The children are finally here!

This past week has flown by. It always seems to do that on project. We don’t have a whole lot of free time, but this past weekend we had the opportunity to go white water rafting in the canyons of the Rocky Mountains! It was so beautiful! I am being constantly reminded of God’s amazing beauty through his creation.

We finished all of our training for work last Friday and the children showed up on Monday! I have eight kids in my second grade class and I absolutely love my job. One goal of our summer is to teach the students the Bible in short stories from Genesis to Revelations. They have already mastered telling the story of creation and today started learning the fall and disobedience of Adam and Eve. The kids are literally like little sponges. They soak up all of the information given to them and are always intrigued and ask questions. We also want them to really understand God’s deep love for them and his desire to know them and have them know him. We give them a period each day for their own prayer and personal time of worship. I am so excited to see how these kids grow in their understanding of the gospel this summer! Please pray for these stories and time of worship to penetrate their hearts this summer!

On project we have many opportunities for evangelism. On Tuesday nights, I am learning to rock climb, along with a few other girls. God has already opened the door for relationships with non-believers there and I am excited to see where he leads me! Please, keep praying for this time of “intentional relational evangelism!” Plus, the rock climbing is tons of fun! They have climbing walls right in CSU’s rec center!

I have really enjoyed the community built here, especially in my Bible Study. I am learning a lot from the other girls and have been encouraged by their desires to grow in their relationships with Christ this summer. As I am teaching the kids about God’s desire to know them and also reading a few books and the Bible, I too am learning about God’s pursuit of my heart. I am beginning to experience a depth in my relationship with the Lord that has not been reached before as I take the opportunity to let God in and respond to his request for fellowship.

Kids say the darndest things!
As we are learning the creation story...
"Did God make Adam and Eve come to earth as babies?"
"How did Adam and Eve have children without a hospital?"
They have said some more funny things, but I can't remember them off the top of my head. I am going to write them down from now on!

Blessings,
Lainey

Address!

We are staying in the Kappa Delta Sorority House on CSU's campus, which is really great! If you are interested, my address while I am here is:
Lainey Birkhead
Campus Crusade for Christ
412 W Laurel St
Ft Collins, CO 80521

Living in Legoland!

This first week of project has been amazing! It is definitely a lot different than the international project I went on, but great just the same! They have a really strong focus on building us up as followers of Christ through small group Bible studies, discipleship, and evangelism training so that in turn we will have a deeper passion for God and seek to spread the Gospel everyday. We have had a lot going on since we arrived Friday! On Saturday we did a scavenger hunt around Ft Collins to discover our surroundings and break the first sound barrier of evangelism by initiating conversations. We met some really neat people and everyone in the city was really eager to help us win! We didn't claim first place, but we had a blast! In our small groups this week, we shared our (long) life stories and God definitely used that time of vulnerability to build authentic community within our respective small groups. I have been so blessed with the community here and I am looking forward to getting to know all the girls over the course of the summer!

This week at work, we have been trained in CPR and First Aid as well as been taught all of the policies and procedures of Kid's Camp. We have been preparing for the arrival of all the kids by training and decorating. I found out that I will have a 2nd grade class all summer and I cannot wait to finally meet them on Monday! The Kid's Camp has an "Olympics" theme. Each classroom is taking on a country, which could be real or fictional. Our team (all of the 2nd grade classes) chose to represent fictional countries and my classroom is going to be transformed into Legoland by Friday, thus the title. I feel like I fell into a pile of legos! The anticipation of the kids coming is making me really excited for all the the Lord will do in and through me while sharing his love with them! By this time next week, I am sure I will have some fun stories about the kiddos!

Blessings,
Lainey

On the Road to Colorado!

I decided that I would go ahead and use the same blog from my Summer Project last summer to save time on trying to figure out how to set up a new one.

Most of you probably know this if you are interested in reading my blog, but I am on my way to Fort Collins, CO for the Foot of the Rockies Summer Project. I will arrive tomorrow and be there until July 30th. Every two years Campus Crusade (CRU) holds staff development training for 6 weeks in Ft Collins for CRU staff across the country. While I am in there, I will be working as a camp counselor for all of the staff children in what we will call Colorado Kid's Camp (CKC). I am really excited for all that the Lord will teach me this summer.

Throughout the past year, I have grown more passionate about reaching college students with the Gospel. I have learned a lot about my strengths and weaknesses in this area of ministry through leading a Bible Study and being more involved in evangelism and discipleship. I have also grown more passionate about loving children with Christ's love as I have been more involved in a classroom setting this year as an elementary education major. With that said, I am really looking to forward to learning more about my strengths and weaknesses in ministering to children. I also hope to gain a better understanding of how to use my talents and strengths to bring God the most glory after graduation (which is only a year away)!

We just completed our second day of traveling we have successfully crossed through, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, and Nebraska. Tomorrow, we will hit Wyoming and then finally Colorado! Cydney and I rode with two girls from Purdue University, Kc and Stacy. I was nervous about riding with girls I didn't know in a car for three days, but it has been a blast! God has already blessed us with new friendships and I cannot wait for the community we will be a part of in Colorado!

Fun Facts:
Iowa is home to the world's largest truck stop, which we made a stop at of course!
Nebraska is home to some of the "best looking gas station cashiers"(according to a flashing sign out front), we also made a stop there to take a picture with the cashier!
Chicago is not in Ohio.