Several Days in South Carolina

South Carolina is great! The beach is warm, the sun is hot, and the humidity is just ridiculous. The weather has been great, and way more importantly, the time down here has been really good with students. There are a total of 6 Equippers down here, then another 190 some MN students from COM area. Ryan, Caleb, Ian, Emma, Leah and Christa have seemed to really get started off well.

The first night started off with a bang.

After an 8-hour drive on the 2nd day (for the students), they arrived to lots of hype and fanfare, to be followed by confusion and hysteria trying to figure out their room situations, food, work and all sorts of things. The first night we all had worship and a kick-off message describing the 'project' and what they might expect the following few days.

Today then, Monday, is the first day of work for most of the students. I participated in the CO staff training this morning, which was more-or-less evaluation of the trip and the beginning of project, talking about students and their needs. It was very encouraging to see how they operate things, and way more encouraging to start to get to know their hearts for God. Also, I'm very much looking forward to learning a lot from them, both the staff and the student leaders. They are all really cool people, and I am liking a lot of what I'm seeing.

So, there is much more I could and perhaps should be saying, but for now, there is a good and brief overview of what has been going down so far. There are lots of time for Bible study, leadership training, Bible study training, evangelism and training, 'life training', and 'theme training' meetings throughout the evenings and on Wednesdays. (the theme is "Awake", taken from 1 Thess 5:6).

Keep praying for the students, that they would grow just a ton and that the Lord would grow them to bring back a further love of the Lord and excitement for ministry to SDSU!

I've attached a short video clip of the hotel and courtyard area (I've always wanted to use that word, 'courtyard' in a context that makes me feel like C.S. Lewis or something). All or most of the students are all out at work right now, save for Caleb, who working at McDonalds from 6:00-2:00, so his schedule is considerably different than most. He is seen here swimming in the pool...cool.