On May 25 I boarded a plane to Santa Cruz, California excited and ready to get my hands dirty for Jesus. The first five days were spent helping to prepare the motel for the students on project and familiarizing myself with the city.
In Santa Cruz we worked among young high school and college age students that were residents of Santa Cruz and nearby cities. Working on the boardwalk was a great way to reach out to the people of Santa Cruz. I worked for Miller’s Sun Shops, a company that owns several retail stores on the boardwalk. I had the opportunity to answer my co-workers’ questions about Jesus, share the gospel, build relationships, and encourage them.
As a project we invited our co-workers to our meal times and theme parties where we could get to know them better in a fun and casual setting. At every meal and theme party a student from project would share their testimony. We also provided breakfast to Hispanic day laborers, sharing the gospel, passing out Bibles, and praying with them. We also held out reaches in downtown Santa Cruz on Saturday nights, using various outreach tools we were trained on at the beginning of the summer. We held a service called Monday Night Live each week which included worship and a message from a local pastor.
All fifty-nine students were a part of a leadership committee: housing, Monday night live, outreach, prayer, socials, and special projects. These committees were seven to eleven students serving the project in various ways. I was a member of the prayer committee and was encouraged to be in a group with six students who wanted to learn more about prayer. I was thankful to pray and trust the Lord with these students to do mighty works in the lives of the people of Santa Cruz.
I am thankful that the Lord allowed our project to be united under His great name, with one focus; to share the Gospel. It was remarkable to see the Lord at work in people’s lives; many of our co-workers were receptive to hearing more about Jesus and the gospel.
College students from the mid-south region have come for twenty years to be a part of the Santa Cruz summer project. Many of our co-workers eagerly anticipate the arrival of the “Christian crusaders” to answer their questions and experience the community of the project. We all loved being a part of making an eternal difference, whether by planting a seed, watering it, or praying with them to receive Christ. This summer we saw over ten people receive Christ as their Savior!
Words cannot express how thankful I am to have had your support through prayers and financial giving. There were many times that the Lord reminded me of your prayers for the project and that in itself was an encouragement. This summer was a very significant season of my life, I am thankful for all the Lord taught me, and I am grateful to have been a part of the 2011 Santa Cruz Summer Project! Thank you so much for partnering with the Lord in His relentless pursuit of the lost in Santa Cruz!
I really am thankful. I realized that I do not normally stop what I'm doing to thank the Lord for what He is doing, and just praise Him. I have been overwhelmed by how he is working, how he is answering my prayers, how He is in control, I love how His timing is so prefect! Its beautiful.
