Salutations from Colorado Springs!
A month has passed already since I arrived here in the Springs. The past few
weeks have been FULL of many new experiences and meeting/getting to know
the 53 other students and the staff. The first week was time for
orientation and that weekend we all went on a retreat up in the
mountains to Horn Creek where we spent time doing team-building
activities, playing games, and really just spending time getting to
know each other better.
Jan 25th we began our first week of classes. We have 4 classes and
they each meet one day a week. Our classes are: Christian Worldview
Studies on Mondays, Marriage & Family Studies on Tuesdays, Family,
Church, & Society on Wednesdays, and Gender & Leadership Studies on
Thursdays. We have reading assignments for each class and it usually
averages out to reading 60 - 140 pages a night! So, needless to say we
have a lot of information being thrown at us at once. Someone said
it's like trying to take a sip of water from a fire hydrant! And it
truly is. I think all of this great information will take years to
sink into my mind. :) We also each have an internship where we spend
about 8-10 hrs/week. Mine is downtown Colorado Springs at a ministry
to homeless & unemployed folks. I ride down there with Laura (another
student here) Mon - Thurs afternoons until 3pm. My tasks have been to
work at the front counter where clients come in. I greet them and ask
what help they need and then I look up their file on the computer or
create a new file if they're a new client. We help them with food,
clothing, meds, rent/utility assistance, help finding jobs, and budget
classes, etc. I have also been working with the nurse a couple days
and have been able to sit in with her when she meets with clients.
On the weekends I have gone on some really beautiful hiking trips,
bike rides through the city, and other little excursions. A lot of
times there is an apartment having a movie night or game night. One
Saturday night recently one of the apartments hosted a coffee
house/concert night where two students played/sang some songs they had
both written. On Valentine's Day the young men planned a wonderful
evening of elegance with dinner, dessert, and entertainment. There is
rarely a lack of fun things to do around here! I am thankful for the
community I can be a part of, it has been a really neat aspect of my
time here. And I love my 3 roommates! Janelle is in a room with me and
then Kayla & Haleigh share the other room. They are all from the South
so that has been a bit of culture shock in some ways, but we all get
along well and have had so much fun together! I am learning how to
rely on the people around me and not be afraid to really "spill my
beans", be vulnerable, and experience authentic community. We often
host another apartment for dinner on Wednesday nights or for
breakfast... or hot cocoa at 11:30pm after a great big snowball fight!
Our apartment has kind of become a common hang out spot for many of
the students. By the way, the mountains are BREATHTAKINGLY AWESOME!
Thank you for your prayers and for taking the time to read this long
little update. AND, thank you to all of you who have supported me in
coming here (you know who you are!), I could not be in this amazing
place without your help. Before I go I wanted to share some bible
passages with y'all:
"If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray
and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear
from heaven and forgive their sin
and heal their land." 2 Chronicles 7:14
AND
"But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a
people for His own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies
of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once
you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not
received mercy, but now you have received mercy." 1 Peter 2:9-10
Peace & Love, Cilla
