My North Philly Mission Year team has put together a cook book of the many miraculous things we have eaten throughout the year! I HIGHLY sugest that you get your hands on one!!! How do you do that? Welllll, if you go to www.missionyear.org/donate and donate any amount that your heart so desires [to Emily Nichols, Mary Simms, Megan Johnson, Aaron Swank, or Rigsbee Sanders] and forward your donation confirmation receipt to me [enichols2894@gmail.com] or one of my roommates [jedi.megan@att.net OR maryrsimms@gmail.com]! Then you just have to wait patiently for a reply email with an attachment of your very own PDF copy of our lovely cookbook! From there you can do as you desire with it, either save it, print it, or just look at it. AND THEN START COOKING! (:
Saturday, June 29, 2013
Who likes food!? Or cooking!? Or me!?
Lovely people!!
My North Philly Mission Year team has put together a cook book of the many miraculous things we have eaten throughout the year! I HIGHLY sugest that you get your hands on one!!! How do you do that? Welllll, if you go to www.missionyear.org/donate and donate any amount that your heart so desires [to Emily Nichols, Mary Simms, Megan Johnson, Aaron Swank, or Rigsbee Sanders] and forward your donation confirmation receipt to me [enichols2894@gmail.com] or one of my roommates [jedi.megan@att.net OR maryrsimms@gmail.com]! Then you just have to wait patiently for a reply email with an attachment of your very own PDF copy of our lovely cookbook! From there you can do as you desire with it, either save it, print it, or just look at it. AND THEN START COOKING! (:
My North Philly Mission Year team has put together a cook book of the many miraculous things we have eaten throughout the year! I HIGHLY sugest that you get your hands on one!!! How do you do that? Welllll, if you go to www.missionyear.org/donate and donate any amount that your heart so desires [to Emily Nichols, Mary Simms, Megan Johnson, Aaron Swank, or Rigsbee Sanders] and forward your donation confirmation receipt to me [enichols2894@gmail.com] or one of my roommates [jedi.megan@att.net OR maryrsimms@gmail.com]! Then you just have to wait patiently for a reply email with an attachment of your very own PDF copy of our lovely cookbook! From there you can do as you desire with it, either save it, print it, or just look at it. AND THEN START COOKING! (:
Thursday, June 27, 2013
True Blessing
This past week has be so awesome! The Lord has answered prayers!!
One of my housemates, Rigsbee, works at a school called Logan Hope and on Monday, June 24th, I had the blessing to be apart of their summer day camp! I will be helping serve there this summer, or for the next 3 weeks of work that we have in Mission Year. I can't even begin to express how grateful I am to have this opportunity! Even though I just started this past week, I already LOVE it! Being able to be around the kids all day every day is a blessing in itself, but also being able to pour God's love into them is the cherry on top of an awesome ice cream sunday! I know I am not the most outgoing person, but when it comes to those kids, you just have to let go of all shyness and act crazy and have fun.
On Tuesday, I was wearing a shirt that said Saved With Amazing Grace and at the bottom it said #jcluforever. One of the kids came up to me and started reading my shirt. When he got to the part that said jclu forever, he asked what that meant. So, I went on to tell him that it meant Jesus Christ loves you. It felt really amazing just to say to a little kid that Jesus loved him, even if I was just telling him what my shirt meant!
These kids are already making an impact in my life and I've only been there for 3 days! I can't wait to see where God will bring me in these next 3 weeks working at the day camp!! I know that it will help me grow more as a person and help to expand my knowledge and pour into these beautiful children.
I just wanted to let all of you know what has been happening and how God is answering prayers and working in my life! I can't even explain how grateful I am for opportunities like this!!! God has blessed me. (:
The Logan Hope website says this about their summer day camp:
"The Relevance of a Summer Day Camp
LOGAN Hope Summer Day Camp fills the summer void for neighborhood children by giving them positive and challenging activities such as sports and competitions, swimming, educational field trips, brain-strengthening activities, and mentoring relationships. In the same way that staying in school has been shown to reduce gang involvement, teenage pregnancy, drug use, and violence in our community, our summer day camp accomplishes the same things when school is out of session."
One of my housemates, Rigsbee, works at a school called Logan Hope and on Monday, June 24th, I had the blessing to be apart of their summer day camp! I will be helping serve there this summer, or for the next 3 weeks of work that we have in Mission Year. I can't even begin to express how grateful I am to have this opportunity! Even though I just started this past week, I already LOVE it! Being able to be around the kids all day every day is a blessing in itself, but also being able to pour God's love into them is the cherry on top of an awesome ice cream sunday! I know I am not the most outgoing person, but when it comes to those kids, you just have to let go of all shyness and act crazy and have fun.
On Tuesday, I was wearing a shirt that said Saved With Amazing Grace and at the bottom it said #jcluforever. One of the kids came up to me and started reading my shirt. When he got to the part that said jclu forever, he asked what that meant. So, I went on to tell him that it meant Jesus Christ loves you. It felt really amazing just to say to a little kid that Jesus loved him, even if I was just telling him what my shirt meant!
These kids are already making an impact in my life and I've only been there for 3 days! I can't wait to see where God will bring me in these next 3 weeks working at the day camp!! I know that it will help me grow more as a person and help to expand my knowledge and pour into these beautiful children.
I just wanted to let all of you know what has been happening and how God is answering prayers and working in my life! I can't even explain how grateful I am for opportunities like this!!! God has blessed me. (:
The Logan Hope website says this about their summer day camp:
"The Relevance of a Summer Day Camp
LOGAN Hope Summer Day Camp fills the summer void for neighborhood children by giving them positive and challenging activities such as sports and competitions, swimming, educational field trips, brain-strengthening activities, and mentoring relationships. In the same way that staying in school has been shown to reduce gang involvement, teenage pregnancy, drug use, and violence in our community, our summer day camp accomplishes the same things when school is out of session."
Tuesday, June 18, 2013
Help Me Finish Strong!
Amazing. Meaningful. Challenging. Inspiring.
https://missionyear.thankyou4caring.org/2013-finish-strong-donation-page?srctid=1&erid=125822&trid=af1732ba-717c-4225-b330-0540841bf395
The designation says Mission Year at default. If you want to donate to me personally, click the arrow and scroll to find my name! (Emily Nichols) (:
(These are not my own words but they do fit oh so perfectly!)
There are so many ways to describe this last year, I don't think I can choose just one word to capture the entire experience. But one thing I do know is that this year has changed my life.
Thanks to your support, I have been able to live and serve in North Philadelphia in one of the city's poorest neighborhoods. It has given me a new perspective on what being a neighbor means. I've seen God working in ways in which I didn't expect.
My year is coming to an end and I'd like to ask for your support so my team and I can finish strong this year. Your gift will allow me to be the hands and feet of Jesus by extending love to my neighbors.
Without you, I would not have been able to experience this amazingly, wonderful, challenging year. If you are able to donate and help me finish strong, I would be deeply grateful!
Thank you so so much!
https://missionyear.thankyou4caring.org/2013-finish-strong-donation-page?srctid=1&erid=125822&trid=af1732ba-717c-4225-b330-0540841bf395
The designation says Mission Year at default. If you want to donate to me personally, click the arrow and scroll to find my name! (Emily Nichols) (:
(These are not my own words but they do fit oh so perfectly!)
Friday, June 14, 2013
Follow Jesus!
Some people think that only the "poor" need help. Only the "broken" need help. Only the "less wealthy" need help. Only the "struggling" need help. I'm not saying I agree or disagree with any of this. People say they've noticed that mission trips normally take place in "bad" or "poor" or "rough" areas. This is mostly true, because we all believe that they are the ones who need the most help.
The way I see it is just because someone looks "unclean" or "less wealthy" doesn't mean they automatically need our help over someone who looks like they have everything together. Sometimes the people who seem to be put together are the people we should be focusing on too. Yes, everyone can use help, every one needs to be shown kindness, but I think it's unfair to automatically assume that people in an "urban" area are the only ones who need help. I know that you can make a difference to people in suburban areas or any areas. I've been thinking about this a lot. Sometimes I've been treated as a some big hero because I'm doing this big mission trip for a year. Yes, it is awesome, but just because I have a title over my name doesn't mean I'm better than anyone else. You are living for Jesus too and you don't have to go to another place to show that! You too can get outside and love on your neighbors and show them God! Love God and love people? You can do that anywhere! Just because I happen to live in a broken neighborhood doesn't mean I'm more high and mighty than others. You can be doing the exact same thing as I am, just in your neighborhood! And yes, it is easier when you are 100% devoted and don't have distractions of school or friends or family and your whole purpose is to love The Lord and love your neighbors. If you follow Jesus and love Him, you can spread His love to people and help people in need no matter where you are!
People tell me they don't want me to worry about things back home because they don't want me to have any distractions and want me to focus everything I have on being here and loving God and people and yes I understand that. Some may say I could be spending more time with my housemates, neighbors, or Jesus instead of being on the Internet. I believe everyone can spend less time on the Internet and more time doing other important things, such as focusing all your time on loving God and loving people. Sometimes I feel like I get punished for being on Facebook or wanting to have a conversation with someone back home, but I know they are doing it out of love. And yes, I understand that they want me to get the most out of this experience because it probably won't come around again. I also believe that anyone could make the decision to get off the Internet and get outside and spread God's unconditional love! You don't have to be on a mission trip to impact people. You don't have to be a leader to impact people. You don't have to leave your city to impact people. You can impact anyone right where you are.
Now that it's summer time, I want to encourage you to get out there show some people Jesus!(:
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