facing some decisions: project timothy 2008
Well obviously, colleges :) But I don't get acceptance letters until March, so I'll save that subject for a later post.
Last summer, I had the privilege of experiencing Project Timothy, which is a youth missions outreach trip associated with the Reformed Church in America (RCA), the denomination my church is affiliated with. It was an amazing time, and I made some good friends there that I'd love to see again.
The trip is in mid-July. Here's how it works: around 40 kids from churches throughout America that are in the RCA meet up at a small college in Ontario, CA. There are several groups, each assigned to a different location, and there are typically around five to choose from. This year, there are five options: working in San Francisco through my church (which doesn't interest me, of course, though I know that the group coming here will LOVE it), helping out at a community outreach daycare center in New Jersey and helping out with a local restart mission church, doing construction on a church in Ecuador and helping at a rehabilitation center for abandoned children, working at a kid's summer camp in Jamaica, and last but certainly not least, going to FRANCE to attend a conference in Taize, which sounds so incredibly amazing that, rather than summarize it, I'll copy the detailed description from the Project Timothy website.
Taize is a retreat center founded by the son of an RCA pastor and run by monks who come from Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant churches. Taize's primary goal is to help each participant come closer to God and with God’s people around the world. Many participants are teens from third world countries. Each teen stays in a tent with teens from other parts of the globe. Participants work for a portion of the day, attend prayer services, worship services, and discussion groups, and meet with the monks for prayer, confession, and spiritual direction. It is a place of great spiritual renewal and transformation through Christ and with his people from all over the world. Students with a mature faith who are open to explore spirituality will be considered for this site.
This sounds SO EFFING AMAZING.
My decision is this: should I go? The cost is $2250, which is pretty darn expensive. It would require a big effort on my part just to raise all that money, and most importantly, a whole lotta prayer. I mean, this is serious business, and I don't want to go into something like this unless it's something I'm really ready to take on. Staying in a tent with total strangers from all over the world? Meeting daily with monks from three very different constructs of Christian orthodoxy for prayer, penance, and spiritual direction? Holy. Crap. That's what I call intense.
So please, keep me in prayer as I face a very big decision, because it will probably affect my focus dramatically for the next few months leading up to it (including plenty of sessions with French Rosetta Stone software :P)
Now, keep in mind that just because I apply to go there doesn't mean I'll get in. I'm sure plenty of people will be applying for this location, so I'll have to cross my fingers and hope I get picked. But I'm confident that if this is something God wants me to do, then that's where I'll be going.
For those of you who have gone to PT in previous years, let me just say that as a resident of San Francisco, as well as a regular attendee at City Church, that trip is going to be THE most fun out of all of them. I'm not even kidding. San Francisco, is an amazing city, and City Church is an amazing church, and the staff at City Church is chock full of some of the most solid, hilarious, awesome individuals I've ever had the privilege of knowing. I'd highly recommend making this your first choice :)
For those of you who haven't experienced Project Timothy and would like more info, visit rca.org/projecttimothy for a more detailed description of the whole event, as well as the individual sites. Let me assure you that, if you decide to go, Project Timothy will be the highlight of your entire summer, no matter the location. I was skeptical last year, for sure (I was assigned to Arizona, along with my sister and a bunch of other girls. These turned out to be some of the most fantastic people I've ever had the privilege of knowing, and my stay in Arizona was absolutely a blast). It was also a time of profound spiritual renewal and clarity for me, something I really needed at the time. I'd encourage anyone to check this out. If you've been considering a short-term missions trip for the summer, I'd love to tell you more about my experience at Project Timothy. If you haven't, there's no time like the present to start thinking and praying about doing something like this!
As always, thanks for reading. Now get on with your lives!
Last summer, I had the privilege of experiencing Project Timothy, which is a youth missions outreach trip associated with the Reformed Church in America (RCA), the denomination my church is affiliated with. It was an amazing time, and I made some good friends there that I'd love to see again.
The trip is in mid-July. Here's how it works: around 40 kids from churches throughout America that are in the RCA meet up at a small college in Ontario, CA. There are several groups, each assigned to a different location, and there are typically around five to choose from. This year, there are five options: working in San Francisco through my church (which doesn't interest me, of course, though I know that the group coming here will LOVE it), helping out at a community outreach daycare center in New Jersey and helping out with a local restart mission church, doing construction on a church in Ecuador and helping at a rehabilitation center for abandoned children, working at a kid's summer camp in Jamaica, and last but certainly not least, going to FRANCE to attend a conference in Taize, which sounds so incredibly amazing that, rather than summarize it, I'll copy the detailed description from the Project Timothy website.
Taize is a retreat center founded by the son of an RCA pastor and run by monks who come from Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant churches. Taize's primary goal is to help each participant come closer to God and with God’s people around the world. Many participants are teens from third world countries. Each teen stays in a tent with teens from other parts of the globe. Participants work for a portion of the day, attend prayer services, worship services, and discussion groups, and meet with the monks for prayer, confession, and spiritual direction. It is a place of great spiritual renewal and transformation through Christ and with his people from all over the world. Students with a mature faith who are open to explore spirituality will be considered for this site.
This sounds SO EFFING AMAZING.
My decision is this: should I go? The cost is $2250, which is pretty darn expensive. It would require a big effort on my part just to raise all that money, and most importantly, a whole lotta prayer. I mean, this is serious business, and I don't want to go into something like this unless it's something I'm really ready to take on. Staying in a tent with total strangers from all over the world? Meeting daily with monks from three very different constructs of Christian orthodoxy for prayer, penance, and spiritual direction? Holy. Crap. That's what I call intense.
So please, keep me in prayer as I face a very big decision, because it will probably affect my focus dramatically for the next few months leading up to it (including plenty of sessions with French Rosetta Stone software :P)
Now, keep in mind that just because I apply to go there doesn't mean I'll get in. I'm sure plenty of people will be applying for this location, so I'll have to cross my fingers and hope I get picked. But I'm confident that if this is something God wants me to do, then that's where I'll be going.
For those of you who have gone to PT in previous years, let me just say that as a resident of San Francisco, as well as a regular attendee at City Church, that trip is going to be THE most fun out of all of them. I'm not even kidding. San Francisco, is an amazing city, and City Church is an amazing church, and the staff at City Church is chock full of some of the most solid, hilarious, awesome individuals I've ever had the privilege of knowing. I'd highly recommend making this your first choice :)
For those of you who haven't experienced Project Timothy and would like more info, visit rca.org/projecttimothy for a more detailed description of the whole event, as well as the individual sites. Let me assure you that, if you decide to go, Project Timothy will be the highlight of your entire summer, no matter the location. I was skeptical last year, for sure (I was assigned to Arizona, along with my sister and a bunch of other girls. These turned out to be some of the most fantastic people I've ever had the privilege of knowing, and my stay in Arizona was absolutely a blast). It was also a time of profound spiritual renewal and clarity for me, something I really needed at the time. I'd encourage anyone to check this out. If you've been considering a short-term missions trip for the summer, I'd love to tell you more about my experience at Project Timothy. If you haven't, there's no time like the present to start thinking and praying about doing something like this!
As always, thanks for reading. Now get on with your lives!
posted by John M. Harrell at 10:59 PM
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