My college friends and I spent 4 days last week in Austin so that we could encourage our GFC Austin team and help out with whatever needed to be done. Little did I realize that our short time there would end up being like a mini summer mission trip.
The night before, we packed supplies for the Austin team including Welcome Table items, aluminum trays, books, and a brand new 20 cup rice cooker that they would use for TFN dinners. We landed on Wednesday... and went directly to the campus, where we got a quick tour, did a prayer walk around the campus, and began meeting students: in the cafeteria and on the basketball court. On Thursday, we did a prayer walk, met students in the cafeteria, and then hosted a 5-on-5 tournament at the UT Austin Rec Center. The finale: a Texas vs. California all-star game! On Friday, we spent time on campus and then helped with all of the setup and preparation for the Korean BBQ dinner and TFN Bible study.
Somewhere in between all of this, we helped our Austin team shop at Walmart, Target, a Mexican meat market for the BBQ, and Home Depot. Andy, Tony, and Ming built an A-frame that is not only functional and easy to use, but also aesthetically quite pleasing. Conrad redesigned the GFC Austin website, flyers, and created an A-frame painting/color scheme. Brian edited the Koinonia slideshow. Tony and Jacob became temporary members of the praise band. We helped with food prep, labeled sound equipment, and more. I even got a chance to look over the legal paperwork for Austin. One of my friends remarked, "I felt like we did more here in a day than we did in a week in Berkeley!" We all felt that way.
But at the same time, it wasn't all work. We got to see God's heart for this campus as we met many students who opened up to us, especially over basketball. We got to see the students who first came to our Bible study and Sunday service. Not just a few... but 12 people! And we also saw just how much the gospel is needed there... UT is one of the top party schools in the nation, but the partying also leaves behind a trail of victims. Pastor Manny's research revealed that drug and alcohol related issues were rampant there. We felt our hearts going out for the campus, and the friendly people that we met--seemingly at random, but with a hope that they would discover the love of God for themselves one day. I left Austin tired... but also so excited and hopeful at what God can do through our church there.