Hello July!

This week has been all about communication because staff will be leaving us on July 10 to finish the project on our own. Monday's Bible study was all about the body of Christ and how it works together. It has been cool to pay attention to the different parts of the body of Christ because it has helped me to realize how important each and every one of us are in this community. We all have strengths where others have weaknesses and we have the ability to change and do great things this summer.

            Staff has been giving us clues and challenges to build up our communication skills. Monday night a message was passed on that we had to sit next to the opposite gender at dinner and serve someone else their food. It was cool to see the power of communication through the passing on of a message. Tuesday our challenge was to meet in the courtyard of our motel in silence. The purpose of this was so that we could take a project picture. I was amazed to see how quick and efficient everything was when all of us kept quiet and listened to one leader.

One thing God has been teaching me is how to put others before myself. At the beginning of project, I had been treating others poorly after getting home from work because I was being tired and selfish. This past week I have been praying for this to change and I have come home from work with the attitude that other people could have also had a pretty tiring day and they might also be in a bad mood. This has helped me to have more of a servant's heart. It feels great to have a slight change, but I know I still have a long way to go in God's eyes.

Another thing that I have been working on is pride. I think every human has a sense of pride, but it is hard for us to move anywhere in our relationship with Christ if we have not humbled ourselves before him. Humility is key!

I had a shortened week at work because of the fourth of July. Having two days off was a total blessing! On the fourth of July, all of my siblings came to visit me. I was so surprised! I was wonderful to spend the morning seeing family since we won't be back together for a long time. My sister, Maddie, is actually moving to Budapest, Hungary in one month to teach English for the next few years. Check out her blog if your interested (madelinekbultema.wordpress.com). After seeing my family, the rest of the day was dedicated to our outreach bonfire on Venice Beach. We got to play spike ball, teach others how to play spike ball, and share God's love in a wonderful community (if you don't know what spike ball is, google it right now…it's a wonderful game).

All the Bultema siblings together for the fourth!

Like I said above, I was blessed to have Friday off of work. I spent the day rejuvenating with quiet time, sharing the Gospel, and having deep, reflective conversations with others. It's important to talk about and reflect on this experience because we will never be in a community as encouraging towards Christ as this one. These past three weeks have been a total blessing and I cannot wait to see how God uses us in Santa Monica for the rest of our time here.

Prayer Requests:

Please pray for continued safety for all of us here. We had to rush a student to the ER the other day for a pinched nerve that paralyzed part of her body. It was scary, but God continues to keep us safe. 

Pray for the people that we approach, that God has been preparing their heart for the truth that we will speak to them.

Pray for all of us students as staff leaves next Wednesday and we are responsible for running the rest of project on our own.