Ok, so this is a bit of a challenge, simply because part of what we strive for as missionaries is radical availability to meet the needs of students. This makes an average day sort of hard to describe...but I'll do my best. : )
Here's what my day looks like tomorrow (as of right now, at least. ; ). It could change...but the unpredictability means that we're open to what the Holy Spirit has in store!
I'll wake up in the morning and we'll have Mass as a missionary team with all of the Newman Center staff at 9am. Usually, this time is for Holy Hour, but tomorrow is an exception. At 10:30, we'll have a team meeting where we will discuss event and retreat planning, bring up concerns, and designate tasks. Each week, we'll be doing FOCUS nights (Holy Hours, Men and Women's nights, ongoing leadership training, etc.), and this will be one thing that we'll be discussing tomorrow. Also, we'll be organizing a C.S. Lewis reading group...all these are just examples of what's brought up during this time.
I'll then meet with one of the student leaders who I'm mentoring for lunch. She is leading a Bible study this semester, and we'll discuss the struggles that she's encountered, as well as any other issues that she wants clarification on. One thing that we'll tackle tomorrow is the issue of gay marriage and why the Church is opposed to it.
I'll then spend an hour with the Lord, and work on preparing for my Bible study in the evening (this week, I'm beginning the two that I'll be leading this semester!). The study that I'll lead tomorrow will be a FOCUS-written study on Scripture, while the study that I'm leading on Thursday nights will be exploring the lives of the saints.
I'll then meet with another student leader who I'm mentoring. We'll read Scripture together, and then talk about how her prayer life and her Bible study are going. We'll also talk about outreach, and what we can do together in this area.
I'll then come home and make some cookies for the girls coming over for Bible study. At 9pm, we'll begin! The study will go for about an hour, and then we'll hang out and chat about whatever the girls want to talk about for awhile. Hopefully, I'll be in bed by midnight, but if some students are feeling especially social, this might not happen...often the late night conversations are the best!
Some days I do more with students who aren't student leaders, while other days I work more on preparing for larger events that we organize...it really all depends!
Because there are so many student leaders involved in what we're doing at Lincoln, they are the ones doing a lot of the outreach to those students who aren't involved. It's our role to prepare them for this, and to challenge them to think about which students they know who they can reach out to and introduce us to. We often meet these other students through the student leaders that we are mentoring, and work on providing events to which students can invite their friends who have fallen away from the Faith. For example, last Friday we hosted the "Big Party," and about 400ish students came through. They all hopefully found FOCUS to be a welcoming bunch of people, and will be returning for more events that we host. Through the personal interaction that we have with them at these events, some will then become more involved and receive more instruction through ongoing interaction.
This is a very rough outline, and each day is different...but hopefully this gives you somewhat of an idea of what I'm doing out here! PLEASE keep praying for all of us missionaries and all of the students!
God bless!!!
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