Move In Week and the First Day of Class

Hello friends!  Today is the first day of classes for the University of California, San Diego.  This means that the past week has been crazy as we have begun to lay the ground work for the year of ministry on campus.  We have been moving freshmen and sophomore students into the dorms, meeting with the students already in the ministry, and planning the ministry schedule for the Fall Quarter. 

We hit the ground running last Saturday the 20th of September.  This was the move-in day for all freshmen students at UCSD.  Move-in day is an extremely crucial time for our ministry as it is a time to meet brand new students who will most likely be here for the next four years who are seeking community on campus.  This is a perfect opportunity to provide many of the needs for these students.  Moving in students helps to serve them as they arrive at school, be the first bright and smiling face they meet, and to provides the chance to meet the students families.  During move-in we meet new students and get their information, as well as meet their suite mates and roommates. 

We made it to campus around 10:00 in the morning and spent the whole day moving in many new students.  One of the things I have specifically been praying is that God would allow Tim, the campus ministry director, and I to meet and gain favor with 5 key guys who are leaders amongst their network of friends.  This way we will be able to not only reach that student, but also be able to begin friendships with their friends as well.  During our six to eight hours of moving people in on Saturday, we were able to meet many students who seem to be very excited about having a friendship.  Some have even said they want to get involved with our group on campus.  And this was the first day, five days before school even starts!  God has really opened up some great relationships and opportunities.

We are really focusing a lot of time with one of the six colleges at UCSD.  The campus is pretty large so it helps to focus our efforts.  One of the biggest areas we are focusing time is the ERC college.  One really neat thing about ERC is all of the dorms are named after the different continents.  So when we are going and meeting with students, we are literally going to the nations!  I thought that was pretty cool. :)

After Saturday we felt extremely encouraged with the contacts we had made and students we were able to serve by helping to move them in.  We had a few students from our ministry helping out as well, so we had a group of six or seven people helping students move-in.  It has been really exciting seeing some of the older students who Tim and others have invested in, step up and lead on campus. 

On Monday we went on campus and met up with a lot of the students we moved in.  It was a good time to make our faces familiar amongst a lot of the freshmen and tell them about some sports we were going to play the next day, Tuesday.  We set Tuesday as a day to play sports with students and create a more natural environment and friendships.  On Tuesday Tim and I, along with a lot of the ministry students, met up with a lot of freshmen guys at 9:00 AM to play football, ultimate Frisbee, and basketball.  The group really seemed to gel and click with the freshmen. One of the freshmen students that I was able to really get some good time to talk with said, "I really want to hang out with you guys a lot.  All these guys seem like really good guys and you all have fun.  Let me know anytime you guys are doing anything!"  God is really blessing our efforts on campus.  I am so excited to share more stories of what the Lord does in this young guys life and the lives of other students.

Finally, on Wednesday Tim and I met with the core group of students from the ministry.  There are about 8-10 students who have been involved with the Navs on campus over the past few years.  These are the students who we will partner with when it comes to leading Bible studies and planning our events.  It has been fun getting to know some of them over the last few days and look forward to spending more time with them this year.  They are a good group of students who have really stepped up early this year to meet new students on campus.  It is amazing what God does with our willing hearts.  While meeting with the core group, we planned out the event schedule, who will lead what weeks for Nav Nights, and prayed for the ministry, the campus, friends who don't know Jesus, and the incoming freshmen.  It was a very encouraging and fun time.

As God brings our ministry at UCSD to mind, here are a few things I am praying for and invite you to pray with me. 

Please Pray:

• For Tim and I, as we work closely together (Tim and I have had a great time on campus together so far!)
• Praise God for a great beginning to the year with meeting new students
• For deeper relationships with returning students
• A smooth transition figuring out where I fit amongst the group of staff and students
• A great first Nav Night coming up on Wednesday, October 1st. Please pray we would have a good turn out of new freshmen students.
• For the freshmen we have met over this past week, as they begin to seek friends and activities to be apart of.
• For guidance as Tim leads our group and the both of us begin to lead Bible Studies and events for our ministry.
• For a form of transportation, as my car is not in working order. I will keep you up to date on this situation. God has been gracious so far in providing a car this last week from friends on vacation.  (Thank you Yumen Family!)

Thanks for your continued prayer as we continue on in a very important time in our ministry and as the school year kicks off for all of the students.  I will keep you updated with all the happenings of this next week.  For now, have a blessed weekend and please let me know how too can be praying for you.

For the King,

          Stephen R Holechek

Sunland Region Navigator Staff Kickoff Retreat

I apologize this is a little bit late of an update having to do with two weekends ago, but I thought it would be good to let you know what has been happening over the last two weeks since arriving here in San Diego.

The first weekend after I arrived to San Diego we had a kickoff retreat for all of the Sunland Region Staff of the Collegiate Navs.  We spent the weekend in hot Palm Springs.  This weekend was for all of the collegiate staff in California, Hawaii, and Arizona to come together for a weekend of encouragement, time in fellowship and the Word, and a time to be reinvigorated with our vision as Navigators and the specific vision for the region.  It was an amazing weekend with the Lord.

The retreat was just what I needed.  After my car broke down the week before and being stuck with no car, I felt a bit discouraged and cooped up.  Palm Springs presented a wonderful opportunity to meet many of the staff here in the Sunland, as I am coming from out of the region.  All of the staff I have met so far are a joy to be around and very welcoming. 

On the first morning after having a night of food and fun, Joe Maschhoff, our regional leader, gave a "State of the Sunland" address and talked a bit about the history of the ministries in the region and a bit about where we are heading.  It was so refreshing to hear Joe stress the fact that our ultimate purpose here in the Sunland is not just to reach the lives of students on campus in California, Arizona, and Hawaii, but to see the students that we invest in take the Gospel of Jesus to the Nations of the World.  That is our vision as Navigators:  To advance the Gospel of Jesus and His Kingdom into the Nations, through spiritual generations of laborers living and discipling amongst the lost.  I LOVE IT!  I love that, though I am small and powerless myself, God can use me to be apart of His body to reach the people of the world, all for HIS Glory. 

Another thing I find to be neat and I am privileged to be apart of is the time and legacy that people have poured their blood and sweat into on college campuses here in the past.  These campuses and ministries have been prayed for and looked after for years, and it was so neat to hear how we as staff are a beginning answer to many years of prayer.  Will you please continue these prayers with me for UCSD and all of the campuses in the Sunland?  Please pray that God will just make his presence so deeply known and that students would come to know Him and give their life to Him and His work.

All around the weekend in Palm Springs was a great time to refocus on what the Lord has brought me out here for: to minister to students at UCSD and help to love them with the love of Jesus.  After the weekend God had made it clear that he is in total control, whether I have no car or five cars, whether I am sick or healthy, no matter what, He is God and He is in control.

Thank you once again for all of your prayer and support.  I couldn't be out here with out you and your contribution.  My next update will be coming very shortly about the week leading up to class at UCSD!

Goodbye for now and talk to you all soon!

In San Diego!

Hello everyone.  I am officially and finally in San Diego, California.  My girlfriend Tess and I left last weekend from Colorado and came out to California.  We stayed with my grandpa one night in Orange County and came down Sunday afternoon to stay with Tim and Stacey Chou.  Tim and Stacey are the Navigator Staff couple at UCSD.  They have a little guy named Nathaniel who is about 18 months old.  This first week I am here, I will be staying with the Chous.  Next week I will move into my new housing arrangements where I will have a room and such to call my own :)

 

Unfortunately, my girlfriend Tess, who lives and works in Colorado Springs had to return to life back home on Monday.  We had a great time road tripping out here and a good time getting to know Tim and Stacey a little bit.  If you think about it, please be praying for Tess and I as we are in the beginning stages of a long distance relationship.  We are really excited about what God will do in each others lives, but dearly miss each other. 

School at University of California, San Diego begins the fall quarter on September 25th.  So, it is nice I have a few days to adjust and transition into the city and area and spend some time with the Chous talking about the ministry and praying for the year.  We will have time to get to know each other a little better and seek the Lord.

This weekend we will be having a retreat for all Collegiate Navigator Sunland Region staff (The Sunland region includes Arizona, California, and Hawaii).  This will be a time to get into the word, pray, worship, and bond together as staff and look at the vision of the region and the Navigators: To reach the Nations.   Please pray for this time for all of the staff that it will be refreshing, encouraging, challenging, and God-honoring.

I will update you all about how the retreat goes this weekend and all God is doing this week. 

Here are a few things that I am praying for and invite you to join me when the Lord brings it to mind:

• For Staff team unity for our campus ministry at UCSD.
• For a smooth transition into the city of San Diego and life as a full time staff member.
• For the remaining funds needed to be at 100% would come in
• For those I left back at home including my friends, family, and girlfriend.

And for those of you who don't know who Tess is, let me introduce you to my girlfriend, Tessica White.

She was born and raised in France and came to the states for College.  She went to Harding University for three years and got her Bachelors degree.  She has been living in Colorado Springs for three years working for a company called Sparta in their HR department.  We met this past year in March and began dating in May.  We are both very excited to see God work in our relationship and in each others lives.  She is a very sweet and kind hearted woman who loves Jesus and people.  Feel free to ask me about her or anything about us anytime.  I love talking about her!  Please pray for Tess and me as we learn how to communicate over long distance and learn to stay close and connected with what is happening in each others lives.

MY NEW JOURNEY!

 Hello everyone.  As some of you who have followed my blogs before may know, I spent last summer in Washington D.C.  I participated in a Navigator Summer Training Program.  You can read my old blog posts if you are interested in knowing about last year.  However, I am now beginning a brand new journey! 

After seeking God this past year on where He wanted me to go after graduating college, He lead me apply for EDGE Corps with the Navigators.  EDGE Corps is a one to two year internship doing college ministry at a campus somewhere in the country.  After applying and interviewing, the Navigators invited me to be a part of EDGE.  So the news on where I am heading is.......

SAN DIEGO, California!  I will be serving as Navigator staff with the ministry at the University of California, San Diego.  I am so excited for this opportunity and cannot wait to head to campus.  I will be investing in the lives of students at UCSD, sharing the good news of Jesus Christ.  I honestly cannot think of anything I would rather be doing next year more than building relationships with college students and live as a light for Christ. 

I would like to invite you to pray for the students at UCSD and for the Navigator ministry I will be working with.  I will continue to update this blog quite often and will send out monthly emails as well.  If you would like to receive monthly email prayer and ministry updates please feel free to send me your email address either in the comments section of this blog or email me at s_holechek@msn.com.

I am so excited for this year and all God will do.  More on the ministry, EDGE Corps, prayer requests, giving opportunities, and many, many stories of what God is doing are to come in future posts.  I love you all and hope to connect with you soon!

In the Lord,

         Stephen R Holechek

Happy July

Hello and happy July. We have now been out here in DC for over a month. We only have 4 weeks left in the program, which is kind of a scary thought. I think it will end up coming much too quickly. Work has told us that after this 4th of July week our internship will fly by. We'll just have to wait and see.

This next week will be a little bit more of a relaxed week at work. Not much will be going on. This weekend some of us decided to do a little sight seeing. I got to take a White House Tour yesterday with another intern and then joined up with some other people from teh program in the afternoon to go to the International Spy Museum. They were both pretty neat. I love seeing the history in the White House and other buildings.

This week in the program has been a pretty fun and relational one. On Tuesday and Wednesday night I played a few games with different people and had a great time just getting to them better and laughing. Work is still going well. God continues to open up neat opportunites and experiences. I have been priveleged enough to go to a few receptions and other events for different reasons. All in all, God has made it into a fun week. I have also gotten to hang out with some more people in the dorms. I am looking forward to becoming better friends with people for the rest of the summer.

One hard thing for me lately is finding time to process. I feel like I am learning a lot about myself and God, but i'm taking in a lot and it's hard to organize and grasp it all. One thing God has been revealing more to me this week through a series of thoughts and emotions is that I come to God often to talk and pray about my thoughts and other things going on, but I rarely take the time to just listen. It is much easier for me to tell God my thoughts and what is going on and pray for things in life than for me to just sit and listen and relax with God. I have found that God loves to use others to reflect to me things I need to realize and look at in my own life. This is one of those things. I have found myself listening to different people (which has been such a privelege that others would open up to me), but part of me felt at times that the listening wasn't reciprocated. God definately used this to show me that I rarely give him the time to speak or talk to me, instead I come to him with my things on my own time and then it's back to life. This is an area I would really like to grow in more and be intentional about sitting and being still in Gods presence, letting Him get a chance to talk :)

Things you can pray for this week:
• Opportunities to have conversations with people and an earnest desire to beeter understand them
• Continued processing of the lies I am believing about myself and others
• I would take time to listen more intently to God
• That I would find rest throughout the weeks so I can keep going at a good pace

That's what's new around here. Feel free to email me at s_holechek@msn.com anytime. I would love to hear from you!

Have a happy 4th of July!

Four Weeks In!

Wow, I cannot believe I have been out here in Washington D.C. for four weeks. It has been a blast so far! We have five more weeks of the program and I have seven more weeks in town for my internship. Over the past week I have been realizing more and more that the opportunities I have had and the things I have learned about myself, God, and life over this summer already has been worth it all. I feel that if nothing else happened for the rest of the summer the whole time would still be worth it for what God has already done the first month. From here it seems as though my cup just continues to overflow with more blessing. These blessings come from hard times and exciting times. I believe God will continue to reveal more throughout the summer which is so exciting. Often it is hard to find time to process everything coming at us.

As I have been praying God would reveal to me things from my past and growing up that may ave helped to form lies in my mind about who I am and what my self worth is in, God has started to really open my eyes to certain things that I have allowed to shape my view of myself and others. It is so freeing to just realize some of these lies that I believe in. When looking at different events or environments through my life, I am beginning to see and learn that I have created a lie in my mind and heart that I will never be truly wanted. Because of certain times of rejection I have told myself that people do not truly desire to have me around. This has definitely shaped my attitude toward people and has skewed my view and feelings of how others treat me. I have observed and believed ridiculous things all because of these lies in my heart that Satan has used to believe my worth is nothing.

I can not express the way it has felt to just see different things open up and see how God is helping to remove layers of lies I have carried inside for years. I have no doubt this process of realizing core lies I have believed and how God has truly created and designed me to be will be ever happening. But I just feel such safety here and an open environment to discuss and process some of these things with people out here. Because I have believed many things that may not be true about myself, it will no doubt take a long time to begin to truly see myself through God's eyes and the truth of what my worth is and who I truly am.

On another note, work is pretty cool. I feel like I am getting some chances to interact with the staff and other interns in the office. I enjoy most of the work I am doing and serving the office in whatever capacity I can. We have met a few people in the dorms, but it often seems people stick to themselves. But we have been able to play games with some of the people on our floor a couple of times.



The team and I have been getting along pretty well. It will be interesting to see these next few weeks. As many staffers say around week 4, 5, and 6 walls begin to come down and everyone in the program lets their more true side. Not every personality will mix with another. When tensions arise it is great to allow God to come in and work in each of us. We will see what happens. Right now I and many others are excited about everything God has been doing and I'm sure will continue to do.

Can you please pray for:
• God continuing to open up outside relationships and deepen those made already
• Continued processing of the lies I am believing about myself and others
• Grow my team closer over the rest of the program
• That while going through the WHO AM I study, God would reveal things I have not yet let him deal with and that I would believe he is a truly forgiving and merciful God

From the bottom of my heart, thank you once again for your investment in my summer and my life. This summer has already been life changing and helped me to learn so much about life. Thank you.

Until next time....

P.S. Oh, here is a picture of some of the students in the program on the Metro Subway we take everyday to get anywhere in the city.



(From left to right: Me, Tara, Dan, Katy, and Drew)

Digging Deep

Hello again. I have a little time today to update this blog. Things in D.C. are going really well and God is working as He always does. I think work is beginning to really drain the energy out of the participants in the program. It is becoming clear that time is becoming something to cherish and use wisely. As we continue to work and receive more responsibility it will be crucial to rely on each other and the Lord for rest and energy.

As a program, we have been learning about living as an insider where you live and work. This as I have said is one of the main themes of the program. This week we looked at our attitudes inside and how we view others has such an impact on how we treat people. The question was asked can people read your mind. Most determined yes people are able to sense your attitude towards people, which means if our attitude to someone is negative, our actions will most likely reflect that feeling.

Looking into these thoughts has worked alongside our Bible Study of “Who am I?” This week in the study it talks of being created in the likeness of God. So, as God has created us to be his glory, so have all other people. This too has been convicting. I have really been looking at myself and attitudes I have toward those who seem a little harder to like in life. God has been revealing to me this week of the way I view others and how that affects the way I act toward them and treat them. This is something I will no doubt continue to grasp and learn from God throughout the summer and beyond.

Another thing I have learned from doing the Who am I study is how I am defined as a person. I cannot allow my weaknesses OR my strengths define who I am. Also, I cannot believe the way others, including myself, define and describe me. Only God can define who I am by the way he created me.

I am feeling so privileged to be out here and be with all of these wonderful people in the program. I feel we have all gotten to know each other pretty well already. It amazes me everyday I walk around this town and see beautiful buildings of history and I get to be a part of this city for the summer. Thank you once more for helping me get here and for your prayer.

Things you can pray for:
• That God will continue to open up outside relationships and deepen existing ones
• Those feeling they don’t know why they are here or what their purpose in the program is
• Grow each of us closer to Christ and let us reflect Him to those around us
• My attitude and outlook toward others would be through the eyes of God, as beautiful and glorious creations

I hope to update once again probably next weekend. Thank you once again for everything.

One Week In...

First off, let me apologize for not updating this earlier. Unfortunately, I have not been able to get internet access here in the dorms. I am still trying to work this stuff out. Anyway, back to Washington.

I arrived on a flight from Chicago on Sunday afternoon. I met a guy from the program on the flight named Drew. We landed and headed over to the George Washington University Dorms. There are 12 students in all participating in the program. We are all on in teams of three students with one team leader. My team is Tim, Dan, and I, and our team leader Jon. Tim, Dan, and I live together in one dorm room. The rooms are fairly nice, however, I have not been able to get internet access just yet.

I started work on Wednesday the 30th. I work in one of the buildings on "The Hill." However, I had to sign a document saying I would not blog about what happens at work or anything such as that, so I will not be able to give many details about my work, but I will try to update a little as to how things are going there and what relationships are forming.

am working with another girl in the program named Katy. This has been a blessing having someone else in the program I know to work with. There are five interns total so far. We may get one more. We'll see. I work with some cool people. We have all been placed on different task teams at work, so us interns will most likely not be working too much together, but only time will tell.

The program this summer has two themes: Living as an Insider and Who Am I? We will be using Module 2 from the National Training Team of The Navigators. We will use the Who Am I study as our team Bible Study. I am just about finished with the first chapter and it is a great study which takes the reader deeper into who God is and who we are as his children.

Tonight we will be going to Grace D.C. a church here in town together as a program. After going through this first week I am very excited for the program and those in it and also for work. However, it is also going to be an extremely busy time. My team and I have already expressed the fact that one thing we really want to root ourselves in is quality time in the word every day while out here. This will become critical to keep going at full steam out here.

Here are some things you can pray for when God brings this program to mind:

• That I and everyone in the program will have consistent and quality time in with our Lord throughout the summer.
• I might root myself in the word and in prayer, as to take on the character and attitude of Christ.
• God will give me wisdom and discernment as I come against situations at work and with people I meet, as some situations I face may lead me to make some hard and difficult situations.
• God will open up opportunities to build new friendships with people at work and living in the dorms.
• That my team will grow close to each other while seeking God to build life long friendships.
• That with all the events and going-ons, I would find some time for myself to get re-energized.

These are the things I can think of right now.

Please just pray that God will use me to walk the path he has laid out before me and that I would follow Colossians 4:5.
"Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity."

I would like to thank all of you who helped financially as well again. It is such an honor and privilege to serve Christ out here in D.C.

On Tuesday four of us went to check out some of the sites. We saw the Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument, WWII Memorial, Korean War Memorial, Vietnam War Memorial, and the Holocaust Museum. I have added some of the pictures from this.

One Week and Counting...

Hello friends. My name is Stephen Holechek and I will be using this blog to update and journal about my experience in Washington D.C. this summer (2007).

The date today is Sunday, May 20, 2007. The program is one week away from today. I still have a few things to do such as pack, send out thank you notes, and wrap up loose ends here in Colorado Springs. Feel free to respond to any of these posts, I would love to hear from you!

I am excited for what God will do this summer!