Good Day Mates :) Hope you are all doing well as you sit down to read this. Life is treating me very well here in North Myrtle. I am much busier than I ever imagined I would be but I am loving every second of it! This past week was the "All for One" week and it was a blast. The week is all about building community and communication for students so when staff leave it'll be smooth sailing. I was blown out of the water by how amazing the students did at being all for one. They truly came together and it was glorious! During our Monday Bible study during the all for one week we talked about a passage from Mark that really shows the importance of being together. The passage is Mark 3:23-26
["So Jesus called them over to him and began to speak to them in parables: "How can Satan drive out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. IF a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand; his end has come."]
This was a really cool passage to go over during all for one week because it made things really clear for the students because really: if a body is divided it cannot stand. As a summer project we are one big body and if we are not for each other/together then we will inevitably fall. Ultimately we would fail. I remember reading this passage last year during this week and it really hitting me. No matter what was going to happen, hard times and happy times, we had to stick together. If we could just stick together we would carry each other through and we would succeed. Well last year we did it, we stuck together; we truly became a project family! This summer I can already see it happening. The students on summer project are so tight and they show each care, love and respect so well. I have no doubt in my mind that they will truly succeed after the staff leave. Although I really don't want to leave at all I am very excited to see what they are going to do. This summer project has and will continue to do big things! I have no doubt.
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Now we are in our "World Vision" week. This. Is. My. Favorite. Week. FAVORITE! I'm sure you are all wondering why? Why is this my favorite week? Well, let me tell you :) I love the world. I think my excitement for the world REALLY hit hard last summer during the World Vision week actually. I have always had some slight curiosity about the world and different cultures. Growing up I got a glimpse of what another culture looks like because I had a rad dad who wasn't born or raised in the United States. It wasn't a huge deal during my younger years/in high school because I was really content living the Northern Minnesota dream but I still loved to hear stories of where my dad grew up so it was kind of there. Last year though was for sure when it really hit me, and I got excited.
So what does this excitement for the world look like in terms of ministry? Well it can mean a lot of different things. For me though, I think it means doing some sort of over seas missionary work. :) For many of you reading, that last statement could mean a lot of different things; so let me clarify. I really want to go to the world with the Gospel and share the hope that I have in my Faith. Many of you reading may think that was a bold statement to insert ever so subtly in a blog post but here's the reality behind my heart: I don't think it's fair to keep information from others. That being said there are so many people all over the world who have never heard of Jesus or of what He did on the cross (the Gospel). That also being said I don't want to shove my beliefs down people's throats. No way! Just like the conversations I am having here in North Myrtle Beach I want to converse with people on different continents. I want to have conversations all over the nations! Doesn't it sound like a glorious thing to do with my time?! I literally get so excited when thinking about it! :) I'd also love to give back to people in the process of sharing the Gospel, whether that be teaching or building houses or whatever! Uffda, as I write this my heart is just filled with excitement and joy and hope! I think that sums up my excitement for the world pretty well (hopefully it made sense).
During World Vision week here on summer project we show case our 5 partnerships: 4th Journey, East Asia, Australia, France, Ghana, and Uruguay. We do some different breakout sessions so students can learn more about the countries and about what ministry looks like in those countries vs. here in the US. It's really cool to see students realize that there are actually people in other countries and the compassion that starts to grow in their hearts. REALLY COOL!
But yah, that's basically what is going on/what has happened since my last post. I am really enjoying my time down here and super sad that it wraps up in exactly one week. I have been so blessed to be here and really want to thank my supporters! If you are reading this I want you to know that I really am so thankful for you! Without my support team I wouldn't be here, literally. You are all amazing and I just can't say thank you enough. I would also love to keep you all updated with my ministry once I get back to school. "How?" you ask: WELL If you would like to keep hearing about the things going on you can continue to read the blog and/or comment on this post and I will get your email so I can send email updates to all of you :)
Okay! I've typed and gone on long enough. Thanks so much for reading!
Love & Until Next Time,
Setareh
p.s. Hey Mom and Dad! Love you :)
Saturday, June 22, 2013
Monday, June 10, 2013
Killed some giants and then some.
HOLA!
Sorry it's been a while since my last post. If you followed me last year you know I'm not all that great at posting on a weekly basis BUT I am trying much harder this time around :)
ANYWAYS. I have so much to update you all on! It has been quite the last week(s) since I posted last. I believe during my last post we were in the "Thirsting to Know Him" week. Well I will just say that the week was great and ended super well! It was the first full/normal week for students and I really feel like it's a pretty crucial one. Overall it was a great week and it all ended up going great!
This past week was "Killing the Giants" week! Killing the Giants (KtG) is such a huge and influential week for the summer project. That is the week that students really challenge themselves in evangelism. The tagline is "What would it look like to dedicate one week to sharing the Gospel?" WELL let me tell you that the students TOTALLY killed it! Every year as a project we each write down a person goal for the week. A number of conversations we want to trust God to provide. Stepping out in faith can be super scary so usually students pick numbers that are above and beyond anything they would be able to do on their own. As a project, after totaling all of the "goals" the final number of conversations was 1,017! Oh, and did I mention that this wasn't just normal conversation, this was conversation where a student got to present the Gospel to who they were sharing with! Totally crazy!!! It was so cool to see students really own this goal and not just see it as a number but really as people that truly mattered and that they wanted to share the Gospel with. At the end of the week they didn't hit the 1,017 mark BUT they did get to share the Gospel with over 800 people!!! And of those over 800 people more than 50 people prayed to receive Jesus as Lord and savior! :) I get so jacked even just thinking about it! God worked in really cool and big ways! (Oh, and it rained two days last week -- so just imagine if there hadn't been rain and they could have hit the beach those days too... CRAZY!) So that was KtG week and we ended with a dance party celebration and we destroyed the cardboard giant that the outreach team had created. Such a great night and such a great week.
MOVING ON: This week is "All for One" week and honestly last year this was my least favorite week of project haha. HOWEVER, being on the staff side I see how truly important this week is for bring the project together as a community and family. So now I am super excited to see what will happen and what God has in store. This week students will be given clues and will have no instruction from the staff :) If a student asks a question we just say "What one of you knows, all of you know". It's going to be great! Another thing that students had to do was turn of their cell phones (they were able to give an emergency number to parents, don't worry haha) and they also had to turn in computers, ipods, tablets, etc. Removing technology requires students to get creative with how they spread information and wake up in the morning and find rides to work, etc. I thought things would be a lot worse but people are taking it really great! Staff weren't required to give anything up HOWEVER after this blog post I will only be using my computer for work purposes. That means no facebook or spotify or anything else social media related. I will also only be using my phone to communicate via phone calls. For the next week it will be like I only have a calling plan and nothing else! Wish me luck haha. On that note I'm going to bring this blog to a close and wish you all an amazing week.
Much Love,
Setareh
Sorry it's been a while since my last post. If you followed me last year you know I'm not all that great at posting on a weekly basis BUT I am trying much harder this time around :)
ANYWAYS. I have so much to update you all on! It has been quite the last week(s) since I posted last. I believe during my last post we were in the "Thirsting to Know Him" week. Well I will just say that the week was great and ended super well! It was the first full/normal week for students and I really feel like it's a pretty crucial one. Overall it was a great week and it all ended up going great!
This past week was "Killing the Giants" week! Killing the Giants (KtG) is such a huge and influential week for the summer project. That is the week that students really challenge themselves in evangelism. The tagline is "What would it look like to dedicate one week to sharing the Gospel?" WELL let me tell you that the students TOTALLY killed it! Every year as a project we each write down a person goal for the week. A number of conversations we want to trust God to provide. Stepping out in faith can be super scary so usually students pick numbers that are above and beyond anything they would be able to do on their own. As a project, after totaling all of the "goals" the final number of conversations was 1,017! Oh, and did I mention that this wasn't just normal conversation, this was conversation where a student got to present the Gospel to who they were sharing with! Totally crazy!!! It was so cool to see students really own this goal and not just see it as a number but really as people that truly mattered and that they wanted to share the Gospel with. At the end of the week they didn't hit the 1,017 mark BUT they did get to share the Gospel with over 800 people!!! And of those over 800 people more than 50 people prayed to receive Jesus as Lord and savior! :) I get so jacked even just thinking about it! God worked in really cool and big ways! (Oh, and it rained two days last week -- so just imagine if there hadn't been rain and they could have hit the beach those days too... CRAZY!) So that was KtG week and we ended with a dance party celebration and we destroyed the cardboard giant that the outreach team had created. Such a great night and such a great week.
MOVING ON: This week is "All for One" week and honestly last year this was my least favorite week of project haha. HOWEVER, being on the staff side I see how truly important this week is for bring the project together as a community and family. So now I am super excited to see what will happen and what God has in store. This week students will be given clues and will have no instruction from the staff :) If a student asks a question we just say "What one of you knows, all of you know". It's going to be great! Another thing that students had to do was turn of their cell phones (they were able to give an emergency number to parents, don't worry haha) and they also had to turn in computers, ipods, tablets, etc. Removing technology requires students to get creative with how they spread information and wake up in the morning and find rides to work, etc. I thought things would be a lot worse but people are taking it really great! Staff weren't required to give anything up HOWEVER after this blog post I will only be using my computer for work purposes. That means no facebook or spotify or anything else social media related. I will also only be using my phone to communicate via phone calls. For the next week it will be like I only have a calling plan and nothing else! Wish me luck haha. On that note I'm going to bring this blog to a close and wish you all an amazing week.
Much Love,
Setareh
Saturday, June 1, 2013
Back at it. NMBSP13!
Hey All :)
You got that right, I'm back in North Myrtle for summer project 2013! This summer is a bit different than last year so if you followed last year, don't worry it'll be all new stuff. So this is different for one main reason: I am on STAFF! Pretty crazy, right? Don't worry, I haven't graduated or anything big or exciting like that. This summer in North Myrtle I am a "student staff" member. I put the quotes because upon arriving to North Myrtle for staff training we as "student staff" were told that in that very moment we were no long students, but from that point on we were to consider ourselves as staff. Not going to lie it was such an incredible feeling to consider myself as part of the staff team. In that moment I knew that this summer was not going to be like last summer at all, and in that moment I felt three things: fear, sadness, and INTENSE excitement.
Seems as though that would maybe be a confusing mix of emotions so let me explain. I felt the fear because, let's be honest, I had never really done anything to this level of leadership with this age of people before! I had a lot of thoughts running around my head about what this summer would be like. Fear then turned in to sadness because upon thinking about how the summer would be I began to think about how last summer was. Last summer was amazing. Last summer was one of the highlights of my entire life. However, after leaving last summer I experienced some of the hardest times in my life. Within the span of one year we lost two amazing men, Sean and Dave, from summer project. Being back here in North Myrtle reminds me so much of everyone and everything so much... especially Sean and Dave. Although the beginning was really sad because everywhere reminded me of all my friends/project family from last summer, the sadness turned in to excitement when I started thinking about all the new memories and opportunities I was going to have here! Hence, excitement being my third emotion heading in to the summer. I mean how could I not be excited about being back in North Myrtle doing what I love!
For those of you reading that don't know what Summer Project is (I applaud you for reading this far), I will now cut the suspense and tell you all about it. Summer Project is a ministry/growth/leadership/missions opportunity for students in college through Cru. Cru is a campus Christian organization that I have been involved in since my freshman year of college. On Summer Project students are given the opportunity to grow in their faith through Bible studies and one-on-one mentor-ship. They are also given the tools and training to go share their faith with people on the beach or within the community. Summer Projects can range from 1 week to 10 weeks (North Myrtle Beach Summer Project is a 10 week long project). I attended the North Myrtle project last summer and I am now back as staff so I only stay for 5 weeks this time around. Staff leave halfway through so that students can grow in leadership in community, it's great!
Anyhow, like I mentioned we have been here for about 2 weeks now and the ball is really starting to roll! The first week was staff training and it was wonderful. I love everyone on the staff team and they have really been so welcoming and so amazing. Did I mention that Heather, Bethany, Sunny, and Londa are all back from last summer? Oh, I didn't? WELL THEY ARE! :) It made the transition so much easier and I feel blessed to get to spend another summer with them. About a week ago students arrived and that was probably one of the most exciting days I've had so far here; it was crazy! Since the students have arrived we have done orientation and are currently at the tail end of our first "normal' week. Each week has a theme and the theme has been "Thirsting to Know Him". We had our first Bible Study last Monday and I've met one-on-one with all my girls. [OH GOSH- I forgot to mention how amazing my girls are! I've got four girls: Katie, Mary, Victoria, and Jenna. I seriously don't think I could have gotten a better group of women to spend 5 weeks with here in North Myrtle. They are all so goofy and fun but on top of that they are wise and they desire to grow and learn! I love them and I've only known them for a week.] We have broken in to ministry teams and I will be coaching the Sunday night weekly meeting team. So basically I get to help with programming and coaching the emcee for Sunday nights. I really couldn't have asked for a better role!
Okay, I've probably rambled on for long enough! Thanks so much for taking the time to read. I will do my best to update this blog every week or MORE ;)
Like the title says, "Back at it again"
Setareh.
QUICK SHOUT OUT to my supporters who are reading. To all of you have supported my financially or with prayer I am so thankful for all of you and I mean it when I say I wouldn't be here if you had not joined my team! You are all awesome!
Prayer: The other summer projects going on in the US and around the world. Safety and health of everyone here in North Myrtle.
:)
You got that right, I'm back in North Myrtle for summer project 2013! This summer is a bit different than last year so if you followed last year, don't worry it'll be all new stuff. So this is different for one main reason: I am on STAFF! Pretty crazy, right? Don't worry, I haven't graduated or anything big or exciting like that. This summer in North Myrtle I am a "student staff" member. I put the quotes because upon arriving to North Myrtle for staff training we as "student staff" were told that in that very moment we were no long students, but from that point on we were to consider ourselves as staff. Not going to lie it was such an incredible feeling to consider myself as part of the staff team. In that moment I knew that this summer was not going to be like last summer at all, and in that moment I felt three things: fear, sadness, and INTENSE excitement.
Seems as though that would maybe be a confusing mix of emotions so let me explain. I felt the fear because, let's be honest, I had never really done anything to this level of leadership with this age of people before! I had a lot of thoughts running around my head about what this summer would be like. Fear then turned in to sadness because upon thinking about how the summer would be I began to think about how last summer was. Last summer was amazing. Last summer was one of the highlights of my entire life. However, after leaving last summer I experienced some of the hardest times in my life. Within the span of one year we lost two amazing men, Sean and Dave, from summer project. Being back here in North Myrtle reminds me so much of everyone and everything so much... especially Sean and Dave. Although the beginning was really sad because everywhere reminded me of all my friends/project family from last summer, the sadness turned in to excitement when I started thinking about all the new memories and opportunities I was going to have here! Hence, excitement being my third emotion heading in to the summer. I mean how could I not be excited about being back in North Myrtle doing what I love!
For those of you reading that don't know what Summer Project is (I applaud you for reading this far), I will now cut the suspense and tell you all about it. Summer Project is a ministry/growth/leadership/missions opportunity for students in college through Cru. Cru is a campus Christian organization that I have been involved in since my freshman year of college. On Summer Project students are given the opportunity to grow in their faith through Bible studies and one-on-one mentor-ship. They are also given the tools and training to go share their faith with people on the beach or within the community. Summer Projects can range from 1 week to 10 weeks (North Myrtle Beach Summer Project is a 10 week long project). I attended the North Myrtle project last summer and I am now back as staff so I only stay for 5 weeks this time around. Staff leave halfway through so that students can grow in leadership in community, it's great!
Anyhow, like I mentioned we have been here for about 2 weeks now and the ball is really starting to roll! The first week was staff training and it was wonderful. I love everyone on the staff team and they have really been so welcoming and so amazing. Did I mention that Heather, Bethany, Sunny, and Londa are all back from last summer? Oh, I didn't? WELL THEY ARE! :) It made the transition so much easier and I feel blessed to get to spend another summer with them. About a week ago students arrived and that was probably one of the most exciting days I've had so far here; it was crazy! Since the students have arrived we have done orientation and are currently at the tail end of our first "normal' week. Each week has a theme and the theme has been "Thirsting to Know Him". We had our first Bible Study last Monday and I've met one-on-one with all my girls. [OH GOSH- I forgot to mention how amazing my girls are! I've got four girls: Katie, Mary, Victoria, and Jenna. I seriously don't think I could have gotten a better group of women to spend 5 weeks with here in North Myrtle. They are all so goofy and fun but on top of that they are wise and they desire to grow and learn! I love them and I've only known them for a week.] We have broken in to ministry teams and I will be coaching the Sunday night weekly meeting team. So basically I get to help with programming and coaching the emcee for Sunday nights. I really couldn't have asked for a better role!
Okay, I've probably rambled on for long enough! Thanks so much for taking the time to read. I will do my best to update this blog every week or MORE ;)
Like the title says, "Back at it again"
Setareh.
QUICK SHOUT OUT to my supporters who are reading. To all of you have supported my financially or with prayer I am so thankful for all of you and I mean it when I say I wouldn't be here if you had not joined my team! You are all awesome!
Prayer: The other summer projects going on in the US and around the world. Safety and health of everyone here in North Myrtle.
:)
Thursday, July 26, 2012
A cool video a friend posted. Hope you all enjoy! :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=o5qdXWnvynE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=o5qdXWnvynE
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Finishing Strong!
HELLO EVERYBODY!
I don't really know how to start this post so I'm just going to jump right in haha. Project has been going awesome! I can't believe it is almost over :( Things are slowly rolling to a close in a lot of different ways. One huge thing is that this is my last week of work. It's very bittersweet to be done at Chick fil-A. My experience working there has been AMAZING, some may even say extraordinary :) haha. I will never forget my time there, that is for sure!
Some other exciting/fun stuff that is going on... OUTREACH! Outreach has been going very well and we actually have one last hurrah coming up this Sunday. We are going to throw a big event on the beach and have hot dogs and play all sorts of games! It is going to be a blast! It's a bit stressful with all the planning but I'm still very excited. The outreach event is what will keep me this busiest from now until the end of project. BUT we will continue with Bible Studies and weekly meetings :) I'm really looking forward to all the hanging out with new friends for the last time in our final week as well. I'll post one final post next week to let you all know some of the high points from the summer and I'll post more pictures!! Love you all.
Setareh
I don't really know how to start this post so I'm just going to jump right in haha. Project has been going awesome! I can't believe it is almost over :( Things are slowly rolling to a close in a lot of different ways. One huge thing is that this is my last week of work. It's very bittersweet to be done at Chick fil-A. My experience working there has been AMAZING, some may even say extraordinary :) haha. I will never forget my time there, that is for sure!
Some other exciting/fun stuff that is going on... OUTREACH! Outreach has been going very well and we actually have one last hurrah coming up this Sunday. We are going to throw a big event on the beach and have hot dogs and play all sorts of games! It is going to be a blast! It's a bit stressful with all the planning but I'm still very excited. The outreach event is what will keep me this busiest from now until the end of project. BUT we will continue with Bible Studies and weekly meetings :) I'm really looking forward to all the hanging out with new friends for the last time in our final week as well. I'll post one final post next week to let you all know some of the high points from the summer and I'll post more pictures!! Love you all.
Setareh
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Dwindling Down..
Hello Blog Followers!
Hope you are all doing so well :) Sorry I haven't been super great about posting on here every week, but if you could see how busy we are I'm sure you would all understand haha. ANYWAYS, I would love to update all of you on the cool stuff that has been going on here at NMB. My last post was at the halfway point and the staff were about to leave us. I dreaded the day that the staff were to leave.. BUT it really has been so good! We became a student lead project and it has been so cool to see all of the leaders stepping in to their roles and seeing EVERY SINGLE student stepping up one way or another. Truth is, we're all needed as leaders here now that staff is gone and whether or not someone has an "official" title, we are all needed! So to see everyone stepping up and leading has been amazing for me to see.
Over the last few weeks God has really been teaching me about being a humble follower as well as a Godly leader. I was really excited to be taking on the position of Outreach Leader when staff left! But there was one problem.. I was too concerned about what I could do to make people go outreaching and if people didn't want to go or if God "wasn't doing anything", I felt like it was my fault. This was such a big lie and until last week when I was able to realize it Outreach was more of a stress than a joy. HOWEVER, since having the realization that I was leading for the wrong reasons, I have been able to turn to God and He has been using me and doing what He needs through me and it has been GREAT! Outreach is much more of a joy than a task and my eyes are finally open to see what God is doing here at NMB.
Some other fun stuff that has been going on... I have gotten to be really good friends with a girl named Kelsey and she is truly a blessing! Kelsey pushes me to seek Christ in everything I do and she has helped me to get in the flow of a quiet time every morning. It's really cool to hang out and study the Bible and journal and just hang out! She's super cool :)
I've also been hitting the beach a little bit more again! YAY!!! I have vowed that in the next three weeks that I am here, one of the days, I WILL go to the beach in the morning after breakfast and I won't leave until supper time! Wish me luck blog followers haha.
Well I think that is it for now.. Hopefully I'll get another post up by this time next week. I'll leave you with a verse tonight.
"For the Son of Man did not come to this Earth to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many." - Mark 10:45
Love, Setareh :)
Hope you are all doing so well :) Sorry I haven't been super great about posting on here every week, but if you could see how busy we are I'm sure you would all understand haha. ANYWAYS, I would love to update all of you on the cool stuff that has been going on here at NMB. My last post was at the halfway point and the staff were about to leave us. I dreaded the day that the staff were to leave.. BUT it really has been so good! We became a student lead project and it has been so cool to see all of the leaders stepping in to their roles and seeing EVERY SINGLE student stepping up one way or another. Truth is, we're all needed as leaders here now that staff is gone and whether or not someone has an "official" title, we are all needed! So to see everyone stepping up and leading has been amazing for me to see.
Over the last few weeks God has really been teaching me about being a humble follower as well as a Godly leader. I was really excited to be taking on the position of Outreach Leader when staff left! But there was one problem.. I was too concerned about what I could do to make people go outreaching and if people didn't want to go or if God "wasn't doing anything", I felt like it was my fault. This was such a big lie and until last week when I was able to realize it Outreach was more of a stress than a joy. HOWEVER, since having the realization that I was leading for the wrong reasons, I have been able to turn to God and He has been using me and doing what He needs through me and it has been GREAT! Outreach is much more of a joy than a task and my eyes are finally open to see what God is doing here at NMB.
Some other fun stuff that has been going on... I have gotten to be really good friends with a girl named Kelsey and she is truly a blessing! Kelsey pushes me to seek Christ in everything I do and she has helped me to get in the flow of a quiet time every morning. It's really cool to hang out and study the Bible and journal and just hang out! She's super cool :)
I've also been hitting the beach a little bit more again! YAY!!! I have vowed that in the next three weeks that I am here, one of the days, I WILL go to the beach in the morning after breakfast and I won't leave until supper time! Wish me luck blog followers haha.
Well I think that is it for now.. Hopefully I'll get another post up by this time next week. I'll leave you with a verse tonight.
"For the Son of Man did not come to this Earth to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many." - Mark 10:45
Love, Setareh :)
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Some Pictures :)
I forgot that I promised some pictures! WELLLL here they are :)
This is a picture of my and my roommate Raechel at the movies with Flat Jesus!
This is me and my roommate Heather in enjoying the sun and ocean!
Me and my discipler, Sandhya
My friend, Savannah, and I matching for church!
Flat Jesus and I in front of the youth center also known as the Shak!
My impact group! Such amazing people!
This is my Bible Study group! They are all amazing and it has been a blessing growing with them!!
JUMP! :)
This is me, Spencer, and Emily! Spencer is the co-leader of outreach team and Emily will be taking over as my Bible study leader (so excited!)
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