September 30th, 2009

This is what college ministry looks like...this is Jesus having dinner with the tax collectors and sinners!

Cavin has been reaching out to his suitemates; hanging out with them and trying to look for opportunities to share the gospel. The other week we sat down together to talk about how it was going and he was a little frustrated. His efforts didn't seem to be getting anywhere. I encouraged him to try and invite the people into his interests instead of just trying to talk to them. "Do something with them," was my advice.

So Cavin did. An avid runner, Cavin invited one of his suitemates to go running with him. They ran once and had a great conversation. That Saturday, a group of students were meeting on the beach for a short devotional and then some surfing. Cavin invited his friend to run down to the beach with him, but told him there would be a short devotional at the other end. To his surprise, his friend agreed, and seemed excited about the challenge of the six-mile run; he remained excited even after Cavin told him they had to be up at 630.

Friday night, Cavin ran into his suitemate around midnight. He was completely drunk! This was not a surprise, but Cavin was a little disappointed, since he doubted his friend would be in any condition to run in the morning.

The next morning, however, Cavin got up at 630 and went to wake his friend. He found him in his boxers in the bathroom, with no knowledge of where his clothes were, or the keys to his room! But despite these obstacles, his friend was determined to go running. After waking an RA and getting dressed, the two made the six-mile run down to the beach, enjoying good conversation. When they arrived at the beach, his suitemate participated in the devotion, and asked some great questions! Cavin made plans to read the Bible with him on a regular basis.

Prayer:

1. Praise God for his faithfulness to Cavin!

2. Pray for Cavin's suitemate (name: Noel)

3. Pray for continued open doors in his suite!

September 23rd, 2009

As I was walking home from campus on Monday, I started to feel a heaviness in my spirit. I had spent the afternoon preparing for a talk I was going to give the next day. As student after student walked by the Starbucks where I was working, I had started to feel overwhelmed by the sheer number of people at the school. How few of them had any notion of who God was! How few of them ever stopped to consider their condition before God! How few of them knew where acceptance with Him could be found!

The thoughts returned to me as I walked home, even stronger. So I started to pray. I knew that the hopelessness I was feeling was a lie. God is more powerful than the forces of evil on our campus! He reigns over Long Beach State. But I also knew that his heart breaks for the lost, those "sheep without a shepherd." I found myself crying as I prayed.

It was an emotional moment.

Would you pray for me?

1. Pray that God would open new doors for his gospel to go forth!

2. Pray that God would soften hearts and prepare them to hear the gospel.

3. Pray that he would make me and his other servants bold to proclaim the gospel.

I need your prayers. I alone cannot face the forces of evil on this campus. But in the power of God and the prayers of his saints, we can advance the Kingdom together!

I am so grateful for you!

September 15th, 2009

Would you like to know a little bit about what the Bereans are up to this semester?

Jordan is going to start reading the Bible with a Jewish friend of his. He approached me excitedly at NavNight to tell me that he had asked his friend, even though he had been pretty nervous.

1. Would you pray for discernment and Spiritual power for Jordan as he reads the Word with his friend?

Andrew is going to be leading an IBD for his friends in his prestigious scholarship program (to even be considered, you have to be a valedictorian or National Merit Scholar). These are some smart, intellectual people that Andrew is going to be sharing the Word with.

2. Would you pray that the wisdom of God would make foolish the wisdom of the world and that these smart students would see the light of the gospel?

Ben is going to be co-leading a Bible study aimed at freshmen. This has been a little discouraging because despite a lot of recruitment, no one showed up to the first meeting. The leaders, however, made a pact to each bring one person to the study this week.

3. Would you pray for new interest in this Bible study, and that Ben would have the opportunity to disciple a young believer this semester?

September 9th, 2009

I had a great morning sharing the gospel on campus with one of my guys. It was great to see his perseverance as he got rejected no less than 6 times! At the end we prayed together and even though it was a discouraging first time for him, he was excited and eager to try again.

There are so many lost students on campus...possibly as many as 35,000! The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. What does Jesus say?

"Ask the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest field."

I need your prayers as I take these guys into the harvest field and give them a taste of laboring in our Lord's field!

1. Pray for the guys I will be taking out: Ben, Cavin, Andrew, Jaime, Jordan

2. Pray for open hearts and open doors to spread the gospel.

3. Pray that the Spirit of God would go with our words and produce new life in the hearts of the men we speak to!

September 2nd, 2009

Tonight the Bereans gathered in my apartment for the first Bible study of the year. I love these guys so much, and I am so excited to be working with them this year.

As we were sharing about our summers, it seemed like most of the guys had been through a dry period during the summer. This came primarily from being isolated and on their own. I think all of them realized the need for deeper community...how interesting that this has been my main prayer request for them this summer!

Would pray?

1. That friendships would become deeper, more transparent, and more authentic.

2. For growth, deep and sustained, that lays a foundation for a lifetime.

3. Here is the promise I have been praying for them:

They will be called oaks of righteousness,
a planting of the LORD
for the display of his splendor.

Pray that the Spirit of God would move in these men!

Cavin, Jordan, Rudy, Andrew, Ben, Jaime, Tory

August 29th, 2009

This is a new year!

I was on campus today helping students moving in. I also spent some time with Josh, a senior who is excited about recruiting and leading a Bible study. One of my roles this year will be helping him with this. Josh shared with me how he feels God is leading him towards EDGEcorps. How exciting for a guy that one year ago had very little in interest in any sort of ministry!

Would be praying for these next few days? Monday especially is a critical day. We will be running surveys for the new students in the dorms.

There are three types of students we will meet this week.

1. Students who are going to get involved with a Christian group whether we meet them or not.

2. Students who are not interested in getting involved with a Christian group.

3. Students whose time in college will be determined by the first few weeks of their freshman year (not exaggerating!).

This third type of student is what our surveys are aimed at. These students aren't looking to be involved with a Bible study, but are open to it. They are also very vulnerable to the temptations and peer pressures that exist in the dorms.

We need your prayers these next few days!

Pray that God would lead these vulnerable students to our survey table, and make them open to coming to our events. Most of all, pray that we would be able to get them plugged into Bible studies.

Pray also that God would be opening doors for the gospel on the campus!

August 21st, 2009

First, apologies for being a few days late updating this. I know I said in my newsletter it would be on Wednesday. Sorry, I forgot!

Here are some beginning of the year requests:

1. Pray for the guys I will be meeting with this year, that God would bless them with GROWTH over the course of this year:

Cavin, Ben, Jordan, Rudy, Andrew, Josh

2. Pray for a few non-Christian guys that I will be contacting in the next few days:

Haroon, Chris, Cody

3. Pray for our Student Ministry Team...these are the guys who will be recruiting new students and reaching out to the lost this semester.

Thanks, update to follow on Wednesday!