To Make Him Known

It is with great JOY that I begin my third year as a Missionary at Rutgers University. The past two years of serving the Lord have been abundantly blessed with opportunities to share His Love with the women on Campus and many occasions to come to a deeper understanding of who I am as His Beloved Daughter. 

To all of my friends, family, and Mission Partners I want to extend a welcome to Love is in the Details. It was the hub of my missionary happenings during my first year at Rutgers and I'm looking forward to using it as a way to share how the Lord is working here in New Jersey during my third year here. So stay tuned! I'll be updating the blog regularly again and I'd love to share all of the victories, challenges, and blessings of the Missionary Life with you! 

Being a Mission Leader is easily the best-hardest thing I have ever done in my life! In order to even begin to recount all that He has done in these past two years would perhaps take several novels, a movie, and a series of interviews.  And I think that would just be scratching the surface! So I thought I'd include a little slide show here to give you a glimpse of the privilege it has been to serve the Lord's people!

I thought I came to Rutgers two years ago to do a bunch of great things for God. And he has allowed me to be a part of some pretty awesome things at Rutgers. However, to be His Light and to be His Love would be far more than a bunch of things I would do. It turns out that His call on my heart, to make Him known, was more than a call, it was and is also a gift!  That actually, to make Him known and walk alongside these women as they journey towards Him would allow me a glimpse into the heart of God. He has given me a matchless treasure in being able to love His people. 

With this same trust in His faithfulness I am eager to see all that He does at Rutgers in this upcoming year. Please pray for our Mission at the Catholic Center! Pray that we'll really be able to make Him known to all of the students we come in contact with! 

Thank you for all of your prayerful and financial support! Looking forward to sharing the JOY of making Him known with you throughout this school year!

Because He Loves us First,

Ericka

F.A.T.

 

 

 

"And what you have heard from me before many witnesses, entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also."

2 Timothy 2:2

 

 

All of the women that I care for and serve at Rutgers have a particular place in my heart. However, I have a very special place in my heart for the women in the above picture. These six women are part of a Discipleship Program known as F.A.T. No, they're not overweight, but they are women who are FAITHFUL, AVAILABLE, and TEACHABLE.

 

Soon after the Fall Retreat, I realized that the Rutgers campus is in desperate need of women who can really witness to what God has done in their lives. While that's a part of my job description, it's not enough to have me as the only evangelist. At the end of October, these six women were asked to pray about being part of a group that would strive to follow the Lord in a radical way and learn how to speak with conviction about their Faith. 

 

 

F.A.T. was developed by one of the Brothers of the Brotherhood of Hope. When I was a sophmore at Florida Stae I went through this very same Discipleship Program. As a student,  this program was a very powerful and challenging experience. I was constantly called on by my F.A.T.  leader (I know, I know, the name...) and the women in my group. I learned so much about my faith. Most importantly though, in my F.A.T. Leader, I had an awesome example of what it looked like to be a woman who radically pursued the Lord and who reflected the Lord's Love in a way that was atractive and contagious.

 

The Brothers here in New Jersey had already begun a men's F.A.T. In the past it seemed that  this program never quite worked for the women. As I continued to pray about it, I felt that there were women in the CSA community who were ready to take this next step in their faith. After talking it over with the Catholic Center staff and some continued prayer, we decided it was the right move to revitalize the F.A.T.  group for the women. All of the women in the picture gave their "yes" after attending an interest meeting.

 

We meet every other week on Sunday afternoon in my apaartment. Our  meetings consist of equiping and mobilizing sessions.  In "equipping" meetings students are armed or "equiped" with a deeper knowledge of their faith. Here we'll talk about what a personal relationship with the Lord looks like and how to be women who follow the Lord in a radical way. In mobilizing sessions we focus a little more on ways to love and reach out to the women on the Rutgers campus. Here we'll talk about ways to have one-on-one meetings with new students, how to answer faith questions that might be asked of them, and how to love people into a relationship with God. In every meeting we also take time to share about different struggles and hurtles that each women in the group might be encountering. For these women, I've noticed that sharing, really sharing, is an integral part of our growth together!

 

I have to be honest. It has truly been one of my dreams to be a facilitator and leader of a F.A.T. group. When the pieces started falling into place last semester for this group to actually happen, I was overjoyed! Leading this group is such a gift. I feel like it's a real opportunity the Lord has given me to reflect and relay my own passion for evangelization. And WOW. What a privilege and honor it has been to watch these women grow and step out of their comfort zones. It truly is a gift to be able to walk, guide, and be with them as they set out to be women after the Lord's own heart!

Pleae keep these women in your prayers! To say they are doing an awesome job doesn't even begin to describe it!

Because He Loved us first,
Ericka

True Joy

My Dearest Mission Partners, Family, and Friends,

I would like to extend my most sincere apology for neglecting to update you all. Updating this blog has been on my mind for quite some time. WOW! It's amazing the way that time just zooms on by and before you know it, it's the end of February...

Though I haven't posted here in a few months, please know that I have not been neglecting my missionary duties here in Jersey. I promise I have been hard at work!

I really do hate to admit it, but the last time I posted, it was in November after our Fall retreat. After that retreat the Lord continued to do SO MUCH in the lives of many students here as well as in my own. I found myself reflecting on all the ways that the Lord had worked over the past few months. Though there were many things and new initiatives to blog about, I always found myself struggling to sit down and write about it. When I had a few weeks off for winter break, I thought it would be easier to reflect on my experiences once I had some time off to relax and recharge. But, again, I found it so difficult to put words to all the ways that I saw the Lord at work.

In no way am I proposing that my so called, "writers block" was an excuse for the 3 month delay in updating you all. Quite frankly, I did leave you all hanging. However, I do think I have a better understanding of why it is so difficult for me to write about my experiences.

Being an intern has been the best and most difficult thing that I have ever done. The Lord has thrown some very challenging situations my way as well as occassions for great joy. Never in my life have I felt more challenged or stretched. This internship so far is everything that I thought it would be and nothing like I thought it would be. In the midst of all the different people and situations that the Lord has thrown my way the past few months, I have never, ever,  been so happy. Never have I felt so privileged...

 After struggling for quite some time to sum up some of my experiences , I realized it was because there is just no way to describe the sheer and utter JOY that I have experienced in being a Missionary intern at Rutgers. As I have gotten to talk with students about their lives, prayer, weather, the best shopping places, the Lord's inexhaustable Love, you name it;  I experience His Love and what He's called me to do here in way that I can only describe as TRUE JOY.

Reaching out to new students, working with the women's group, starting evangelistic initiatives, and sharing my relationship with the Lord feels like an extension of who I am. Finally, I feel like I am getting to do what I have always wanted to do with my time. I feel like I was made for this. It is a real JOY for me in the midst of the demanding situations and the best ones.

The Lord has given me so many opportunities to see just how powerful His Love is. I experience His Love for me in a way the confirms His will for me to be here this year and in a way that calls me on to give all of myself for love of Him. Daily, I am given a front row seat to watch the God of the Universe draw people to Himself. It is hands down, the best show in town. How do you put something that beautiful, that awesome into words?

In the next few days, I do hope to flood this blog with posts about the wrap up of last semester and all of the things that have been happening so far here in the Spring. I just thought I would give you all a little glimpse into what the Lord has been doing in my heart.

 The next several posts will talk about the new Discipleship Training Group that I've started here, the March for Life, New outreach Initiatives, the Tanzania Trip, and our Spring Retreat. (I told you I've been hard at work!) So, get excited about the upcoming posts and please forgive my delay in getting my missionary happenings to you all. A bunch of updates are headed your way!

As always, feel free to send my any prayer requests that you might have. I can't thank each of you enough for your prayers and support. May each of you know of my prayers for you this Lent. May the Lord use this season to draw you ever closer to His heart!

In His Love and Mercy,
Ericka

Restless until they rest in You

JAMBO EVERYONE! That means "hello" in Swahili! It has been quite some time since I made another installment in the intern adventures of Ericka Lemire.  I hope you won't be too hard on me because a lot has been going on in the Garden State and in this intern's  life! 

Though our Fall Retreat was a few weeks ago, the effects of such a powerful weekend are still impacting our students. Thank you for your prayers! Here are some pictures from the weekend. 

Camp Tecumseh on the left here. The Retreat weekend was full of opportunities for Confession  Mass, Adoration, small group time, and powerful talks.  When you stepped outside to this view, it was yet another tangible sign of God's love!

It was a true privilege to be able to serve on this Retreat! I spent a lot of my time caring for the girls on the retreat, talking with them about their Retreat experience, and what they felt like God was saying to them throughout the weekend. If I have not said it already...I really LOVE being an intern.  

Super storm Sandy hit soon after our retreat! New Brunswick lost power for a while, but I think we made the best out of it here at the Catholic Center. The picture below is one of us having a Ladies Grill Fest (with a few guys mixed in there too:) with all of the food that was going to go bad in the freezer. You can't tell by the picture, but we had this hurricane dinner by candle-light. After dinner the girls in the picture spent the night in the CC. It was actually a fun way to spend time with the girls!

In light of the storm and it's impacts on Jersey, especially the Shore, we had a women's service day yesterday to help those impacted by Sandy. We traveled down to Little Egg Harbor, New Jersey to help  with "Operation Blessing." We labored for the better part of the day clearing out a whole U-Haul Truck of clothes that were donated to families who lost everything in the storm. "Operation Blessing" provided us with free t-shirts, food for the day, and a great opportunity to serve! We ended the day back at the Catholic Center with a home-made meal made by one of our Women's Staff! A successful day of service and fellowship for the women's community! Below is us being transported to the sight in an ambulance (awesome I know) and a picture of the cleared out truck that we worked on.

The Campus Ministries at Rutgers (including CSA) will be hosting a "Hurricane Prayer Rally" on campus this Wednesday for all those affected by Sandy. 

Between Retreats, Hurricanes, service days, and out reach it has been quite a busy couple of weeks. This week I will be doing a ladies dessert pizza and poker night in one of the women's dorm on campus. I'm hoping that this can be something that helps get some more girls connected to the CSA community. I'll also be starting up a new Evangelization program for the women here at Rutgers this week. Pray for me and for the girls who have decided to be a part of it. I'm very excited to share about my own passion for sharing about what God has done in my life! More to come on this new group in future posts.

The struggles, challenges, and situations of these past few weeks have taught me something very important that I'd like to share with each of you. God is on an endless quest for us, for our hearts. Whether it's been through power outages, shuffling around to find hot water, service trips to the Shore, or in my one-on-one meetings with students, God is continually showing me how He wants us to know how He loves us. I am becoming more convicted of His endless search for us and of our own search to find true happiness and Love. 

God’s heart is restless for us. God is waiting for us. He is looking for us. He knows no rest either, until He finds us. God’s heart is restless, and that is why He set out on the path towards us – to Bethlehem, to Calvary, from Jerusalem to Galilee and on to the very ends of the earth. God is restless for us, He looks out for people willing to “catch” His unrest, His passion for us, people who carry within them the searching of their own hearts and at the same time open themselves to be touched by God’s search for us. - His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI

I read this and felt like it articulated what I want people to know about the Lord who I love and who I am coming to know more and more through this missionary year at Rutgers! 

Be assured of my prayers for you all! 
In our God,
Ericka

No Fear

Retreat is THIS weekend! Just wanted to ask you all for your prayers for the staff here and for the students on retreat. I'm PUMPED and looking forward to seeing what the Lord has for us this weekend!

There are a few important announcements in this video, so make sure you watch it until the end :) Here's my address if you'd like to participate in what I mentioned on the video or if you'd just like to send me letters. I LOVE LOVE to get mail!

Ericka Lemire
84 Somerset Street
New Brunswick, New Jersey 08901

The retreat this weekend is based off Matthew 14: 22-33. Take a look! It's a very powerful passage! May the Lord's words, " Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid" be a source of comfort and joy for you!

Also, if you want another glimpse into the life of an intern, enjoy the video below. This was recorded before our 9pm Mass on the Cook Campus. Spontaneity before Mass at it's finest. I have no other explanation to offer other than I just really LOVE my job!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSICayHBmSU&feature=youtu.be


With many reasons to be full of JOY,
Ericka

Apples and True Beauty



Hello all! It has been an eventful past couple of weeks. I just went on a women's retreat this past weekend run by the women of the People of Hope (a Catholic Charasmatic Covenant Community http://www.peopleofhope.net/ ). It was a much needed weekend to recharge and just be with the Lord :)

Before going into talking about the goodness of the awesome pictures that are on this blog, I also wanted to share a little bit about a picnic in the rain that just occured in the last week! As I know I have mentioned before, alot of my job here at CSA is to work with the women here and help them in whatever way I can to go deeper in their faith. This past week we had a picnic with about 7 new girls and 3 veteran girls on a green by Scott Hall I realize many of you have no idea where that is, but I just thought I'd say it :) . I was just stoked to have so many of these girls come out. For alot of them, it was their first CSA event! It was great to have all those newer women connect with some veterans. I'm always trying to think of different ways to have some of these new girls get connected with the CSA community. It's a blast because you just have to be creative and sometimes have great conversation and food in the rain!



 Anyway...in the weeks prior, the women staff here have been very busy coming up with ways to bring all the women together. Women's Group happens each Thursday night. It's a meeting catered particularly for women to learn more about who we are as women of God. Sometimes, though we discover the beauty of ourselves covered in flour and rushing around rooms to carmelize apples. This past Thursday we brought APPLE IRON CHEF to the Catholic Center!!!

The set up room. Contestants were divided up into 4 different teams!

The DREAM TEAM! From left to right: Bobble Flay's aunt, Giada de Laurentiis, Anne Burrell, and Rachel Ray
It was a true priviledge to have these women come all the way to New Brunswick to be a part of our women's group!







Apples were the main ingredient OF COURSE! Prizes were given for "Best Overall Taste, Best Presentation, Best use of Bonus Ingredients, and Best Group Work." The girls were really creative and in the end we had some really interesting uses of carmel, ginger, and nutella! 








At the end of the night I gave a little exhortation to the women. Part of my job and one of the goals of the Catholic Center is to empower women. Not in the way the world thinks it should "empower" women, but in a way that really opens us up to see our TRUE beauty and to the One who can truly empower us.  Though the night consisted of apples, sugar, vanilla extract, and cooking oil I think it was a great way for us to come together and see  how we each bring so many different gifts to the table (no pun intended). We closed the night with some quotes that I'd like to share with you on true beauty and the gifts of women.

"True Beauty is when we love and when we love together..." Bl. Mother Teresa

'The feminine species has two essential characteristcs. Woman is, by nature, peron or subject focused rather than thing or object-oriented. Quite simply, the woman embraces the personal aspect of life, i.e., she is interested in living breathing people and all their individual needs. A woman manifests this natural feminine quality in a desire to assert her own identity and in her interest in the identity of other persons (Edith Stein).' Blessed John Paul II insists 'that because of a woman's moral and spiritual strength, God entrusts the human being to the woman in a special way.'

Much love and prayers,

Ericka

Tour de Palace

Here it is! The long awaited tour of THE PALACE!  It's been a great first three weeks of outreach. My schedule is absolutely packed full. There are SO many women here. It's hard because I just wish I could do it all, you know? I'd love to be able to carry them around with me and just make sure that they're ok and that they feel loved all the time. Well, I am learning that's where praying and interceding from them is just as crucial as getting together with these women!

In these past three weeks, I have told my conversion story at least 40 times. As I know I mentioned in my last post, being in an intern gives you alot of opportunities to own your faith. When girls ask if I'm here to find a boyfriend or to take grad classes, I have an awesome opportunity to witness to what God is doing in my life.  I'm not here at Rutgers for my health. I can't explain why I'm here without talking about who God is. It's incredible and challenging at the same time!

Hope you enjoy the video! Know of my prayers for each of you! And keep em' coming my way if you think of it!

In Him who Loves us,
Ericka