The summer after her freshman year in college, Jeanmarie Berg found herself doing what she had determined she would never do: drinking alcohol.

Her home state of North Dakota is No. 1 in the United States for underage binge drinking. Jeanmarie, the fourth of five children, knew that and wanted more for her life, so she never touched the stuff in high school. But she caved under the peer pressure that summer. Several times she joined her friends in wheat fields for drinking parties.

Since her parents had imparted a love for Jesus to her at an early age, she knew that she wasn't living the abundant life in Christ, and she also felt tremendous guilt.

When school started up again in the fall at the University of North Dakota, Jeanmarie confessed her sin to her spiritual mentor with Campus Crusade for Christ, and to her parents. They were forgiving, but she still worried that she would continue to waste her college summers.

Then, through her involvement in Campus Crusade at UND, she learned about a different way she could spend her next summer: a summer project. On these mission trips to various cities in the United States and abroad, students participate in Bible studies, relational time, and activities, and often get jobs in the community.

"Summer projects give us concentrated time to build vision and skills for spiritual multiplication that is difficult to match during the school year," says Dan Allan, who directs the San Diego summer project.

Jeanmarie had once learned to surf in California, but she had no idea what her summer in San Diego would hold. Ultimately, it would change the direction of her life.

After being accepted to the project, Jeanmaries's first test came. Students who participate in summer projects usually send out letters to friends, family members and people from their churches to raise the financial support necessary. Jeanmarie's support came in quickly—within a matter of weeks—in her hometown of Northwood. She believes that happened because a tornado had recently swept through the agricultural town of 1,000 residents. "Everyone learned the concept of helping one another out," says Jeanmarie.

	Jeanmarie sprawls across the laps of a few of her new friends on the project—they have quickly become close.

So the pre-medicine student majoring in dietetics joined 129 other students from all over the country for the summer. In stark contrast to the surroundings of her native North Dakota, palm trees rather than silos cascaded into the California sky.

Almost immediately, she began learning about one of the most valuable parts of a summer project—building Christ-centered relationships. Jeanmarie and three other college women in her condo and Bible study talked about personal heartbreaks and triumphs, telling details of their lives so that they could get to know one another on a deep level quickly in an environment of safety. This activity, called "Soul to Soul," is common on summer projects as a way for participants to become better acquainted with the other same-sex members in their Bible study groups.

That's when Jeanmarie confided in the others the hurt and betrayal she experienced a few years prior when she discovered her high-school boyfriend had been seeing someone else behind her back. She also told them about how she struggles with believing she's pretty. "My heart went out to her," says Bethany (BZ) Jones, who was in her group, and the two became fast friends. BZ told about significant events in her life as well. "There's nothing superficial about Soul to Soul," says BZ.

Without knowing about Jeanmarie's or other women's bad experiences with men, on one particular Tuesday, the young men in her Bible study invited the rest of the small group on a "creative date" after work.

After selling concessions and popping popcorn at Sea World, where about half the project students work, Jeanmarie returned to the project's housing for an evening of fun.

The men had set up two white plastic tables next to each other on the bay, just a few feet away from the students' condos. They wrote cards for each of the women and set a flower at each of their spots. Then they served homemade creamy pasta and chicken.

"What I enjoyed most about the creative date was to see that there really are godly, thoughtful men in this world!" says Jeanmarie. "It is easy to settle for mediocre men, but it is so awesome to see men treating women with respect and care. Also a cool thing about it was that we knew they didn't 'want' anything. They just wanted to serve us!"

Creative dates are another classic experience on a summer project, and everyone will either serve or be served by the end of the project.

Project members prepare for an outreach in the San Diego sunshine.

"Projects are like a greenhouse for Christian growth for the staff members and students who participate," says Dan, who has been directing the project for nine years. "The space in the schedule for personal time with the Lord and Bible teaching draws students to the Lord in a manner that most haven't ever experienced this consistently in their lives."

This was certainly true for Jeanmarie over the summer; she began to develop a heartfelt desire to read the Bible and learn about God's character through it. "In the past I have seen it as more of a chore and now it's a desire I have," she says.

And knowing God more allows her to better tell others about Jesus. Once a week, she and other project students go to San Diego State University and talk to summer-school students about their faith.

Jeanmarie and BZ often pair up to meet students. Early in the project, they met a student named Patty, who openly described her life as "empty." She told them about her parents' divorce and concern about finances, and they were able to talk with her about spiritual issues. They invited her to their Bible study, and although she couldn't attend that afternoon, she said she wanted to participate in other project activities. Now she and Jeanmarie keep in touch online.

That same day, they talked with a Middle Eastern student, and he asked Jeanmarie and some of the other summer project students many questions about their beliefs. At the end of the conversation, he said he was intrigued and intended to find out more about Jesus. Jeanmarie invited him to a co-ed Bible study later that week.

In total, the students on the project were able to explain the gospel to 4,132 people throughout the summer, and 52 indicated they wanted to become Christians.

While Jeanmarie loves telling people about Jesus, her favorite part of the summer was when the students visited an orphanage just across the border in Tijuana, Mexico. Some of the orphans living there are children of child prostitutes. "It was really hard to leave," says Jeanmarie, who knows enough Spanish that she could converse with the children who liked to cling to her.

With each new experience and step of faith, Jeanmarie's life was changing. "It wasn't in a huge and obvious way," she says, "but rather in the little ways, like the daily quiet times and striving to walk in the Spirit daily."

She doesn't worry about wasting any more of her summers being influenced by others for bad. Instead, Jeanmarie is influencing people for the Lord. It was a completely different way to spend her summer, and it is a summer she will never forget.