Hello again,
Wow. I absolutely cannot believe that this will be my last blog post as a City Project participant. It really does seem like just yesterday that I was moving storage containers full of clothes into a 3 bedroom apartment along with five guys that I had never met before, and now I sit in the living room of that very apartment wondering what the next few months is going to look like without these very guys.
More than that, I think about what I am going to do without the other 80+ students that I have come to know and love so much throughout this summer. It’s hard to imagine life without late night card games and Cookout runs, without hours of sand volleyball, without driving everywhere with three more people than we have seats in the car, and so many other things that I have come to love about this summer. I could have never imagined that I would grow so close to a group of people in just two short months, but I believe that even that is a testament to the incredible God that we serve. It is sad to think that I will be leaving them soon, but it is so much more exciting to think about how God is going to use this amazing group of people to build His kingdom in the coming years.
If you can remember back to my first blog post just a couple of months ago, then you will be able to recall the three prayer requests that I asked you all to pray over during the summer:
- Pray that God would do “abundantly more” than we could think or imagine throughout the summer. (Ephesians 3:20, Matthew 6:33)
- Pray that God would provide me with discipleship and accountability through community. (Hebrews 10:24-25)
- Pray that above all else, God would be glorified. (Psalm 145:11-12)
These are three things that I began praying over as I prepared myself for the summer ahead. I chose these three things because, honestly, I had absolutely no idea what to expect other than seeing God move in an incredible way amongst a body of other believers. I knew that I wanted this summer to be characterized by intimacy with God, seeing Him move, and by sharing in those times with other students like myself and I can say that I got exactly that.
I am blown away by the faithfulness of God this summer. Not that I should be, because His word tells me to expect nothing less, but I could never have imagined how I would get to see Him work in these three areas. Here’s how each of them was answered:
#1 – That God would do abundantly more than we could think or imagine.
Going into the summer, I didn’t really know what to expect. I knew that I was going to be taken outside of my comfort zone and that I was going to be challenged, but other than that I had no real expectations. I guess you could say that makes it a little easier for my expectations to be exceeded, but I was able to see God move far more than I could have even imagined this summer. In New York, I was able to get a taste of what it looks like to be obedient even in the midst of frustration and see that He has a plan and is worth every minute of it. In Durham I was able to see that He is a God who I will never even be able to fully understand yet He is the only one who fully understands me. In Taiwan I was able to see that He is the same no matter where in the world I may find myself, and he truly desires that people from every nation, tribe, and tongue come to know Him.
#2 – That God would provide me with discipleship and accountability through community.
I would say that this is the area where I can truly say that this prayer was answered far better than I could have imagined. The incredible people that I was surrounded with this summer are some of the most special people I have ever met. Never again in my life will I be living with 85 of my closest friends and be able to spend so much time with them every week but even if I was given the chance again I don’t think I could find a better group than the one I had this summer. I was challenged, I was prayed for, I was taught, I was laughed with, and most of all I was loved by a group of people that I had previously never met and yet after 8 weeks they felt like family. I will always be thankful for the chance to get to know this awesome group of people and I can’t wait until I have the opportunity to see them again!
#3 – That above all else, God would be glorified.
Never before have I been around a group of people that pointed to God in every situation. I was constantly pointed to the Lord in all things, and it was made very clear that He was the one responsible for every good thing that we received this summer. We were constant in reading and in prayer, and I was able to see Him through every one of my fellow students that I was so lucky to meet this summer. We saw Him move in and through us in some incredible ways, but we always knew that He was the one at work and not us.
For those of you who joined me in these prayers, thank you so much. I have felt so much love this summer from those of you who have kept up with me and I cannot thank you enough for your time spent in prayer over these things. For those of you who are just reading along, I hope that this can stand as a testament to the fact that God is faithful to answer the prayers of His children!
Please take a chance to look at this short video with some of the pictures from the summer, and don’t hesitate to call/text/email me to hear more!
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B15M69fWyW91Z1VuRWYzcW83bVk
Devon
devon spake 
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