I came out of our staff training week feeling ready to go. I didn’t have that familiar overwhelming feeling of something new awaiting me, but I instead felt ready to put what I had learned into action.
DeEdra BranchI also felt the closest to my team of co-workers than ever before. I learned a lot about myself and about each of my team members, because we were open and honest about how we were doing and with simply who we are. I feel blessed to be in a work environment where I can be myself, fully, and know that I am receiving the same authenticity back, free of judgment.
During the training, God checked me on the status of my spiritual life. During the summer, I was not spending time with God. That was fact, and I just got into this routine of it. Robert Hooker said spending time with God is like “answering the call.” God calls us every day, he said. We see his name on the caller ID, and we make a choice—either willingly to ignore or willingly answer.
The truth hit me like bricks that I had been blatantly ignoring God’s calls, and it made me feel guilty. I made the choice to repent and to just start over. I did, and it’s been beautiful. Every day, as I eat breakfast, I spend time with God, reading his word, listening to his Spirit and praying for what God puts on my heart. This by no means indicates that I’ve found the “magic formula” or have finally got it right. But I’ve just heard God speak to me clearly, and I am praying everyday that I honor him by simply answering his call.
Welcome Weekend
So, welcome weekend was upon us—the weekend before classes that every organization prepares for, because it brings swarms of people out, especially freshmen. God placed it on my heart that he wanted me to form relationships with freshmen this year. So, I was excited for all the events we had coming up that would present such opportunities.
The weekend consisted of helping with dorm move-ins, serving food at one of the biggest parties in the park and hosting game nights. We met tons of people and made some good connections. Before we knew it, school had started, and we were going non-stop. Breakfast and prayer every morning for students, following up everyday with those we met previously and having a fellowship event every night.
In recent days, God taught me a lot about evangelism and constantly reminded me of the gospel. In the mornings, we went out in twos or threes, handing out breakfast bars to students and praying with them if they wanted it. And I realized what we were doing was a form of evangelism. Through this simple and practical act of kindness, I was able to pray with and for students and even have some spiritual conversations.
It isn’t about me
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I used to get super intimidated simply by the word “evangelism,” and there are still some nerves there, but God showed me I am fully capable of serving his people and doing his work and that it honestly isn’t about me. The best way I can love someone is to share the greatest love I’ve ever known. God showed me how powerful prayer is and how the Holy Spirit intercedes for us and leads us to places he already has prepared.
DeEdra Branch is serving with Go Now Missions as a campus missionary intern at the University of Houston.
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