Newsletter!

I would do another update, but I've been really exhausted/ extremely busy the last few days...

So here's a newsletter for EPIC Summer Project Hawaii :]

Click Here :]

How has love changed you?

HPU Campus team decided to do t-shirt evangelism on campus today. Basically we wrote "How has love changed you?" on the back of t-shirts and had students write their answers on the back. We were able to have conversations with a lot of people, but we didn't really find it that effective. Especially since it was really difficult to transition the conversation to something more spiritual.

So crazy, but we only have 6 more campus days left. It's been really sweet to really see the hearts of my team members these past few days. Everyone is so pumped to really go all out for these 6 days. Tomorrow, we're planning on having a bible study with some of the HPU Christian students we have found. Also, we hope to really cast the vision we have for this campus! Please keep this in your prayers!! We are heading into our last two weeks of ministry on this campus and just seeing what God has done in the past few weeks, we know that God wants to move even more on this campus!! I know the enemy is going to do everything possible to keep this from happening, and we want this movement to be founded in prayer. So please keep this in your prayers!

Something to praise!!

Read this: http://panghavaii.tumblr.com/post/848964510/faith

and this:

http://hawaiiproject10.tumblr.com/post/849528987/day-awesome?ref=nf

* and the roommie in Jessica's blog is me :]

Basically, God has definitely been blessing our project and showing us crazy, amazing things through healing some of the students on project!! Look at her blog at the link above :]

God has been doing some amazing things on this project! He has showed us in so many ways how He is working on this island and through this team. The other day, I ran into so many people that I have shared with the past few weeks. One student that I have seen everyday for the past 2 weeks on campus, I ran into her on the bus, so random. One thirty minute conversation later and I was able to really get to know her, know about her childhood, know about her background. It was pretty sweet! Thanks to God for divine appointments.

Please pray for:

- our team to more connected, that we would really be looking out for one another

- HPU Movement Launch, including the bible study that we are starting and the continued outreach on campus

- Women's time tomorrow, for people to be open and really center around God

Thanks&&Love,

Camille

Passion

At the beginning of project, we were told to choose three different committees that we wanted to be on. The staff was going to choose the people based on whatever they preference on their list. For some reason the only thing that strongly stuck out to me was Women's Time. So I put that as my first choice, followed by Community Service, and then Spiritual Guidance. I really wanted to be involved with Women's Time, but I thought that I would just be placed somewhere else because every other person I asked had put that one first too.

It was really sweet though, because I was able to be on the committee along with my friend Pang. I'm pretty sure we were the last people that others would have suspected to be on women's committee just because our reserved nature. The first time we meet up with the staff in charge of that time, Pang and I both realized how much God had given us a heart for women, and it was incredibly sweet to be able to share that.

The first two women's times were amazing. We helped out a little, planned a little, but God's hand was definitely moving throughout those times. The women staff involved in each group set the tone of openness and vulnerability which created such a safe, encouraging, and comforting atmosphere. I praise God for each and every single women staff because they were able to speak so much truth into our lives. My small group for women's time has probably been some of my favorite girls. I feel like they're the ones that that I immediately connected with just because of their openness.

The third and forth women's times were led by Pang and me. The first one that we led was a praise and worship night at the beach! Unexpectedly our plans were changed when the rain suddenly started pouring down. Even though the plans were changed, after talking to Pang, it was probably the best thing ever. I think one of my favorite parts that have happened here on project are the times that were changed last minute. I believe that many of the plans we made were put to the side, allowing God to really take control of those times. These were the best times I've had, where we had a plan, God changed it, and we just went along for the ride. So sweet to see God working through those times.

The past women's time was a women's staff appreciation. Pang and I were preparing a "slumber party" with the women's time staff, but without telling each other, we already knew that that was just a cover up for the appreciation. This was probably one of my favorite nights of just being able to encourage and thank the women that had made a huge impact in our lives in less than a month.

Now, the staff is gone, Pang is a project director :] and I'm leading women's time with my roommie Jessica!! I'm so excited to be able to step up in this area. It's crazy to see what God is doing in my heart. I feel like within a few weeks, my heart for women has grown SO much. This is one thing that I hope to see as I go back to EPIC SLO in the fall. I pray that the environment of being open and vulnerable will be created in EPIC SLO, that the community of women that I have experienced here, will translate to SLO. My heart for the rest of summer project, and for EPIC SLO, is that the community of women would just be so loving, open, caring, and encouraging. That the women's community will truly display God's love to others that look at it, despite the contrasting personalities of the group.

Anyway, off to sleep I go!

Thanks&&Love,

Camille




Last Women's Time with Staff!!



The Girls!!!

Goodbye Staff

Staff is gone. Such a strange feeling. As much as I'm going to miss them, I know that my team is ready to own this mission trip. Each and every single one of us has grown so much in the past 4 weeks. Already, I feel like my campus group and my women's time group has stepped up in leading from day one. I'm so excited to see what will happen the next 3 weeks. I'm so blessed to have been able to get to know some of the staff, especially the women staff. They have poured into me like no other, and the openness and vulnerability they have exemplified set the tone of this project. Without them I would have not have grown as much as I have.

Anyway, yesterday I went out for a run with some of my team members...yeah, I actually went running!! haha. Anyway, our goal was to run to a place called Jewel or Juice to get Acai bowls. This place is 1.7 miles away from us, yes, I ran that! For those of you who know me, I hate running, with a passion. But I still went. Throughout the run I was so encouraged by just the people I went with. One person ran side by side, making sure that I didn't fall behind the rest of the group, while the rest that were ahead kept encouraging me to press on. And then we hit a hill. Oh do I despise running uphill, but my roommie told me that the place was just after it. I kept on running, almost gave up. But then I saw the place, I saw the finish line. I couldn't help but keep running. I couldn't give up at that point, even though I was exhausted, out of breath, and ready to just stop. I think that I'm at that point here on summer project. Although I may feel tired and weak, I can see the finish line. I'm so blessed to be surrounded by people that will encourage me daily to keep pushing on, even if they see me struggling. The fact that summer project seems to be ending so soon is just one more thing that keeps me going strong. I praise God for just giving me the desire to see HPU downtown be transformed by God's love!

Anyway, I'm off to our weekly meeting!!

Please keep our team in your prayers as we transition into student leadership!

Thanks&&Love,

Camille




part of my HPU campus group. LOVE THEM!

One more day!

Started the day off with going to church at Kaimuki Christian Church. The community there is so welcoming, and yet again we were give some delicious malsadas for breakfast plus some fruit bars from the children's ministry leaders :] Although most of the time I don't feel like this church pours into me much, I'm so blessed to be able to serve them through the Children's Ministry! I've had the pleasure of teaching the Kindergarden and First grade classes and have enjoyed every moment of it. Helping out with the children's ministry has been really draining, but yet so refreshing at the same time!!

Later today, we had a coffee/lunch date with one of our project directors, Mary!! It was sweet to just catch up with her and the other girls that went with us! I love days like this to catch up with people!!

At night we had a conflict resolution session where we divided up into our campus groups to work through our problems. Although this is not one of my favorite things, actually I avoid it at all costs, it was a sweet night to witness. We discussed the elephant in the room, that some people didn't even see and a lot of issues were taken care of. I feel like God is just working in our group to just grow our relationships with each other so that we can be an example of community to the people we outreach to.

I'm so excited to see what God has in store for us the next few weeks. So crazy to see how fast time is going.

Praises:
- People stepping up to lead :]
- Finding Christians on campus to support a movement on their campus
- Connection in team is better!

Prayers:
- Protection over our team
- Leaders to rise for those Christians we have met
- Finding quality time with God

Picture Update :]

HPU Campus Team!! Love them so much!! This is from women's appreciation night, oh what a wonderful night!!

Girls in my Discipleship Group!!! They are so amazing in every way and I'm so blessed to get to know them and see them step up in leadership :]

One of our types of outreach at HPU downtown :] We were able to speak to SO many students about their spiritual lives and share to them God's love

Sunrise at Lanikai. 5am wake up call. so worth it :]

Steppin Up

So sorry! I completely fail at blogging! Anyway, a LOT has happened within the past week. I'm gonna just go ahead and summarize the week yet again!

Thursday (7/8) -

Didn't get to go on the prayer van because I had to raise support/follow up on support. I was kinda bummed, but really had the chance of being with some of my project team members that I don't often get to see!

Later that night I was able to go to a college church group called Fuse! This group has been so refreshing and I definitely felt God really speaking to me and my teammates. Basically, the talk was about the difference between having a servants heart and just serving. I think it really spoke to a majority of us in realizing why we were on this project. More about this in a different post :]

Friday (7/9) -

Yet another day to hang out with the locals! Today we were able to hang out with some students from the HPU students. It's been really cool lately because our team has been able to find students that would possibly want to start a movement on the campus!! This is so exciting for our team, because the campus seemed almost hopeless at first glance. So encouraged and hopeful for God's plan for this school! Anyway, for the rest of the day we were able to hang out with the locals and just played ridiculous games for the afternoon. It's been really sweet to get to know the students heart for the campus and passion for God.

Saturday (7/10) -

Staff thought we needed a day of bonding/resting from ministry, so we headed out to Pearl Harbor and the swap meet! Pretty awesome day of just getting to know some of the people on the team better!

Sunday (7/11) -

At Kaimuki Christian Church we had a service about the truth of hell, which was definitely an interesting subject. We also had a special treat of getting to talk to a full time missionary that works with Campus Crusade's Jesus Film team. As part of serving the church, I've been able to co-lead about 20 kindergarden and first graders. This has definitely been a blessing and also growing my patience :]

After church, two students and I decided to go grab a coffee and to just check up on one another. This ended up in 3 hours of random filming (video will be up soon!). It was really a time of goofing off and enjoying the company of my teammates!

Ohana time was pretty awesome! By the end of the night we had posters around the room, one for each person. We had 30 seconds to write something encouraging on each one. By the end, our posters were filled.

Tuesday - Thursday:

Campus time was amazing! I've definitely felt more comfortable sharing my faith and can't wait to bring back this passion to Cal Poly SLO!

Friday (7/16):

Another day of hanging out with the locals. Our team challenged one of the students to lead this ministry. Please keep him and this campus in your prayers! This day was just amazing! Later that night we had Women's Appreciation. Props to the guys, they did a wonderful job. We were taken to the top of a hill. A house with a balcony and a view to die for!! We were able to not only see the sunset, but also some fireworks that happen every week :] The night was filled with personalized songs, games, dessert, dancing, and open mic, where each boy appreciated a girl! SO SWEET! The guys of this group are constantly encouraging in all they do!!

Saturday (7/17):

Our outreach consisted of a BBQ at Magic Island near Ala Moana. I was pretty tired the whole day and didn't really feel like socializing, but none the less got into some pretty sweet conversations. One of the most encouraging things was to see some of my HPU teammates sit down with someone and share the gospel. It was so sweet to witness. I feel like I'm just constantly amazed and encouraged by my teammates in all they do!

Thank you all for all your prayers!!

Thanks&&Love,

Camille

Campus Time!

Hi again :]

Anyway, just a quick update on what went down today at HPU downtown! Started my morning off with yet another one on one, which was awesome!! I really do enjoy getting to know the lovely women that are on this project!! It's so awesome to see how God brought each and every one of them to the point they are at now! After breakfast was training time where we learned how to follow up with the people that we share the gospel with.

Right after training we headed down to HPU and briefed on our way there. We decided that for the most part, we're just going to be doing Quest surveys that really help guide the conversation into a more spiritual one and really allows us to engage in deep conversations. Before we went off in our pairs, our campus liaison told us that the goal was to connect with Christians and try to find people interested in starting a movement on campus. You have to realize that this was quite a big goal. Throughout the past two weeks, we hadn't found any Christians of people really interested in starting a movement, or even close to being receptive of the gospel. So a lot of doubts were automatically in the air, but we still headed out with our surveys in hand!

Although today was sorta discouraging for my partner and I, we still got into a few awesome conversations, and ended eating lunch with contacts that we had made the previous weeks! We finally met up with the rest of the team and waited for Addy to finish up a conversation she was having with a student. God answered our prayers!! The student that Addy was talking to was a Christian that had been thinking about campus ministries and possibly starting one up!! It was so awesome and so encouraging to witness this!!

So basically, a campus that we thought was so dry 2 weeks ago seems to just be growing! It's so cool to see God working through a place that seemed impossible. Hopefully the next few weeks we'll really be able to reach out to the campus and build relationships with the contacts we already have!

Praises:

- finding HPU students!!

- women's times have been awesome!

- support is still coming in!

Prayers:

- Support, haha. $350 left!

- Finding more time with God

Yup. that's it for now!!

Thank you so much for all those supporting me :]

Leap of Faith.

Yo. Proof I jumped off a big rock. haha. This was like day one of project, and I wrote about it in an earlier blog. I really do think that God has been challenging me to really trust in Him and His plan for me. Will write again soon!!!

Praises:

- I have $400 left to raise!!

- team hangout was sweet!

it took me forever to jump off!

but I eventually made it!!

Long time

... Since I've written! I'm sorry!! I've been pretty busy! So here's a brief update since the last blog:

Friday (6/25):

We got to hang out with the locals we met at HPU! Throughout the day we just spent time g

oing to a lot of the touristy places near HPU downtown and later that night we got to spend time with the group we go to church with. With my church group, we went to Waikiki and just walked around, saw the ocean at night, and really just spent time getting to know each other!! I really love all the groups that I've been placed in!!

Some of the girls hanging out near Ala Moana

Saturday (6/26):

After waking up later in the day for brunch, we headed out to Ala Moana, where we served rice and beans (local favorite) to the homeless. My group of three, including myself, got to talk to this guy named Vincent and just talked about his life and faith for a good hour and a half! It was interesting because he knew a lot of scripture, but his perception on the Holy Spirit was skewed. We tried to share with him our views on it, but he wasn't really receptive, but he did allow us to pray for him! It was awesome to be able to serve the homeless and really eye opening at the same time. People really don't see the brokenness that is on this island and just the needs of the people here. After serving the homeless, we had a bit of free time, which I just walked around the huge mall there, and then around town! Later that night we had our first women's time, which was amazing by the way!! We were able to share our testimonies with each other in smaller groups, and my group connected instantly. It's crazy because I've never seen a women's community that was EVER this vulnerable and open to sharing.

Talking with the homeless, Vincent!

Sunday (6/27):

Woke up early to head to Kaimuki Christian Church! This church was so welcoming in every aspect and the topic discussed was really interesting. During the first service, my team sat in the main church and listened to the sermon about the devil and how we need to know that he is present, not some imaginary figure, or some character in the background. This was sweet because previous to project, a topic greatly discussed among my friends was spiritual warfare and the reality of it. During the second service we got split into two groups, one helping with the youth, while the other with children! For the next few weeks while I'm here, I'll be teaching a kindergarden/first grade class!! It was really cool to see my teammates interact with these kids! After helping out, the church had lunch for us and really showed their love and wanting us to get plugged into the church asap! We then were driven around by Tina ( children's ministry person) and got to get some yummy shave ice (prob the best i've had yet!). It was really cool to see how welcoming this church was! That night we had Ohana time which was also really sweet! It was yet another time where you could see that people were very vulnerable and able to trust in expressing our struggles, doubts, and other hard stuff.


Monday (6/28):

Free day!! I had plans to do stuff, but it fell through, which I didn't mind because it meant I could really be still and rest! I got to hang out with other project members that stayed behind for the day and also got a quick hula lesson from Skyy (a local, haha!). That night was yet another women's time, which I thought was going to be awesome!! It was actually really draining, emotionally. Yet again

we met in the same groups and got deeper. Basically all the girls ended up crying, but it was really such a sweet time to really be ourselves and let go of the problems we were currently facing.

Shimazu's Shave Ice!!

Tuesday (6/29):

Spent campus time at HPU downtown and did tabling. This really didn't work out much, so it was kinda discouraging for the team. But we did have a fun time making our tshirts and such the night before!! That night we had our first weekly meeting, and it was awesome to see it all come together!!



Wednesday (6/30):

Went sharing today on HPU downtown and at first it was really scary! It's really hard to initiate conversations with people for me, but as the day went on, it became easier!! Our group of 8 people on that campus shared the gospel 15 times today! I know, numbers aren't what we're looking for, b

ut the fact that a w

eek ago we could find anyone to talk to, and now, we shared the gospel 15 times, that's all God right there!! Later, we had bstud, which again has been really refreshing and so encouraging to hear how everyone is doing and just the atmosphere of being real with each other is something I've never experienced before

! Cool little fact: Wed and Sundays there are dancers that just congregate in the gym to freestyle, so we went to that and it was soooooo amazing! I'm so glad God has put people who love to dance in my group! My Campus Team! HPU downtown!

Sorry this is so long, yet really brief for each day!
Quick prayer requests:

- Unity within all our different teams (especially campus teams)
- To be rested ( I feel like I've been going one-on-one crazy lately)
- support!! I still need $500!!
- Hearts for the lost and boldness in faith!

Thanks everyone for your prayers :]

Love&&Thanks,
Camille