Orlando Project has just begun!

(I typed this post Sunday night- so it's expired! :)
So sorry for taking a whole week to finally blog of my arrival to ORLANDO FLORIDA J I am in fact alive, and doing far better than I deserve. I want to thank you so much for supporting me to be a part of this project and allowing me to be taught here and really just feeling the closeness of God in this place. I am currently sitting in my room with my four roommates while they’re dancing to Beyonce: Lacree, Staci, Teresa, and my room leader Alicia. We just got done cleaning our room for room clean check tomorrow morning- it was MUCH needed. We found all kinds of uninvited creatures, one being a SPIDER on my PILLOW. SICK. But, good news is…they’ve been taking care of the mosquito problem we have. We have a whole food chain going on in this room- my blood being a part of it! I love the girls in my room. They really are going to be best friends of mine, I know it. Lacree reminds me so much of Erica. She has a real quiet spirit and gentle heart, and is always so encouraging for me to talk to. We were immediately friends when I got here. And Staci reminds me so much of Kelsey. She is CRAZY funny! She says things that you shouldn’t say, but because it’s Staci, it’s okay! She’s really spunky, sassy, and has 3 mosquito bites on her face right now covered with toothpaste convinced they will go away! HA! HILARIOUS. Today we showed up to a meeting we didn’t have to go to, and instead of just sitting through it, Staci got up and said “I’m not sitting through this silliness, I’ve got some fellowshipping to do with those boys”. She’s a diva. The girls in my room are soul sisters…they’re teaching me how to rap, sing Gospel music, and walk with SWAG. I love it!!

As far as my job goes, I will be working at Islands of Adventures in Jurassic Park at a restaurant called “Thunder Falls”. I will be a cook in the kitchen! My wardrobe consists of checkered pants, steel-toed shoes (that weigh 30lbs.), long sleeved white chef coat, an apron, a white scarf, and a chef hat. I am so excited to meet my co-workers tomorrow for my first day of work at 10:00. My manager’s name is Winfill. I get to work with Alicia and Staci, we were SO grateful for that.

Every Thursday night we have what is called Evangelism training. This is where we here a message from one of the staff about world wide missions and then are sent out to either City Walk, Disney World, Sea World, or Wal-Mart in hopes to have an opportunity to share Jesus with someone. Last week my team was assigned to go to Wal-Mart… which honestly was the last place I wanted to go. It’s just not in my opinion a key place to find someone to have a deep spiritual conversation with, ya know? But, God had bigger plans and humbled me through what had happened that night. I had gotten to talk to two sisters that were in high school, a newly pregnant mother, and another girl pregnant for the second time- all of which were AWESOME conversations and surprisingly not awkward at all!

As I was leaving Wal-Mart I decided to grab some grapes, so I went to the check out line. I was just thinking through the conversations I had earlier, and just thanking God that although there wasn’t a huge heart change in the conversations I had, I still learned so much about Jesus by just loving people- I thought the night of evangelism was over. The girl in front of me left her cart to go get something from the produce aisle, and I began to have this feeling inside that I needed to pray for her. So, as she was gone I prayed and also pushed her cart along for her because the line was moving forward. As she came back, she thanked me- and so I asked her what her name was. She told me that her name is Michelle, and I introduced myself to her. I asked her if she was from Orlando, and she told me that she was not, she was from Haiti. I told her that my cousin married a man from Haiti a couple of years ago, and she said “Men from Haiti are no good”. I told her that Pierre is a Christian man, and so he really is a great guy- she told me that those are rare. She then asked me if I was a Christian and I told her that I was, and that I’m actually here in Orlando to grow in my faith and just learn what it is to walk with Jesus. She told me that she is a Christian but hadn’t been to church in years and wished that she would again. It was my turn to check out and I asked her to wait for me. As I walked her way she flipped out her phone and asked me for my number. I gave it to her and she said that she’d love to come to church with me if I didn’t mind. I COULDN’T BELIEVE IT. This girl knows nothing about me, only talked to me for maybe 3 minutes, and wanted to join me to church? It was clear to me that she saw something more than me- my hope was that she was seeking for the one who defines me- my Savior. As I was driving back to the hotel, I already got a call from her, she wanted to talk more! Michelle ended up not making it to church with me on Sunday because of work conflicts- but set a date to meet me Monday at Starbucks at 2. Please pray for me and Michelle- I think she is seeking to find something more to life that I may be able to offer her through what I know to be true- that Christ is the only to satisfy these souls.