Whoo! We have safely arrived in Virginia Beach and this is officially my first blog post. :)
First of all, I can’t believe I am here or that I will be living here for the next 2 ½ months; it feels more like a short vacation and not a residency so far, then again it’s still the first week. :)
The road-trip was quite interesting with events ranging from almost running out of gas on the Ohio turnpike, an old truck-driver motioning for us to flash him (eww and no we didn’t), not being allowed to check into our reserved hotel room until Jess’s mom faxed her info to the desk, to which we threatened that if we couldn’t stay, we would sleep in the lounge and go to breakfast in the morning, haha, just kidding. But, to make up for it we inserted a dollar in their pop machine and got 6 drinks all at once. We also got overcharged a penny for the room and had to sign for it. I’ve always wanted to go on a road trip with just my girls so it was lots of fun! :)
Upon arriving to Va Beach, it is not at all what I expected. I didn’t know how inner city and touristy it was. The city is very dense and compacted and the main strip is a mini-version of Vegas lined with college students, clubs, restaurants, bars, tourist shops, hotels, resorts, tattoo and piercing studios…the energy and excitement is everywhere and the ministry available is definitely evident. The Cerca del Mar is an interesting motel so far and there are 5 of us girls sharing a room, tight and cozy ;) I also expected Virginia to be more tropical but it’s very much just like Michigan with an ocean.
I can already see the need for Christ in this city and I pray that God will continue to show me the need for Him here. Living at MSU exposes you to different people and situations but I have never lived in an inner-city environment and I will trust in God’s protection.
The staff and other students on project are incredible! There is nothing like being thrown into fellowship and community from the second you park your car. Right away we’re meeting, living, and investing in each other. What’s awesome is to know that each student has a passion for God and a story or reason for being in Va Beach. However, I will honestly admit, that just like everyone has told me, it IS overwhelming and I know that this summer will be an intense challenge for me. This week is all orientation and training, aka: information overload. But, my excitement and passion for being here is overpowering the stress of information right now.
I am on a ministry team called World Vision and our job is to inform Project students of what ministry is happening in other countries; we are to learn about the need for Christ outside of the US through testimonies, mission organizations, etc and pray for countries as well. I also successfully landed a job along the boardwalk at a store called Ocean’s 20.; it’s a chain of 3 shops with touristy clothes, retail, gifts, etc…Job-hunting was a little frustrating at first but God always provides and I feel very blessed to have been offered a job so quickly into the week! I will be working Monday-Friday 9am-4pm, definitely an answer to prayer!
Today we start our first evangelism outreach along the boardwalk of the beach and I’m excited to be sharing again. God is a crazy God and already this first week has been tremendously eye-opening! Thanks so much for your prayers and support as always and I hope to be updating at least once a week when I can get to internet cafes. Love you all and hope all is well! :)
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