FIFTEEN

As I pulled out my count down app on my phone this morning… I just realized it is now officially 15 days until NYCUP!! WHOO HOOO! Which also means… Time for a new blog post! Hee hee

CAN NOT BELIEVE TIME IS FLYING BY LIKE….. LIGHT SPEED ROCKET OR SOMETHING. WOW.

This past week has been quite fun and yet peaceful. Earlier this school year I promise my sister that I would spend a whole week with her in Illinois, and here I am! haha.

After a long and complicated error made by Mega bus, THANK GOODNESS I made it to Chicago after all!

This is what happened: My bus to Chicago was suppose to leave on Friday morning at 10:50, however, for some very weird reason, the bus never came to the OSU stop to pick up some passengers, myself included. As the seven of us passengers waited outside the Union, after about an hour, we knew something isn’t right. We called Megabus, and eventually found out that the bus has left already and SKIPPED the OSU stop. It has never happened before, according to Megabus phone line and the couples who has been loyal customers of Mega Bus for years. At the end, Mega Bus was able to reschedule my ticket to the overnight bus, free of extra charge. After a whole day of waiting and nine hour of super cold AC and completely packed bus ride, I made it to Chicago after all. THANK YOU JESUS. A little bonus that made the overnight bus worth it was that I got a glimpse at the beautiful sunrise by the fields of huge windmills right outside of chicago. It was so so beautiful, God has got to be the BEST artist in this whole world.

Sisters bonding time has been quite amazing, we went to downtown, Six Flags, and had some amazing food together. It was so lovely to see my sister again and spend some time with her. After an action-packed long weekend, she has to continue to work during the week. Since I don’t have a car, I stayed at my sister’s home and worked on the rest of the orders for Painted Shoes for NYCUP! Completed two more pairs, two more to go! Wheee! 😀

Today I walked to the nearby grocery store, an hour total for the whole trip, which was perfect for my daily walks, and I also explored the town a little bit. Surprisingly, in the suburbs of Chicago, there’s quite a large gap between the rich and the “alright” income familys. From where my sister lived, the neighborhoods and the houses on the way to the grocery store are all pretty old and tiny, they are very similar to the houses that you will find in Clintonville, but a little older than that. What makes it so interesting is that once you make a turn onto this certain road, every house and neighborhood turn into mansions and huge beautiful lake houses. It kind of reminds me of when we were in Cleveland for CUP when we were driving around the city, we would find very nice and renovated apartments, and after a turn to the next street, there would be broken windows and abandoned apartments and houses. Walking around my sister’s neighborhoods is similar to that, except this time is suburb style, haha.

I’m thankful that everything is going well and I’m very glad that I got spend some time with my sister this week! 🙂 One of the best and most relaxing week I’ve had this school year, hee hee.

Lastly, before I leave, a couple quick prayer requests and updates 🙂

• Please continue to pray for my heart to be excited for the Gospel, for business as missions, and the city, and that God will continue to provide peace over the fears I have for going to New York this summer.
• The next couple weeks until NYCUP is going to be pretty eventful as well, unpacking, packing, leadership retreat, more packing, and traveling back to Cincinnati and such. Please pray everything will go smoothly (no more of this Mega bus trouble, haha) and peaceful heart and mind to be ready for God’s word at leadership retreat and preparing for NYCUP
• Back in April, I remembered sending out emails saying “other than fundraising, NYCUP is a GO!!! (but 10 times more exclamation points :P)” but now, I can say ” Other than PACKING AND CONTINUE PRAYING, I’m going to NYCUP!” SO SO EXCITED, GOD IS GOOD!

Hope you all are doing well! ^ v ^

Thankful.

Right now I am 23 days until New York! It seem so far and yet so close at the same time. Back in April, summer seems forever away and the last final exam will never be here. And now, no more exams, summer is here, went to Chapter Focus Week, and now sitting in Columbus. 23 DAYS! whooo!

After coming back Chapter Focus week, I was able to get ALOT of rest, and God has been so good tome as well!  Recently, I have been painting shoes every day, and it feels absolutely amazing to be doing art again!  Sometimes I forget how much I love art, and it is so cool to be able to honor this gift that God gave me by painting shoes for NYCUP to raise support.  Other than painting shoes, ever since we got back from CFW, I have committed to walking about an hour every day not only to exercise, but also to prepare myself for walking around NYC, since we will definitely be walking a lot in the city, hee hee.  The reason I decided to walk instead of jogging is because I realize I can’t run for a very long time and I would quit very easily, but I noticed when I walk I can push myself for a long time and I like it so much more then running! Walking around Columbus is so enjoyable, whether it is walking down the Olentangy bike trail by the beautiful river in the evening or walking up to Clintonville and see all the houses with front porches and chairs which can’t be easily found in the suburbs, it just give me so much joy to explore around the city. It made me realize there is still so much about Columbus that I have yet to find out, haha!

So before I get into the good news, part of the preparation of NYCUP is that each participants have to raise $3000 in order to participate in the summer program.  This is my first time ever raising support, and I have to say this is one of the most amazing experience I’ve ever had. It began with 10% from my personal donations, and slowly to 40%,  50%, 60%, 70%…. and now 100%! (more than 100% to be exact 😉 ) GOD IS SO GOOD AND FAITHFUL!!! My mom says she would be willing to donate $600 and I told her, too, that I would raise the $2,400 myself.  And it turns out, as of a couple days ago, I actually raised more than $2,400, and I will be donating all the extras to NYCUP! I am EXTREMELY thankful for EVERYONE’S prayer and support, I could not have done it without each one of YOU! As mentioned earlier, I have been selling painted canvas shoes to raise support.  I prayed for two more shoes orders, but God gave me six more orders, and a few more donations from friends came in recently as well.  God is so good! This fundraising experience has taught me so much to really rely and trust that our Heavenly Father and that He will provide, and this is something that I’ve always struggled with.  I’m so thankful for this opportunity, for each one of you, and just EVERYTHING! AHHH 😀

NEW YORK?

Hi all!

So in order to most efficiently update everyone about my journey to NYCUP, I decided to start a blog, and here it is! 🙂 Another check mark to the list of things to get ready for New York! (Feel free to check out the about nancy page to learn more about me!)

Why am I going to New York?

During this school year, God has been showing me so much about what it means to be a business major, and He has been teaching me how business as missions can bring Him glory to the city’s poor.  When I participated in InterVarsity’s Cleveland Urban Plunge in spring 2012, God broke my heart for the poor and the hungry in the inner city.  It was that trip that made me realize the reality of poverty in the world and that people are crying out for justice.  My heart has been aching for the city, and I keep praying that God will teach me and use me in the city.  Over Christmas break, I was able to attend URBANA 12, InterVarsity’s global mission conference, and God has opened my eyes to see the many possibilities of using business as missions!  As I was exploring in the jungle of mission organizations at the conference, God led me to InterVarsity’s Urban Project booth where I found New York City Urban Project (NYCUP).

After much prayer, I applied to the New York City Urban Project’s summer immersion program. Three weeks of eagerly waiting and God answered my prayers as I was accepted on April 5^th and will be participating in a 6-week internship in New York City this summer!  There will be students from all over the country gathering in the city to honor the talent that God has given us to seek justice for the poor.  I will particularly be working with the dynamic women at the Nomi Network (nominetwork.org), a missional business dedicated to fighting sex trafficking in India and Cambodia through the fashion industry.

What is NYCUP?

I’ve involved with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship at Ohio State, and after being part of the fellowship for two years, I can tell you that I have our mission statement down pretty well, haha.  InterVarsity vision is to see students transformed, campus renewed, and world changers developed, and InterVarsity’s NYCUP does just that, except instead of doing it on campus, we will be doing it in the heart of the New York City.

In New York City, NYCUP partners with non-profit organizations that tutor and mentor, feed the homeless, and fight sex-trafficking and slavery.

Here’s a video that have some details to what NYCUP is:

When and Where is NYCUP?

NYCUP summer immersion program is from June 15th to July 22nd! Right now I am 23 DAYS away and I AM SO SO EXCITED!!

So yeah, I think that’s about it for the why, what, when and where about my summer in New York! 🙂