing where all the different staff came from, but yet share a similar culture was especially apparent to me, and i came to see the leap of faith they took in becoming a staff worker. if their families are anything like mine, they have been taught their entire lives to work hard in school to find a good job so that they can make a good living. however, their very act of following God defies what they've learned their whole lives. not only are they sacrificing comfort and a certan standard of living, but they are really trusting God to take care of them. this reminds me that if these staff can put their lives on the line for Jesus and trust that He will take care of everything, why can't i surrender a homework assignment, a term paper, or a final test? if God will take care of even the birds and these staff workers, won't He take care of me as well?

MBTI personality types

everyone at IV is obsessed with myers-briggs personality types. everytime you meet someone new, it is almost guaranteed that they will ask you what personality type you are. that being said, as i'm becoming more integrated into the IV family, i have become preoccupied with it as well. i am requiring all of my readers to take the test and post their personality type as a comment. (you really don't have to if you don't want, but i'd like to know!)

visit this site to find out what type you are!

ONS

for the next two weeks, intervarsity is hosting ONS (orientation for new staff). 2100 staff is encouraged to help out at the conference. this year, there are about 120 new staff that are receiving training and will be serving college campuses throughout the nation. yesterday, i had the opportunity to help out with the powerpoint for ONS. the talk just so happened to be about fund development, and i realized that all of the staff that are going out into the field will be depending on God for his provision (through donors) in providing financial means for them to survive. i looked at my own life- how difficult was it for me to raise money just for an internship this summer with intervarsity, and how much did i struggle with faith and knowing that God would provide for me? i compared myself to these staff workers, who will be wholly dependent on their donors for years to put food on their table. and then i remembered my own staff worker, who generously offered to donate to my work this summer. understanding that these staff workers most likely barely make enough to get by and seeing my staff worker so willing to give to me when he needed it more is something i never thought about. the people who are reaping for the Lord have a ton of faith, and a real faith at that. i cannot imagine someone who doesn't have faith in God, yet would be willing to sacrifice a comfortable life and a "regular" job.

while the interns are working on a video about stewardship for urbana, and i am also helping my editing mentor with another video about christianity across the globe, the interns have also decided to take on a project for fun, outside of work. we've decided to create a spoof of the hit sitcom the office. it's been a long process, and we are still very far from even writing a script. for the past three days, i've been working with another intern on character development, higher arc and character arc developments. there are still two more steps to go before actually start writing the first draft of the script. i never realized how much work it was to produce something that i thought would be so simple. i definitely have a newfound appreciation for those whose work is writing TV shows and screenplays. i just hope that we have enough time to shoot and edit this project before the summer is over!

encouragement and blessings

i know it's been a while since i last posted, but the interns have been very busy working on a piece about stewardship. the point of the video is to remind our audience that they really do have money to spare, and that they have resources, but are they using it wisely? since most of the interns are not especially experienced in production, it's been difficult to shoot and edit. we all have such different ideas, and sometimes it's a good thing, but other times, it's difficult to decide which idea to run with and which to scrap. we had a show and tell two days ago in which we presented our script and work in progress to the rest of the 2100 team, and they respond with their feedback. while they had little to say about the filming, their issue with our script was the numbers and specifics.

on wednesday, we went to a bible study. we're going through the book of john in preparation for urbana (which is based off john). lets just say that the entire one-hour session was completely over my head, but it was good just to see people who work together gather for the common purpose of studying God's word. i can see how much the employees of intervarsity thirst to know God more, and i pray for the same thing for myself. that night, the interns were invited by scott and donna wilson (a couple who works at the top of the advancement department) to have dinner at their house. we began with cheese and crackers and moved on to have a wonderful salad/pasta dish made by donna. we chatted and it was so wonderful to see how excited the pair was to have interns at their house. hearing them talk about their past projects helped me to see how much these projects bless both their producers and its audience. hearing their stories has encouraged me to spur on in working on our project despite the bumps in the road.

the interns have gotten to know each other much better, and whenever we have free time, we spend most of our time together. we've planned most of our weekends around some kind of fun activity that will be going on in madison. we may even make trips to surrounding cities such as milwaukee and chicago. just yesterday after work, the interns ordered some food and watched "the godfather" and stayed at the office until 9:30. it was a great time of fellowship for us as we just hung out and enjoyed each others' company. i must say, that hanging out with christians 24/7 is so much different than when i'm at school, and it's been a blessing to be around such awesome people all the time.

back to work...