Finally...

Support letters are in the mail! At least the first half of them. My printer ran out of ink, and I'm close to broke right now. I should be able to get more ink on the 2nd & finish up the rest.

Also, for the one of you following this (hi, mom)... The art show that my small group has been putting together is this coming Monday. Prayers are appreciated.

Rehumaniz

I directed and edited a short documentary about the first Rehumaniz art outreach at UCF. I will most likely make a longer cut at some point, but here is the version I screened as part of the Spring 2009 Directing 1 class (sorry you can't view it here...the file is too large):

Rehumaniz

This outreach was born out of the Tribeca 2008 summer project. My friend, Bonnie, brought the concept of Rehumaniz in the form of an art outreach to Unveiled 2008, and a few of us took the vision home with us. It has continued at UCF, and we'd like to make it a monthly event. At some point, we'd also like to try it out downtown...I think that will be an endeavor for the summer months though, once classes and such have calmed down.

Rehumaniz started off as a name for this art outreach, but we've become a group of people, rather than an event. This semester the small group I co-lead is organizing an art benefit using the Rehumaniz name. We're working together to create something that will hopefully raise funds for the International Justice Mission. Check them out. They're a great organization working towards solving human rights issues around the globe. They do a lot to stop human trafficking and aid the survivors of this repulsive practice.

Support Letter

As promised, my support letter:

There are pages of stories I could write about my experiences on the Tribeca Arts Summer Project. If you want to hear them, please give me a call or shoot me an email. I'd love to talk about it. For this letter, I'll stick to sharing that the best experience of the summer was being able to learn with and from a group of Christian artists as we lived life together, working toward a common goal. The summer of 2008 was an intense summer of growth and learning...both spiritually and personally. I have many of you to thank for that.

Since I've been back at UCF I've been a part of the Christian arts movement on campus. We've taken the theme “Rehumaniz” from the 2008 project, and we have started reaching out to the campus through art. One of our goals is to show Christ by loving the people that make up the University of Central Florida, including each other (inspired by John 13:35). It's been great. I've made new friends and had some great conversations. Two ways that we do this are small group Bible studies geared toward creative women and art outreaches on the free speech lawn for all of UCF. At these outreaches we invite students to sit with us and talk and make art. Sometimes we're able to get into gospel conversations, sometimes we don't. Either way, I believe we are making an impact on our campus.

This past December, I was challenged to return to project as an intern. At first, I thought it was a crazy idea...this is me we're talking about. Since when am I a good candidate to intern on something like this? After much prayer, I filled out the application. I still think this is crazy, but it's definitely the good kind of crazy. The God kind of crazy. I'll be interning this summer on the project that God used significantly in my life two years ago. And any doubts I have regarding my ability to do this are gone. I know I can't do this alone. But God's power is made perfect in weakness. His grace is all I need (2 Corinthians 12:9).

In order to cover the cost of this trip, I need to raise $3,600 before I leave on June 12, 2010. This will cover transportation, training materials, housing, and meals for the six weeks that I will be working on the project. If you are willing and able to help financially, I would greatly appreciate your assistance. Every little bit helps.

Regardless of your decision to partner financially, I ask that you would keep me and the others involved with the Campus Crusade New York City Tribeca summer project in your prayers. If you'd like to keep up with where I'm at and where I'm going, visit www.wmayerTribecaArts.blogspot.com. This is the same blog I kept in 2008, so if you missed out on it then, you're free to go back and see some of what we did that summer. For more information about the project visit www.gosummerproject.com or the Tribeca Summer Project facebook fan page.

If you have any suggestions, please share them :)

Doubt

So, I've known for a few weeks now that I'll be going to New York this summer, and I have yet to really start support raising. It's been a combination of being busy and trying to deal with life. I've sort of started writing my letter. I've told a couple of people it was done...not sure why I did that. Maybe it was wishful thinking. If you're one of these people, I'm sorry. Most of you know me well enough to know that lying, especially about stuff like that, is really out of character.

My support letter will be written before I go to bed tonight.

During these few weeks, I've had the opportunity to sit with God and really talk about some doubts that I've had - "am I doing this for the right reasons?" I realized that these thoughts come up when I start worrying about the money and classes and what certain people will think of me going....the hard things that I've got to trust God to take care of. I know He will. I'm having a hard time believing it though. I've been fighting a lack of faith in general lately. I've seen God do amazing things, but ever since I've been accepted to project, I've been having trouble really believing, really living in a way that reflects that.

I'm asking you to please pray with me as I walk through this. I've decided that I will not eat out until I receive full support. I know this probably sounds trivial, but the schedule I've been keeping tends to keep me from home, and as a result, I frequent the Student Union's food court fairly regularly. This will help me save money, be healthier, and bring me closer to God as I rely on Him to keep me disciplined enough to do this.

Disclaimer: There will be one exception: We are having an art show to benefit the International Justice Mission, and Ethos Vegan Kitchen is hosting it. We're planning a dinner there to support them as thanks for all of their help in this show. Not eating would be counter-productive to our efforts.