Well this is my last week of Worship School! It's hard to believe it is almost over, but I am very glad to be coming home soon to be back with my Two Rivers Church family!
I spent the weekend in San Francisco with my 9 roommates to watch fireworks, and boy was it worth it! Here is a video of it:
As you may know, there are a lot of international students at the school, including many of my roommates. I spent the evening with an Austrailian, a Brit, two Norwegians, a New Zealander, and a Canadian! It was fun to show them a little bit of USA culture aka, blowing stuff up to coordinating music. San Francisco puts on a great fireworks show. Probably the best I've seen thus far! (Yes, better than Rhythm and Booms in Madison, WI!).
While we had a lot of fun in San Francisco, we definitely saw some of the dark sides of the culture. As we walked the streets, we encountered all sorts of people: parents yelling at their kids, drunk people, homeless, homosexual couples, street preachers, etc. I am sure we all felt the darkness at different times as we walked the streets exploring and shopping. We didn't do much ministry while we were there, because we weren't there for that purpose. But a lot of times, ministry happens when we don't plan it. It's just a matter of being open to hearing God's voice, and obeying when we hear Him in the moment. On Sunday we did run into a homeless lady, or maybe she ran into us. We shared a cupcake with her and then she asked us "are you Youth With a Mission?" Haha. We ended up buying her a meal at Burger King because she hadn't eaten. I said to some of the girls later that we must look like good Christian girls or something ;). It was also an indication that YWAM was making an impact on at least the homeless community of San Fran because she knew about them and that they do stuff like we did! It was a cool experience, but also heartbreaking because we knew that there is so much more to life than just getting a meal. I left wondering where she had come from, what she has experienced in her life and asking God to bless her and for her mind, soul, body and spirit to be renewed in Christ.
As we were driving out of the city after fireworks, we were able to notice our surroundings a lot more because we were in gridlock traffic for about an hour to get out of the heart of the city. As we slowly inched along the street, we drove past Christian Science and Unitarian churches, strip clubs, and tarot/psychic places. We decided to blast worship music and just shovel the Holy Spirit out the windows of the car towards these places to release the Kingdom on them, and we imagined ourselves on top of the roofs of the tall buildings singing "Rooftops" by Kim Walker. It was a glorious time :).
As you may know, there are a lot of international students at the school, including many of my roommates. I spent the evening with an Austrailian, a Brit, two Norwegians, a New Zealander, and a Canadian! It was fun to show them a little bit of USA culture aka, blowing stuff up to coordinating music. San Francisco puts on a great fireworks show. Probably the best I've seen thus far! (Yes, better than Rhythm and Booms in Madison, WI!).
While we had a lot of fun in San Francisco, we definitely saw some of the dark sides of the culture. As we walked the streets, we encountered all sorts of people: parents yelling at their kids, drunk people, homeless, homosexual couples, street preachers, etc. I am sure we all felt the darkness at different times as we walked the streets exploring and shopping. We didn't do much ministry while we were there, because we weren't there for that purpose. But a lot of times, ministry happens when we don't plan it. It's just a matter of being open to hearing God's voice, and obeying when we hear Him in the moment. On Sunday we did run into a homeless lady, or maybe she ran into us. We shared a cupcake with her and then she asked us "are you Youth With a Mission?" Haha. We ended up buying her a meal at Burger King because she hadn't eaten. I said to some of the girls later that we must look like good Christian girls or something ;). It was also an indication that YWAM was making an impact on at least the homeless community of San Fran because she knew about them and that they do stuff like we did! It was a cool experience, but also heartbreaking because we knew that there is so much more to life than just getting a meal. I left wondering where she had come from, what she has experienced in her life and asking God to bless her and for her mind, soul, body and spirit to be renewed in Christ.
As we were driving out of the city after fireworks, we were able to notice our surroundings a lot more because we were in gridlock traffic for about an hour to get out of the heart of the city. As we slowly inched along the street, we drove past Christian Science and Unitarian churches, strip clubs, and tarot/psychic places. We decided to blast worship music and just shovel the Holy Spirit out the windows of the car towards these places to release the Kingdom on them, and we imagined ourselves on top of the roofs of the tall buildings singing "Rooftops" by Kim Walker. It was a glorious time :).
Jessica Ellertson | July 7, 2011 at 10:49 AM
yeah! excited to see you soon!
Anonymous | July 7, 2011 at 2:52 PM
Can it be that you have almost completed your school? Yeah! We can hardly wait to hear all about your experiences! Must be bitter sweet to be leaving,and yet knowing your church family is so anxious to see you! Safe trip home! JoAnn
Les | July 28, 2011 at 3:35 PM
I wish I had been with you to shovel the Holy Spirit out the windows! Sounds like fun! :)))
Les | September 14, 2011 at 3:05 PM
tiiiimmmmmeee for a new post!