September comming to an end (old)
Here’s the up date on what’s going on in my life…
I have a mentor!!!
I’ve finally got a mentor and he is so great.
On our first meeting we talked about why Africa is so corrupt and how to fix it. We discussed world issues that the United Nations are trying to solve and what is being done to help people.
For the past few weeks the guys in the house and I have been studying different topics for a week at a time. Our first topic was the gospels. I learned that the gospels are Jesus and his life, not just the first books of the New Testament. Also, Jesus is the Word made flesh and that God is directly connected to us through the Word.
I am learning about what the purpose of life and how to live that out. The purpose to life is to, ‘love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your mind and with all your strength and love your neighbor as yourself’. Following Jesus isn’t about trying to convert people to follow Jesus but, live in a way that attracts people to the Holy Spirit and let the Holy Spirit work on their hearts. And try and love people no matter what.
The guys and I are starting to volunteer at a place called the Southeast White House (SEWH). The SEWH helps in the inner city of DC and includes kids and youth. What I got to do was help kids with there homework and work on the new community center they are building. Very cool.
My highlight from last week was Friday when we were playing ultimate for two reasons. The first, I had fun and didn’t get mad and I didn’t care who won. Second, we go to this park that has a sweet soccer field and the grass is like turf but is real grass-it’s amazing. There is a youth soccer league that plays there and they were getting ready to start there game so that meant we had to leave. The coach of the team came up to us and said it is our time for the field but I have to ask you something, so we said ok. He wanted to know if we would play against them because the other team didn’t show up. Some guys said uhhh no we got to go eat and I said, “Yea, of course we would love to!” Then all the guys said that they wanted to also. It was so fun. We won but the kids thought it was so cool they got to play us. The coach and all the fans thanked us.
During the Bible study today and we were talking about believing and faith. I learned that just because you have a belief doesn’t mean its right, like you can have a wrong belief about something. And faith is the action of your beliefs and people should be able to see Jesus and truth in your actions if you believe what is true.
This past weekend I went to the National Student Leadership Forum, basically the things that I am learning smashed in one weekend. I really enjoyed the small group time the best, my group was very diverse, but we were all Christ followers. I learned a lot about my generation. My generation is all about change and really seeing the needs of the world and trying to fix them. Also, we are becoming the majority of the population around the world and that gives us a lot of power in numbers.
This past week I had the opportunity to visit the House of Representatives and hear the Rep. from Tennessee talk about the great leader Jesus. Who he was and who he is. It was an amazing experience and I will never forget it.
If any one has any questions about anything I am doing. Just post them and I will answer them the best I can.
I also wanted to thank you for your prayers and financial support that has made this entire emersion in love possible. Your continued support means so much to me and the guys, as some of the guys cannot pay their way and some of us have taken odd jobs to help everyone out. Some of the guys have no health insurance or cannot pay for their room and board and everyone helps out. Anything you can give helps so much.
Gentleman- a man who is both inside and out. Who never looks up to the rich or, down to the poor; who can loose with grace and win with out bragging; who is considerate of women, children and the old. Who is too brave to lie, to generous to cheat and who takes his share of life and lets others take theirs.
Much love Wes
