Summer Project Update #2

So, a lot has happened between now and the last time you've heard from me. A lot of bad, some good. Last Sunday we went to the church we were assigned to. It's called Faith Community Church and is a very very small church that probably at best has a congregation of 40. It also has no air condition so when we went for the first time on the hottest day so far, it wasn't much fun. But the people are very loving and it's a really comforting environment to be in. They are even throwing us a cook out tomorrow afternoon. Also, every other week Crusade does worship for the church and I am the worship coordinator for it, so that's pretty cool, I guess I will get to sing after all. On Monday it was day one of working and let's just say it's pretty tough. I was outside working in the parking lot for 5.5 hours before I had a break and was pretty upset about it. But my boss, Jeff, is amazing and really looks out for me and is always asking me how I'm doing and will also sit with me on my breaks to let me talk and vent about stuff. He's fun to because he keeps betting all of us and we all keep losing so we buy him coffee like all the time. The job is hard and frustrating. Three of our members got promoted like right away to a supervisor position and I think that is just really hard for me to handle because they really didn't do anything more than anyone else and I feel now I can't see them as a friend. But it's alright, I didn't come here to have the perfect job. Monday night was kind of when things took a bad turn. Some of you may have received a text message from me about a teammate who was missing. His name was Jackson and he was one of the guys who went to the ER last week. Jackson still wasn't completely feeling well so he stayed at the house while we all went to our weekly meeting (why he was left alone I'm still not sure). When we returned later that night the house was unlocked and Jackson was missing. His stuff was still out in the house so I believe that he probably left in a hurry. Right away I had a feeling that something was wrong so me and two other friends went out looking for him. About half an hour later we found out that a search party had been issued and all students and staff were spread out on the beach looking for Jackson. That's when I knew things were getting serious and searched more desperately. We finally got a call at almost midnight that Jackson had been found. We found out that he had some mental problems that he didn't tell the staff prior to coming to project and that he has manic depression and one of the results from this problem for him in the past was alcohol. He went to a rehab back in the fall for it but his parents thought he was better and had high hopes for him this summer. He was found drunk and I think that someone had probably gone to the house and he went with them. I don't know for sure but all I know was that this really really made me upset and I have a lot of unanswered questions about it. His dad came home to get him and now he's back in Oklahoma. So please just pray for him, he's a great guy and I'm really sad I wasn't able to get to know him more.
The rest of the week has been ok. We met with our different teams throughout the week and continued to work. I've had some great conversations with people and they've helped me get through this whole Jackson thing. On Thursday night though, we had another big change. Jonathon Welch, who most of you may know, decided to go home, it just wasn't meant for him to be here. I knew this was coming because he told me but it was still hard for the guys he was discipling. Later that night we had women's time and it was amazing. We talked about emotions and how it's ok to have them. This was big for me because I base a lot of what I do on my feelings, it was nice to know I'm not the only one who feels and thinks certain ways. Today (Saturday) we did a staff scavenger hunt and that was incredibly fun yet stressful. I'm still struggling with finding my role on the community team but I'm sure God will show me what it is.
That's it for now. Sorry for it being so lengthy.
Prayer Requests:
Please pray for the health of myself (I've been sick for about a week) and the others here.
Pray that the jobs we are working at provide opportunities for us to have spiritual conversations.
Pray for Jackson and his family as he struggles with this situation and that I can still be a friend to him if he needs.