Graduation has come and gone, and as my mind has wandered to the post graduation life, I’ve found myself asking the big question: What’s next?
Throughout this semester, I’ve felt as though God is calling me to step outside my own comfort zone, and to step into the love He has for me, and the love He showed me when I first fully committed to Christ several years ago. God hit this lesson home in me while I was at a Navigator weekend conference in January. It wasn’t a big booming voice, or a resounding moment. It was just being in Christ-centered community, meeting up over the weekend with a guy who was thinking about being interested in this whole God thing, getting to love on people who needed it and weren’t quite getting it, and really embracing the motto that “Small things done with great love will change the world”. I was reminded pretty heavily that God called me into this life of following after him with a pretty clear notion of my role: I love people, I love loving on people, God is my source of that love, and that I love showing people that God can love on them a lot better than I can.
I had been looking for answers to the “What’s next” question, and a possibility was presented to me during this conference. It’s a program in St. Petersburg, Florida, called a Summer Training Program. I’d heard of it in the past, and it had seemed outside my comfort zone. But God was calling me to leave the comfort zone behind if it meant loving on people and loving Him, and I was keen to do just that, so I signed up.
A Summer Training Program is a 7-week experience in Florida where we live as a team in a Christ-centered community. This year, it takes place from May 29th - July 25th. We have a couple goals while we're there. The first one is to grow in Christian relationships, through one-on-one interactions, and small team or huddle environments. Next is to work full or part time, and build relationships with our coworkers, which can lead to conversations about why we’re down in Florida, and eventually about more serious things. Thirdly, we want to build relationships with the nearby community at large, through evangelism, and just being present. And fourth is to build a closer relationship with God, through worship, prayer, the word, and evangelism. I signed up to be a team leader, so in addition to that, I will also be leading a team of 3 guys, meeting with each of them one-on-one, and leading Bible studies and other evangelistic activities with them. Stepping into a leadership and discipling role is incredibly scary for me, but I’m hoping for it to be a growing experience, and I know God will guide me through it.
And that’s where I’m at right now. I’m committed to go and I'll be working at a Chick Fil-a down there. I'm graduated now, and just getting ready for life, post-graduation. I feel confident that this is what God is calling me to. It’s still a ways off from happening though. Our lovely facilities, food, and all the supplies and things that go into making this summer happen mean that I have to fundraise $2600 to be able to be there. I know God is ever so powerful, and He’s been teaching me this entire semester that there is no part of this world that He can’t act in, including financially. Which is comforting, but can also be scary, because that means I have to be bold in stepping out, knowing He has me.
For some of you receiving this, God may be calling you to provide financially for my trip. Which would be awesome. I do need a team of people around me to contribute financially. But just as many of you might be called to act in prayer, or words of encouragement, or in other ways I can’t see. I know I’m scared going into this, especially going into a leadership position. It’s a lot different from anything I’ve ever done before. But I know God has my back, and I purposefully picked you all to send this letter to because I feel and hope that you all care about me too. I don’t send this out as a pressure for money, or anything like that. I just want you all to be involved in where my life is going after college in whatever way you feel called, and I hope you’re as excited for me to embark upon this adventure as I am.
Thanks for reading all the way through, you’re a real trooper for bearing with me. I’d like to keep in touch as I go through this experience. I know realistically I won’t have a lot of time, and I’m generally pretty bad at keeping in touch long distance. But for those of you who are interested, I’d love to commit to emailing out once a week while I’m out there, just filling you in on what God is doing in my life and the people’s lives around me. And I’d love to hear back from you all about the same if you feel comfortable. So if you feel led, send me an email at mike{at}evanshire.net, and I’ll be sure to keep you up to date. As for financial donations, that can be done by going to:
Just search for my name “Mikeyy Evans”, and you can go from there. Thank you again for reading this and taking an interest in my life.
Much love,
Mikeyy Evans
P.S. They ask me to include this: “Contributions are solicited with the understanding that the donee organization has complete discretion and control over the use of all donated funds.”
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