Week Five and the Summer is Rolling

It is incredible how fast this summer has been flying by. I started my fifth week of work on Monday and the week is almost over. The majority of the other interns only have another 4 or 5 weeks because they start school in August. Myself and two other interns will be staying on until later on in the Fall. Right now I feel blessed to be staying on longer because I am not ready to pack up and head home yet.

One of the greatest aspects of working at HOPE has been the amount of responsibility that they give the interns. I am treated as if I am a normal member of the staff and am expected to give my opinion in meetings. Each week, the founder of HOPE/my boss and I take a potential donor out to lunch to talk about HOPE. These are people that have established relationships with Jeff already. Before my first lunch, I was afraid that I would just be the intern sitting off to the side, but that isn't the case. Jeff and I take turns talking about different aspects of HOPE and what we are asking of the potential donor. I have loved the opportunity to try and pump other people up on what HOPE does. Each lunch that I go to, I get a little more involved, confident, and excited for the opportunities in which the donor can help HOPE fight poverty around the world. That is one of the most rewarding pieces of my job. On my last lunch, we took out a huge national company who is interested in making HOPE their primary charity in Central Pennsylvania. The contact we met with wants me to spearhead this and talk with their marketing department in Philadelphia to see how we can make this happen. It is projects like this that have and will stretch me while I am working for HOPE this summer. These opportunities get my blood pumping and make work even more enjoyable.

This past 4th of July weekend was extremely tiring. Friday is our day off of work, but as soon as I got up, myself and another intern Mike helped a couple move into an apartment. They had just moved back from working for HOPE in Rwanda and are relocating to the headquarters in Lancaster. Later that evening, the other interns and I went downtown to get Mexican food (my first time since being in Lancaster). On the first Friday of every month, all the art galleries downtown are free. One of our friends from HOPE has a friend that owns a gallery and we went and visited his gallery. It was cool to see his art and how he runs his gallery. HOPE is having an art auction at one of the galleries so we also went to that preview. On Saturday, all the HOPE staff was invited to a 4th of July party at a HOPE donor's house. It was an insane party. There were a couple hundred people there, a pig roast, and one of the biggest fireworks shows I've ever seen. Apparently, people back East are more patriotic because they celebrate the 4th of July on the 5th of July too. We went to Longs Park to watch a fireworks show. They had civil war cannons that they shot as well as an Army orchestra that was performing. It was an awesome experience. There wasn't much down time over the weekend, but I am grateful for the opportunities to go out.

The first 5 weeks out here have been exciting. I truly have had answered prayer in many different areas. Coming out here from San Diego was a hard decision because of the strong relationships I had, awesome bible studies, and a church that I truly feel I can call my home. I kept wondering, why would I leave a place where I feel life is going well? I've prayed a lot about finding friends out here, finding bible studies, and not having to sit around on my butt wishing I was back in CA. We have 2 different bible studies at work that foster spiritual growth for me. I've lost count of the number of HOPE staff that have had myself and other interns over at their homes. Many of the younger HOPE staff hang out with us outside of work and plan events that we can do. The fellowship that I've had with HOPE/Keystone employees and people living with me at the Millersville International House has been such a blessing. I feel comfortable here and am very content living day by day. I am happy for the day that I've been given and am excited for what tomorrow will bring.

This verse constantly comes to the front of my mind...Psalms 118:24 - "This is the day that the Lord has made, Let us rejoice and be glad in it." This is my prayer!