New Staff Training, New House, New Month!

This last week-plus, has been a very busy one for Lucas and I both!  To start off on a personal note, Lucas and I moved into our new place and have started the process of settling in and figuring out where to put things.  We were so blessed to have awesome friends to spend time on their Sunday to help us load/unload the biggest U-Haul you can get.  The best thing was my friends from my office not only helped unload our truck, but they also helped us set up the bed, the kitchen and the living room!  Thank you Ops Team!

Now, for more of the work side of things.  This last week all of the new staff and interns in the region came together for the New Staff Training Field Trip in Portland.  It was really nice that we were able to stay in Portland for the trip, because that meant we were able to save a bit of money in the long run.  The training was pretty draining.  After having worked in the office for the past month and a half or so, I have gotten used to the 9-5, sitting at my desk at the computer, so spending hours on campus was very different.

We spent some time on Tuesday visiting different campuses in the Portland-Metro area.  I, personally, went to PCC, while two other teams went to Vancouver, one to Clark College and the other to WSU-Vancouver.  It was really encouraging to see the excitement and interest in starting Campus Crusade for Christ movements on these other campuses.  It seems like there is a real desire to have this kind of ministry here in the Portland area.  We also spent most of the day on Wednesday at PSU.  It was a little more intense than our usual Wednesday sharing times.  I was able to have several really good conversations with students about things.  One in particular was with a woman who was a pagan.  It was very interesting talking with her about her views on Christianity and the Bible.  It made me realize that there are a lot of very different views on what people think the Bible says and that I need to learn a lot more about the Bible in general. 

The highlight of the week was the first ever PDX Cru Poetry Slam.  The theme was, "Spit your best Jesus Poem...anything goes."  We had eleven poets come and share their hearts through poetry, some positive and several very negative, but a lot of, "Where are you God?" type of poems.  The winner got $300 cash, 2nd place $100 and 3rd, $50.  Then we had a featured poet come and share the gospel through his poetry.  It really got the students talking and we're really hoping to have a follow-up time where we can talk about some of the things that were brought up.  We had about an average of 80 people there!

The Cru New Staff Training field trip with Phil Long (the Sacrificial Poet) after the PDX CRU Poetry Slam!

 

Check back every week, I'm hoping to post new posts the first part of the week.  Thanks for all of your prayers for my family during my Grandpa's service.  It was really beautiful and the Lord was glorified in the service!