Video Update!

Here's a brief update of the week from my friend Rachel and me!!! :)

Please keep us all in your prayers as we continue to surf the waves that God provides for us!!

-Rosa :)

The Floridian Midway

Three weeks! That's how long it's been since I've updated you all. My schedule here has been so jam packed! My usual day consists of waking up at 9 and having either our bible study, prayer & share, women's time, ministry team or planning meetings until about 12. After the CRU part of the day, my carpool heads out to work until about 9! After work we usually stay up until about 2 or so in the morning just hanging out and talking with all the students here on project! With all these things to do, it gets kind of hard to find time to blog, but I will be trying harder! :)

So as the title of this post implies, we are now at the midway point of the Walt Disney World Summer Project 2011! This means that we have been here for over a month now!! It not only signifies that we're getting closer to the end, but that it is now time for the Staff Team to leave us. The Directors and other staff members packed up all their belongings this morning and headed back to their hometowns. We as a project now have to step up and become the leaders of this movement. Luckily for us, the Staff Team hand picked the students who would be taking their places. I have been selected to be co-leading the Evangelism Team with my good friend Luke VandenLangenberg! (Yes, that really is his last name!!) I'm a little nervous to be leading, but I'm just going to have to trust that God will do all the work and that I will merely be the vessel through which He carries out his plan for this project!

Evangelism Team!

Because the staff is leaving, we had a Mid-Project Dinner for them! At this dinner we enjoyed some yummy food and got to spend one more evening with the staff. We presented each of them a picture of the students and a cup full of little notes from us thanking them for the impact they had on us this summer. The person who had the greatest impact on me these last few weeks was my discipler Alicia! She is such an awesome woman of God. She took the time to get to know me even when I don't know who I am. She was so genuine and real with me each time we met and pushed me to do the same. She saw past the mask that I too often put on and helped me realize that I don't have to perform in order to get others' approval. I often find myself doing good works because that's what is expected of a "good Christian." I also feel the pressure to keep up the facade that everything is alright, when it most definitely is not. Alicia has helped me realize how this crosses over to my relationship with God. I tend to do good works not only for others' approval, but also to earn God's acceptance. My good works will never compare to those of His, but this shouldn't discourage me because God gives us his love freely. It is a gift. We don't have to earn it. We simply have to be willing to accept it. With the whole keeping up the facade of a "perfect life", God is showing me that it's better to be real with people and let them know that I don't have it all together. Alicia definitely helped me to see this. At first I was reluctant to be vulnerable with her because she seemed to have it all together, which made me feel as though I was inadequate because I don't have it all together. But as Alicia opened up to me and shared her difficulties with me, I was able to see that everyone struggles and that these struggles don't keep us from being used by God. God has definitely done some amazing things through this woman, and I know that He wants to do great things through me and my struggles as well! I thank Him for placing Alicia in my life, even if it was only for a short few weeks. What she allowed God to do through her will forever be a significant part of my life :)



The Wonderful Alicia Christie!



I'll try to keep my updates more frequent, but I can't make any promises! What I can do is give you the link to the blog that the students have been working on as a whole to let others know of what God is doing. If you'd like to check that out as well the link is wdwsp11.tumblr.com 

I would also like to ask you all to pray for me and the other students who will be taking over as leaders of this project. I know a lot of us are nervous to have such a great responsiblity and we would all appreciate a little bit of extra prayer :)

-Rosa :)

Riding Some Gnarly Waves!

It's been like a week since I've last updated, so bear with me. I have a feeling this is going to be a long one. I have added pictures and video to make a bit more interesting though! :)

God has been producing a lot of gnarly "waves" lately!! On Tuesday, we had an evangelism day. My partner, Anna, and I went to a local outlet mall to see what "waves" we could catch. We approached a couple different people and had both success and failure. Let me tell ya, rejection stinks! Just walking up to people is scary enough, but knowing that they might shut you down makes it even harder to muster up some courage! Another thing that makes things harder for me is my Spanish speaking. I'm pretty fluent in it, but I'm obviously not as comfortable with it as I am with my English. I asked God if he would not put anyone in my path who I would have to speak to in Spanish. But God's a funny fella, so of course I had to talk to people in Spanish! :) I'm so glad God did this though, because I got to meet Yanira. Yanira is from Houston, but was in Florida on vacation. Getting to speak with her was so encouraging! She told me about how she had accepted Christ 11 years ago and all about her childhood. As I was going through a booklet with her, she was reciting all the bible verses from memory! She asked if she could keep it so that she could share it with her sister!! Of course I let her take it!!

The other day we went out to Coco Beach where we finally rode some real waves!! We were worried we wouldn't be able to because of recent jellyfish problems plus it was raining! But God was definitely looking out for us! No jellyfish in sight and the rain stopped! I wasn't able to stand up fully, but I was able to get up on my knees at least! Just a small note: Saltwater does not taste very good, nor does it feel very good in your eyes! Since there's like 40 of us on project, we all took turns using the boards. While we weren't surfing, we had some fun beach activities! I learned how to play bocce ball! And we also created an epic village of sand castles! We made one sand castle for each of the condos we have here on Summer Project!

Have I mentioned how much fun I'm having here on project!? Because it's totally supa fun!! Another fun thing that I've gotten to experience is Star Wars Weekend at Disney World! Before I came to project, I had never seen an episode or movie of Star Wars. But since all my roommates love it, I decided I should give it a chance. We hosted a Star Wars Movie Party at our condo last Friday. I would like to say that I watched it and fell in love, but that was not the case.. I fell asleep during it, so sadly I don't even know what happened. But that didn't stop me from going to Star Wars Weekend the next day! Like I said, my friends are fanatics. They fixed their hair like Princes Leia! They're so cute! :) I was surprised that a lot of other people at the park weren't dressed up though. I was expecting full out Star Wars nerds to be there! My favorite part of the evening was when the characters from Star Wars had a Dance Off! I actually recorded some of it. The video below shows a small section of the program!

Yesterday marked the first day of my on-the-job training! I got to wear my cute little Pecos Bill Costume and my not so cute no-slip shoes! They look like orthopedic shoes, and they're not as comfortable as you'd think.. Besides my shoes, the day was pretty good! We learned where all the food was located, how to tell which drinks are which, where to deliver each tray of food, and how to close up the counter in Disney Standards. They gave us a lot of information, I'm really hoping I can remember it all! We also met some really cool people who are going to be working with us! They're from all over the place, from New York to Mexico even in Columbia! I'm excited to get to know them better and hear all their exciting stories! They're all pretty hardcore too! They told us about how the go paintballing at like 1 in the morning 'til like 4 or 5!

I've got my second day of on-site training today, so I better go get ready! Please keep praying for me and the others here on this project!! Thank you for all the previous prayers as well!!

-Rosa :)

Making Some Disney Magic!

Wow, where to begin?! A lot of things have happened these past few days! God has definitely been doing some big things here in Florida! So the other day we got to go out and share Jesus at a local park. My small group consisted of a staff woman named Paige and a Disney College Student named Evelyn. We got to go through a small pamphlet called Knowing God Personally with a man named Luis. Luis is from Puerto Rico and has eight kids all ranging from 7 to 22! He told us about how he hasn't seen a couple of them in a few years. He was a Christian already so we just enjoyed some spiritual conversation with him. It was cool just getting to see how God has been working in his life already.

On Monday, I believe, my friend Alicia and I went out and shared again at a local carnival-looking place called Old Town. We went kind of early, so not many people were there to talk to, but we did manage to find a couple sitting on a bench outside one of the small shops. The woman we talked to was a believer, but her boyfriend was not. We weren't able to go through the gospel fully with them, but I believe we did open some doors there. He talked about how she would go to church without him, but seemed interested in going with her. I believe that God used us to open some doors to conversation between them. I know that God wants to have a relationship with the both of them. I will be praying that they would be open to his love and let him have his way in their hearts.

Tuesday we had Traditions, which is where we learn some history and traditions of the Walt Disney World Company. Here we learned all about how Walt Disney had originally created a character before Mickey Mouse and how Mickey's name used to be Mortimer! We learned about Walt's vision for the company and saw how he truly cared so much about his guests! Here at traditions we received our official nametags! We haven't actually started working at Disney World quite yet, but getting our nametags made us all feel that much closer to actually working! We also received a small tour of Disney and saw how much effort goes into making everyday so magical for each guest! We have more training on friday and sunday, but will get to start working after that! I'm so excited to be a part of this magic!

After Traditions, I finally stepped foot on Walt Disney World soil!! Oh man, it was just like being a little kid again!! I absolutely loved it!! I got to see all the fireworks at Cinderella's Castle! I saw Aladdin and Jasmine! I had a dance party with Stitch and Chip & Dale! I rode the Teacups and the Dumbo ride! Space Mountain was super awesome as well!! So awesome that we rode it twice!! Today we went to Hollywood Studios and got to experience some more Disney Magic! We rode the Tower of Terror and the Rock 'N Roller Coaster! Saw the parade that featured the characters from Up, Toy Story, A Bug's Life, The Incredibles, and Monsters Inc! We watched the Beauty and The Beast play production! We finished the day up with the Disney Fantasmic Show! Oh man, this was the best way to end the day! I absolutely loved it!!

The highlight of the night, however, was when a random girl came up to our group and gifted us four fast pass tickets for the Rock 'N Roller Coaster. There was obviously more than four of us in our group, so my friend Chad decided that we should give the tickets to a family of four who could use it. We looked around for a group of four, but he said it had to be the right family. We all laughed at him, but I think he knew what he was doing. I spotted a family of four in bright green shirts and pointed them out to him. He said they were the lucky family! We walked up to the family and told them we had four extra tickets and asked if they would like them. The daughter got extremely excited! They told us how they had just tried to get on but weren't able to because the tickets had all run out. This was the ride that the daughter had wanted to go on the most!! She was smiling ear to ear when she found out she could ride it!! We got to talking to the family and discovered that they were from Texas and that the father was a pastor. We told him we were with Campus Crusade for Christ and he asked if he could pray for us!! It was such an awesome feeling just being able to help and bond with them over our love of Christ! It's awesome to see how God can answer others' prayers through us if we only let him!

God answered some of my big prayers today!! As I have said before, trusting God with my financial situations has been something that I struggle with. I have a hard time believing that God will provide for me even in this part of my life, but today God just rocked my world with His faithfulness. This morning started out with my friend sending me the bible verse 2 Timothy 2:13 which states that "if we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot disown himself." I love that God remains faithful to me even when my faith is not as strong. Lately I have been worrying about how I am going to pay for school this coming year. We're not the most financially set family, so this posed as quite the predicament. I thought I was going to have to transfer to the community college in Lubbock where it wouldn't be as expensive to attend, but today I checked my university email and saw that I had gotten a new message. I opened it and found out that my financial aid award will pay all tuition and fee charges for the 2011-2012 school year!!!! God is such a great provider for His children!!!

Well I have some more training tomorrow for my new job! I better get some rest! Thank you for all the prayers!! Please keep them coming! I know God has even GREATER things in store for this summer!

Oh, I've posted pictures! Click HERE to see the pictures I've posted on Facebook!

-Rosa :)

Surf's Up

For those of you wondering, I am working at
Pecos Bill Tall Tale Inn and Cafe!!!

Yesterday was an exhausting day! We had a Soul 2 Soul with our bible study groups. My bible study includes Ashton, Allie, Ashlie, Alicia and I. Soul 2 Soul consisted of each one of us pretty much sharing every aspect of our lives with each other and just being completely open and vulnerable. It was such a unique opportunity. We each shared our past struggles and victories and learned how we were similiar in several ways. Sharing our life stories helped us truly understand that we're not all that different and it truly showed how strong each girl really is. We ended up talking from 2 in the evening 'til 11 at night! We were each so emotionally drained but it was a great feeling having our walls come down. I love all these girls!

Lots of excitement happened today! The staff took all the students out to an indoor wave simulator! (There's a live webcam that lets you watch people trying it. Click HERE to see other's trying it) There's two different sides where you can either boogie board or use a surf board. I, of course, decided that you either go big or go home and went to the surfing side. Our instructor made it look extremely simple as he would switch directions and do little kick flips, so we were all pretty confident as we walked up the stairs. Once we got on the stand, however, he told us that during our first try we would probably fall off the second we got on. Let me tell ya, he wasn't lying. We saw as the first few brave souls put all their weight on their boards and just rocketed to the wall. After about thirty minutes, I was finally able to actually stand up on my board for a bit!

God definitely showed me some awesome "surfing" analogies as we tried and tried again to stay up on our boards. So to get out on your board, you need to put all your weight on your outside foot and lean out to be caught by the wave, which is similar to the faith we need to have in our relationship with God. I have to trust Him with everything I've got and have complete faith as I head out to "sea". If I don't put enough of my weight onto my outside leg, I'll just immediately lose balance and wipe out! After you're on the wave you have to keep your hand outstreched to the side of you and keep your head pointed in that direction as well. Looking all around makes you lose your balance and hit the wall. God showed me that this is how my focus needs to be. I need to always have my hand outstretched towards Him, seeking and asking for His help. I don't need to pay attention to the distractions around me, because these things cause me to look away from Him and lose my balance. I am so thankful that God revealed these things to me, because trust is something I struggle with a lot in mine and God's relationship! I love that he shows up at the most unexpected times!

Tomorrow will be the first day we will get to share Jesus with others! I'm excited to see how God will move in people tomorrow, both my team and those we will reach out to. Please be praying that our team would feel comfortable and equipped to share the gosple with others, and that we would not be afraid to initiate conversations! Also that the people God wants us to reach out to would be willing to listen and to let Jesus really take a hold of their hearts!


-Rosa :)



Oh, P.S. I'll try to post some pictures soon!

Hang Loose

Today we headed out to "The Hub," our meeting area, and learned about the vision of our project. Even though we will learn to surf waves out in the ocean, we are also learning how to "surf" the waves of Christian life. In this sense, God is the wave that drives us forward. We simply have to let Him move us, instead of trying to move Him to do what we would like for Him to do. Just like surfing, "surfing" has several fears that come along with it. There's the fear of not being prepared or equipped to do it, the fear of wiping out, and the fear of what other "surfers" might think of us when we do wipe out. But again, we just have to get back up and try again. I personally have never riden a real wave, but they tell me it's unlike any other experience! The thrill and excitement of riding a wave successfully is addicting! Once your endorphines have started pumping, you forget about all the wipe outs and only focus on getting back up on another wave!! I'm super excited to see what waves God has in store for our group this summer!! I just know he has some gnarly waves headed our direction!!

As I mentioned before, I am living in an apartment with four other girls and a hermit crab. His name is Jian Carlos, pronounced "Juan Carlos". He's french :) Our apartment includes two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a livingroom, and a kitchen. Since we have our own kitchens, we will be preparing our own meals. Since we had no food already in these kitchens, Leslie, Casey, Morgan, Brittany, and I experienced our first grocery shopping trip to Wal-Mart today! That itself was an interesting experience. The shoppers here in Florida mean business! I have never seen so many people at a Walmart and especially not that many moving around so quickly! We felt like we were in the middle of a whirlwind! We survived and left with the essentials. We definitely learned about the things we take for granted while living at home. There's things you don't think about needing that are extremely helpful to have, such as salt and pepper, paper towels, and dishwasher soap! So thank you to all the parents out there who take care of the little things for us! We appreciate it!

Well, tomorrow we all find out which part of Disney World we'll be working at and what we'll actually be doing there, so I better get to sleep so I can be presentable at my casting interview! Wish me luck and please keep my team and I in your prayers so that we could all hang loose and let God be the wave that moves us!

-Rosa :)

First Day!

I arrived in Florida today!!!! Today has been exciting to say the least! I successfully navigated my way around the airports in both Lubbock and Austin, but my luggage, on the otherhand, did not. It somehow got lost in the transfer between planes.. This little mishap turned out to be a blessing when loading everyone's luggage into the van. Everyone elses bags fit just perfectly! I'm not quite sure how my bag would have fit! I'm pretty sure someone was looking out for me :) During this time of not having my luggage, I kept telling myself not to worry. God is in control. He'll take care of it. And He did! The airline found my luggage and had it delivered to the resort!

After arriving to the resort, we had to wait quite a while for our rooms to be ready, which allowed us all to have some quality bonding time! We have students from all over the US including Colorado, California, Ohio, Virginia, Illinois, New Mexico, North Carolina, and a couple more! It was fun getting to know each other and to see how Campus Crusade is different yet the same in all the different states. We asked each other all the basic questions: Location? Major? Reason for choosing Disney World Project? I'm excited to establish deeper friendships and get to know each other more personally :)

After what seemed like 28745028 hours, our rooms were finally ready! But believe me, the rooms were definitely worth the wait! Click here and check out what the rooms look like! I will be sharing this little apartment with four other lovely girls: Leslie, Brittany, Morgan, and Casey! We love Glee and Justin Beitber! I know we're all going to get along just fine! I can't wait to see how our friendships will grow, as well as with all my other wonderful teammates!!

After dinner, the staff rounded us all up and sent us on a scavenger hunt at the Downtown Disney Marketplace!! It was a blast! Jen and I did a lovely dance in front of a local band who was playing. They even applauded us! Yeah, we're pretty awesome.. Emily, Jordan, Jen, Philip, and I all took turns building houses out of legos, running in fountains, riding motorcycles, putting together Mr. Potato Heads, and singing Christmas Carols with the passengers on our water taxi! Jen and I were even bestowed the honor of being sprinkled with fairy dust from an actual princess! Oh, did I mention that we saw a performer playing a didgeridoo?! Talk about talent!

Today was a great day and I know it'll only get better!
"Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo! May all your dreams come true!"

-Rosa :)