Year in Review

Hello again everyone,

Once again, I need to apologize for my delay in posting, but thankfully, I've got some great updates to share now that we've reached the end of the school year.

As folks have asked me over the last few months about how the ministry is going, I've said some variation of the following: "In all honesty, this has felt like the most fruitful year of my experience on IV staff" (!), so as we came to our year-end, I was hoping that the measurable results would live up to my expectations.

Of course, I had been hearing stories all year long of God's work on campus, but the end of the school year provides a unique opportunity to take at a "cross section" of our ministry, and I'm so thankful to be able to share some of the results with you all, so I've got a few snapshots and a few stories...

Join me in praising God for...
* Our area growing by 76 students this year to a total of 493 "members" (18% growth)
* 51 students (!) choosing to follow Jesus for the first time (113% growth)
* Students planting 77 missional communities (aka "cells") on campus this year, an increase of 28%!
* 1,240 students attending at least one of our events (32% growth)
* 139 Non-Christian students involved in our ministry (25% growth)
* Five of our seven chapters set new records for overall involvement!

Now for some stories...

Double Dip at Drake
About this time last year, I talked with our two staff at Drake (Steph Schmaltz and Amy Schoepf) about trying to plant a new chapter for international students at Drake University. It felt like a risky move, as neither Steph/Amy had been "solo staff" for a chapter before, but we felt God inviting us into the challenge, so we went ahead. I'm so glad to report that both chapters have experienced tremendous fruitfulness this last year.

• The international chapter (under Steph's leadership) grew from 6 to 44 members and saw over 110 students (that's about 33% of the international population on campus, the vast majority of which are not Christians) attend at least one event.
  
• The undergrad chapter (led by Amy) grew to involve over 90 students, and saw 10 students decide to follow Jesus for the first time!

The University of Iowa- "God will plant"
Mid-way through the fall, our regional leadership team sensed that God was leading us to plant a brand-new chapter at the University of Iowa in the fall of 2009. We had previously had a chapter until a few years ago, but as we heard that there were over 29,000 students on campus who weren't involved in any kind of campus ministry, we felt compelled to try and start something new (even though we didn't know who would lead the plant). In distinctly supernatural ways (I wish I could tell you the whole story), God called Sherami Hinders and Tony Gatewood to be co-planters for the chapter next year. Our only expectations for this Spring were for Tony/Sherami to get situated and to prepare for the fall, but almost every time I talk with them, they have a new story of how God is opening doors for them on campus, and students expressing interest in being mobilized as missionaries to the campus. The chapter plant at Iowa will be among the highest profile plants in the entire nation, and I can't wait to see what God has in store next year!

You want us to plant in Omaha?!
As the spring progressed, I honestly thought we had taken enough big risks, but God had a different idea. Slowly, but surely, he made it clear that he was inviting us to plant not just at Drake, not just at the Univeristy of Iowa, but at Creighton University in Omaha. Initially, both my boss and I thought we needed to wait another year, but through the perseverance of Rachel Lenox (staff at Coe College), and the workings of the Holy Spirit, it became clear that the "time was fulfilled" to plant at Creighton as well! (Again, I wish I could tell you the whole story...the movement of God is all over it!) So, as I write, Rachel Lenox is moving to Omaha, and will be planting a brand-new chapter at Creighton next fall!

Sending and Receiving
A year ago at this time, our ministry was made up of six chatpers involving about 400 students. Before the end of this calendar year (by God's grace), the Iowa area will have been a part (either by planting them ourselves or sending planters) of six different chapter plants (University of Missouri- Kansas City, Johnson County Community College (Kansas), Drake University- International, the University of Iowa, Des Moines Area Community College, Creighton University), involving over 600 students. God has been so faithful to involve us in his purposes, and I'm so thankful!

With Great Joy and Expectation!

Jon

Walking by the Spirit

Hello again everyone,

It's been so long since I've written, I thought I better put up a couple posts to keep the masses happy. :)

As you've probably read above, it was a fantastic year of ministry across Iowa; we saw growth at virtually every level, and I find myself so grateful (and humbled) for God's movement through our ministry this year.

At the same time, Steph and I have found the going difficult at home as we work through parenting two young children and trying to stay deeply connected in marriage at the same time (hard as it may be to believe, these often feel like competing values!)

While all this great stuff has been going on in my world as an area director, I think God has been speaking to me with regard to my posture as a husband and father: he's been challenging me to "walk by the Spirit and not by the flesh".

At a recent area team meeting, we were studying Galatians 5, where Paul is admonishing the Galatian church to avoid giving into the temptation to self-justification through the law in favor of continuing to walk by faith in the power of the Spirit. In his teaching, he references back to the Old Testament story of Sarah and Hagar, the soap opera of a story out of which God begins to establish the nation of Israel as a people.

Sarah and Abraham had received a promise of a child in their old age, but in her impatience for the promises' fulfillment, Sarah chose to take matters into her own hands and "make it happen". Though God ultimately fulfills his promise anyway, her refusal to stand in faith introduces incredible strife and pain into her family.

I'm seeing with more clarity that we too have received promises from God over our marriage and our kids, but all too often in experiences of "barrenness", impatience, or frustration, my response is anything but confident faith in those promises (aka, "walking by the Spirit"), instead, I choose the way of blame, manipulation, and anger to either push down or avoid the experience of barrenness altogether.

What I'm seeing is that these "experiences of barrenness" that each of us face are none other than invitations to choose the way of faith again, more deeply. The hurdles or problems of our lives aren't merely hurdles to be overcome on our way to a happy existence, they are the crucible in which true faith, patience, and love are formed.

I long to be the kind of husband, father, and leader that bears real fruit, "fruit that lasts", and who knows what it means to walk by the Spirit, not just when I'm a "professional", but in the nuts and bolts of life, at 3am holding a crying child, or in the chaos of preparing dinner with the woman I love amidst the chaos of two toddlers!

Praying for eyes to see the invitations...

Jon

PS...As you'll see from the videos, family life isn't always difficult...