Project Serve

Hi friends! My name is Anastasia and I am on prayer team for Ignite 2017! Basically what that means is I want to pray for you, always, whoever you are. (So go submit a prayer request at http://www.ignitetexas.org/prayer-requests)! Last year, my first year being involved in Ignite, I was a counselor for Camp Avatar. I came to UT knowing next to nothing about Ignite, other than the fact that it was some camp for freshman. (I didn’t even know it was for transfer students too, but it is!!!) One of my friends who was in Ignite encouraged me to be a counselor. I knew I wanted to be a part of a strong Christian community at UT, so I tried it out. I could go on forever about how I did indeed find an amazing community full of strong Christians. I found people who challenged me to seek Jesus in every single thing I do, and modeled what that looked like through their own actions. But this blog is about how Ignite showed me the importance of serving in community and why we even do it (Spoiler: It’s because Jesus did it).

Ignite does a number of pretty cool things, but one of my favorite things that we do is Project Serve. This is a time in the fall and spring where the entire Ignite staff goes out into the community of Austin to serve in various ways. This could be playing with underprivileged kids, praying for people in the city or on campus, doing yard work, cleaning dorm rooms, or packaging meals for the homeless community. Whatever it may be, the ultimate goal is to love others the way Jesus loves us by putting their needs above our own. Project Serve allows you to get connected with different ministries all around Austin. Last year I served at Casa Marianella, a refugee home in Austin. We did some yard work and dug holes (see picture below) but the best part was getting to talk to the residents at Casa. They told us their stories: where they came from, their dangerous travels, and the violence and persecution that they faced. These refugees did not have much but they thanked God for what little they had and for all of their circumstances. Hearing their stories and seeing their faith in God through it all had a huge impact on me. Before Ignite, I didn’t even know what Casa Marianella was and now I volunteer there every week! I love getting to build relationships with the residents and meet new people who have amazing stories to share. This year at Project Serve, I volunteered with Street Youth Ministry, an organization that works with homeless youth around Austin. The mission of this ministry is to love and serve street dependent young people while pointing them to Christ. All of the Ignite volunteers who worked with this ministry now get email updates and prayer requests from the youth themselves. It is awesome to be able to continue to serve through prayer and see answered prayer requests when homeless youth are able to get off the street or find a job. These experiences continually remind me of the freedom Christ so graciously gives us, and because of that, we should live to serve for God’s glory. You might even discover what you are passionate about by serving humbly in love.

Service can look like many different things. It can be going out into your community to help those in need, or it can be encouraging a classmate, a friend, or a neighbor. Service can be done in visible ways or behind the scenes. Jesus tells us to love one another as he loved us (John 13:34). God loves us so much that He humbled himself to take on the form of a servant and spend His entire ministry on Earth serving others. We are all called to serve, and no matter how we do it, true service should exemplify the love of Christ.

Mark 10:45

“For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

See Ana at Casa Marianella below, front and center in the gray Texas shirt!