Ok, let me just be up front about this post. I have taken a grand total of zero pictures since the term started so I apologize if you were really hoping for some.
However, I do have some very exciting news to share with all of you. And for you to get a better feel for it, I would like for you to take a little trip with me all the way back to our Regional Staff Meeting in December.
At this meeting, our regional director, Kim Porter, told us about the vision she and the rest of the regional leadership team had for the next five years of InterVarsity in the northwest. To sum it up, the vision is “An evangelistic movement birthed in prayer.” What this means is that as a region, we believe God is moving us to be people of prayer and outreach. It was a bit strange to hear this vision because I have been feeling like this was where we needed to go for some time. I had also heard similar things from students recently. This feels like a confirmation that God is very much so pushing us in this direction.
As a way of kicking off this new vision this term, Kristen and I and the rest of our leader’s team decided to pray in the mornings on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. The leaders were very excited about this. We pitched the idea to the rest of the fellowship and received a response that honestly, I did not expect. A few students said, “I have class those days. Could we just do it every day so nobody has to miss it because of class?” I was a little shocked but after thinking about it for two seconds, I said, “Sure! Why not?”
So we now have a daily prayer meeting that every day has at least four people at it. It may not seem like much, but I think God is going to do amazing things with it. We have spent time praying for each other, for our friends who don’t know Jesus, the world, that we would have courage to reach out and share our faith, and for God to do great things through us and in us. Just yesterday, a student said to me after coming for the first time, “That was really good. I am really glad I came to the prayer meeting.” I have a feeling he will be back.
I have gone to the meeting every school day for nearly three weeks and it has been a wonderful experience for me. It is so encouraging to start each day seeing that there are students at Oregon State who have a desire to sacrifice a little sleep (8:45 am is VERY early for most students) to meet together and pray.
I am very excited to share this with you because it shows me that God is at work here. I have tried in the past to get prayer meetings going but had very little success. This one just seemed to happen. God is giving us a desire to pray more and more. Our students are encouraging others to come and be a part of the prayer meeting. It is gaining momentum. Who knows what God will do through this! Stay tuned for more updates about what God does here.
