I know, that isn't a very creative title but it sure is accurate and to the point.
Summer is here (in case you didn't know.) and I am currently reflecting on the past year whilst looking forward to the next one. I think I can say with little hesitation that this has been my favorite year at Oregon State. The fellowship is growing, people are choosing to follow Jesus for the first time (more on that later) and we are building momentum for the fall. I have learned a lot and seen the goodness of God this year.
Usually, at the end of the year, a fellowship begins to run out of steam. They coast to the end of the year and stop really doing anything. That did not happen this year. We picked up steam.
New Student Outreach . . . in MAY?!?!
I realized that we needed to work on our invitation skills. So one night at large group, I pulled a surprise on everyone. I told them that that night we were going to practice our invitations. Everyone was to go into the dorms and bring back as many people as possible for a giant banana split. 40 feet of banana split to be exact. They managed to bring back around 80 people, which was pretty good for the middle of mid-terms. It was a blast and they began to think that if they did it at the beginning of the school year, they could get even more people! Yes! Here are some pictures. 
Back to that story about people becoming Christians: So back at our outreach event, Outside-Inside-Out, a girl named An stood up and said she wanted to really figure out this Jesus thing. The two of us met for lunch each week for about six weeks and talked through a lot of her questions. It was a really fun time for me as I began to see the ways God was reaching out to her and the ways she was responding. She is in town for the summer and we hung out last week. I asked her how she was doing with deciding if she wanted to follow Jesus. She said, "oh yeah. I'm in. I totally love God and want to follow him." I was floored. So exciting!! An is an amazing person and I think that many people will come to know the Lord through her. Praise God!!!!
Summit
Right after school got out, I took 16 students up to Portland for our two-week urban plunge called "Summit." It involved a little bit of everything: Prayer, evangelism, service, justice, Bible Study, and 19 people crammed into a 3 bedroom apartment for 2 weeks. Needless to say, God was good to us and people had some amazing experiences with him. Many saw things and did things they never thought would happen to them. I could go on and on about it but there is WAY too much to tell. Here are some pictures.
Looking ahead, Mike and I are working on getting our funding together for next year and planning for the fall. Pray for us. We are really excited to get out there and help introduce people to Jesus. "an evangelism rampage" as Mike puts it. Have a great summer and look for another one of these in the fall. Peace!
