God’s Awesome, Unexpected Plans

Intern Reflection Series // Post written by Gabrielle Ger

Hey, I’m Gabby. A lot of you might not know me, since I wasn’t originally part of the internship team here at The Hartford Project, but that’s honestly just a testament to God’s great power and His awesome, unexpected plans.

Anyway, here’s a quick rundown of who I am:
My name is Gabrielle Ger, or Gabby, and I’m from Chinese Baptist Church of Greater Hartford (CBCGH) in Bloomfield, CT. This summer, I participated as a leader for CBCGH during the first outreach week, and then subsequently - and surprisingly - became the kitchen intern for The Hartford Project! I’m currently studying music and psychology at UConn, and I love making music and baked goods (sometimes at the same time).

​Now that you know a bit about me, here’s what I look like:

Also, if you’ve read Lydia’s “Meet the Interns” post, you might recognize me as her friend who bakes.

Now that intros are over, let me tell you about how God has done amazing things this summer to bring me back to The Hartford Project over and over again.

First, I volunteered as one of the four leaders that went with my church, and that was a really cool experience. However, it all really started when I signed up to help in the kitchen during THP’s second outreach week, right after getting back from the first outreach week, because I wanted to do more with The Hartford Project.

Then God just took my action and desire to help and absolutely ran away with it. Before I knew it, I had dedicated the rest of my summer to doing what I could to help the THP staff, and I’ve honestly loved every second of it!

During the outreach week, God just poured incredible amounts of strength and peace on me, and I got to experience the joy of the Lord all week. Despite the sparse hours of rest I got during the week, I was energetic and ready to serve all week. I found an amazing, loving community in the kitchen team - full of genuine conversation and witty banter alike. It felt like I belonged exactly there and there was a sense of rightness that I hadn’t really felt elsewhere with such intensity.

This summer, God has shown me how intentional and unexpected His plans are, and how powerfully He can work in anyone who is willing to answer His call and act in faith for His glory.

​God has been bringing up this particular verse to me:
​

​Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.

- James 1:22 -

This verse has been a great reminder all summer that I should not only learn about God and His place in my life, but also act on His directions and follow wherever He leads me.

Even more so, God encouraged and spoke to me through some of the people I met during the week, both in and out of the kitchen. For example, He’s shown me how much a person can do when they take action for the Lord and His kingdom. During the second outreach week, the interns had the opportunity to have dinner in the home of a woman who lives in Hartford and attends House of Praise and Worship for church. Through this woman’s testimony, I learned how God has done incredible things in her life and the lives of her children and grandchildren as a result of her acts of faith and way of living in accordance to His doctrine. In this way, God showed me how much a person can impact the lives of the people around them when they take action for God’s sake.

Finally, I want to end with a verse to encourage you all. It served as another great reminder for me throughout the outreach week and most of this summer:
​

​Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

- James 4:8 -