Summary of Summer in a Letter

Dear Family and Friends,
As you know ,I participated in Mission Indy as an intern this past summer. I have been extremely blessed by the experience and could not have done it without you. Thank you for your prayers and financial support. On August 1, 2009, the nine other interns and I debriefed our experiences and said our good-byes. I’m already preparing to go back to school. Where did the summer go? I cannot even begin to explain all we’ve accomplished, learned, and shared, but I hope to give you an idea of a few things God did this summer.
Let’s start from the very beginning…a very good place to start. (Sound of Music, anyone?) When I got the letter from Mission Indy asking for my consent to be an intern for the summer, I checked the “yes” box with confidence. However, during the training weeks, I began to doubt myself. I had never been in such a big leadership role. I remembered when I participated in Mission Indy as a student, and I thought the interns were so much older and cooler than me. Now I am one of those interns, and I still felt pretty young and uncool.  It didn’t take much for the devil to get a foothold. BUT God is good. He reassured me through relationships with the interns, our discussions about community, and seeing the weeks of Mission Indy come together.
Training weeks- The first two weeks of Mission Indy is dedicated to training the interns. We went out and learned about the city of Indianapolis, where we would be working. We learned the history of the east side; like why there are so many abandoned houses, and why there are so many pawn shops in the area. We did a simulation exercise and experienced the downtown bus system. (We missed our first bus…I am thankful I don’t have to depend on the buses.) We also discussed the importance of the church being what it is called to be. It became a challenge to all the interns to find their role in the church, especially as we all return to our own home churches. From these two weeks, we became a community to one another. We asked questions and tried to live out what we were learning.
Internship Weeks- During our off weeks, I had the privilege of working with an organization called Damar. According to Damar’s website,“At Damar, we achieve what many cannot — enabling people challenged by autism, mental retardation and other developmental disabilities and related behavioral challenges to live more successful lives.” I got to work with boys ages 15-18. They were not much younger than me, so I was very nervous at first. During the time I was there, they were at summer school. I was able to sit in on their class and participate on all their outings. We went to places they wanted to go, like the guitar center, or the canal. I really got to know and love all the boys. However, it was not always fun and games there. Most of these boys grew up in the system without loved ones. A lot of them feel very unwanted. It was hard to see how they reacted in defensive ways and did not open up to people easily. It was very emotionally and mentally challenging for me. My heart breaks for those kids. I know God is, and will continue, to work on me through my experience at Damar. I heard from several people that they love when volunteers come spend time with them, because they’re not getting paid. I could tell it meant a lot to them just to talk about themselves. The last week of Mission Indy I was able to lead VBS at Damar. It was awesome to see how the boys listened, ask edquestions, and respected me.-It was totally God at work! I had a hard time leaving these boys. I have been writing them, and I live pretty close so I hope to visit. It was such a rewarding experience and something I will not soon forget.
Mission Indy weeks- For 4 out of the 10 weeks, we spent our time at the “Mission Indy Weeks”. Each week we were hosted by a different church around Indy. Youth groups came from all over. (Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, and Tennessee.) I was able to lead one worksite and 3 different VBS weeks. I thought I would be doing one VBS this summer, but God had a different plan. Believe it or not, after all the: scraping, painting, and standing in the heat, I had more energy after the worksite than after a VBS. Like I said, I was nervous about the leadership role. The first week, I had the privilege to lead the older girls at VBS in discussion. The second week, I experienced teaching an interactive lesson with my old church friend and fellow intern, Elizabeth Heuss. And the fourth week, I was given the challenge of teaching a discussion lesson along with another intern who became my friend, Andrew. It was a little more challenging, because that week we worked with 13-19 year olds. Each week I was placed out of my comfort zone in a leadership role, and I gained confidence in God and myself. No matter how much we planned ,we still felt unprepared. But God worked it out and showed us He is in control by making it better than we could’ve ever made it. God took my insecurities and taught me to trust Him. (Timothy…)
Mission Indy as a Whole- In conclusion… Just kidding there really is no conclusion to this story! I have learned so much this summer, and I’m still learning. I grew close to each of the interns and love them like brothers and sisters. They challenged me in my spiritual walk with thoughts and questions. We shared everything with each other, and we were vulnerable with each other. They were an example of what a community should look like to me. I know God put us together for a reason, and now I pray we are able to take what we’ve learned back home and put it into action. Something I learned from one of the interns is that Jesus worked with and healed people one at a time, so why are we not satisfied with one person at a time? Sometimes I commit to things that are too big. After this summer, I want to change the world. However, I am glad that God is teaching me to work on one thing at a time. I have to be reminded that He is in control of this overwhelming world. Please continue to pray for the interns to not forget what we’ve learned and to share it with people out of LOVE! Thanks again for supporting me. I have been challenged by Galatians 6:9. I talked to many wise people this summer, but no matter how wise someone may be, I learned I still need to turn to God’s word to find true wisdom. I pray God blesses you in your walk with Him!
In Him,
Megan Miller

P.S. I won't ramble anymore, but there is so much more to say. So if you would like me to go into detail please send a message my way or give me a ring.

Pictures of the Summer

All the interns, minus Andrew, scrunched in the M.I. van, olga!

The Shower cleaning crew. M.I.S.T.=Mission Indy Shower Trailer

Elizabeth, Kelsey, and I...just being silly!

The finished house that took two weeks and two hard working youth groups!

One picnik table down...5 more to go!

Mission Indy Videos

Damar Experience

I have almost complete all four weeks of my internship at Damar. I remember the very first day I heard what my job would be I got butterflies in my stomach. I was told I would be working with boys ages 15-18. I didn't expect to be working with just boys especially boys that are not that much younger than me. The first day I just followed one of the staff members around and probably seemed pretty shy. (I guess I probably was.) I would ask the occasional seemingly shy kids a few questions, but for the most part I was all about stepping back and observing. I wasn't sure how the rest of the summer would go, but I prayed from the beginning for respect from them and for fun times with them.
As the weeks went on, I got more accustom to their summer school schedule. I got to go on outings with them and just get to know the guys more. It took awhile for some of them to warm up, but after they did it became easy to joke with them and have fun. For some of the boys it wasn't until this very week. My heart breaks for these boys who have awful backgrounds and broken hearts themselves. It has been an emotional experience for me. I wish I could just put all these kids into loving families, but that's just unreal.
Even during Mission Indy weeks I think about the Damar boys. Seeing how well the youth groups bond made me think of the Damar boys and how different their lives would be with families that love them and even more changed with Christ!Last week I became frustrated with myself because I hadn't told the Damar guys about what's truely important to me, Jesus! However, this week I was able to do that with some of them and I found out one of them is getting baptized! I am so excited for him. I pray that the Lord plants a seed in all of these boys lives and waters them somehow. It seems impossible, but nothing is impossible with Christ!

Prayer Requests:
I have two more days with these boys and then we are putting on a VBS for them. I am working on teaching the lessons with Andrew. I am nervous, because it's older kids and a lot of times they have a hard time paying attention, but I pray God speaks through us. Please be praying for us!

Mission Indy week 3

I can't believe we are already done with week three. Only one more week of mission indy for the summer 09 staff. This last mission indy took place (7/12-7/18) at Chapel Rock C.C.
The very first day we met the four different youth groups, I felt like they were already warming up to us and excited about the week. It could have been because one of the youth groups had come the summer before. It was great to see them return and be excited about what we were going to be doing. There were about 12 people in each youth group. 3 groups from Illinois and one from Indy. There seemed to be so many names to learn, but I got the privilege of being in charge of the name game so I learned them pretty quickly.
When it was time for our skit of the night, they actually laughed...on the first night! (All the interns were pretty excited about that!)The first night I prayed that the youth groups would learn something from this week and take it back with them.(By the middle of the week it was obvious they were learning)

The second day for me started at 5:15 in the am. I actually woke up to run with some of the other interns. It definitely takes discipline, which is something I hope to work on starting now, but especially this semester at school.
Our daily wake up routine, POWER UP, went great especially for a Monday. They laughed at the skit, participated in our "yoga", and enjoyed the songs. Then we broke off into our groups for the week. This was my first and only week not to do a VBS. Tracy and I had the worksite that we started on the first week. Let me remind you that the first week of Mission Indy (after VBS) was an entire week of scrapping for our group. It was hard work, especially because the house looked worse when they left than when they came. (If you scroll down there is a picture of the little white house)The third week, our group of 8 was ready to prime and paint the house. I had fun working with them as well as playing 21questions all day! I learned a lot of NFL and NBA history.

The third day began to get a little challenging. It was the same work as Monday and it was harder to keep us all motivated. Tracy and I had a hard time keeping positive. That night we decided we needed to examine ourselves and pray. We wanted to be encouragers and not just focusing on getting the house done. Although that is a great goal, that is not Mission Indy's goal. It's more about making relationships and learning together about serving the Lord. The next day we apologized to the group and prayed with them. Like I've said before, it's always amazing to watch God work after being vulnerable with one another. Tracy was a huge encouragment to me the whole week. God knew I needed encouragement and it came at just the right time. I am so glad she was on the site with me.

Wednesday I gave my devotion in the morning about Honor. I talked about worldly honor vs. Godly honor. In this world we honor celebrities, athletes, rich, successful but God honors the poor, the meek, the persecuted, and the least of these. (Matt. 5:3-10) Total opposites. As i was doing these devotions, Kelsey helped me and we just were shocked at how blind we can be to these things. The whole time I waa preparing I was praying God would speak to even just one person in the room. Later, that night one of the boys came up to me and told me it really spoke to him. God went even farther than I expected by showing me he used me.

The rest of the week went well. We finished the house and the house owner, Mrs. Regulus, was very happy to have us there! The kids only got to meet her once, but it was enough to help them feel purposeful. The youth groups mixed well together..so well that I could hardly identify which group was which. The kids enjoyed the week and some said they would even consider being Mission Indy interns! God continues to bless us each week. I am getting pretty tired and am ready for a break, but I will be sad when it comes to an end. Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers. Gal. 6:9

Prayer Requests
-This past week was a great week of growth and bonding, but there were also many trials. One father and daughter, Chris and Bridgette, lost there wife and mother this past week. She had been sick for several years and the family was trying to live an as normal life as possible, but her death was not expected. It was very sudden to them and sad that they weren't there. They left early along with their good family friend and youth minister,Andy. It was a hard time for them as well as the youth group. We were all shocked. It was great to see the other youth groups mourn with them and come along side them. The group left early for the visitation. Please pray for encouragement and comfort through the Lord! Thanks!

Fill us up and Send us Out

It's time for another Mission Indy week. This week we will be packing up and heading out to Hazelwood Christian Church.(in a rural setting) Elizabeth Heuss and I will be leading the VBS in the mornings. I found that out last Tuesday, so please pray for our week and specifically for our VBS lesson to go smoothly. I will let you know how the week goes when we return! Matt. 28:19-20

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This update is way past due but I just haven't found time this week. I'm sure you guys were anxiously awaiting my next post. Last week (6/28-7/4) we had three youth groups come to mission indy: Hazelwood's own youth group, a group from Grayson Kentucky, and one from Hunington. There were about 50 kids and a lot more names to learn. We were more prepared for this week since we had already done one. However,It took a little longer for these groups to understand our humor. But there's no doubt that when we rapped our good night song to wish them a peaceful sleep, that we broke them in.
Monday morning came around and we made our way to the Country Mannor tailor park to prepare for VBS. Most of the kids had never experienced something like a VBS before, which was the point of doing it there. A few people in management at the tailor part go to a church down the road and are trying to make more of a community at Country Mannor than just a place to live. It's really a great mission and I'm glad we were a part of it. Seeing the goal of the ladies in management showed me that you can work for God even in every area of your life.
Elizabeth and I were a little nervous to perform our VBS lesson for the Grayson youth group, but even they seemed to enjoy it so we were more excited for the kids to come. The first day, Monday, is always a day to prepare for the week. A boy named Eddie (9) and his sister, Cassidy (6) came on the practice day. I was worried they would be bored seeing the same lesson the next day, but they loved it espcially the attention from the whole youth group.
The first day was great even though they expected at least 50 kids and we got 20ish. We've found that's how is usually turns out, but we are then able to get to know kids better. When we asked questions about creation,Adam and Eve, and How God made us special they seemed to understand and were quick to answer questions. But when we talked about Jesus a lot of them didn't know about Him, which kinda surprised us. The next day was the last and we knew we would need to say just the right things so the kids would start to understand what Jesus did for us. We prayed a lot about it and had others praying for us. We practiced a little the night before and let God work the next day.
We're not really sure if all the kids understood, but we know a few got it and that in itself was an answer to prayer. A lot of the kids did not want to leave. We just pray that those kids stay connected to the church that's trying to reach out to them. It was such a blessing through the week to watch the Grayson youth group interact with the kids. They also didn't want to leave at the end of the week. Thanks for your thoughts and prayers!

PRAISE:
We were excited to see a mother of one the of VBS kids get baptized. She said she had been thinking about it for a long time and it was time. We didn't see the mom after that, but she is connected with the church.

Support

I don't know how many people read this blog but Thanks for your thoughts, encouragement, and prayers!

SUPPORT:
Mission Indy has agreed to pay me a $2000 stipend with the agreement that I raise half of the $2000. I am more than half way to my goal. I'm also half way through the summer. If anyone has been reading my blog and If you would please prayerfully consider giving financially I would greatly appreciate it. However, I know not everyone is blessed in this area, so even more importantly I would appreciate your prayers. Please pray that God will continue give me compassion for the areas we will be reaching out to in the urban and rural areas of Indianapolis. Please pray for those we come in contact with would see our good deeds and praise our father in heaven. And pray that our team of interns will work well together and stay motivated for Christ. If you feel led, any payments can be sent to the following address, as it will be easier for tax purposes. Please be sure to include my name, thank you for your support!

Mission Indy Inc.
57 N. Rural St.
Indianapolis, IN 46201

Mission Indy Week #1

VBS & The never ending scrapping job
Today was our first official day of the Mission Indy weeks! We arrived at North Liberty Christian Church, our home for the week around 11 on sunday. Before we unloaded our bags we prayed for the week and got a tour of the church. An elder welcomed us and was very happy to have us at their church. Each of the interns was assigned a job to perform each week before the youth groups arrive and once those jobs were done, we anxiously waited for the kids to arrive. When Clear Creek got there we were a little nervous and hestitant about what to do next. Then New Hope arrived and after the tours we ate dinner. It's easy when you first meet a group of people to stay in your comfort zone with the people you already know, but as an intern part of what we're expected to do it branch out and make people feel welcomed. It's not always my first instinct to sit with people I don't know. However, I decided to sit with some junior high boys from New Hope and got to know a little bit about them. I find it's usually rewarding to take the time to learn about others. During orientation we did some funny skits, but they didn't really know us at the time so the laughter was few and inbetween. IT took them awhile to get comfortable enough to laugh with us...well mostly at us. My job for the first week of mission indy was to help with VBS in the mornings and lead a work site in the afternoon. It sounded like something I could handle. It was easy to see on the first night that both the groups were very receptive, so already the makings of a good week were in order. -Even on the first night I thought about the Damar boys and will be looking forward to seeing them again.



The VBS was at a church on the East side of Indy called Full Gospel. They are a small church that has stayed in the same area despite many trials in their surrounding community. The church asked for some help with starting a VBS so that's where M.I. came into play. Joe and Tracy led the lesson. Jen is the VBS coordinator making sure everything is in order. Megan and I were the VBS helpers. And New Hope was the youth group to help with the kids, games, lesson, and crafts. (Pretty much wherever they were needed.) We were expecting anywhere from 50-150 kids in attendance. However, we ended up with 20 at the most. It made for a good VBS though because we were able to get to know all the kids. The first day I noticed a few girls who were about 13. They were obviously not having a good time with the younger kids. I overheard them saying they wouldn't be coming back the next day so I decided to ask what I could do to change that. They said they just wanted to be seperate from the kids. I decided to make bracelets with them if they promised to come back the next day. They were pretty excited. We made bracelets and talked through the lesson instead of having it taught to them like little kids. I actually enjoyed it a lot. And I pray that those girls got something from it. Overall the VBS week went really well and every single person was a huge help.



After lunch we would head to the worksite where instead of being the helpers Megan B. and I would switch to the leaders. The first day we arrived we thought we could conqure this little house in no time. All we had to do was scrap, sand, prime, caulk, and paint it. It seemed like a little house. On the contrary, it was no easy job. The scrapping pretty much took the whole week. Whoever painted the house before us must have figured the scrapping was not important because the paint was coming off in sheets. Each time we thought we were done scrapping, we were wrong. Despite the humidity and the rain, the kids were great. I heard no complaining and I even heard some people say they enjoyed scrapping. I was impressed with New Hope and the work they did this week. Even though we didn't get to finish it, I know they were a huge help and took care of the dirty work. I've learned scrapping is almost the most important part of painting a house with wood paneling. The lady we were scrapping for had just had her house painted 3 years ago, but because they didn't scrap it was already peeling. We ended up priming the front and the back of the house, but we'll have to finish the rest another mission indy week.

Ready. Set. Go!

The first official week of Mission Indy starts tomorrow!
Well for the interns it started almost a month ago. So much time and thought has been put into this up coming week. I'm praying for the kids that come to have servants hearts and for it to be a fun week. We are all praying for the weather, because it's suppose to rain a lot this week. We are planning to do a lot of painting, so we need nice weather. I'm excited to meet the kids and for them to see our orientation video we all thought of and Jenna put together. If you haven't seen it you should check it out. It's pretty great! I'm almost done packing, but of course I will double check in the morning because there is always something I forget. I have no idea what God is going to do this week, but I pray I have the right attitude to let Him use me. Philippians 2:3-4 "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others."

-During the Mission Indy weeks,we stay at different churches around the indianapolis area. This last week was at North Liberty CC. They were kind enough to open up their church for us to sleep in various rooms in the church, worship in the sanctuary, and provided people to cook for us. (the food was amazing!) Everyone sleeps at the church and goes out to their different work sites in the morning.

1st Day at Damar

Damar was interesting to say the least. It was an overall fun day! When I arrived, Molly met me for a picture for the news letter and my "official" Damar intern badge. After that I followed her to the nurses station because I had to get a TB test done. It wasn't bad, but I was a bit nervous. My arm did bubble up, but it went down soon after. I guess you have to get that test if you're going to be working with Kids.
After that I went to my the unit of boys 15-18. My unit is locked down and it's called right field. There are 9 boys in the unit and at first I was very intimidated by the ones that were there, but it got better throughout the day. Then Richard ("My Boss") had me file paper work for most of the morning. 9:30-11:30 ish. It was not very fun, but I learned how much behind the scence work is done. Seriously, who knew how much paper work there can be on one person? The binders I was dealing with were pretty much a summary of the boys lives.
Then I finally got to interact with the boys a little bit. I ate lunch with them. I brought my own, but since they were all eating the same thing I had to have what they were having. It didn't really appeal to me...(it looked like bb-que mush) so I didn't have much. And the boys were already done eating by the time I got done with paper stuff so I didn't have a chance to talk much.
Then I got to sit in on a class with them and boy was it CRRAZY! Most of the boys were wondering around the room and being disruptive. It will be interesting when we do V.B.S. with them. Then the ones that had their work done got to come outside on the playground. I went with them. One boy was listening to Janet Jackson and dancing like crazy! It was great. He was so into it...and it was definitely Michael JAckson style. He said, "I'm pretending I'm at the Grammy awards." It was so funny! You just have to be there to understand. Some of the things they say/do are priceless. Then I went back to my unit of boys and they seriously just sat there for about an hour. Then a couple of them asked if I wanted to play monopoly. I said yeah, but didn't really know what I was in for. Apparently, monopoly takes a LOOONG time.(I didn't play much as a child...or ever for that matter.) I had a really good time. I ended up winning, but apparently they "let me win". And I said, "well, I let you let me win!" hah
I ended up staying later than I was suppose to to finish the game. I know every day will be different at Damar, but I'm looking forward to it!
It's hard to see them lose so many privilages, but that's what Damar is for, to help them earn them back. I already have a heart for the kids and I know I will be sad to leave.

Love Your Neighbors

I have really been challenged by the church that hosts Mission Indy.
Englewood Christian church has been around for over 100 years. They truly live life with each other. They make an effort to know their community and reach out to the neighborhood. I really hope to glean from their example as a church. Many churches have been caught up in wordly things and are more an institution rather than a place to worship God in community. The people of the church have been praying for a long time and are slowly starting to break barriers and be real with people. It shows not only in the church but in the neighborhood. They live as a community and share all their possessions. Lawn mowers, cars, chickens, ducks, kids. They all help to raise one other. This may seem like craziness, but the families are all well provided for and happy. That's what loving your neighbor looks like. I desire this kind of community!

Training Week # 1

Monday-Was our first day in inner city indianapolis. Therefore, it was only appropriate that we take a tour. At first I didn't think there would be much to learn about little urban Indy espcially since I grew up 30 min. down the road most of my life. However, I was mistakin!
The 11 interns Ron, Marsha, and Niccole piled on the "short bus" and listened as a man from the church informed us about the surrounding neighborhood. We learned the history of the city and interesting statistics.
It was sad to see the many vacant houses in the neighborhoods. However, we learned that in a lot of situations it's better to have vacant houses than a lot of houses for rent. That may be hard to believe, but a lot of the landlords don't live near so they don't really care who moves in. They just want a good price for the house. Therefore, they charge more than they should and the people renting can't afford it, so alot of times they move out and leave the house a wreck. That not only effects the neighborhood, but the school systems, and families that live there.
We also learned about the trap of pawn shops. I had no idea what a pawn shop really was, but to many families they're a source of income. You can turn in an item and get a loan, but if you can't pay them back then you start racking up interest. (Interest at this particular place was 23%!!!)Many families have probably not known any other way than to use pawn shops, because that's what they've been taught.It was so interesting to learn how much I don't know about the east side of Indy when I've grown up not far from it.

Tuesday- We participated in a simulation downtown. We were dropped off and given envelopes to open at certain times. Ron told us not to call him unless it was an emergency. The girls were in my group and the boys were the other group. We listened to Ron and made sure not to open the wrong envelope. Our first envelope told us to look around because someone might have helpful information for us. However, we never found that someone so we opened the next envelope when the time was right. It told us to go to the bus stop and catch the bus. Not a problem...so we thought. When we got there we realized we didn't have enough money or bus passes to ride the bus. We didn't freak out..right away. We decided surely it was part of the simulation and someone would hopefully come up to us and offer some money. People were nice and a lady did approach us because we obviously looked lost. She gave us a map,but no money. (we even shook the map..) When our bus came and went, we decided it was an emergency and time to call Ron. We should've done that in the first place because he told us we had bus passes in a different envelope the WHOLE time. (We were just following rules not to open other envelopes.)
We finally caught our first bus and rode that to the Julian Center,which is a shelter just for women. We got a tour and found out some interesting facts about one of the many downtown missions.I found the facility to be almost a cold setting with lots of rules. It would be hard to go to a shelter with so many rules. It's sad that our society needs a place like the Julian Center but it's reality. Our bus was late getting there so we didn't have much time. The next bus took us to Horizon House, which is a mission for homeless people. However, it does not provide a place for homeless to live or get a quick meal. They provide a place for them to form a community, keep their belongings, and apply for jobs. They try to be different than the other homeless missions and I think what they are doing is a great idea. I never considered Homeless having trouble getting a job because they had their suitcase with them or not having a telephone # to be reached. When the employers call Horizon their answering machine just says the # they have reached, so the employer will be more willing to hire them. It's a pretty cool sytem. I learned that the bus system is unreliable in Indy and both good and bad things about missions.

Wednesday- We worked on Vacation Bible School stuff. I remember being little a really enjoying V.B.S., but when I got older I thought it was for little kids. I realize now how much hard work goes into planning each and every little supply for the crafts and all the practice for the silly skits. It takes a lot of work! To all the v.b.s. volunteers of my youth I would personally like to show my appreciation, but I guess for now I'll just say THANKS! After punching out 375 picture frame holes, and threading little plastic needles I know I am not cut out for crafts. Then Andrew and I worked on our lesson for our V.B.S. at Damar. It is the last week of mision indy so we have time. We are still working on our lessons. It's been kind of stressful for me because I don't know what to expect, but I trust it will turn out all right. I will be working with Damar for my internship every other week so hopefully I'll get to know the kids and ask them what they would like to have at V.B.S. www.damar.org

Thursday- This was our first day to have an actual physical work day. We worked on an old house. It was huge and had a lot of potential. I'm sure it was beautiful once. It's sad to see how many families have just abandoned houses over the years to move to nicer developments in the "wealthier" areas. I know parents want the best for their families, but what about the other families that can't afford the best? Mission Indy is really challenging us to LOVE our neighbors. It has been something I've heard ever since I can remember, but I don't think the concept has really set in for me yet. I often give things away, but usually things I don't want any more. If I buy new shoes for myself and give the old ones away to someone in need...am I truely loving my neighbor? No, I don't think so. But that is so hard to live by. I know that, but is it truly my conviction? If it's not my conviction, I'm not going to live it out. It's becoming so real to me that I know so little.

Friday-The other interns met their host families for the summer and I ate with my parents. I will be living at home this summer since I live in Indy.

So the Mission begins..

(This Journal is from May 23, 2009)
It's finally time for the Mission Indy retreat! It was 3 months ago (March 9th according to my journal) that I got the call from Niccole saying I was an official Mission Indy intern! I was so excited then and praised God for opening this opportunity for me this summer. However, as this past week approached I began to get a little nervous. I have a lot of questions right now, but I know people have been praying for me and I know God has me right where He wants me.
Everyone is really nice and I can't wait to get to know them more this summer. The interns are Jenna, Elizabeth, Tracy, Kelsey, Megan B, Nick, Joe, Andrew, Jen, and Jill. It has been fun to see the different personalities and hear about different backgrounds. Some have come from Virginia, Iowa, Ohio, Illinois, and New York. It's been interesting to see the connections we can make through shared friends and even better we all have a connection through Christ.
I've noticed that a lot of the interns are juniors and seniors. I feel like a youngin, which makes me a little nervous. I hope that fear won't get in the way and I will just let God use me. I remember being part of a youth group that came to Mission Indy my eighth grade year and thinking all the interns were a lot older than me. Not to mention, pretty cool! ha I hope to reach out to the kids that come to our weeks and make great relationships with them like the interns did with us. Last night Ron(the guy in charge of Mission Indy-The man!) said something really cool. He said, " we have the groups come to mission indy to give us a reason to have interns." Basically he was saying you guys will be here all summer and we're excited to watch you guys grow (speaking to the interns). I'm excited what mission Indy does and I'm so excited to be a part of that for a whole summer!