Run Away Star

I love to play, practical jokes on my manager. I've made it snow (twice) in his office, I have also covered his office in sticky notes, and I've covered it in lights. We're a very close and tight-knit department, so we play around with each other often. My jokes usually come out of no where, I get inspired and than react on them instantly. I kind of plan as I go along and they come out pretty well; most of the time.

I was walking back from lunch with one of my friends to the admin building. It was a beautiful, bright, sunny day and it was gorgeous outside. My friend said it was too nice to be inside all day and I agreed with her. At that moment the thought of running away popped into my mind.

“What would Brandon say if I ran away?” I asked her curiously. “Um, he'd kick your butt! You can't just pack up and leave.” She replied back. “No; I mean just for the day. Just run away for the day and come back tomorrow.” She looked at me and smiled. “I don't think he'd care, he'd find it funny.” I smiled as we entered the building.

I went to sit on the couch as I called my dad; I talked to him for a few moments and than told him about my plan. “So, you'll just pack up your stuff and move to the cafeteria?” “Yup, I will grab my laptop and run away to the cafe. I will still have Internet connection, so I can still work.” I replied back. “Well, heck then! Run for it!”

So with parent approval, I ran back up stairs grabbed my laptop, packed up all my things, told my coworker what I was going to do and wrote my manager an email:

'Dear Mr. Lilly,

I am sorry to say, but the workload and stress of my job has driven me insane. I am running away and will NOT return.

It has been a pleasure to work for you. You have taught me much.

I am sorry to drop the news like this. But I can no longer stand it!!

Good bye and God speed.

-Stella '

And with that I walked out of the office and headed to the cafe; I sat down, connected my laptop to a power supply, and begin to work. About an hour later I got an email from my coworker telling me that my supervisor was asking for me and went looking for me. I than received a text from my supervisor asking if I was 'okay.'

I laughed as I read the text and sent her an email explaining to her what I was doing. She was relieved and flustered at the same time. Apparently I really freaked her out, she was worried and concerned. I told her I was 'okay' and that I was sitting in the cafe. After a few more minutes she told me I had to come back; my manager would be in meetings all day so he wouldn't notice.

And with that, my little adventure was over. I packed up my stuff and headed back to my office. I walked by her office as I came back and she smiled at me. “Had fun running away?” “Yes I did! I just wish I could have gotten a rise out of Brandon.” I replied back. “Oh don't worry, you defiantly got a rise out of me. I was panicking trying to find you.” I laughed as I apologized and headed back to my office and desk.

Getting reset up I sent her an IM:
Me – I'm back safe and sound in my confinement :(
Her – Good :)

Later on in the day my manager walked in and said: “I thought you ran away?” He said with a smile and playful tone. “I did. But Tori freaked out and told me to come back.” “Good assistant.” He said with a smile and a laugh. “I only came back because she asked me to.” I said with a smile. “Bad intern! Get to work.” He spoke has he pointed at my laptop, smiled, shook his head and walked away.

My prank didn't work out exactly as I planed, but I did have fun running away even for a while.

MySpace Land

When people hear what I have as a ministry placement (work) they are first confused and than baffled. I am the social networking specialist for Teen Mania ministries; which means I maintain all social networking sites that Teen Mania has: MySpace, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Tangle, etc.

When people first hear this they think I'm pulling their leg and than they think I'm wasting my time. People just don't get how working on MySpace and Facebook all day is “furthering the kingdom.” So when people see interns on these websites they think the interns are slacking. When you're on these sites it's mostly for fun; so I can see why people are spectacle of my job.

I get many strange looks and some times get “confronted” for being on these sites all day at work; I smile, listen to everything the person has to say and than explain what I do. I truly do need to get a sign that says: “MySpace is my job... No seriously!” It just makes me laugh when these situations happen.

Like last week.

I was working away, music blasting, when Mr. Root came to my desk and asked if I would come to his office; there was someone he wanted me to talk to. I walk to his office and than I am introduced to Mr. Mike (I forget his last name....). I say hello and than he asks me some questions on how I manage all the social networking sites. I answer his questions and than he looks at me and smiles.

“Do you want to know something funny?” He asks. “Sure.” I say back. “Don't know if you've noticed; but I've been walking in and out of the office the last few days. And every time I passed by your desk you were ALWAYS on MySpace or Facebook. The other day I told Richard (one of my managers): 'You know, there's this girl who is ALWAYS on Facebook and MySpace.' Than Richard said: 'Stella? Sits in the corner. Oh it's fine; it's her job.' I thought it was funny.”

I agreed and laughed with him.

I'm doomed if I'm on MySpace and I'm doomed if I'm not.

Reflection Essay - Unreached People Group LTE

I have to admit, I wasn’t looking forward to the UPG. I really didn’t want to spend the night in the ‘Bache Forte’ and I wasn’t too thrilled with having to walk around most of the day in the hot sun. But once the LTE started and I was separated from my group and encountered my tribal group on my own, I was very quickly hit with the reality of being a ‘missionary.’

Of course being in the safety of the Back Forty and with my tribal (unreached people) group being interns, there was no real threat to my life, my health or my well being. But role playing as we did was defiantly an eye opening experience. We couldn’t talk to our tribe in English, we had to learn their language and we had to gain their trust. They had been told lies of Jesus Christ and were afraid of his name. They didn’t understand the concept of one God and not having to sacrifice to please them.

Being in a (safe) situation of having to share the gospel and your beliefs was a whole lot more challenging than what I thought it would be. You are truly challenged to explain your beliefs and to defend them. You’re talking to someone who has ‘never’ heard of Jesus before and you need to explain to them who he is and what he did. It was extremely difficult and than having a time limit on the whole situation made it even harder.

Yes, being in the Back Forty for a few days isn’t anything near to how it is being on a mission field. But it really got me to thinking of people who really risk their lives and go out to tribes to speak the word of God to them. Every time our tribe did something intense we would panic for a second but then calm down; “That can’t really hurt us, we’re fine,” we found ourselves saying this over and over. And that small truth of reality calmed us oddly.

But that really got me to thinking of the people who don’t have that small truth of reality. There are people all over the world risking their lives to spread the word of God, and here I was running around in the Back Forty worried about being in the cold, sun and having to get a little dirty. How insane is that thought?

I guess the one thing I learned the most from this experience was that being a missionary might not be my calling, but my heart is defiantly for the mission field. And through this experience my prayers have defiantly been with the missionaries that risk their lives and don’t have the reality of going back to the dorms to get cleaned up and rested. And for the tribes who are scared of unknown.