Sharing Stories

I'm back in Texas now, having ended my first semester as InterVarsity staff at Georgetown University.

Being at home so early in the holiday seasons, I've taken most of this past week to devote to visiting donors who helped get me "on the field" in DC.

I spend most of the day making candy and cookies to bring people people and then about 4:30pm set out in the car to visit people all around town!

It's been an awesome week--going around sharing stories of the semester.
I get to talk about the bible studies I'm a part of, how i've gotten to help out at the elementary school down the street, share the struggles of life transition, answer questions off of my blog or emails, have people pray for my spiritual development and ministry.

But actually my favorite part of the whole things has been hearing other people's stories.

I wonder sometimes if it's the title of my job as a "religious" profession that allows people the license to talk about God in a more explicit way than they would otherwise--some might say that's just the holy spirit working, opening up two people to hear his presence period.

But regardless, many people I visit take the time to tell me about how God's been impacting their live this year--how they've seen changes in their family, felt God move in dreams, been impacted by encounters in their neighborhood. I've heard about all kinds of mission work as well--an orphanage built in Cambodia, family mission trips to a racially divided town in the deep South.
I sit back sometimes and think that people might look at these visits and think--wait, weren't you supposed to get a "report"--almost financial accountability of what's been going on in the ministry all semester? Sure, I get a chance to do that some--but what really interests me is seeing how God's impacting the lives of people here in Dallas just as much as people in Washington DC.

They say it to us over and over again in InterVarsity training "fundraising is ministry....fundraising is ministry." Sounds like they're right.