Justin the Word Blog

First Week in Lake Tahoe

July 19, 2025

Good Afternoon Internet,

For those of you who don’t know I am spending the Summer in Lake Tahoe on a mission trip to evangelize to the people in the Lake Tahoe area. It has almost been two weeks since I arrived here in Tahoe and the good Lord has already been at work in me and those around me on the campground. I am just in awe, frustrated, and inspired all at the same time. In this update I want to accomplish three things. First, I would like to give you some background as to why I made the decision to come onto this mission and the journey that God brought me through to get me here. Secondly, I wanted to give you guys a synopsis of what has happened here in Lake Tahoe over the past couple of weeks. Lastly, I would like to share the goals I have for the rest of the trip.

Getting to Tahoe

Getting to Lake Tahoe was a journey, but looking back God had a hand in it every step of the way. In September of 2024 my mentor and leader took me and a few others on the CRU fall retreat near Tampa, FL. The mission trip to Lake Tahoe was announced during the second day of the retreat and I knew that I wanted to be a part of it. Both my best friend and mentor encouraged me to apply because they both saw how interested I was to be on the trip. So, I put my name and phone number on the information sheet.

November came around and I got the email that they were opening up; I immediately started filling out the application and reaching out to my entire leadership team to see if they would be willing to write my references. I’m blessed that they agreed and all of my paperwork was submitted on time. I was just waiting to hear if I have been accepted to the trip or not.

At the end of December I got an email from one of the directors of the trip saying that they were still working logistics and will be reviewing applications after the holidays. I was very excited and hopeful to hear back from him after the holidays.

Meanwhile, I got word from a family member that their IT department is looking to hire me because they heard that I was looking for work and valued the knowlegde that I had through school and other various projects. This looked like a promising opportunity. However, the only issue was they would not be able to start onboarding me until right before I left for the trip at the very latest. So after prayer and fasting I thought the Lord was prompting me to stay home and pursue this potential job and career opportunity. I ended up emailing the director and telling him that an opportunity came up and I would no longer be able to participate on the mission this year. He was very kind and replied that he understood and to reach out if anything changed my situation.

It was getting to be the end of April and it was looking like the job opportunity was not going to work out. I was getting very discouraged because I had canceled a great opportunity for a mission trip for a job opportunity that didn’t work out. I thought it was too late for me to sign up for the mission trip again because there was only a month to get accepted and raise the money needed to go on the trip. There were a few times that my best friend encouraged me to try reaching out to the director and getting back on the trip. I admittedly disregard her by saying that it was too late. Then, I got desperate and prayed to God asking him where he wanted me because I was lost.

I laid in my bed filled with tears asking God, “Where do you want me?”

I felt God clear as day tell me “Tahoe.”

I was so confused I said to God, “But God it’s too late there is no way that they still have spots open”.

He replied, “Tahoe.”

I finished praying acknowledging, “Ok God, I need to trust you and trust that you have a plan for my life. “

After praying, I spoke to my best friends about it and all confirmed saying, “Yes, you need to go”.

So I got on my phone and emailed the director back saying that the job opportunity was not going to work out as I had hoped and I asked him if there was any way to reinstate my application for the trip. 48 hours later I got a reply saying yes, if I wanted to join that there were two spots left and I could be apart of it. However, I would then have to accept the challenge of having only 30 days to fund raise. I accepted the challenge and went to tackle the next hard task of giving my parents the news.

Going into my living room I sat down to talk with my mom who was watching TV. At first, she was completely against it, but a couple days later we were able to have a serious conversation about it over dinner. Then, I was able to explain to her that I can’t explain the feeling, but I have the feeling that I am supposed to be in Lake Tahoe this summer. She slowly started opening up to the idea. By the end of the dinner we worked out a safety plan and compromised on some things so that I could go. The next task of getting my dad to open up to the idea was way more daunting than I was expecting.

One day after work I sat with my father on his bed breaking down all of the details down that I had at the time about the trip. He immediately started telling me everything that he was worried about. I pleaded my case and explained that I wasn’t sure, but I heard a friend of mine from church was going and he said if he is that I can go. He also said if I raised the money I can go, because it was a lot of money that I needed to raise to go.

So, I had my best friend to help me draft a post for social media to start my fund raising journey. After releasing my post it became very apparent that God’s hand was on this decision because my very first donation was 25% of my fund raising goal. I was flabbergasted because I have not seen God work in my life like that in a very long time. I say that all to say a week later I was completely funded. This was an awesome feeling to see that God was blessing me to go on this trip because after I got funded my grandma and parents paid for my airfare to and from Lake Tahoe.

After weeks of preparation it was finally time say good bye to my friends and family, while I take a two month trip across the country to Lake Tahoe. First, I had to say goodbye to my parents because all of my friends wanted to take me to the airport

Week 1 in Tahoe

From Orlando to Tahoe was a very long trip. My friend and I left Orlando at 5:30 am Eastern Standard Time. Then we arrived in Lake Tahoe at 9 am Pacific Standard Time, which is 12 pm Eastern Standard Time. Upon getting off of the plane and waiting for the first out of two shuttles to take us to the camp site, we immediately met a group of people that were a part of the same mission we were on. The group of us immediately began talking and getting to know our backgrounds. We began forming a unique bond that I can’t really explain.

The first shuttle arrived and I was amazed to see that these new friends I have made already understood what kind of help I needed to get on the shuttle. We began getting excited about all the fun activities we were going to partake in while we were here over the summer. Boy so far God has blown my expectations of the trip away and over these past few weeks I have grown so much. I will get to that later on in this post.

On the second stop I had to ride separately from the rest of the group. The director that I had been communicating with over the past month about my needs, picked me up to ensure that I got there safely.

Upon arriving to the campsite I started to get excited because it was full of little cabins and full of people from all over the country. I went directly to checkin. The entire campsite is full of mulch and I was nervous about my chair getting through it at first. To my amazement my chair went through it perfectly fine. So I was able to get all around the camp with ease.

During check-in, I received the key to for my cabin, merch like my hoodie and water bottle, the small group that I am in and the church that I would be attending over the summer. I was getting more excited over every station that I went over to.

After I was checked in I went to my cabin and began unpacking. I was hoping that while I was unpacking my roommates would start coming in and I would begin making connections and building friendships. To my disappointment I unpacked and I still had no one to join me in the cabin. My mind began wandering thinking that I would be alone all summer and began getting sad. Then, I caught myself and decided to wander around the camp and start meeting people hoping that someone would be wandering like me. It was then, that I would meet my life group leader and few other people. It was the beginning of meeting a community of amazing people that I would get to spend the summer with and no I don’t have a cabin by myself.

I meant a ton of people while exploring the camp and soon got tired from my day of traveling. I went back to my cabin to take a small nap before having to be at the welcoming ceremony. To my surprise, I had a roomate and he was also from Florida which is amazing. Then, I discovered that there were a lot of travel delays which is why I was one of the first in my cabin.

Once the welcome ceremony started the work and excitement began. We learned about our weekly schedule, jobs and how they played a key role in the mission, and about the devotional books we received at checkin.

This summer we have a very unique schedule that has become very familiar over the past few weeks. Every day except Sunday we have to be up at 6am for breakfast and our John Devo’s to go through in the life group that I mentioned earlier. Then after breakfast everyone goes to work or starts looking for work. Monday night after dinner we go to our life group meeting to go through the next study James. On Tuesday, we have reflection night where we get by ourselves individually and be alone with God for two hours. Cru staff is off on Wednesday so Wednesday night is a free night to do what we want. Thursday, we go to a local church and have what we call teaching night. Friday, we have a practice teaching night based off the lesson we learned on Thursday. Saturday, is family night where the entire camp participants in an activity together. Sunday, after church we go out into the Tahoe community and talk to people about the Gospel.

Since I got here on a Thursday I will structure this blog where each week is Thursday to Wednesday so that I can describe things to you as I have experienced them. So the first night when I arrived the first event was orientation and dinner. It was hosted on the picnic tables behind my cabin.

At this time my chair was low on battery since going through the airport and exploring the camp upon arrival. I was able to leave my chair in the cabin because it is a very short walk from the cabin to the outside dinning area. There we learned about everything that I have listed earlier regarding the schedule and some rules that I will not list in this post. From orientation we went right into dinner. Right away God blessed me with connections to assist me with things that I can’t do on my own, such as get my dinner plate. I have been very blessed to have a community of people that I haven’t known very long help me so well. Dinner was a taco bar. It was very good and we were very excited to eat.

After dinner that night we broke off into our small groups and started going over what we called the six h’s. The six H’s stand Heritage, High Times, Hand of God, Hard Times, Heroes, and How Are You Doing. We went through all these as a group and it really made me look at myself and I started to discover changes that I would like to make in myself as I go through this mission.

Heritage

For heritage I explaining that my immediate family didn’t go church when I was growing up. I came to Christ when I began going to church with my uncle and then accepting Christ when I started going to private school during my middle school years.

One day I was at my uncles house hanging out playing games with my cousins while my brother and parents were at my brother’s football game. It came time for me to go home and I honestly was having too much fun that I did not want to leave. So I asked if I could stay the night and my uncle said yes, but I had to go to church with them before I was allowed to go home the next day. Little did I know that going to church with my uncle and cousins would start me on a faith journey that I would change my life forever.

When it comes to my schooling we have to look back at my elementary school experience before introducing my private middle school. You see when I was in elementary school there was a standardized test called the FCAT. I got good grades all year but when it came time to take the FCAT I would get so nervous I would not do well on the test. When I didn’t do well on the test my school would want to hold me back. Well I was in fifth grade expecting to go into sixth and my school wanted to hold me back again. Getting that news my parents were really upset for me and began doing some research into other schools.

At the time I was playing baseball and one my friends’ mom told my parents about the school that my friend went to. It was a private school for people with disabilities and people who struggle with standardized testing. It seemed like the perfect fit for me so my parents enrolled me away as a sixth grader.

While attending that school I began be intro more to the Bible and the story of Jesus. A year into attending the school it got moved into a church in our county. That is where this idea of Jesus slowly began to become real for me. As we were being incorporated into this church us in the middle school and high school grades started becoming the youth ministry of the church. It was there that this idea of Jesus became very real and one night during a youth event with another church I accepted Jesus Christ as my lord and savior.

High Times & Hand of God

For my high times I explained to the members of the group that me being here in Lake Tahoe was a very high point for me. I have been following God for a very long time and what he did to get me here was nothing short of amazing as I explained earlier I had cancelled this trip but God didn’t and I am so glad he didn’t because as you will soon find out he has taught me a lot about him and myself.

Hard Times

I’ll be perfectly honest with you my hard times was honestly being here for the first few weeks because days before coming here my grandpa had just passed. I was really struggling with not being home during the morning process with my family. Then, I found out that I wouldn’t be able to attend the service because they were having it at exactly the halfway point of my trip. So that was honestly really hard for me to process at first.

Heroes

I have many heroes in my life, but if I had to pick one besides Jesus it would have to be my father. I have seen my dad get knocked down and get right back up more times then I can count. I honestly don’t know what my father’s relationship to Jesus is but I want to learn more about him and that relationship when I return home. My dad has taught me not to ever give up no matter what life throws your way. Ironically, I now see the Holy Spirit being my guide during the difficult times. Had my dad never taught me how to stay strong I don’t know that I would be able to accept the idea of the Holy Spirit being in my life and guiding me.

How are you doing?

If you asked me at the beginning of this trip I would say I was struggling because I was away from home, my family, and friends as I was still processing my grandpa’s passing. However, now I am happy and getting more free and growing in my walk with Jesus.

Week 1 Continued

After we discussed the six H’s with our groups we were free to do anything that we wanted. The only rules that we were given were quiet hours on camp started at 10pm and continued to 6am to respect the neighborhood around us here at the camp. Since it had been a long day of traveling I decided to head to bed and get some rest beca the following day I was going to drive around town with my new roommate and begin my job search.

Week 1 Day 2

After breakfast I went out with one of my roommates to begin the job search. The first stop we tried was the movie theater, however, they were not opened when we arrived and we had about 1 hour before they would open/begin the open interviews that the camp leaders told us about. Since it was an out door mall we decided to walk around and see what other opportunities maybe in the area. The next stop was a target right across the street from the movie theater. We waited a while for the manager at target told me that I needed to apply online but they had a possible opportunity that could meet the requirements of getting a job from the guidelines of the mission trip. By the time we were done at target it was time to check in with the movie theater. On the way to the movie theater and I got a message from one of the directors of our camp.

The message said, “Hey Justin I just got the list of people that were hired on at McDonalds and you are on that list.”

I was in shock because I had applied but my interview wasn’t supposed to be until that following Monday. Right away I praised the lord and started heading back because my roommate already had a job.

Why we need a Job on mission?

At this point you may be saying to me, “Justin you are on a summer mission, why are you looking for a job.”

That is a very valid question and the answer is simple. We are here to evangelize to the people here in Lake Tahoe and part of that is learning how to share your faith within the work place. So we get jobs within the community to share the love of Jesus with our co-workers by inviting them to dinner and other events throughout the summer to share the love and tell them about Jesus.

Week 1 Day 2 Contin.

After getting backs from the mall we hung out in our room for a little bit and talked until it was time for dinner.

At dinner we had another form of taco and got ready for another night of teaching. Since the lessons on Friday’s are usually a practical lesson to what we have on Thursdays we just had part 2 of the orientation. Which went more in depth as tools and resources we have access to during the mission. We also learned about the rules regarding curfew as well as locking up bikes and trash cans throughout the camp ground. If you’ve never been to Lake Tahoe you may be asking why we need to lock up the trash.

There is a bunch a wild life that live around the camp. The main concern is bears. If we don’t lock up our trash and food bears would start coming into the camp and eat everything then they would keep coming back and use our camp as a main source for food. Therefore, we lock up trash and food to prevent that from happening.

After the orientation I was really tired because my body was not yet adjusted to the pacific time zone. The orientation ended around 9pm which for my body at the time felt like midnight which usually about the time that I’m saying goodnight to my friends and laying down for bed. That being said, I laid down and went to sleep because I knew I had to be up at 6 AM the next morning.

Week 1 Day 3

We woke up and had breakfast and headed back to the local church to continue orientation. Since this was a Saturday and we were going sharing the next day after church we went through the training on how we were going to share on the beaches throughout the summer. As well as, the stats we were going to use throughout the summer to keep track of how many conversations we have as well as how many people commit their lives to Christ.

Steps/Stats for the mission

Initiate

This step is how many people allow you to have a conversation. The way we initiate conversation is by walking up to someone and saying, “Hello, my name is Justin this is my friend [insert friends name here], we are here for the summer with a Christian organization called Cru. We are walking around trying to get an idea on what people’s thoughts are on God and spiritual things. May we ask you a few questions?” If they say yes that’s an initiated conversation.

Spiritual Conversations

Once the conversation gets going and the person starts talking about their beliefs that goes down in the books as having a spiritual conversation.

Gospel Presentation

From the spiritual conversation we try and lead it to the gospel message. Here we are trying to to gage if the person has ever heard the true gospel message that Jesus is Lord, he came down to earth, died on the cross for our sins, and was raised to life again. Finally, because of that we are able to have a relationship with God the father and when we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior he then sends the Holy Spirit to live within us forever. If we get to this point and they haven’t heard this message before it will lead us to the last statistic and portion of the conversation.

Christ Acceptance

If they have not heard this before we give them the opportunity to accept Jesus into their life, but we have to be ok with them saying no.

Successful Evangelism

We have a saying here on the Camp is, “Successful evangelism is being bold enough to have the conversation and leaving the results to God”.

Week 1 Day 3 (Contin.)

After orientation was over we went off into groups and got dinner together because Saturday’s we are not provided with dinner therefore we have to go get our own dinner. I think the group I was with decided to go get dinner at a local pizza restaurant which reminded me of a restaurant by my house called pizza Gallery. We got a cheese pizza to share among the group. After we ate we had to head to camp for what we call family night.

What is Family Night?

Family night is where the entire camp gathers together for the night and participate in a big group activity planned by the leaders.

This first family night was really fun in my opinion. The staff and leaders wore disguises and where in the public outdoor mall and we students had to find them. when we found them or think we found them the group we were in had to walk up to them pick our heads up, look at the sky and say, “Do we have any bats in the cave?” And if it was a staff member they would reply, “yes, do you want me to pick it for you?” Then they would sign our paper for our points.

I enjoyed my team that night we did really well and had a lot of fun. To me I felt like I was on an episode of the amazing race. The general public had no idea what we were doing and it was funny when we had to explain what we were doing there. Overall, think my team took third or fourth place and we had a great time. After it was over we came back to camp hung out for a little while and talked to the other teams to see what their strategy was and how well it worked out. After a couple of.hours I went to bed because we had to be up for church that next day.

Week 1 Day 4

This is the first Sunday of the summer. So on this day we got to see and attend the churches we would be attending over the summer. The church that I was assigned is called Mountain House church. Getting a ride to the church took me a while to figure out, but I ended up getting a ride with an awesome group of people that I have learned to grow a bond with.

Upon arriving at the church it was a very unique feeling. The church looks like a big log cabin from the outside and had a very unique feeling on the inside. The sanctuary is located on the second floor of the church, so I had to take the wheelchair lift to the next floor. I really like the wheelchair lift better than the elevator because it’s more open.

Arriving in the sanctuary the church was already in the middle of worship. Grabbing our seats my group and I dove right into worship. What is unique about this church is that worship is 45 minutes followed by an hour long message. Since I’m not used to having a worship set being that long I had to set down halfway through the set. But then, it was soon time for the message.

The church was just starting a series diving into the book a Luke. Since it was the first week of the series was in the first chapter of Luke. If you have never read the book of Luke the first chapter talks about John the Baptist. The pastor focused on how even in the womb John the Baptist knew that he was to prepare the way for Jesus. I got a lot of key points from the message that day.

The main point I got from the message is the amount of faith that John had in Jesus even before he was even birth. By this point I was honestly feeling homesick and missing my church family that I left behind in Florida and really feeling like I was wanting to be home. This message gave me some encouragement to have faith and to trust that God is going to really work on my heart this summer and he will not leave me just because he got me here. So, even though I was sad and missing home God was with me and he was going to fulfill is promise to me that he was going to give me my purpose. So I was comforted by this message. It was ok that I was missing my friends and family back home, but God is going to work on me so that I can better serve them when I return home at the end of the summer.

We were not prepared for a two hour service so after church my group and I decided to go get a quick bite to eat at McDonald’s because we needed to be back at camp by 1pm to go out sharing with the rest of the camp. We ate and made it back to camp just in time. The way sharing works is that we stick with our life groups that we do our morning devotionals with. We were assigned to go to a local park for this first time.

I paired with one of the guys from my life group as well as a girl from one of the lady groups. Having a girl and guy helps because we are able to approach more people than if it was just two guys. We had a few very good conversations with people at this park. The most memorable for me and it was with a couple that was visiting from India. It was memorable because you could tell that they never had their own faith. They only believed what they believed because of how they were raised and the culture in India. As we were sharing what we believe in terms of the Gospel, I could see that something we were saying touched the husband because the more shared you could tell that a seed was being planted in his heart. They didn’t end up accepting Christ, but my prayer is that he is seeking God and the seed we planted is still growing in his heart.

After sharing we headed back to camp where we reflect on what happened as a camp, share about the stories we heard with each other, and enter the stats described earlier into the system we use.

After dinner and sharing I made my way to bed because I needed to relax being in the sun made me really tired and I knew I had to be up early to start devotions.

Week 1 Day 5

We all woke up around 6 am to have breakfast and start our morning devotionals. For our morning devotions this summer we are going through the book of John. We are using the inductive Bible study method called OITA. It stands for Observation Interpretation transformation application. Learning this study took some time for me to get used to using it in the correct way. I tend to get the transformation and application mixed up which I’m glad I have a group of people to work help me through it gracefully. Anyway, we went over John 1 during this first morning of devotional time.

In John 1 and in that chapter it focuses on John the Baptist and how he pointed everything he did to Jesus. It’s amazing how God used John to pave the way for Jesus. It just reminded me how God has a plan for my life. If I am being completely honest, I was already feeling very homesick and was wondering if I made a mistake coming on this trip. Reading this passage reminded me that God does have a plan for my life. It reassured me that God has had me here in Lake Tahoe for a reason and God would soon reveal that to me. I just had to stay steadfast to him and he would get me through the difficult times and he will give me the reason for being here as I move forward. As I move forward you’ll soon see that he does not disappoint.

After Devo’s it was time to get ready to go to McDonalds for the first day of training. I was excited because I had all the paperwork done all I needed was to start my training. I am glad that U completed the forms before going in on the first day because I was able to get started on the training videos right away. After 6 hours of training videos I was ready to get scheduled to work my first shift. It took a while which you learn more during my next post.

After work my friends and I had just enough time to get back to camp, change, and get to dinner. After dinner it was time to meet with our life groups and continue going over our six h’s. Since I already shared my six H’s above I won’t bore you with sharing them here. After the group was over a group of us hung out and it was then when I started bonding with and getting to make friends with the other people at camp. I remember going to bed around 10pm as I was getting used to the time change.

Week 1 Day 6

Getting up at 6 am again we dove right into John 2. I was beside myself because reading that passage made me realize the lack of trust I had in God. It made me realize that I went to my family and friends for things that I need to turn to God first for. It’s not bad that I went to my friends, but I need to go to God first and a lot of the time God will help me work through it before ever needing to go to my friends. As I reflected on it throughout the day I was brought to tears because the Lord was comforting me even though I felt convicted. Luckily, that night after dinner was reflection night so I got to sit with God and work through what I was feeling based off what I discovered that morning. I was brought to tears again because I felt God’s overwhelming presence and comfort in that moment. I felt him tell me it’s ok and this is why he brought me to Tahoe and I was going to get tools to get closer and rely more on him. Boy, I sat there in tears for a few minutes just sitting in the Lord’s love and comfort. It had been a long time since I felt the Lord in such a big way like that. After reflection night I was drained, I went to bed in awe of the Lord.

Week 1 Day 7

During Devo’s we read John 2. My group and I talked about the Pharisees and how they were so focused on the law they are missing the God of universe is right in front of them. We also talked about how Jesus always answered questions in parables which made the answer less clear. It made me realize that God wants to help me with everything if I would just go to him and believe that he can fix it if I would just turn to him. Again, I was brought to tears because I felt like I was failing God, but again he brought me comfort. I felt overwhelmed because I was only here a week and God was already breaking down walls I didn’t know I had.

After that day, I just wanted to dive deeper. We learned Wednesday nights we are free to do whatever we want, so a group of us went and saw how to train your dragon and it was a good time to bond with these people I was starting to build relationships with. I was amazed how they knew when I needed help and began Including me in as much as possible all within a few days of meeting me.

Closing

Well, that was my first week in Lake Tahoe. Very powerful, sorry I’m getting this out so late, but I’m looking forward to updating you these next few weeks because powerful things are coming. Thank you for support talk to you soon.
Second Week in Lake Tahoe

November 4, 2025

Week 2 Day 1

We woke up at 6 a.m. like normal and continued our devotions in the book of John. On this day, we went through the second chapter of John. Chapter 2 talks about the story of Jesus turning water into wine at the wedding He was attending. This spoke to me on a personal level.

I found it interesting that Mary had to convince Jesus to perform the miracle. Jesus told Mary that it was not His time. He did it anyway because he respected Mary as his mother and wanted to honor her faith in Him. This really hit me because it made me realize that God’s timing is and should be the most important thing in my life. It also made me realize that I did not have a job because it freed me up to be on this trip. There was a reason that He wanted me in Lake Tahoe. At this point in my trip, I did not quite know what that reason was—I just knew that it would be super important in my walk with Him.
After devotionals, I had to head to my second shift at McDonald’s. This is where we got to put the training we learned on the first day into practice. When I got to work, the manager put my friend that I traveled with and I together. Our main job was to keep the lobby clean and keep waiting on the customers. When the store was busy, it was great. I got to refill drinks for people, put the dirty trays in the back of the store to get washed, and keep tables clean as customers left. It was when there were no people in the dining room that the job was boring because you are just standing around waiting for someone to come into the dining room. After my required ten-minute break, my manager sent me to the drive-through to be trained in that area. I really liked the drive-thru because you had the opportunity to talk to the customers as you were waiting for their food to come out of the kitchen.
From that point forward, I could see myself working the drive-thru for the rest of the summer and beyond because it did not require me to move around the store a whole lot and I was getting good at it. My manager even liked the way I handled the window because he kept me there for the rest of the shift. In fact, my friend that drove me to work that day stayed with me as well, and we were there until 5:00 pm that day, which only gave us forty-five minutes to get back to camp, change, and be at dinner on time.

At dinner, we heard a couple more testimonies and ate this hamburger salad thing. I was on cloud nine because it looked like I would be working the window for the rest of the summer. I got to share my excitement with all my new friends and the directors because I was going to have a great summer working with my new friends serving the Lake Tahoe community.

After dinner, we had teaching night. For teaching night, we had a more in-depth study on sharing our faith. Plus, we got to know our directors and leaders a little better because each of them shared their journey with CRU and why they were with us in Lake Tahoe over the summer. I really enjoyed this teaching night because it taught me a lot about CRU as an organization. I am really praying on joining CRU staff one day because I think it would be an amazing opportunity to be able to serve Jesus as a full-time career and travel the world.

After teaching night, my roommate, a few guys, and I decided to take the 45-minute drive to Carson City to get the famous In-N-Out Burger. Those of us who had been to In-N-Out be very excited, especially to be able to go with people who had never been before. I had a fun time because like twenty of us took this trip and we really had a good time getting to know each other on a deeper level. What made this fun is we all ordered the same meal and enjoyed it together. Afterwards, we all went to bed to prepare for the next day.

Week 2 Day 2

We woke and dove into John chapter 3. We read verses 1 through 21. This passage talks about Jesus giving Nicodemus a homie talks on the mountaintop about being born in the spirit. You can tell in this passage of scripture that Nicodemus was trying to understand what Jesus was telling him; he just was not in the right headspace or heart space to understand. It really had me thinking because how often do I pray and ask God for something and He answers me, and I do not hear it because I am not looking in the correct place for the answer? Then, I keep asking when He has already given me my answer.

This devotion made me really think that I need to be more intentional about getting into His word and having quality time with Him daily. As I reflected in this moment, it also made me realize that God was not allowing me to get a job because He wanted me to be on this trip. He was teaching me then and is still teaching me today that I need to make Him my sole source of comfort and satisfaction. Being on this trip was forcing me to fully trust Him for guidance and comfort. It was at this point where I really started diving into scripture and began adjusting my heart to make God number one in my heart and making Him more of a priority in my daily life. This devotion not only opened my eyes to things I need to work on, but it also encouraged me to make changes to my life.

After devotionals, I went back to sleep until 10 because I knew that most businesses in that area didn’t open until at least 9:30. A group of us went out job hunting together because some people were also leaving McDonald’s because they were not getting the hours that they were promised. So, we went to different places around camp to see if anybody was still hiring for the summer. The struggle was that most everybody wants you to apply online these days and we did not have the best internet connection on camp. I decided to go to a local coffee shop that was within walking distance of camp to get these applications filled out. Then something powerful happened that changed my perspective on where my focus needed to be for the rest of the trip.

I was on the phone with my best friend, and this phone call was a divine intervention because it was one of the most powerful conversations I have ever had. My friend got a message from God for him and I. Basically; he said that God wants me to make Him more of a priority in my life and depend less on my friends that I should be seeking God for. He also stated that God does not want me working because God needed me to make Him and my relationship with Him more of a priority because I need to depend on Him for every area of my life. God said that He wants to bless me with everything that I have been praying for, but I need to make Him more of a priority and trust Him with what I have now so that I can be trusted with more. God has been preparing me for my purpose—I just need to be more focused and do the things He is asking me to do.

This conversation had me floored and I had to take some time to process it. I felt really honored that God would give me a message through my very best friend. It hit me hard because it spoke to everything I was feeling during this time. So, I hung up the phone and went on a prayer walk to process what I had just heard from the Lord. This prayer walk involved me asking God what this will look like for me, especially when I get home. God told me not to worry about when I get home and to just focus on being present in Lake Tahoe.

It was soon time for dinner, and I was ready to start getting to know my new friends in Lake Tahoe. During dinner, we got to hear a couple powerful testimonies from some of the CRU student staff. During dinner every night, we got to hear testimonies from fellow students, and it was powerful and really cool. It brought us closer together and grew our bond because we got to hear each other’s stories and things we had to overcome to get to where we are today. One cool thing was the life group leader of the last person who gave the testimony prayed over the people who gave testimonies and the meal we were about to enjoy.

After dinner, we had another practical training session on sharing the gospel with people with other types of religious backgrounds. We had an opportunity to break off into groups and practice sharing the gospel with this new resource we had been given known as the KGP. It is a little booklet that explains the need for a savior and how we cannot rely on ourselves to run our own lives. It explains that we need Jesus and giving Him authority of our lives gives us a lot more peace and freedom.
I never really had the opportunity to use the KGP because it was best used if someone felt the need to always be in control. I felt that if it were outside that use case, the points would not hit as hard, and the person might not understand or relate to the message as deeply.

Week 2 Day 3

This was a Saturday and since most of my small group was off work, we did not have to wake up until 7:30 AM. Honestly, it was very nice to sleep for an extra hour and a half. That day for devotions, we dove into John 3:22-36. This passage of scripture really hit home for me because I finally was really discovering why the Lord wanted me to be on this trip.

You see, in this passage it talks about how John the Baptist was pointing people to Jesus. He was giving God the Father and Jesus credit and worship. To me, he was saying the same thing throughout this chapter as he had been throughout his ministry, which is, “I am preparing a way for the true Messiah and everything I am doing is preparing a path for His ministry.” Every chance he got, he would point directly to Jesus. Which got me thinking about my life and my walk with the Lord.

The way that John the Baptist dedicated everything he did to the Lord and preparing a way to His ministry made me realize how much I take credit for things that God has empowered me to do. God brought me on this trip to get my attention and to get me to realize that I need to start acknowledging the work that God has empowered me to do. He wants me to work in a way that everything I do reflects Him and the things He is doing in my life. This really made me reflect and realize that even though I was not acknowledging Him like I should, He was still providing for me. This made me realize too that I was not giving God my career. My mind was saying God, you have my entire future in Your hands, but my heart was not.

For so long, I was working so hard at trying to find work, managing my schedule, and managing my finances. I was neglecting to consult God in any of it. Do not get me wrong, having a career and budgeting are great things to do, but none of it will work out completely if you do not include God in the planning and implementation of that plan. He wants to be a part of the entire process, not just at the end when it fails or when things are hard. We need to include Him in the entire process, so that He can get glory and the credit. Being His child means looking to Him for everything, not just the major stuff. It was so freeing to know that He brought me all the way to Tahoe to help me learn how to seek and depend on Him with everything I do.
After devotionals, I honestly took a two-hour nap because I was tired from being up late the previous few nights as I was hanging with my new friends. After my nap, I went with my roommate to grab some food and head over to the laundromat to get our clothes washed, which was a very eye-opening experience for me.
First, the idea of having to go to a laundromat made me appreciate the fact that I have a washer and dryer in my house here in Florida. Secondly, the cost of doing laundry was like $10 per week depending on where you went and how many times you had to dry your clothes. There were also a few positives that came out of having to go to the laundromat.

Going to the laundromat forced me to slow down and take a break. You see, there is a rule at laundromats that says not to leave your clothes unattended. Leaving clothes unattended gives the people who work their permission to take their clothes out of a washer or dryer and put them anywhere. So, I used my laundry time reading and catching up with my family and friends back home. If I went with people, I tried to take the time to get to know them and their stories. Since I went with my roommate, I decided to focus on getting to know him.

Over the time that I got to spend with my roommate, it was very cool to get to know him. I found out that he is a math major seeking to be a professor, which was cool to learn because I would have never guessed that he would be a math major because he is really into drawing and art. At this moment, I realized that not only do I need to get better at communicating with God, but I need to learn how to get myself out there and be more sociable, getting to know people around me. I tend to only socialize with just the group of people that I spend time with. It really got me thinking about how I can work on getting myself out there.

After we were done washing our clothes, we made it back to camp just in time for dinner. We ate dinner at a local restaurant because on Saturdays the camp did not provide dinner. At 7 PM, we had another family night, but this was one of, if not the, most powerful night of the trip.

For this family night, the men and the women separated and went to two different churches in the local area and had a night of confession with each other. The men went to the local Lutheran church, and I honestly do not know where the women went. Anyway, it was so powerful because you were able to see people breaking away from things that kept them captive for so long.

How this worked was when a guy stood up in front of the room and confessed the things that they needed to confess. Then, a small group of men went to a different part of the room and prayed over him. It was so powerful because you could really feel the Holy Spirit in the room. I am not going to share anything that was shared because it was a sacred place and everything that was shared there was meant to stay in that room. Leaving that night, there was such a tight bond that grew between us that night and we started really talking and supporting each other from that point forward.

After we got back, I stayed in my cabin, put my clothes away, and rested. I was tired because my body was still getting used to the schedule. Since I had not worked for a period at this point, I was not used to having my entire day planned out. Plus, I knew that we had church and sharing the next day that I needed to be rested for.

Week 2 Day 4

This was a Sunday, so we got to sleep in a little bit because we did not have to be at church until 10 AM. I rode with the same group that I rode with the first week. As we were still getting used to the schedule, my car was still late. God was using this to teach me not to let little things bother me. Though it was hard, with His strength I soon learned how to let stuff like this go. I was there worshipping Him and getting to hear a great message.

It was only the second week, but I was already starting to build a connection with this church. For this message, we continued going through the first chapter of Luke. This time, the pastor focused on the contrast between Zechariah’s and Mary’s response to the messages from God delivered to them via Gabriel. Which was interesting and made me reflect on the ways that I respond to God. As the message went on, the more I realized it is all about the heart posture on how we receive these messages.

You see, Zechariah focused so much on the logical and physical possibilities that he was forgetting that God works way outside our understanding. But as he began to see that it was coming true, his faith got stronger, which is why he named John as Gabriel instructed. At least that is what I am choosing to believe. Someone please correct me if I am wrong. Had Zechariah chosen a different name, who knows if he would have ever been able to speak again. That reminds me of many times God must make things so obvious in my life that I have no choice but to believe and recognize that God is working in my situation.

When it came to Mary, she just responded with faith. She just trusted the words that Gabriel spoke over her life and submitted herself to God’s will. This is something that I strive to do, but I do not always do. Too many times, in my walk, I focus on what is physically possible versus what is possible through God if I just let Him work in my life. This was a hard lesson for me to learn while I was away, but the beautiful thing was when I started surrendering things to Him, the more free my mind became to focus on the things that He has put in front of me each day. Mary’s response made me realize that if I give everything to Him and follow His guidance, I will have less to think about because He has all the details planned out for me already.

After that amazing message, we headed back to camp to prepare to go sharing. On the way back, we stopped at McDonald’s for a quick lunch because we did not have much time to eat before we had to be back at camp to go sharing.

Back at camp, we got our assigned locations to go sharing. That week was unique because it was raining at some of the locations we would normally go to, so some of the groups went to locations while others shared digitally, then we switched halfway through. For the first half, my group was assigned to the outdoor mall. I do not think we had any in-depth conversations due to the limited time we had on site. One lesson we learned is how to communicate if more than one group approaches someone who is not interested in talking so that we are not upsetting anyone too much.
Then when we transferred to digital outreach, something powerful took place that I will get to share in a future update. However, seeds were planted that day because since that day I have had conversations with people I have known for years, and I truly got to know something about them and get to know them on a truly deeper level. Anyway, for this digital outreach, we texted people in our contacts asking them about their perspective on spiritual things. Some people responded immediately while others took a couple of weeks to respond. Either way, great things came out of it that I am looking forward to sharing in a future post.

After sharing that day, we got into a time of reflection as a camp during this time. We got the opportunity to share with the camp conversations we had either in person or in a digital format. This was honestly my favorite part of the week because I got to hear all about the lives being changed for God that I got to be a part of. I think that time I shared about this couple I met at the outdoor mall, and they were nice. The lady was a Christ follower, and the man was not. We had the opportunity to answer some of his questions to get him that much closer to Jesus. The cool thing was at the end of the conversation; they told us that they only agreed to have a conversation with us because I looked like and reminded them of someone in their lives. It just shows that God will plant a seed using just something as small as the way you present yourself to that person. I felt humbled that God just used the way He created me to have a conversation with those people.

After everyone shared stories, we went straight into dinner. On Sundays, the directors of our camp barbequed hamburgers and hot dogs for us. I usually had cheeseburgers because I am honestly not a huge fan of hot dogs.

After dinner, I believe we all just rested because a lot of us had to work the next day. I updated my friends back home on my week and what God was teaching me over the past week, even though it was hard to talk on the phone due to the lack of signal. It was hard not having my friends with me to share the incredible things that God was doing in and through me in Lake Tahoe, but I knew God was using this trip to bring me closer to Him. I was starting to become my own person and grow my faith in the Lord. I am honestly a little sad that it has taken me this long to learn the lessons that God was teaching during that time.

Week 2 Day 5

This is the day where things changed for me and God began getting me to realign my focus on Him and not put so much effort on my circumstances. From that day on, my bond and attention to God have really gotten stronger. Keep in mind I am still a work in progress, but this day has been a key component in my walk with Him.

Anyway, it started out as a normal Monday. I woke up, had breakfast and devotional time with my life group, and got ready for work. That morning, we read John 4:1-26 and this is the story of the woman at the well. This day it spoke to me differently than it had before because I was really starting to really grow in my faith.

You see, I would argue that this woman had more faith and boldness than a lot of us have. She heard everything that Jesus had to say and went and told everyone she knew the great news that Jesus shared with her. My group and I discussed how we could use this story to help us as we shared that same good news as we share with people in the Lake Tahoe community. It gave me some motivation to share with people beyond our sharing time.

After breakfast, I got dressed and took my chair to start my next shift at McDonald’s. When I got there and clocked in, my manager put me at the window for breakfast and the beginning of lunch. If I am honest, the breakfast window was very slow and a little boring because there was a big gap between waiting for customers in between orders. Since a lot of people at my camp worked at McDonald’s, I had a good opportunity to talk with my co-missionaries, hear their stories, and I really enjoyed it. My first break seemed like it came quick.

After taking my first ten-minute break, the manager moved me back into the lobby. As mentioned before, the lobby tended to be boring because not a lot of people sit and eat too much. I was getting ready to go on my lunch break and my manager sent me home because there were too many people scheduled to work that day. So, I grabbed food for my lunch, ate, and made my way back to camp.
When I got back to camp, I changed out of my uniform and laid down to take a nap. However, as soon as I got comfortable, I received a text from my life group leader asking me to meet with him and a couple of the directors from the camp. I had a feeling the news that I was about to receive was not going to be great. I got up, put my shoes on, and made my way back to the picnic tables where we had all our meals.

Upon arriving at the picnic table where they were sitting, I knew that whatever this was about, it was not good. As I sat down and greeted everyone, they gave the table to the director in charge of getting us jobs. Fighting back his tears, he informed me that my manager at McDonald’s reached out to him informing him that they were having trouble accommodating me, so they were letting me go and terminating my position.

Getting this news, I was in shock, but still calm, as though at the back of my head I knew it was coming. The Lord blessed me with peace and understanding. The only thing that upset me a little is that my manager did not tell me directly. He went through the camp. Otherwise, I think the people around me were more upset about the situation than I was. After the meeting, I called my parents and best friends about what had occurred. By the time I finished updating them, it was time for dinner.
At dinner, we heard a few other testimonies and ate. Then we also had our life group meeting that night as well. We had a great conversation in our life groups about going through difficult situations. Between that and a conversation I had with my best friend, I realized that God did not want me to work so that I could focus on growing deeper with the Lord and my trust in Him. Which honestly is a theme in my life lately: growing in faith and trusting that God will have it under control.
Getting back from life group, I was tired, so I made my way to bed.

Week 2 Day 6

As a normal day, we woke up at 6 AM for our morning devotional time. Today we continued through John four. We read verses 27 through 42. This passage continues the story of the woman at the well. It shows everyone that she shared with who came to meet Jesus for themselves. The passage also talks about Jesus showing the disciples that He relies on the Father for everything He needs to fulfill the will of the Father.

This devotion had not one but two powerful messages. The first message centered around the actions of the woman at the well. Instead of letting Jesus share the gospel with her and go about her day, she took the best news she received in her entire life and ran to tell everyone that would listen to her. The best part of that story is that those people that heard her story saw Jesus for themselves. Which made me really reflect on how important it was that we were in Lake Tahoe. Also, how I should be sharing Jesus everywhere I go no matter where I am. As Christians, we have the greatest news in the entire universe and we need to be bold for Jesus and share it with anyone and everyone because you never know who God will put in your path for you to give them the good news.

The second lesson I got out of this was that God needs to be my provider in everything. I need to start seeking Him for all my needs, big and small. It is almost freeing when you have that realization because your mindset goes from “I need to [do something] in order to [achieve] x, y, and z,” to “Ok God, you know my needs. What do You want me to focus on today?” He will guide you and you will be filled in a way that I cannot understand. It really frees you from a lot of stress because you know that He has it under control. Please, if you are reading this and would like to dive deeper into this lesson, please email me or comment below and I would be happy to dedicate a post to this. I just do not have time to post this already long post.

After devotion, I went out with one of my friends to start looking for another summer job. She was very kind and drove me everywhere to see if anyone was still looking for summer help. The issue was that most places nowadays really want you to apply online, but we did not have the best connection back at the campsite where I could fill out applications without having to repeat the process a dozen times before submitting the applications. However, I did have one place at the outdoor mall to give me a paper application.

Dinner came quickly that night. As usual, we got to hear more amazing testimonies from the people with which I was camping. At this point, it made me realize how long but powerful my own testimony was, and I was getting very excited to share it.

After dinner, we had our second reflection night. This one was powerful for me because I read the Psalms and I really felt God talk to me and confirm everything my best friend shared with me the day before. I remember sitting at the table with my journal and my Bible just weeping as the Lord was talking to me. He was saying, “Let it all go. I want it.” He was saying, “Justin, I want to bless you in a powerful way. I just need you to focus on Me and put your full trust in Me and I will take care of the rest.” I remember feeling this overwhelming peace that I cannot describe. All I can say is from that moment on, my walk has gotten closer with the Lord, and I do not stress as much as I used to. I am still working in progress, but I feel Him more than I ever have.

I went for a long walk after, just praising and talking to Him. Then I remember laying down after because I was exhausted.

Week 2 Day 7

For devotionals, we read John 4:43-57 where Jesus heals the boy without being with the boy. This taught me that Jesus heals even with the tiniest bit of faith. A lot of times people come up to me asking to pray for me and a lot of times it is on the topic of healing. While I do appreciate it, I do believe that Jesus healed me already and continues to do so every day. You will see that as you read my testimony on my About Me page. Healing has always been a big topic of my faith walk, but I do believe I am healed and yet He is still working on me.

After devotional time, I took a nap while I waited for stores to open. I decided to walk to the coffee shop and apply for jobs. As I was applying for jobs, I also got the courage to start writing this blog. This was when I discovered that I really enjoy writing. So, the birth of the blog came.

I got back to camp just in time for dinner, which we had pasta that night. After dinner, since it was a free night, we watched Lord of the Rings part one and went to bed.

That wraps up in week two. I hope you guys enjoyed it! Thank you for your support, you next time!