Happy January!
I don’t know why I always want to start by talking about the weather, but after December’s decision to bury the northwest under mounds of snow, January has been a welcome change. It has been beautiful and sunny most days, but the trade off is that is has been SOOOOO cold! I am currently sitting in the sunniest room in my house enjoying the warmth of the sun.
There has been quite a lot going on in our fellowship this term. I am happy to have so much to report to you. At the risk of sounding repetitive, God is doing a lot and I can feel the fellowship moving with Him. Specifically, He is moving us into more intentional evangelism. I am excited to see where this takes us and the lives that will be transformed because of it.
Here is a story from one of our leaders, Crisanne. It is really encouraging.
“Recently, God was gracious to give me the opportunity to see the parable of the lost sheep come alive before my eyes! I was struggling with self-worth and feeling that my attempts at ministry weren't yielding any fruit at the start of this winter term. One night, I was trying to sleep but ended up walking around my dorm. I ran into a non-Christian friend, Valerie, who wanted to hang out. I didn't really want to and told her I was going to try to go to sleep again. However, when I got back to my room, the realization hit me that this could be God's hand trying to draw Valerie to himself! I immediately started praying that God would prepare her heart for the time we spent hanging out, and texted her to come on over. Valerie soon showed up and we decided against watching a movie (praise God!) and started talking instead. We talked about boys but then I decided to take a risk and ask her if she had had a bad experience with religion in the past. To my amazement, that opened up another hour of talking about her frustrations with church, Jesus, faith, Bible studies, and pretty much anything else you could think of. She even asked me why I believed in God, and I got to share with her stories of how I have seen Him heal people. Then Valerie left, and she left saying thank you instead of being mad! I called my friends right away and we gathered to pray until 2 AM for what had just happened! Basically, I see this conversation in two ways. One, God was merciful in redeeming me from my negative thoughts about my use as a student leader in my dorm. Second, he showed me that he is actively involved in seeking his lost sheep. I had thought that Valerie had never given a second thought to God, but, from the way she talked, I saw that she is brimming with questions. I am praying daily for guidance in what to do next, praying and praising the Almighty God!”
Pray for Crisanne as she seeks to reach out to Valerie and pray that God gets hold of Valerie’s heart.
As we have been leaning into evangelism, we have also felt a strong pull to pray more for the people we are reaching out to. This has stirred a desire to learn how to pray more deeply and with more effectiveness. I asked a man at my church, Tom White, to come give us a training time in prayer. Tom travels the world helping pastors in different cities come together to pray. He has a heart to see the church united. This guy has a CRAZY life. I was very excited to have him come and teach us about listening to the Holy Spirit in prayer. 18 students came to learn. I am looking forward to seeing how our prayer lives will deepen as a result. Pray for us as we pray.
On a slightly more somber note, I have realized that I need to put more focus on my fund development this term. I am currently at 59% of my budget. That means that the ministry is not in the best shape financially. I have let fund development take a back seat on my priorities list for too long. As a result, I am taking one day a week to specifically do it, and after our winter conference, I will be taking two weeks off campus to work on it. I am not super excited about this, but my hope is that it will help get us back on track. I need to raise another $1,600 per month to be fully funded. Pray for me as I do this and if you are moved to give to the ministry, there is a link to the left that will take you to the donations website.
God is on the move. We are trying to learn how to move with him. It is a fun, scary, and challenging adventure. Stay tuned!
