My roommate, Brittany, also raised support to go on the trip. We were both so excited about our first plane ride ever! The first phase was packing, and packing we did. I've always been a bad over-packer and the fact that I was getting on an airplane didn't stop this horrible habit. I got two free checked backs, a carry on and a personal bag and you better believe I got my money's worth haha! Here is a picture of mine and Brittany's bags (believe it or not, we were only packing for 6 days).
Also notice the lovely bows we made just for our suit cases :)
Evangelism is not necessarily my strength. I am more of a relational, being Jesus to people every day type person. Walking up to some random person and starting a conversation about God is extremely difficult for me. I know that sounds funny, because I have an outgoing personality, but it is true. I struggle with this area.
The team was here to help with a church plant that is going on in Miami near Florida International University. Miami is one of the most unchurched places in America. The pastors here are heavily burdened for the people of Miami. While we were on campus, we handed out fliers and got student's information to plug them into a church.
This week a team of 27 students and leaders from UNC, ECU and Texas State is doing outreach on the campuses of Florida International University and The University of Miami. We were using "The God Test" as our evangelism tool. This test is designed as a conversation piece about God, asking challenging questions and making the person think about what exactly it is that they believe. The first question simply asks, "Do you believe in God?" Their answer dictates what the questions will be after that. I have done The God Test before, and had never encountered an unbeliever until yesterday. I went up to this guy and asked him if he had a few minutes to talk (mind you, I was with another guy... so it wasn't weird haha) he put his notebook down and said yes. I explained to him about the God Test and then asked the first question, "Do you believe in God?" He looked at me and replied, "No." My heart sunk and then a little bit of panic came in because I was scared I would mess up. I continued on asking the questions and he gave good answers, but they still didn't make much sense, to me at least. We had a good conversation and he was very open about what he thought. He was not interested in becoming a christian, but thanked me for the way I presented the gospel because I was the first person that he had ever talked to that did not preach at him. It was good to know that he saw me as a person that was genuinely interested in what he believed instead of preaching at him. I want people to see my differently, I'm not here to condemn you or make you feel like the scum of the earth. I know that because of our conversation, he is processing all that he thinks he believes and I hope and pray that he will come to know Christ one day.
I had the chance to talk to other believers and listen to their views on God. I heard some great answers that lined up with the Bible and I heard some questionable answers that didn't necessarily line up with the Bible 100%. It was neat to be able to discuss the Gospel with them and really encourage each other to stand strong in faith and believe God to impact the campus.
In the afternoons, we brought out cornhole boards and a football and hung out in popular areas of campus. We invited students to come and hang out with us. It was a great time hanging out, getting to know people and to relax from our busy day.
Hanging out at Florida International University
Having fun relaxing with the team!
There was a lot of art work that made for fun pictures!
Both campuses were beautiful! If I didn't have to consider out of state tuition and I didn't love ECU so much, I would definitely have considered going to The University of Miami!
This is outside on the patio beside the food court at the University of Miami
The campus was breath taking and the weather was amazing!
This was a nice, peaceful patio directly outside of the law school
There was a pretty fountain right beside tables and covered swings so that students could study outside
I saw these plants outside of the Theatre Arts building and thought that they were really cool! I'm wanting some in my yard one day!
We had a great time hanging out with students and playing cornhole at Florida International University of Monday and Wednesday
FIU also had a beautiful campus with lots of places to talk with students
As you can see, Miami is a beautiful place! What would make it better is to have the campus sold out to Christ. My desire is that the people of Miami would encounter God like never before and that it would grow to be one of the fastest growing Christian cities in the world! I believe that God wants and will do awesome things in the city of Miami, especially on the college campus.
I will update more soon on other people that I had the chance to talk to and share more pictures of the team!
Continue to pray as we wrap up our trip here. Tomorrow is our last full day and then we all fly back to our homes on Friday morning. I will miss Miami, but am certainly looking forward to getting back to Greenville for the completion of my senior year. I can't believe that there are only a few weeks left until all of this is over! God has taught me so much over these last 3 years and I am looking forward to Him putting His finishing touches on me for this season of my life!
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