Praises, Year 1 at USC: Jim

I would love to share more details about what God did in Jim's life, but some of it is sensitive. Also, I changed his name.

Jim is a business major, fraternity member, and has the outgoing personality that is representative of many students at USC. However, he also embodied the darker side of Greek life: sexual promiscuity, misogyny, and rampant drug and alcohol abuse. In addition, Jim was obsessed with money and worldly success. He had every reason to expect it.

This past semester, God boldly intervened in Jim's life. Through a serious of events, Jim's life was turned upside down and he found himself to be a hated man on campus. Shocked, he found himself questioning everything he knew about his life. Around this time, his next-door neighbor was challenged by me to reach out to the people on his hall. At just the right time, Jim was invited to lunch with a Christian student who shared the gospel with him and invited him to church. On seeing people singing songs to the Lord and listening intently to the Word, Jim began to transform.

A few weeks after this, Jim and I met up. I shared with him about the cost of following Jesus and the true value of the kingdom of God. God used this conversation to convince Jim to throw off the remnants of his sinful life that he was still clinging to. We began meeting regularly for discipleship.

What a miracle to sit down with Jim just two days ago and examine his plan for growing spiritually this summer!

Vision for Prayer

Prayer is a great indication of where the heart is.

Time devoted to prayer is a great indicator of growth in maturity. It also shows zeal.

I have been praying for the type of student that God would produce out of my ministry at USC. Here are some of the attributes I have been asking God for:

1. Love for the Word
2. Heart for Prayer
3. Lifetime Laborer
4. Mature
5. Zealous
6. Committed to Evangelism
7. Leaders
8. Interdependent

On campus at USC, there is a beautiful prayer space called "The Little Chapel of Silence." It has been there since the university was founded; a relic of its Methodist past. I have spent many hours praying for the USC campus in this chapel.

Every now and then, another student or faculty member will be there too. Many times, the other people present are meditating, or even doing homework. It is rare that I get the sense that the other person there has the same heart for the campus as me.

This is what I am praying will change! I am looking forward to the day when I walk into the prayer chapel and it is full of people earnestly lifting up their campus! I want to have to sit on the floor!

Now, the reason I want this is because it is indicative of the zeal and passion for God's glory present in the student body.

Pray:

1. That God would give ME a zeal for prayer, by the power of his spirit.

2. That God would give the students I am working with a zeal for prayer.

3. That God would give all the Christian students a UNITY of zeal for prayer!

Vision for the Dorms

USC has 9 main dorms. Of these, 7 are mainly for freshman.

The dorms are where most freshman will make their friends. Many will remain with these friends throughout the next four years of their life. The habits and patterns of life that begin in the freshman year of college often continue for the next four years. I think that the first three weeks of freshman year are when students are most open to the gospel.

The dorms at USC are places of strong community. In some of the halls, everyone knows everyone and doors are always open. Establish a foothold with a few people, and it is possible to share the gospel with everyone on the hall. This is a time commitment. It is possible to spend the whole year laboring deeply on one hall (as I am doing this year).

My vision for the dorms is that there would be people (especially older students) at work on every hall in every dorm at USC. Each hall would be "owned" by a pair of students or staff who is leading a Bible study (either with Christians, or evangelistic) on a weekly basis.

I haven't made an exact count of all the halls, but this would mean dozens of students firmly committed to investing in the lives of others, and trained in discipleship and evangelism. They would have to have a heart for their community and a desire to see God change USC.

How to pray:

1. Pray for God to raise up laborers to go into the dorms at USC. (Matthew 9:37-38)

2. Pray for the dorms:

Birnkrant
New/North
Pardee
Marks
Trojan
Arts and Humanities
IRC
Fluor
Webb