Greetings, Sept. 2004
August has
just now passed, and I am an official resident of the Commonwealth of
Massachusetts. This newsletter is a
summary of my activities and experiences on project this summer. Before I go any further, I would like to
thank those of you who supported me with your prayers and/or finances.
When
I considered participating in a Crusade Summer Project last spring, I heard
Project described as “a spiritual greenhouse” and a “leadership development program.” I thought those both were great
descriptions, but nonetheless rather ambiguous. After spending 11 weeks on summer project, it did turn out to be
a spiritual greenhouse and a leadership development program – and much
more. I would like to give you the best
picture possible of what I did this summer, and what defines a Crusade Summer
Project.
Well…. If some of you
wondered if I had slipped of the face of the Earth and left the civilized
world, you might have been right to say so.
Just kidding – well, sort of.
Ozark Lakes Summer Project took place in the foothills of the Ozark
Mountains* in Branson, Missouri. For
those of you not familiar with Branson, it is a unique town. The city has a population of 6,000, but
somewhere over 1 million tourists a year.
A friend aptly described Branson as “the Las Vegas of the Midwest for
old people, without gambling.” I ended
up developing a special fondness for the elderly aged and family-friendly town.
(*see above header photo)
Project consisted of about 20 staff members
hailing from the south and southwest region, and 36 students from all across
the country. We were housed in an old
motel among the shows on the main strip.
There was a fun conglomeration of accents, from the heavy Louisiana
accent of my buddy Bo Kyle, to the strong South Da-KOE-dah accent of my other
friend Jesse. Most students had just
completed their freshmen or sophomore year.
The staff organized the project, set the schedule, and stayed for the
first month. After the staff left, the
students took over the project.
Project Schedule:
*Dinner:
the entire project ate together every night. Two students had the daily
full-time job as project cooks.
*Monday
Night Live: a large-group type event open to visitors & coworkers. Like a
normal Crusade weekly meeting.
Outreach:
One of the main purposes of summer project is
evangelistic outreach. By outreach, I
do not mean approaching people and trying to guilt them into going to church or
argue them into our beliefs. Rather,
outreach is simply sharing with others about having a personal relationship
with the Lord, and about the difference He has made in my life. Many summer projects are abroad or on
beaches throughout the US, where opportunities for casual conversation
abound. As Branson was a much different
situation, my experience was somewhat different. I was able to have spiritual conversations and share through many
ways, including 1) scheduled weekly outreach events 2) un-scheduled personal
outreach and 3) work.
Scheduled
Outreach Events:
Every Saturday afternoon, a
project-wide event with the purpose of sharing with others about having a
relationship with the Lord, took place.
Outreach events included taking spiritual surveys, a free car wash,
sharing with random people hanging out at the outdoor 90-store outlet, a picnic
for co-workers, and visiting a nursing home.
The free car wash was a way to show kindness, and tell people about
Campus Crusade for Christ, and what we were doing in Branson. The picnic and games day was an opportunity
to invite co-workers to an event and have a fun time outside of work with
them. When we visited the elderly
homes, we sung and talked with them, providing some entertainment and
company. Sharing to people outside the
shopping outlet was definitely out of my comfort zone at first. But for all people say about not taking this
approach, I know of two people who gave their life to the Lord from our
occasional visits to the mall. One of
whom started coming to our weekly large group meeting.
Personal/Individual
Outreach:
Talking
with others about the Lord on my own “free time” during summer project was
probably the best part of the project.
Talking to people I did not know about my faith was not something I had
done much of before. It was also
something I for the most part had avoided (because it was uncomfortable). Let me tell you how it all started…
The end of the 1st full week of project, we had Friday
off. Finally a time to relax and hang
out after a strenuous first week.
Having just returned from eating dinner, and a tiring canoe trip earlier
in the day, Johnason asked me if I walked to go talk to people about God. I
realized this was the reason I was on project, so we headed out to the streets
of Branson. I have to thank Johnason
for getting me to start sharing on my own time. Eventually other students joined us, and also started going out
on their own on Friday or Saturday nights.
Where
does one find people to talk to in a small town with lots of old people? Well, over the summer Johnason and I ended
up talking with people at Starbucks, in the McDonald’s and Wal-Mart parking
lots, at Taco Bell, and along “the strip” (main road). The conversations I had turned out to be the
best part of project.
The
people with whom I talked on Friday or Saturday night tended to be closer to my
age. I enjoy talking with people my age
because I feel it can often be easier to communicate and be forthright. Most the guys we talked to on our own time
tended to be more upfront and honest. The parking lots of Wal-Mart and
McDonald’s were my favorite places to visit.
A lot of local guys hung out there on Friday or Saturday night, mainly
just sitting by their cars and blasting music real loud.
After
praying for the Lord to fill us with His Spirit and guide us in our
conversation, we would walk up to people hanging out and introduce
ourselves. I would explain that we were
living in Branson for the summer, working at Sonic and McDonalds. We were with Campus Crusade for Christ, and
one of the things we did, was talk to people about what they think about God
and spiritual stuff. Sometimes people
turned and walked away, sometimes people said OK, and sometimes people were
genuinely very interested. But the
openness and honesty was what I enjoyed the most.
When
I was talking to people, my mindset was not that I was out to “convert
people.” I just wanted to share with
them what the Lord has done in my life. It’s up to God to work in their heart,
not me. Mostly, I listened. But I also shared about the Lord dying for
our sins, and filling the ever-present hole in the heart we all have. The hole that people try to fill with drugs,
video games, porn, sex, sports. The
hole that can only be filled by a relationship with the Lord. I learned a lot about trusting the Lord, and
not trusting my own understanding. I
also learned about the joy of sharing.
If you have something really great, say you found this great restaurant,
wouldn’t you want to share it with others?
“Sonic Size that smile!”
Yep,
4 days a week this summer yours truly worked as a cook for Sonic Drive-In. Nothing like putting my hard earned college
degree to work. Besides developing a
serious respect for the effort behind the double-hand-battered onion rings, and
the freshly squeezed limejuice in Cherry-limeades, work was a very good
experience.
To
say the least, I learned more about patience, humility, loving others, and
relying on the Lord. Dropping fries and
tater-tots, cleaning out the grease stoves, and working the grill was pretty
brutal. Compound that with people who
had a negative outlook on life, and it was tough not to join them. Only relying on the Lord to help me love-by-faith,
did I not walk out and quit. My buddy
Bo and I did our best back in the kitchen to have a great time and be witnesses
for the Lord.
In the middle of the summer, we got a new manager at Sonic. Our new manager, Frank, was a lot more fun
to work with. Several times Frank
thanked us at the end of the day for our hard work and good attitude. This took
me by surprise, but it was encouraging to see we were making a noticeable
difference at work. (Note: Managers at fast food restaurants tend just
to yell at you, and tell you to get the average service time lower).
Personal
development:
As
summer project was described as a ‘spiritual greenhouse’, I would now like to
address my personal development. The
impact that small groups, reading literature by Bill Bright, experiences at
work, and the people on project had on me, can be grouped into three areas.
The
first area deals with my attitude in daily life. Reading material by Bill Bright opened my eyes to two big
issues. The first is what Bill Bright
terms “loving by faith.” This is loving
by an act of the will- asking for and trusting the Lord to help you love
someone, whether you feel like it or not.
The other issue was simply that the Lord asks us to be thankful in all
circumstances, whether good or bad.
(see box below)
The second way I was challenged this summer was that I got to eat my
pride a lot, whether it was taking the background where I normally am in the
forefront, doing things I really did not want to do, or working the grease-grill
at Sonic.
The third and most important
thing I learned was about the role of the Holy Spirit. The 3rd arm of the Trinity had
always been somewhat of a mystery to me, and for the most part,
overlooked. Growing up in church, I do
not recall much discussion about the Holy Spirit in our lives. An entity, more than a daily part of our
lives, is the impression I had through most of my life. I had often heard of my fellow Christians
talk about this “great peace” or “joy” in their hearts. Feeling “renewed” or “led”. I believed them, but never really identified
with it. Well, it turns out this is the
role of the Holy Spirit.
I
would like to take us to John 7:37-38.
I think most of us are familiar with Jesus saying that those of us who
drink of Him, will never thirst again. But I was not familiar with John 7:39’s
clarification. Let’s read:
John 7: 37On
the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice,
"If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. 38Whoever
believes in me, as[1]
the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within
him." 39By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed
in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been
given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.
Wow. We can be Christians
without the joy of the Spirit (in church terms ‘carnal’) or we can ask in faith
to be Spirit directed. If this is new to you, as it was for the most part to
me, please read more: http://www.campuscrusadeforchrist.com/resources/satisfied.htm
Adventure
Days:
Every
Friday the entire project would go on an outdoor activity together. This provided a time to rest, enjoy God’s
creation, reflect on the week, and just have plain old fun. We went caving (through an aptly named
‘birth canal’), rock climbing, hiking, canoeing, paintballing, horse riding,
and camping.
Leadership:
Upon
arriving at summer project, someone mentioned that the staff leaves halfway
through project. When the halfway point
of project approached, the project director asked me if I had time to talk with
him one night. He asked me if I would be willing to be student Project Director
(PD).
Taking
on the role of PD was a great learning experience. There were 36 students, a budget, a hotel, and the project goals
to direct. Most of these were taken
care of through ‘servant team’ groups by others students. However, it was always in the back of my
mind that if the hotel burned down, I would be the one to be accountable. J
Although
I had been a leader before, whether it was president/emcee of Crusade,
Bible-study leader at my dorm, section leader in the band, or what… I had never
had this degree of responsibility. At
college there was always someone higher up like the band director, or the staff
for Crusade. On project, we were for
the most part on our own. Leadership was also somewhat of a different dynamic. It was not mainly the direction of ideas,
events and activities, but was also making decisions that impacted the
schedules and daily life of 36 people with whom we lived.
Among
the lessons I learned, were 1) not to make decisions on the spot, 2) be confident
in your decisions and do not waiver as you announce them, 3) learn to be
flexible, and 4) small things can be the toughest.
One
of the more stressful parts of serving as project director turned out to be the
issue of curfew and visitors. After
staff had left, there were more rooms free in the hotel. Once the leadership
team (4 of us) decided on keeping only the existing 2 visiting rooms, and
keeping them for family only, people started asking for exceptions. “Can my mom
sleep in my room if we have an extra bed?”
“Can I stay off-site with my friends for the night, since they cannot
stay here?” At first these questions
were stressful. They had good points,
and either way would not make-or-break the project. But on the other hand, once you make an exception for one person,
you have to make it for someone else.
As a director’s team, we soon learned the value of explaining a decision
had already been made, and we were going to stick to it.
The
other lesson I learned was about flexibility.
The night before project was to go camping in Arkansas, two different
groups came to the female assistant PD and me, and asked to miss that
evening/night of camping. They both had
events they had planned on doing that night.
For three girls, it was an old man and his wife from work taking them
out to dinner. For another guy and girl, it was taking a colleague from work
out to dinner and a show for his birthday. Both groups had great intentions,
and they wanted to invest in the lives of others, and develop and strengthen
their relationships. It was a difficult
spot for us. They had good points. But they assumed they could miss the camping
trip. Adventure days were mandatory,
and with 6 people gone, that’s starting to be a sizeable chunk.
Initially
Laura and I came to the decision that we would stick with the rules, and ask
the other students just to reschedule their events. They knew the only days we had free time was Friday nights and
Sundays. When we relayed this to the
two groups, they did not take it so well.
One group started crying, and the other said they would probably just do
it whether we said Ok or not. At this
point, I realized that as these were not issues that would make-or-break a
project, they were also not issues worth dividing a project over. If the other students were that
heart-broken, or that dead-set on following these plans, telling them ‘no’
would result in division, and resentment. So Laura and I decided to give them
full approval. The decision turned out
very well, as both groups had great time with their co-workers, and those of us
who went camping had a great time too.
Serving as project director also came
with the opportunity of delivering two of the messages at the weekly large
group meetings. Between the four weeks
remaining, I gave two talks, and the assistant PD (my roommate Tyler) gave two
talks. I had given a talk the last week
of Crusade at Rice, and had taken a public speaking course, and was excited
about the opportunity. I was very
pleased with the first talk in particular.
I feel that the Holy Spirit directed me, and that the Lord used the
message.
Through
the four talks we studied Jonah. In the
first, I talked about having a mission in life, and how we are to share the
Lord with others. But just as Jonah was
asleep in the bottom of the boat, so too are we as Christians. I then gave an explanation of salvation,
going through the four laws. It was awesome, as there were a lot of
non-believers there. Through my two
talks, I also realized how time consuming it is to prepare a message, as well
as come up with good personal experiences that relate to the topic at hand.
Conclusion:
In
conclusion, I believe my summer in Branson was time well invested. The Lord used the summer to work in my
heart, help me grow spiritually, and learn life-lessons as well. On project I had the opportunity to share
the Lord with a number of people, and become eager and comfortable to do
so. The final night of project, I went
out to share with others in the Branson Wal-Mart and McDonald parking lot one
last time. The one person we talked to
was in a tough spot in life, and had been considering spiritual issues
recently. He was excited to hear about
having a relationship with the Lord, and we went through the Four Laws with him
as well. The Lord gave us the
opportunity to share exactly what that guy had needed to hear.
My
relationship with the Lord became a much more important part of my life after
project. This surprised me, as I
already considered Him to be a large part of my life. I came away from project realizing that I should lean less on my
own control, strength, and understanding, and lean more on the Lord. I had a great time, made some long-term
friends, and have a more God-oriented perspective of life- which I will take with
me now in Boston and beyond.
Cordially,
Philip J Bunge
2202 Archstone Ave
Tewksbury, MA 01986
pbunge@alumni.rice.edu