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As I try to tell the story of our ministry, I realize that it is impossilble to relate all that goes into the launch of a new school year. So, I thought that maybe the best way to give you a glimpse of it would be to review the first thirty days of our ministry day by day since we returned to Davis from our summer project and support trip. Enjoy.
Days 1-4: After an eight hour drive the previous day, we returned home to four days straight of staff meetings. Planning, vision casting, and getting to know our new team mate Jen. By the way, did I mention Sac State is already in full swing? Their 2nd meeting of the semester is on Day 2... we opt out to unpack from the summer.
Day 5-7: We hit the road for a 3+ hr. drive (one way!) to the mountains for our annual Super Shepherd Team Retreat. It is a great weekend for planning, training and bonding with our new shepherd teams. We host leaders from 4 of our movements. Six students from Sac State joined us for the first time at this retreat.
Day 8: Our first day off since returning home. We sleep as much as Mia will let us. She starts getting four of her molars this weekend!
Day 9: Pre-Welcome Week begins! We start a frenzy of preparations for the fall quarter... stamping postcards for the dorms, building new advertisment boards for campus, designing flyers and a meeting with key students... tonight we chose to meet with the servant team leaders of Destino. Tonight... Sac State has meeting #3!
Day 10: Pre-Welcome Week! Another coat of paint on the advertisment boards for campus, print some flyers and a meeting with more key students... tonight the small group leaders.
Day 11: More Pre-Welcome Week! Last touches of paint on the advertisment boards for campus, print surverys for the freshman class, call sponsers for the coupons in "Real Life News" and on Questionaires. Another group meeting with our students... tonight summer project reunion night.
Day 12: Still Pre-Welcome Week! Details, details, details, cross those t's, dot those i's! And of course more meetings with key students... today the small group leaders training!
Day 13: Our second day off in two weeks. Woohoo!
Day 14: Last Day of Pre-Welcome Week... Yikes! Can anyone say PUBLITZITY??? Time to canzas the campus with all those flyers and set up our advertisment boards for three seperate groups on campus Cru, Epic and Destino... talk about stretching our resources. We meet for well deserved pizza afterword.
Day 15: Welcome Week Begins... Double Yikes! To Campus at 7am to begin surveying 4000 freshman and transfer students & distributing 3500 evangelical newspapers... via bike registration lines, placement tests, tabling and by any means possible! And what a better way to cap off the night than an inter-fellowship worship night!
Day 16: Welcome Week Continues! Now this is where multiple movements gets messy... we continue to work on the endless pile of surveys and newspapers while making time to participate with Destino at "La Bienvenida" (a Chicano/Latino student group fair on campus) and shortly after meet with the Destino Shepherd Team. Epic hosts a "Boba Friendzy", Cru has a main meeting "Preview" followed by a Bonfire, & Sac State wraps up their 4th meeting of the year.
Day 17: More Welcome Week. Still more surveys to fill out and newspapers to distribute... all while sorting filled out surveys, giving them to our key leaders & staff. This is where the real work begins... calling, meeting, & sharing Christ with interested students. Follow-up now becomes our main focus. We invite students to every event possible. Tonight... Cru hosts a house party!
Day 18: The First Day of School. Surveys, Newspapers, Tabling, Sorting Contacts, & Follow-up... lots to do all day till the Freshman BBQ kicks off at 4:30, a great place to invite new students just before a weekly meeting. Destino, Epic and Cru each fill a seperate lecture hall as they each host their first meetings of the year!
Day 19: Still More of Welcome Week. We celebrate our movements kick-off's & Steph joining our team, over lunch, after our staff meeting. Tonight... a well deserved night off.
Day 20: Wrapping up Welcome Week with a morning off, finally a day to sleep in before our last event... a Luau hosted by Cru..
Day 21: A Third Day off in three weeks. We take a nap with Mia, awh sleep!
Day 22: 4000 Surveys take a looong time to follow-up. Ken meets up with Jason for the first time. He accepts Christ after Ken shares the gospel with Him! This week our regular events kick-off. Daily prayer at the flag pole and dozens of biblestudies restart for the year, many for the first time with new Freshman in dorms across campus.
Day 23: World Wide Day of Prayer. Staff around the world spend they day in the presence of the Lord. Sac State wraps up meeting #5!
Day 24: Back to follow-up. Ken meets up with Joshua and Osvaldo for the first time. They each accept Christ after Ken shares the gospel with them!
Day 25: Did I mention we do alot of follow-up? We dial, dial, dial until every last survey is followed up. Tonight, main group meeting #2 for Destino, Epic, and Cru. Ken shares Christ with one of our students Iliana after the Destino meeting... after a few months of prayer and the second time hearing the gospel, she is ready to accept Christ!!! Praise God!!!
Day 26: Staff meetings in the morning. Tonight... off!
Day 27: A Fourth Day off in four weeks!
Day 28: We host our first Familia Dinner for the year. This is what sets Destino apart from other groups, we are a family, this is a central part of Hispanic culture.
Day 29: Weekly corporate prayer with staff kicks off this morning. This afternoon we start meeting with our leaders for weekly discipleship.
Day 30: We take a deep breath as a regular routine begins to surface within our schedule. Now, it is time to start planning for the Fall Retreat. We've got two weeks to plan to host 160 students in the mountains... it never ends... at least not until next year... when we start all over again!
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