Soul to Soul

Does the thought of bearing your life story to a group of complete strangers give you a little anxiety? Well, this summer that was exactly what we did in our small groups. But the heart behind Soul to Souls is not to cause anxiety, but to develop intimacy, create a trusting and open environment, and to really fast forward community.

Before Soul to Soul

Up until our day of Soul to Soul, we had the welcome-move in day, and a 1 day orientation. So really these students are strangers to each other and us! So early the 2nd morning into OLSP I took my girls out to a beautiful hotel, Chateau on the Lake, and we sat in a pavilion overlooking Tablerock lake. Then we began a day long journey of Soul to Souls. It looked like thins: each person got 20 minutes to share their life story. No one interrupts, and you get to share your story. Then the next 20 minutes the group asks questions about what the person shared in their story, or about anything else. The last 20 minutes, we pray together for the person who shared. Everything shared is 100% confidential, and I wont betray any confidence here, but know this day was incredibly significant.

I kicked off our time together by sharing my Soul to Soul, and one by one we each shared everything with each other. Everyone cried, for their story, and each others. People shared things they had never said out loud before. They shared things their families don’t know, they never told their best friend, and things they have tried hard to forget. It was difficult to open up, to be that transparent and vulnerable, but I cannot even begin to tell you how the Lord tore down barriers and dispelled fears that we could be rejected by others. God helped us to see that every single one of us is a broken mess, but fully loved and accepted by the Lord and because we placed our faith in Him, we have a eternal bond as brothers and sisters in Christ.

This was a catalyst for community and growth. We went from being strangers, who felt a lit uncomfortable around each other, to sisters who loved spending time together!

After our Soul to Soul, and our little spot for the day, (can you see the pretty lake in the background?)

After we all finished sharing (with a quick lunch break in between), it was time for dinner! We all went out together, and afterwards were having so much fun together we browsed the shops, and even went out for ice cream!

When my girls and I got back to the Honey, we wanted to mark our bond together. One of the girls brought “burn-on” bracelets that you cut a length, melt the ends and melt them together for a permanent bond. Like the bracelets, each of us had to be melted, heated by fire to come out stronger, and we were bonded together in Christ, and also in trusting each other with the FULL story of who we are, not just the pretty things. Our bracelets now remind us of everything we share, and remind us to pray for each other!

And every small group did their own Soul to Soul, and this will be a running trend in pretty much all future posts, I don’t have pictures of Vince with his guys, and he doesn’t like to take pictures, so you will have to take my word on it that he had a great experience with Soul to Soul too!

Thanks, blessings to you too!!

OLSP video!

Click to check out a video made by Ali with a slideshow of pictures from Branson!

Let me know if you can't watch it and I'll see what I can do!

Thanks!

Glimpse into the Honey

Wonder what it looked like where we actually lived?

This is where we lived!!

We are SO blessed to have a great partnership with a local hotel in Branson, and they welcome us to take over half their hotel for the summer! Every summer we take everything out of the hotels rooms, and put our own summer project housing furniture in! This was our home sweet home away from home for the summer!

 

And how did 96 people eat dinner together every night? This is how! We had a great big area of covered picnic tables set up, and awesome cooks who prepared great (and healthy!! yay!) meals for us! And in case you were wondering if it is cool in Missouri in the summer. The answer is no. Around 97-100 degrees for our eating pleasure! But really, it was great! A gigantic Thanksgiving stlye family meal every night! We loved it! 

What I really wish I had a picture to show you is of the students rooms! There were a 2 sets of bunk beds in each student “suite” and for the guys, it was a tight fit. For the girls, it was an explosion of clothes, shoes, makeup, and towels drying. But it had a way of working out for the best, and the roommates ended up super close because of it!

Hope it helps to give you a mental picture to work with as we share more about what the Lord did this summer!

-Autumn

It will all be OK!

After an awkward first dinner together, we kicked off the summer by heading out to on College of the Ozarks, overlooking the Taneycomo Lake. For these students, this was an adventure, but still a little bit overwhelming. They shared no history together, and they were unsure of what the next 12 weeks would look like. At this point, they had not even gotten to hear everyones name yet. But God had a plan that was bigger than strangers living together in Branson at a hotel for the summer- the planned for a life-changing summer for us- and everyone there.
While the fog was rolling in from off the water, and the sun was slowly setting, our Project Director, Dan Boone, and Assistant Project Director, Ali Enos, shared with the students about what the summer in Branson means to them. They challenged them to really own the summer- to invest in their walk with the Lord, to invest in the community of believers that surrounded them on project, to invest in their jobs and coworkers, and to invest for eternity in the city of Branson. Then we all worshiped our creator and King together! And as the last of the sunset turned to darkness, and we all grabbed our things and were headed back to the Honey, a peace overwhelmed me, and I realized that it was all going to be ok, and that even more than that- God had a plan for all of us! Praying together for the project

Dan Boone sharing with the Project

Ali Enos sharing about her summer project as a students in Branson, and how God changed her life that summer. Dan and Ali and thier families have been staffing this project for years and are extremely passionate about it after seeing God change students hearts over and over again every summer!

Autumn's growth team girls. These are the girls she was going to lead a Bible study with, disciple, and invest in their lives! This was their first pictures together!

Praise the Lord that He brought us here this summer!

- Autumn

First day move in

Autumn and I reported to project in Branson with the rest of our wonderful staff team a week and a half before the students. We spent that time engaging with the other staff, and working our tails off to get ready for the students. We planned for growth teams, which were our small groups we'd lead, we planned for our servant teams, which were larger groups our students would serve in, we planned for the socials, outreaches, and prepared all the rooms for the students.
It was a lot of work but it was so worth it the day the students showed up. The atmosphere on the project was one of excitement at the Honeysuckle Inn (where we stayed for the summer). So starting at 1 pm the students began to arrive one by one sometimes, and by the car loads at other times. It was so exciting to meet the people we'd be spending the next 7 weeks investing in. They each were filled with excitement, a little bit of fear, and they all had tons of questions.
Autumn and I will never forget those exciting and anxious feelings when we met the guys and girls that would be in our growth teams. I remember wondering if they'd be awkward, cool, quite, loud, or if we'd have anything in common at all. It all worked out great, as we ended up loving our students.
This first day was filled with so much fun and excitement as the students moved into their rooms for the summer. It set a great tone for the summer as things were just getting started.

We're Back!

We are back to actually writing on our blog, and back from summer project! We had great intentions of filling you in along the way about how things were progressing on summer project, but we didn't have internet access in our hotel room! So... we are going to be filling you in over the next few weeks of the things that God did during the summer, and the things that He taught us! It was such an exciting 8 weeks, and we are looking forward to sharing it with you!
Thanks for understanding, and keep coming back- this time there will be something to read and see!