The Hunt for Work.

Well, I guess somehow my father's hunting genes didn't get passed down to me...unfortunately I am not nearly as good at it as he is! Job hunting is slow and steady. Who knew looking for work was a job in itself? I committed to trying to find a job in my field up until the end of yesterday (wednesday) and now I'm branching out to other opportunities. I've applied for a few positions that I would be really really happy if I got any of them : Program Coordinator at a youth day camp (St. George's YouthNet...google it if you like...their mission statement is really wonderful...really hoping to get a call back from them!); Early Childhood Educator assitant at Happy Hollow School (it's sounds cheerful, right out of Bambi!), as well, I have an interview today at 3:30 at Scotia Personnel, which is an agency that places you with childcare jobs (sounds like a good deal to me!...we'll see how it goes.)
I'll continue to keep y'all posted...God's slowly provided us all with jobs which is very exciting. Today I'm working on revising my resume to make it more retail oriented to prepare for the event in which I will need to start applying to other opportunities.
Thank you everyone for your prayers concerning this issue, I'm confident God will prove to be faithful.
(the picture included is of students job hunting and working on resumes at the university library)

Back to the Basics

I feel as though before I can proceed in blogging about the events that transpire while I am here I need to first establish some groundwork as to why I am here, because I don't think I had a chance to thoroughly explain that to many people.
Over the past two years at university, I’ve had the opportunity of becoming involved with Campus for Christ, an interdenominational organization that seeks to change the world by turning students into life-long Christ-centered labourers through movements of evangelism and discipleship. Becoming involved has taken a few forms for me, including: participating in a discipleship group(which is basically a small Bible study group), being a member of the prayer team, and a first year events coordinator. Through these experiences God has taught me innumerable lessons about his mighty power, love and the importance of relying on the Holy Spirit’s guidance. I’ve now learned to make “God-sized” dreams and consistently “push the envelope” when it comes to imagining how and where God can use me. While away at Winter Conference, a 5 day long event in Toronto, during this past Christmas holidays, God challenged me to step out of my comfort zone, move out of the complacency I had fallen into, and take steps of faith for him. He also revealed to me a prime opportunity for that: Halifax National Project. This project runs from May 4th – August 1st.
While on this project, I am going to get a job during the day in which God can work through me to share the gospel. Each weeknight has a special focus including a time for discipleship groups, weekly meetings, specialized ministry team meetings, fellowship events, inductive Bible study times, and training in evangelism and discipleship. Saturdays are a time where we will apply what we've learned and share the gospel to students in summer session at the surrounding universities and the community around where we live. Sundays are days of rest with God and a time to check out the local churches in Halifax!
Halfway through the project, the Campus for Christ staff are going to leave and hand over the leadership of the project to us, the students! We will then have an opportunity to apply what we've learned as God leads the group to greater steps of faith. I am especially excited for this time. Over the last few weeks I was challenged and accepted the position of prayer team coordinator for the upcoming school year. While this opportunity overwhelms me because I know my abilities are insufficient, I’m also excited because I know I will have to seek God that much more to compensate for my inadequacies. I am confident that after the staff leave and hand over the project, God will teach me lessons in my role I am designated that I will be able to transfer to the role of Prayer Team Coordinator.
Now, you might be asking, “Why Halifax?”. Well, one of the things I love most about Campus for Christ as an organization is their passion and strategy. Their passion is reaching university students because, essentially, they are the future leaders of tomorrow. Future presidents, prime ministers, businessmen, teachers, are all in university right now. As well, they are a movement which, simply enough, means they are aiming to go somewhere. They aren’t just aiming to provide a nurturing Christian environment for students while they are away at university…but they’re aiming to build those Christians up in their faith, send them out to share the Gospel to win others for Christ, who will eventually win, build and send others, etc. To be a movement, a force if you will, you must be moving against the established order. In today’s society where Satan is so keen and prevalent…it requires strategy to conquer. Campus for Christ views Halifax as a strategic city to plant a ministry in order to reach the province of Nova Scotia and furthermore, our country. Immigrants/International students coming from the East often settle in Halifax because it is the first large city they reach. If their stay here is temporary and they return to their native country, this means that reaching Halifax equals reaching the world as they take the gospel back to their respective countries. Exciting, eh?!
I am so ecstatic to be here in Halifax, placing a footprint on eternity; I really feel as though I'm a part of changing the world.

Although I've done my best to explain things here, I'm sure you still have questions, please feel free to email/write me at any time about anything I mention in my blogs and I'd be more than happy to answer your questions!

Orientation Overture

Orientation Overture (written on Monday - finished and posted Thursday)
Well, what an intense 72 hours it has been! After arriving and settling in on Friday, the Halifax National Progectiles began orientation. Like any true Campus for Christ event, it was spiritually intense (and included great food!). We gathered on Saturday and Sunday at the Halifax Chinese Christian Church, which is just down the road. Saturday morning focused on project procedures, rules, guidelines (and the difference between the two), as well as the importance of the Holy Spirit and practical tips on job hunting. Saturday afternoon was filled with fun times in a nearby park. Despite the rainy weather, we carried out the plans for the afternoon (I think the rain added a special element; it melted away the sugary coatings we'd been displaying the previous day and revealed many of our true selves. I believe it was the first test of grace and patience in the group.). Ben (one of the C4C staff here), led us in activities that required us to work together, communicate effectively and trust one another. Not only did these activities build trust between us, they showed us the possible conflicts that may arise and the skills we're going to need to use in order to be effective here on project. One of the major lessons I came away from it with was the "magic bullet" lesson: oftentimes in life we wait, think, and analyze a situation looking for the perfect, or "magic bullet", solution when really just putting into place one GOOD solution will do the job correctly. I also came away with a greater appreciation for effective communication in large groups and the satisfaction of a job well done after putting in a lot of effort. The picture above was taken after said time of fun. Saturday finished off with a BBQ back at the church and a workshop on conflict resolution by Wendy(another staff member here) which I found especially helpful as it is always an area of my life I need to work on.
Sunday concluded orientation with some praise and worship time together, communion together as well as some workshops on "Practical Life Strategies for not just surviving, but thriving on Project" as well as 2 workshops on evangelism (sharing the gospel). They were all very informative and helpful. The evening was completed by a friendly game of "kick the can", or "hoof the tin" as Ben called it.

Good times, good times, good times!