I am fresh off of recovering from a hard drive crash where I lost everything on my computer. Thankfully life is more that what is stored on your hard drive right?
Fall term at Oregon State University is drawing to a close and the students are gearing up for two very important things: Thanksgiving Break and the Civil War football game against the Ducks. I admit, it can be a difficult time of year for me. Who do I root for? The University of Oregon is my alma mater, but I have grown to love the students at Oregon State. I guess this is just one way I suffer for the sake of the Gospel.
Fall term has gone spectacularly this year. Our fellowship is growing. For all you numbers people out there, let me tell you what that means. We regularly have nearly 40 people attending our large group worship times. That is the largest group we have had since I came on staff here in 2005. Our three Bible Studies average over ten people per week. The Bible Study in Finley hall has probably had over 45 people come through it since the start of school. Here is a picture of the Bible Study that I lead in Sackett Hall.
Why the growth? I believe it is because Jesus is transforming our student leaders. Sean, Tom, Kit, Kristin, and Crisanne have been working so hard reaching out to new people and loving the people they live with in the dorms. They are learning what it means to lead by serving. I am so proud of them and cannot wait to see what further fruit is born of their partnership with Jesus in reaching this campus. My Co-leader, Kristin (pictured here at 3am pulling a prank on some of the guys in our Bible study) has done a superb job building a community in Sackett hall. She has been learning how to lead scripture, disciple people, and still be a good student. Pray for Kristin that she would continue to look to Jesus for strength and encouragement as she attempts to point the Bible Study toward Him.
In our Bible studies, we have been taking a look at how Jesus interacts with different types of people. We have been struck by how he loves the people who are the farthest from God. He spends time with them. He welcomes them and says encouraging things to them while the overly-religious Pharisees look on and sneer. It is really fun watching the new students learn how to study Scripture.
New Staff:
If you were not aware, we have a new intern staff at OSU this year. His name is Mike and he is an alumni of OSU. He has been a shot in the arm to our fellowship. Mike loves to reach out and invite new people in. He loves to talk about Jesus with people who do not yet believe. Mike’s goal this year is to raise up five new students who have the vision of reaching out and really living out their faith. We call these type of students “missional.” Pray for Mike that he would achieve his goal and that the students he raises up would have a huge impact on the campus. Fall Conference:
We recently returned from our annual fall conference at Camp Harlow in Eugene. This is always a great conference both for the speaking and worship, but also for the fellowship to bond and become better friends. All three of these were in place that weekend. We were encouraged to go 100-0 with our friends, meaning we always look to serve our friends rather than look at what we can get out of them. We are able to do this because God goes 100-0 with us. He gives us more than we can ever repay and does not expect us to repay him. It was a great conference. We were able to take 30 people this year. That is about twice as many as we took last year. So exciting! The conference as a whole was much bigger than previous years. God is clearly moving and growing fellowships all over the state. 
Pray for us. God is doing good things. We desire to be faithful with the people he has given us and to continue to reach out to new people and invite them into our community. Pray that the new freshmen will fall in love with Jesus and let him transform them while they are in college. Thank you for your support and for your prayers. God Bless you and have a happy Thanksgiving!
