- For a SEASON OF SHALOM for our family. It’s an incredible gift to have this sabbatical fall at this stage of our lives (Elijah will be 4 in a month, and Abby’s officially 2!), and it would be the grace of God if we could experience his “shalom” during this season, particularly from some of the externals which have proven challenging.
- For RICH REFLECTION as I give myself in a more concentrated way to reading, study, and hopefully writing. I’m hoping to focus my attention on the twin themes of movement leadership and missional planting, and am excited for the ways this study might bear fruit in future seasons. It’s thoroughly healthy for my soul to read and think, but it’s been a while since I’ve done so in significant ways, so I’ll need to learn how to be a student again, and would appreciate a keen and attentive mind/spirit.
- For MY ONGOING FUNDING as it's very likely that my budget will be increasing for the upcoming ministry year. I'm so grateful for those of you have given faithfully down through the years, and will be looking to build an even wider donor base for the next season!
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Sabbatical Prayer Points
As our family heads into sabbatical, I'd appreciate your prayers on a few key points:
A Sabbath Rest
Hello Everyone!
I’ve never written an update quite like this one, as this is my final letter before my family and I get to enjoy a six-month sabbatical (June 21-December 12)! I'm in the final week of tying up loose ends, so obviously wanted to lte you all know what was coming down the pipe!
As we increasingly understand ourselves as a missionary movement, InterVarsity is pushing its staff to embrace the practice of intentional sabbath every eight to ten years. I just completed my eighth year of service, and so my time has come!
Starting next week, I’ll be handing over my ministry responsibilities to my Associate Area Director (Kathy Haug) who will serve in my place through the fall semester. (Pray for her!) :-)
During the time, I’ll be giving myself more fully to some “change of pace” activities, including increased time with my family, more focused times of personal spiritual formation, reading and study, traveling and fun, and also some discernment as to what the next season of ministry holds after sabbatical is over.
I’m certainly excited for the time, but more so I find myself humbled to have such an incredible privilege and a bit uncertain as to what life will look like when I’m not giving my life to serving and leading students and staff. I’m confident it will be a significant time, and I long to steward the gift as well as I possibly can.
So, one last time before I go, let me say thank you again. To do this job and witness the movement of God on campuses is one of the most profound blessings of my life, and it’s your support and prayers that have made it possible. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you!
Grace and Peace!
I’ve never written an update quite like this one, as this is my final letter before my family and I get to enjoy a six-month sabbatical (June 21-December 12)! I'm in the final week of tying up loose ends, so obviously wanted to lte you all know what was coming down the pipe!
As we increasingly understand ourselves as a missionary movement, InterVarsity is pushing its staff to embrace the practice of intentional sabbath every eight to ten years. I just completed my eighth year of service, and so my time has come!
Starting next week, I’ll be handing over my ministry responsibilities to my Associate Area Director (Kathy Haug) who will serve in my place through the fall semester. (Pray for her!) :-)
During the time, I’ll be giving myself more fully to some “change of pace” activities, including increased time with my family, more focused times of personal spiritual formation, reading and study, traveling and fun, and also some discernment as to what the next season of ministry holds after sabbatical is over.
I’m certainly excited for the time, but more so I find myself humbled to have such an incredible privilege and a bit uncertain as to what life will look like when I’m not giving my life to serving and leading students and staff. I’m confident it will be a significant time, and I long to steward the gift as well as I possibly can.
So, one last time before I go, let me say thank you again. To do this job and witness the movement of God on campuses is one of the most profound blessings of my life, and it’s your support and prayers that have made it possible. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you!
Grace and Peace!
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Surfing a Jesus Wave
At the risk of sounding redundant, I’m excited to say that I’ve never experienced a more fruitful year of ministry!
Honestly, last year was a great year for our work across Iowa--we were growing our impact, seeing more students start to follow Jesus, and our planting vision was gaining momentum. I entered into this year cautiously hopeful that the momentum wasn’t an anomaly, but that God really was on the move. At the end of this year, the verdict is in, and God has once again exceeded our expectations!
As you can imagine, measuring “success” in ministry can be tricky business. Individual stories can give a glimpse of the larger movement but sometimes miss the “big picture”. Numbers and data help us see trends, but don’t have names and faces, so they too tell only part of the story. For this “year-end report”, I’d like to give you a taste of both. Real stories of real students and staff who are being transformed by Jesus, and real data to help give you a sense for the larger move of God we are experiencing. I hope it produces as much gratitude in you as it has in me as I’ve sought to steward your investment and this movement.
Planting at Iowa
When I became Area Director, our work at the three state schools of Iowa (U of I, ISU, and UNI) was in a state of disrepair. Two of the three chapters had closed, and the other involved only a few students (despite our efforts), but I believe this year marked the turning of the tide.
Sherami Hinders and Tony Gatewood answered the call of God to go back to the University of Iowa last spring, and by God’s grace, they’ve been a part of one of the most successful chapter plants in the country!
Their vision was to plant a new chapter that was multiethnic and missional, and we’ve rejoiced together as that vision has materialized in powerful ways. After only one year on campus, over 75 students are involved with their fellowship, and they saw 11 students start to follow Jesus (two in the last week alone)!
...And Building at UNI
Rachel Danley and our students at UNI have enjoyed an unprecedented year of growth as they’ve sought to rebuild the chapter there. For years, the group had languished between 30-40 students, but as Rachel’s vision for the 10,000 unreached students at UNI has taken root, the chapter has grown in leaps and bounds. They catalyzed a week of 24.7 prayer for the campus, planted new cells in previously unreached corners of the campus, and had a front row seat for incredible generational conversions as students who started following Jesus became witnesses to entirely new friend groups and saw their friends join them in following Jesus.
All told, the chapter at UNI has grown 105% in the last two years, now involving 84 students, and they saw an incredible 19 students start following Jesus this year!
A Planting Movement
The “bread and butter” of our ministry on campus is not to be found in large worship services with bands and flashy speakers; it’s found in the dorm rooms, union cafes, and lounges of the campus, where student-led cell groups (aka, missional bible studies) meet to dive into the scriptures and then bear witness to dorms and “people groups” of the campus. There are literally hundreds of stories I could share, but here’s a few of my favorites.
- At Central College, we challenged our core students to invite their non-Christian friends to discuss the gospel stories of Jesus with them for four weeks and more than 20 students decided to take the risk. Of the 25 non-Christians who were asked, and astounding 22 said they’d be interested and met with our students to ask, seek, and knock together around the Word of God!
- At Drake, a student named Beth Ann (who’s also coming on staff next year!) felt called by God to start a cell in her sorority house. By the mid-point in the semester, she had 40 girls who had attended at least one discussion, and new cells were beginning in the other three sororities at Drake!
- At UNI, two music majors who were in Ethiopia last summer decided to plant a new cell in the music department (a largely untouched pocket of the campus). Momentum has grown throughout the year as they’ve been faithful in prayer and invitation, and Jesus used that cell to bring three more students into relationship with Him (I got word of the third only two weeks ago!)
What it's all about...
At the end of the day, we do what we do to see the lives of students transformed: from darkness to light, from being lost to being found, from death to life. Virtually every story I’ve told this year has been a story of conversion, and praise God, there have been dozens of stories to share.
There was Evan from UNI who gave his life to Jesus on a Monday and gave his first sermon six days later on Sunday, calling his peers to trust Jesus.
There was Sierra, who emailed our staff in September saying, “I’m looking for God, but can’t find him, can you help me?” and stood to receive Jesus later that month.
I think of the student at Central who finally chose Jesus after doing three bible studies a week with one of our student leaders.
There’s the seeking student who told our staff, “I think I actually felt God. I don’t know what He feels like, but it was really nice. I felt so loved and literally warm.”
Then, there’s the international student who went from skeptical to following Jesus in a week and now wants to change her major to law so she can be a part of bringing God’s justice in the world.
I’ve got a folder in my email called “Sweet Stories” and at the end of this year, I count 83 messages there, each bearing witness to the God who has been and will continue to be at work on campus long after I’ve written my last prayer letter.
So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. I Cor. 3.7
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
You Prayed and God Answered!
Hi Everyone,
Last week Thursday, I asked you all to pray for a gathering at UNI where our staff, Rachel Danley, was going to make an invitation to start following Jesus, and God answered!
Now, on to another prayer request...my associate (Kathy Haug) and I are in the process of interviewing 9 different candidates for IV staff positions across the state and our region and hope to make decisions in the next week or so. As you can imagine, these are important and complicated decisions (the most significant decisions I make as an Area Director), so I covet God’s wisdom in knowing how to steward these lives and allocate staff strategically.
Grateful for your partnership!
Jon
Last week Thursday, I asked you all to pray for a gathering at UNI where our staff, Rachel Danley, was going to make an invitation to start following Jesus, and God answered!
- 10 students checked the box indicating they wanted to have a conversation about following Jesus!
- 40 students committed to living for God’s mission on campus
- 28 students checked that they wanted to explore overseas missions
- 57 students committed to being a part of localized prayer groups across campus
Now, on to another prayer request...my associate (Kathy Haug) and I are in the process of interviewing 9 different candidates for IV staff positions across the state and our region and hope to make decisions in the next week or so. As you can imagine, these are important and complicated decisions (the most significant decisions I make as an Area Director), so I covet God’s wisdom in knowing how to steward these lives and allocate staff strategically.
Grateful for your partnership!
Jon
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Welcome to the Family
Another post, another blizzard--
Two stories for you today, both of which relate to Asian International Students from the first two weeks of school...
From Steph Schmaltz at Drake University:
From Brian Smith at the University of Iowa:
THIS IS THE POWER OF COLLEGE MINISTRY. Not only do students carry incredible power in witness to their friends, both of these new sisters are from "closed" countries, but when they return, they will return not just having studied in America, but with the Holy Spirit empowering them to bear witness FROM WITHIN THE WALLS OF CLOSED COUNTRIES (places where you or I could have virtually no direct impact!)
Two stories for you today, both of which relate to Asian International Students from the first two weeks of school...
From Steph Schmaltz at Drake University:
"Alice" was a student who came to Drake at the beginning of the year. She asked the director of the International Student office if there was anyone who could teach her about the Bible. I know the director, so she connected the two of us.
Alice and I met up once and it looked a like a great opportunity to do a GIG, so we started to meet more regularly. As time went on it became more clear that Alice was more interested in the Bible as a way to learn about western culture and so the spiritual components I was trying to hit weren't as appealing to her. We kept in contact throughout the semester, but I was a little disappointed to say the least.
I ran into Alice at the second semester Activities Fair and she came rushing up to me, gave me a huge hug and said she wanted to get together because she had some things she needed to tell me. I obviously agreed to meet up with her and so we did just yesterday. I went to Alice's apartment and she began to tell me that she has been going to church for the past month and about a conversation she had a with a former Drake student who is a Christian. She then mentioned how along with our Bible studies first semester and the things that had been going on her life lately, she realized that God was not just something that influenced western culture. She said that she doesn't want to be the center of her life, but wants God to be the center of her life and she wants to follow Him and only Him!
At this point I began to tear up. First semester I was so hopeful for Alice to know Jesus, but was really disappointed when it felt like our GIG went no where. But there in her apartment, Alice thanked me for beginning to open her eyes to the spiritual components of the Bible because that is when she said she first started to wonder if there was something more to Christianity. She said her life feels different now and she has a peace she has never experienced before. She said, "I can't explain it logically, but my life I know is changed forever." Sunday afternoons Alice and I are going to meet to study scripture and learn more about what it means to be a Christian.
From Brian Smith at the University of Iowa:
My first bible study occurred this thursday-- I'm leading a bible study in the Asian Pacific American Cultural center, and it has been slow... As in, never getting more than 2 people there slow. However, I started sensing some change in momentum this semester, and students started to say yes. In particular, one senior student named Amber had been talking about inviting her room mate, a seeker student from Asia. Amber had been consistently inviting her roommate the entire past semester with no success, and I had been praying for the past semester that God would bring conversion in her life.
When I heard that 3 of the students who had expressed interest in my bible study (including one of the two regulars from last semester) were not coming to bible study, I wasn't sure what to expect. But... when I arrived at Bible study last night, I was surprised to see 4 students, and the first thing Amber said to me was: "Brian, we have good news!" Her room mate had just recently committed her life to Christ. She participated in the bible study, and had some of the more insightful comments of the group (not surprisingly).
Amazing that God works to bring transformation to people as we pray, even before we meet some of our students. Praise God that He is starting a student movement at Iowa, and that students are taking initiative and ownership of the movement.
THIS IS THE POWER OF COLLEGE MINISTRY. Not only do students carry incredible power in witness to their friends, both of these new sisters are from "closed" countries, but when they return, they will return not just having studied in America, but with the Holy Spirit empowering them to bear witness FROM WITHIN THE WALLS OF CLOSED COUNTRIES (places where you or I could have virtually no direct impact!)
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Praying for GIGs...
Hi Everyone,
See the next post for an incredible story of God's work among Greek students at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, but for now, I wanted to invite you to be praying with me as we start this semester for a couple really key points. Perhaps you'd be willing to pray once a day for the following two things or on a particular day of the week (like Tuesday, for insteance) through the month of February and March...
With Great Expectancy,
Jon
See the next post for an incredible story of God's work among Greek students at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, but for now, I wanted to invite you to be praying with me as we start this semester for a couple really key points. Perhaps you'd be willing to pray once a day for the following two things or on a particular day of the week (like Tuesday, for insteance) through the month of February and March...
- One of our key initiatives on campus is to invite our current students to consider leading scripture discussion groups for their friends who aren't following Jesus (we call them Groups Investigating God--GIGs). Many of our campuses will be launching major GIG initiatives in the weeks before Spring Break. I'm praying for 30+ GIGs to happen all over the state, so please join me in praying that GOD WOULD SEND OUT STUDENTS INTO HIS HARVEST FIELD (LUKE 10:2).
- GIGs are a terrific way both for students to own their faith with their friends, but even moreso for students who aren't following Jesus to see him in new ways that they might give their lives to him! Please join me in praying that GOD WOULD OPEN EYES TO SEE THE GOSPEL (II Cor. 4:4) of these students and that A GREAT NUMBER WOULD BELIEVE AND TURN TO THE LORD! (Acts 11.24)
With Great Expectancy,
Jon
UMSL?!?
Hi Everyone,
One of the unique privileges of my semester has been not only working on campuses across Iowa, but also getting the chance to coach a staff named Chioma Chukwu as she works to plant a new InterVarsity chapter at the University of Missouri- St. Louis (UMSL for short). We entered the year very uncertain about how things would go...UMSL is an almost entirely commuter campus, which makes it a very difficult place to start new ministry...sort of like trying to make deep friends at a truck stop (everyone is always on the go!)
Anyway, Chioma has been an absolute joy to work with, and God is blessing her efforts in dramatic ways. Here's an excerpt from her latest update about a move of God among Greek students on campus!!
HOW SWEET IS THAT?!
One of the unique privileges of my semester has been not only working on campuses across Iowa, but also getting the chance to coach a staff named Chioma Chukwu as she works to plant a new InterVarsity chapter at the University of Missouri- St. Louis (UMSL for short). We entered the year very uncertain about how things would go...UMSL is an almost entirely commuter campus, which makes it a very difficult place to start new ministry...sort of like trying to make deep friends at a truck stop (everyone is always on the go!)
Anyway, Chioma has been an absolute joy to work with, and God is blessing her efforts in dramatic ways. Here's an excerpt from her latest update about a move of God among Greek students on campus!!
As we entered last semester, Greeks were one of the target groups I was praying to reach and God has been answering that prayer! We had 8 students at Urbana and one of them was Emma, a sorority girl that grew up Catholic but had a lot of questions about her faith.... she was struggling with guilt for not knowing enough about God and scripture and also not being sure if she was a Christian...At Urbana, we sat down to talk after lunch near the beginning of the week. She shared the same uncertainties she'd expressed earlier in the year that were being amplified. I asked her if she thought she had a relationship with Jesus and if so where it was at. She said she thought so, but was unsure. The next day when I had scheduled to meet with all 8 of them, one of the girls Haley ran up to me and said "Chioma, guess what? Tell her Emma!!" And Emma said, "I'm a Christian!"....We took time in our meeting to let her share her response to God...On top of that, she's totally willing to start a bible study in her sorority house! She's already made the announcement and there are girls that are interested in studying scripture with her....
Her good friend/sorority sister Kaitlin had come to our meetings too, but seemed uninterested in God. She is one of those girls that constantly makes fun of people and has an intimidating attitude, but God has been working in her. I was surprised she wasn't turned off by me and was open to deep conversations.
Since school started, I had been oddly nervous about tonight (Friday 1/22), our Back to School Party. I was not sure what to expect! I felt like it was going to be a bomb. Of course-God showed up hardcore.
I got in a group with Emma and Kaitlin. I asked them what was happening for them during worship and Katilin said "I just wish I could be a better person. I see all of the bad things I've done and I just feel so bad. It's so beautiful to see how people love God here." I got to share more about God's heart towards her as she teared up and I finally asked her, "Do you want to follow Jesus?" and she said yes!! So I told her what to ask Jesus for in her heart, I prayed, then she prayed and Emily was there too praying, and she became a believer!! We announced it to the whole group and everyone was SO excited! She burst out into tears, so we gathered around and laid hands on her praying for God's protection of her mind and heart... It was great that Emily was able to witness Kristen being lead to Christ. She told Kristen that she thinks "God did this on purpose. We were meant to be together on this journey." As she was crying too.
I LOVE that God is making UMSL an evangelistic community. It's honestly getting hard to have ANY meetings that involve only Christians because non-believers always want in. I also really love this because it reminds me of God's work of saving communities of people at a time and the power of prayer. He is SO good!!
HOW SWEET IS THAT?!
Grace and peace,
Jon
Jon
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Urbana09
Happy New Year Everyone,
As I write, we're in the middle of yet another blizzard here in Iowa (ugh). It's seemingly increasingly likely that we won't see the ground again until March, but such is life in the Midwest. :)
Another part of winter for IV staff workers is the Urbana student missions convention, which gathers about 20,000 students and staff from around the world every three years to St. Louis to focus on God's mission in the earth and our part in it. Because my fall was so busy, I was given the year off, but there is still much good to report!
First, I'm proud to share that one of my staff, Sherami Hinders, was invited to speak in the main convention hall on the last night in front of 16,000 folks!! She did an incredible job, and it was a rich privilege to see one of my staff honor God in such a profound way! I've pasted the video here for you all to enjoy!
As I write, we're in the middle of yet another blizzard here in Iowa (ugh). It's seemingly increasingly likely that we won't see the ground again until March, but such is life in the Midwest. :)
Another part of winter for IV staff workers is the Urbana student missions convention, which gathers about 20,000 students and staff from around the world every three years to St. Louis to focus on God's mission in the earth and our part in it. Because my fall was so busy, I was given the year off, but there is still much good to report!
First, I'm proud to share that one of my staff, Sherami Hinders, was invited to speak in the main convention hall on the last night in front of 16,000 folks!! She did an incredible job, and it was a rich privilege to see one of my staff honor God in such a profound way! I've pasted the video here for you all to enjoy!
Testimony: Sherami Hinders from Urbana 09 on Vimeo.
Yesterday, I got an email from a fellow staff worker and dear friend named Fred Wagner. Fred has given his life to college students around the world, and was known affectionately during my time as a student at Central as "the living legend". He led my first trip to Mongolia, and he's been a rich blessing to my life. His email gave profound testimony to God's work at Urbana (300-400 students became Christians, and 4,500 pledged to invite a non-Christian friend to study the life of Jesus through John 1-4--unbelievable stuff!), so rather than try to reproduce it for myself, I asked his permission to share some excerpts, which he graciously granted. I've embedded a number of the talks he mentions in his report for your enjoyment! Here are a few highlights from the conference:
Dear Partners,
I doubt that any of you included the St. Louis water department in your prayers for Urbana, but, on the human side, the fate of the convention lay in their hands.
After a rousing first day a water main just outside entrance A of the Edward Jones Dome stadium burst. For the nearly 17,000 delegates the only obvious effect was longer exiting and entering lines via one less doorway. For the 24 hour prayer team it was a call to arms after learning that the water main serviced the entire sprinkler system in the stadium and the fire marshal decreed that "unless the pipes can be repaired within 10 hours I will have to close the stadium."
"Prayer is an act of spiritual defiance of what is, in response to what God has promised. The shape of the future will be determined by those who can survey all its possibilities and by faith grasp one as possible. History belongs to the intercessors, those who believe the future into being."
Sundar Krishnan, a pastor from Ontario, Canada proclaimed those words in what to me represented the meatiest address at Urbana….two days after faithful intercessors defied the broken pipe and believed that God wanted the Urbana Missions Conference to continue.
Pray Big and Pray Bold: Sunder Krishnan from Urbana 09 on Vimeo.
If you have time for two webcasts then click on the address by Oscar Munriu, pastor of Nairobi Chapel in Kenya. "He dwelled among us" was the theme of Urbana 22, words from John 1:14, and Oscar unpacked the meaning of Jesus’ incarnation with a scorching comparison to the ways we do mission today. In 1910, 80% of Christendom was Caucasian. Today, 60% is non-white and we who have come to ascribe Divine sanction on our ways of doing mission need to hear from our African brethren if we ever hope to experience true partnership with the Church in developing nations.Money and Power: Oscar Muriu from Urbana 09 on Vimeo.
York Moore grew up in Detroit, met Jesus as an atheist philosophy major at the U of M and now serves as a national evangelist for InterVarsity. He was chosen to exposit John 3:1-21 on the third morning and he aimed his address at those who had not yet experienced new birth. (You might wonder why they would attend a missions conference. It is a part of the growing trend of spiritual journeying that first leads unsaved people to connect with a body of believers before they connect with Jesus). York spoke succinctly and powerfully and then asked those prepared to embrace Jesus to stand to their feet. Angels must have partied at the sight of between 300 and 400 on their feet….including some of the stadium workers who served as ushers. Later York asked those who stood to walk out to another room for ‘follow-up’ and 250 did so.Altar Call: York Moore from Urbana 09 on Vimeo.
There were other measurable evidences of God’s Spirit at work. Jim Tebbe challenged students to give sacrificially to an offering for God’s work outside of the US (and outside of IVCF). Students responded with an offering of nearly $900,000. For this Urbana the Missionary Decision Card was redesigned from a long list of commitments to just six; but, as always, there was a commitment entry to "join in God’s cross-cultural mission long term," and 2,500 students marked that category. In response to what has proven to be the most effective evangelistic tool throughout InterVarsity’s long history, there was a new entry, "I will invite a non-follower of Jesus to study John 1-4 with me." Over 4,500 students pledged to that step of action and I suspect that that number will easily double because on the last night, one day after the commitment service, IV president, Alec Hill, put the cookies on the bottom shelf.
"Don’t think you can defer being a missional Christian until after graduation. If you try, I guarantee that your passion will atrophy, your vision will blur, and your fire will burn low. God is less concerned with the commitments you made this week than your obedience right now….Let’s talk about your neighborhood….Sharing the Good News with a fellow student may be the most significant action you will ever take."
Alec then profiled four examples of IV students who shared Jesus with a fellow student and then revealed the long-term, ripple effect including the story of NYC pastor Tim Keller who 40 years ago was an obnoxious frosh (his words) at Bucknell and the IVers put up with all his questions and loved him into active faith.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Year-End Giving
Just a quick note for those of you who would like to make a year-end gift to support my ministry...
This fall has been an incredible season of fruitfulness, but I've done little by way of working on my funding base, so I'm hoping to help bolster by funding with some special year-end gifts. If you're interested in making a gift, you can do so by clicking on the link below, thanks in advance!
https://my.intervarsity.org/e6f16593fc5ac099cc27bf20c9014ead/designate.php?_qf_chooseAmount_display=true
This fall has been an incredible season of fruitfulness, but I've done little by way of working on my funding base, so I'm hoping to help bolster by funding with some special year-end gifts. If you're interested in making a gift, you can do so by clicking on the link below, thanks in advance!
https://my.intervarsity.org/e6f16593fc5ac099cc27bf20c9014ead/designate.php?_qf_chooseAmount_display=true
I'll let some other folks do the talking...
Hello again everyone,
The semester is winding down and the snow is piling up (ugh), but there's some more cool stories to share...this time written by other folks! Here's a few quick links of stories that have been written by/about our work across Iowa this fall!
Grateful,
Jon
PS...One of my staff, Sherami Hinders (planting at the University of Iowa) will be giving a testimony at Urbana09 (http://www.urbana09.org/home.main.cfm) to 20,000 students on New Year's Eve (talk about pressure!) I'll post the video link of her testimony here after it's available! :)
The semester is winding down and the snow is piling up (ugh), but there's some more cool stories to share...this time written by other folks! Here's a few quick links of stories that have been written by/about our work across Iowa this fall!
- A story off our national InterVarsity website about Ethan, a student at UNI who gave his life to Jesus in September: http://www.intervarsity.org/news/forgiven-in-full
- A story off the website of 24.7 prayer (i.e., Red Moon Rising for those of you who have read that book), about our chapter at Central: http://campusamerica.org/stories/18
- A story from the student newspaper at Drake University about our staff (Amy Schoepf) and chapter there: http://www.timesdelphic.com/2009/12/09/intervarsity-leader-uses-faith-in-work/
- A collection of stories written by students from Central about how they used a $20 "reverse offering" (yes, we gave everyone who came $20!)...some very cool stories! http://20forchangecentral.blogspot.com/
Grateful,
Jon
PS...One of my staff, Sherami Hinders (planting at the University of Iowa) will be giving a testimony at Urbana09 (http://www.urbana09.org/home.main.cfm) to 20,000 students on New Year's Eve (talk about pressure!) I'll post the video link of her testimony here after it's available! :)
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
KEEP COMING!
Hello again!
Hard to believe it's November already; the fall has literally flown by as we've seen God continue to move on campuses across Iowa in powerful ways. Since I last wrote six weeks ago, WE'VE SEEN ANOTHER EIGHT STUDENTS START TO FOLLOW JESUS(!), the latest being an Asian international student at the University of Iowa last week!
Here's two stories from Drake University where I spoke on 9.30 (I asked you to pray for this night at the end of my last post...God answered your prayers!) Both stories are told by Amy Schoepf, our staffworker at Drake:
UNBELIEVABLE HUH?! It's stories like this that fuel us through the ups and downs of campus ministry. God is so good.
There are more stories to share (in fact, what's happening in Iowa is starting to get national press...no really!), but I want to get to a couple special opportunities for you to join in with what God is doing through InterVarsity in Iowa.
Thankful,
Jon
Hard to believe it's November already; the fall has literally flown by as we've seen God continue to move on campuses across Iowa in powerful ways. Since I last wrote six weeks ago, WE'VE SEEN ANOTHER EIGHT STUDENTS START TO FOLLOW JESUS(!), the latest being an Asian international student at the University of Iowa last week!
Here's two stories from Drake University where I spoke on 9.30 (I asked you to pray for this night at the end of my last post...God answered your prayers!) Both stories are told by Amy Schoepf, our staffworker at Drake:
the first student who said yes is SALLY. she emailed me 3 weeks ago and said "I'M A FRESHMAN. I'M MISSING GOD IN MY LIFE. CAN YOU HELP ME FIND HIM?" anyway, she's been coming to all of our stuff since then and getting connected. 3 weeks later, she stands at an invitation to follow Jesus for the first time. i got to follow up with her after, and asked callie (brand new christian) to come with us. callie shared with sally how incredible it is to say yes to Jesus and how she'll never be the same and then she and i prayed with her to comitt her life to Jesus. also, she doesn't know any christianese yet--so her prayer was so delighfully simple. courtney is right, sally''s life will never be the same. and callie is ready to lead more people to jesus. :)
the second student is one who's been coming all year so far. KELSEY. she comes with her crew of friends and does the christian thing. to be honest, i didn't really know where she stood and her friends just assumed she was a christian (let this be a lesson to you amy schoepf and friends!). but she stood to say yes to Jesus for the first time. she was followed up with her friends after and when i arrived home from our large group that night i had an email waiting in my inbox from her. she explained that after jon's message she finally figured out "why" she's been coming to intervarsity. she explained that she'd never comitted her life to Jesus and saying yes to Him was "THE MOST POWERFUL FEELING I'VE EVER FELT." and here's the crazy part. that same morning she accepted a bid from a pharmacy fraternity on campus that meets every wednesday night at 9pm--beginning the very NEXT WEEK at 9. she's also an RA so she can't attend any small groups, etc. bc of scheduling. if jon had not been there that night, if he wouldn't have given the invitation he did...if it had been just one week later...KELSEY WOULDN'T EVEN HAVE BEEN IN THE ROOM.... wow...God's timing in so incredible huh?
UNBELIEVABLE HUH?! It's stories like this that fuel us through the ups and downs of campus ministry. God is so good.
There are more stories to share (in fact, what's happening in Iowa is starting to get national press...no really!), but I want to get to a couple special opportunities for you to join in with what God is doing through InterVarsity in Iowa.
- First is a special event called $20 FOR CHANGE that we're going to be doing one week from tonight (11.11) at Central. The idea is simple: as a way to demonstrate the grassroots nature of God's Kingdom, we're going to be giving $20 bills to 100 students (think reverse offering), and asking them to commit to investing that money in the work of God's Kingdom on Campus. I can't wait to hear the stories.
- Second is a scholarship program called REYBANA that we are running for Central students. Every three years, InterVarsity hosts a missions convention called Urbana (http://www.urbana09.org/) for 20,000 students from around the globe. This year, we're partnering with Campus ministries at Central (sponsors of a Christmas break mission trip to Reynosa) to offer a "2 for 1" deal to students who register for both experiences so they can have the experience of learning about missions and then doing missions in the same Christmas Break!
Thankful,
Jon
Sunday, September 27, 2009
A Jesus Outbreak
Hello everyone!
I've never experienced a month quite like this one. Across the country, folks are worried about virus outbreaks on college campuses, but across Iowa, we've been experiencing an outbreak of a different sort- Jesus on the move! Here's the story...
After a first few weeks of class filled with meeting new students and caring for the whole campus, the movement got started in earnest at Drake University on September 5th...
That night, I had a text conversation with our staff, Amy Schoepf that went as follows:
Obviously, a great way to start the year, but this was only the start. On 9.9.09, (the same night Callie was sharing at Drake) at Central College, the story I've already shared below went down. I was speaking on the Prodigal Son out of Luke 15, and invited students to make a decision to follow Jesus. To my utter shock 30 students stood to signify their desire to follow Jesus. (Check out the "Unbelievable" post below for the whole story, it's worth a read!) The fruit of these decisions has continued to play out over the last two weeks in new Bible studies being started and additional outreach happening on campus (more on this below).
The next stage in the journey happened on 9.14 at the University of Northern Iowa. After hearing about what had happened at Central, our staff at UNI, Rachel Danley, invited me to make another call to faith at their Large Group, which I was happy to do. When I did so, another student (Evan) stood to mark his desire to give his life over to Jesus! (More on Evan Below!)
That weekend, on 9.18-20, my area staff team hosted FC09: Family Vacation (our annual fall student conference) for 130 students from around the state. I spoke on the final morning, again to give an invitation to faith, but as I was praying about it, I felt like I was supposed to ask Evan from UNI to give the talk with me (he had, after all been following Jesus for 5 days at that point!) So, I approached him to see if he'd be willing to share his story, and though he was a bit shell-shocked at first, he agreed. Sunday morning, Evan did a fantastic job of telling about what Jesus had done in his life, and I again made an invitation for students to give their lives to Jesus for the first time, and another 20 students stood to mark their decision from almost every school represented! Five of these students were from UNI and were inspired by Evan's testimony of receiving Jesus' forgiveness, and several were friends of Callie's, the student from Drake I wrote about above!
Then, on the following Tuesday, 9.22, I got two emails from one of our student leaders at Central, Aaron Jones. The first was a message that he had received over the weekend, it read like this:
Aaron asked Jessica if she'd be willing to meet to talk more, and she agreed. Later that night, we got word from Aaron again...
I've never experienced a month quite like this one. Across the country, folks are worried about virus outbreaks on college campuses, but across Iowa, we've been experiencing an outbreak of a different sort- Jesus on the move! Here's the story...
After a first few weeks of class filled with meeting new students and caring for the whole campus, the movement got started in earnest at Drake University on September 5th...
That night, I had a text conversation with our staff, Amy Schoepf that went as follows:
Amy- "A student just became a Christian!! She agreed to share at IV on Wednesday"
Me- Wow!! That's awesome! What's her name?
Amy- Callie. Sweet story--she was really close in the spring but didn't fully commit. She and Audrey and I hung out last night-I brought it up and Audrey led her.
Amy- New Christian (Audrey stared following Jesus last spring) leads new student to Jesus :)
Me- So great-I'll look forward to hearing the full story!
Amy- Yep and she has three girls that come to IV with her who are all nominal Christians--so keep praying!!
Me- Wow!! That's awesome! What's her name?
Amy- Callie. Sweet story--she was really close in the spring but didn't fully commit. She and Audrey and I hung out last night-I brought it up and Audrey led her.
Amy- New Christian (Audrey stared following Jesus last spring) leads new student to Jesus :)
Me- So great-I'll look forward to hearing the full story!
Amy- Yep and she has three girls that come to IV with her who are all nominal Christians--so keep praying!!
Obviously, a great way to start the year, but this was only the start. On 9.9.09, (the same night Callie was sharing at Drake) at Central College, the story I've already shared below went down. I was speaking on the Prodigal Son out of Luke 15, and invited students to make a decision to follow Jesus. To my utter shock 30 students stood to signify their desire to follow Jesus. (Check out the "Unbelievable" post below for the whole story, it's worth a read!) The fruit of these decisions has continued to play out over the last two weeks in new Bible studies being started and additional outreach happening on campus (more on this below).
The next stage in the journey happened on 9.14 at the University of Northern Iowa. After hearing about what had happened at Central, our staff at UNI, Rachel Danley, invited me to make another call to faith at their Large Group, which I was happy to do. When I did so, another student (Evan) stood to mark his desire to give his life over to Jesus! (More on Evan Below!)
That weekend, on 9.18-20, my area staff team hosted FC09: Family Vacation (our annual fall student conference) for 130 students from around the state. I spoke on the final morning, again to give an invitation to faith, but as I was praying about it, I felt like I was supposed to ask Evan from UNI to give the talk with me (he had, after all been following Jesus for 5 days at that point!) So, I approached him to see if he'd be willing to share his story, and though he was a bit shell-shocked at first, he agreed. Sunday morning, Evan did a fantastic job of telling about what Jesus had done in his life, and I again made an invitation for students to give their lives to Jesus for the first time, and another 20 students stood to mark their decision from almost every school represented! Five of these students were from UNI and were inspired by Evan's testimony of receiving Jesus' forgiveness, and several were friends of Callie's, the student from Drake I wrote about above!
Then, on the following Tuesday, 9.22, I got two emails from one of our student leaders at Central, Aaron Jones. The first was a message that he had received over the weekend, it read like this:
Hi, I was in your small group for Vintage community last Wednesday night. I don't know if you can help me but I don't know who to ask about faith. I am new to being a Christian and new to the bible, and have grown up in a home with atheists. I have had a rough past and am ashamed of it, and am looking to find some guidance for my future. I have been told that I can never be forgiven by God for what I have done in the past and
I am scared because if that is true I am afraid what my life has in store for me.
Can something from my past be so bad that God can never love me?
I am scared because if that is true I am afraid what my life has in store for me.
Can something from my past be so bad that God can never love me?
Aaron asked Jessica if she'd be willing to meet to talk more, and she agreed. Later that night, we got word from Aaron again...
Jessica and I just got done talking, and she prayed tonight to accept Jesus as her savior!!
She asked a lot of good questions about forgiveness, prayer and church. I made sure that she knew that she just wasn't accepting my beliefs, but was beginning a relationship with a living God. She prayed for forgiveness and to receive the Holy Spirit and said that she felt amazing! I went with her back to Graham (girls' dorm on campus) as she shared with some girls what she just experienced, then I left as she went to a
prayer meeting that another girl in Graham had already set up.
She asked a lot of good questions about forgiveness, prayer and church. I made sure that she knew that she just wasn't accepting my beliefs, but was beginning a relationship with a living God. She prayed for forgiveness and to receive the Holy Spirit and said that she felt amazing! I went with her back to Graham (girls' dorm on campus) as she shared with some girls what she just experienced, then I left as she went to a
prayer meeting that another girl in Graham had already set up.
So, in the space of a few short weeks (22 days to be exact), we've seen 24 STUDENTS START TO FOLLOW JESUS FOR THE FIRST TIME, and another 21 RECOMMIT THEIR LIVES TO JESUS! I wish I had the space to tell you the stories of these 45 students, because Jesus is meeting them in incredible ways as they take steps of faith in following him (students experiencing physical healing, being challenged by parents angry at their desire to follow Jesus, and door after door opening for Jesus' gospel) They are following Jesus immediately into ministry and outreach to their friends, and we are TRULY WATCHING A JESUS OUTBREAK SWEEP THROUGH THESE CAMPUSES!
And, I believe that God isn't done yet. This Wednesday, 9.30, I'll be speaking again at Drake University, and I'll again be inviting students to follow Jesus for the first time (and join the other 5 Drake students who have already made that decision this year!) so I covet your prayers, and can't wait to tell you the next chapter in this crazy story God is writing.
Thank you for your support of this ministry, it's one of the deepest privileges of my life to watch God move in these ways on campuses across the state, and it's your prayers and support that make it possible.
Trying to keep up with a God who is most certainly on the move!
Jon
And, I believe that God isn't done yet. This Wednesday, 9.30, I'll be speaking again at Drake University, and I'll again be inviting students to follow Jesus for the first time (and join the other 5 Drake students who have already made that decision this year!) so I covet your prayers, and can't wait to tell you the next chapter in this crazy story God is writing.
Thank you for your support of this ministry, it's one of the deepest privileges of my life to watch God move in these ways on campuses across the state, and it's your prayers and support that make it possible.
Trying to keep up with a God who is most certainly on the move!
Jon
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Bibles for New Believers
As you'll read below, it's been an incredible week of ministry, so I've got a special request...
I've purchased Bibles for each of the 30 folks who stood up to mark their decision to follow Jesus for the first time or rededicate their lives to Jesus to get them started on the right foot.
I was able to negotiate a discounted rate for some study bibles (with explanatory notes), which means I was able to get them for $40 a piece, but with 30 folks, that still works out to $1,200!
So, I'm putting out a call to anyone who'd be willing to spring $40 to give a Bible to a student who just started following Jesus. If you are interested, please contact me at jon.hietbrink@gmail.com or 641.780.6670.
Thanks!
Jon
I've purchased Bibles for each of the 30 folks who stood up to mark their decision to follow Jesus for the first time or rededicate their lives to Jesus to get them started on the right foot.
I was able to negotiate a discounted rate for some study bibles (with explanatory notes), which means I was able to get them for $40 a piece, but with 30 folks, that still works out to $1,200!
So, I'm putting out a call to anyone who'd be willing to spring $40 to give a Bible to a student who just started following Jesus. If you are interested, please contact me at jon.hietbrink@gmail.com or 641.780.6670.
Thanks!
Jon
Unbelievable!
Greetings friends,
I've got an unbelievable story to share, I hope you are blessed by it! (Sorry for the length, I think it’ll be worth your time to read it...)
I was set to speak on Wednesday night (9.9) at Central’s LG and was planning on giving a call to faith out of the prodigal son, but the story really gets kicking early that morning...
I awoke at 4:30a sweating like a pig and with our bedroom spinning all around me. The only thing that made the spinning stop was when I laid on my right side (even on my back, it was out of control). I was able to get back to sleep until about 6:30a, when my daughter woke up. I tried to walk to the kitchen to get her some milk, but was on the floor by the time I got back to her room. I woke my wife up, and tried to get back into bed, but was so nauseuous that I detoured to the toilet. I eventually got back to bed and slept till about 7:45 when I started texting people to pray. At that point, I still couldn’t do anything but lay on my right side, and even then, my head was spinning a bit.
So, things were not good. I couldn’t even sit up, let alone be able to give a talk. My wife spent some time praying for me (along with those I had texted) and very quickly, I started to feel some relief. I was able to sit up in bed within a few minutes and walked out to the living room. Gradually, I regained equilibrium to the point where I took a shower and went for a walk around the block at about 11am. I continued to improve through the afternoon to the point where I felt pretty much normal (although very tired) by about 3pm.
So, I went into the night thinking that God might have some big plans given the morning, but I never would have expected what happened...
The night got off to a great start, and I felt good about how my talk was going as I headed toward the call. I had planned on inviting people to stand who identified with the younger son (irreligious, shady past, etc.) and the older son (cultural “christians”, pseudo-religious, etc.), and then I had about 15 student leaders/staff ready to follow-up immediately with whoever stood, thinking that maybe 5 or 10 folks might stand (not exactly “more than you could ask or imagine”, huh?!)
To my shock, when I made the call, about 30 people stood up, and instantly, I assumed I just hadn’t made it clear that it was a call for people to “follow Jesus for the first time”...I was later proved wrong! I asked everyone to come up to the front so I could pray for them (while the follow-up folks surrounded them), and then I invited them to break off into pairs/threes to talk about what God was doing and what decisions they had made. Here’s a sampling of the reports from the student leaders...
Rick
Sort of knows a little about Church but stopped going in high school and has lived with no regard for Jesus since. Wants to follow Jesus but is scared that he wont be able to overcome temptations and not fall away.
Karen
She said that she has never really been religious and doesn't know a whole lot about Christianity/following Jesus, but she has been coming to the Calm and Nine and keeps just feeling like its right and keeps getting chills all the time when she's there :)
Amelia
She also has never been religious and did mention that she feels like she understands the younger son because she has done things in her past she isn’t proud of. She did however talk about her love for doing service work and helping people, and we talked about how she can continue to do those things and share Jesus' love with people through it.
Mia
This was something she was wanting for a while. She's been looking to talk to someone about this for a while and it was for her tonight. Her legs were shaking the whole night pretty much, and she stood up and they stopped. I feel like I really didn't say much but God was already doing stuff. She grew up Catholic and has struggled a lot with earning salvation and has come to the realization while here (she transferred) that coming to events and doing church doesn't result in satisfaction/salvation. I talked with her how it is by grace we are saved- she's said the prayer before, so we did not do it again- and that it is a gift we can't earn. She seemed pretty excited about it all. She went for a walk afterwards to just "think."
There’s more where those came from, but at the end of the day, I think about 14 folks gave their lives to Jesus for the first time and another 10 recommitted their lives to Jesus; 2 more folks said they wanted to explore more in GIGs!
It was unbelievable. I was driving to Iowa City this morning and crying like a baby thinking about how good our God is that he steps into students’ lives like this, and that he gives us the chance to be a part of it.
Thank you to all of you who prayed for the night (and for my dizziness). God answered in a resounding way.
Beyond grateful,
Jon
I've got an unbelievable story to share, I hope you are blessed by it! (Sorry for the length, I think it’ll be worth your time to read it...)
I was set to speak on Wednesday night (9.9) at Central’s LG and was planning on giving a call to faith out of the prodigal son, but the story really gets kicking early that morning...
I awoke at 4:30a sweating like a pig and with our bedroom spinning all around me. The only thing that made the spinning stop was when I laid on my right side (even on my back, it was out of control). I was able to get back to sleep until about 6:30a, when my daughter woke up. I tried to walk to the kitchen to get her some milk, but was on the floor by the time I got back to her room. I woke my wife up, and tried to get back into bed, but was so nauseuous that I detoured to the toilet. I eventually got back to bed and slept till about 7:45 when I started texting people to pray. At that point, I still couldn’t do anything but lay on my right side, and even then, my head was spinning a bit.
So, things were not good. I couldn’t even sit up, let alone be able to give a talk. My wife spent some time praying for me (along with those I had texted) and very quickly, I started to feel some relief. I was able to sit up in bed within a few minutes and walked out to the living room. Gradually, I regained equilibrium to the point where I took a shower and went for a walk around the block at about 11am. I continued to improve through the afternoon to the point where I felt pretty much normal (although very tired) by about 3pm.
So, I went into the night thinking that God might have some big plans given the morning, but I never would have expected what happened...
The night got off to a great start, and I felt good about how my talk was going as I headed toward the call. I had planned on inviting people to stand who identified with the younger son (irreligious, shady past, etc.) and the older son (cultural “christians”, pseudo-religious, etc.), and then I had about 15 student leaders/staff ready to follow-up immediately with whoever stood, thinking that maybe 5 or 10 folks might stand (not exactly “more than you could ask or imagine”, huh?!)
To my shock, when I made the call, about 30 people stood up, and instantly, I assumed I just hadn’t made it clear that it was a call for people to “follow Jesus for the first time”...I was later proved wrong! I asked everyone to come up to the front so I could pray for them (while the follow-up folks surrounded them), and then I invited them to break off into pairs/threes to talk about what God was doing and what decisions they had made. Here’s a sampling of the reports from the student leaders...
Rick
Sort of knows a little about Church but stopped going in high school and has lived with no regard for Jesus since. Wants to follow Jesus but is scared that he wont be able to overcome temptations and not fall away.
Karen
She said that she has never really been religious and doesn't know a whole lot about Christianity/following Jesus, but she has been coming to the Calm and Nine and keeps just feeling like its right and keeps getting chills all the time when she's there :)
Amelia
She also has never been religious and did mention that she feels like she understands the younger son because she has done things in her past she isn’t proud of. She did however talk about her love for doing service work and helping people, and we talked about how she can continue to do those things and share Jesus' love with people through it.
Mia
This was something she was wanting for a while. She's been looking to talk to someone about this for a while and it was for her tonight. Her legs were shaking the whole night pretty much, and she stood up and they stopped. I feel like I really didn't say much but God was already doing stuff. She grew up Catholic and has struggled a lot with earning salvation and has come to the realization while here (she transferred) that coming to events and doing church doesn't result in satisfaction/salvation. I talked with her how it is by grace we are saved- she's said the prayer before, so we did not do it again- and that it is a gift we can't earn. She seemed pretty excited about it all. She went for a walk afterwards to just "think."
There’s more where those came from, but at the end of the day, I think about 14 folks gave their lives to Jesus for the first time and another 10 recommitted their lives to Jesus; 2 more folks said they wanted to explore more in GIGs!
It was unbelievable. I was driving to Iowa City this morning and crying like a baby thinking about how good our God is that he steps into students’ lives like this, and that he gives us the chance to be a part of it.
Thank you to all of you who prayed for the night (and for my dizziness). God answered in a resounding way.
Beyond grateful,
Jon
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
9.9.09 @ 9pm
Hi Everyone,
I hope you had a good Labor Day weekend. Two stories (couldn't help but share the second, it just came in!) and a prayer request for you today...
The story comes from Sarah Plowman at William Penn University--
"Jen is one of our leaders. She was hanging out with one of her suitemates, Abby, and one of Abby's friends, Nate. When the subject turned to spiritual things, Nate told Jen, "forgive me if I laugh," saying he didn't believe in God. Somehow in the conversation, Jen got Nate to open up more to her as they shared about different family stuff. At one point Jen invited Nate to do a Bible Study with her, saying, "why don't you just do a Bible study with me and let Jesus define himself?" Nate's response? "Ok." Last night during our leadership meeting, Jen got a text from Nate asking, "hey, when are we going to do Bible study?" Cool! Pray for Jess as she prepares to do a GiG with Nate, and for Abby as well and the conversations she and Jen have. "
Here's one from Amy Schoepf, our staff at Drake University--
"So Callie had been a little bit involved in InterVarsity last Spring--and stayed in touch with some students over the summer. She had connected quite a bit with Annika--who became a Christian last year. Long story short, Callie, Annika, and some other IV girls were over at my house Friday night. We were just hanging out and talking and I don't know what got into me--I just looked at Callie and blurted out "When are you going to commit your life to Jesus?" She began to cry (woops!) and share about the things that were holding her back. Annika jumped in and started sharing her testimony and telling Callie she just needed to "go for it." Callie agreed and then Annika and I led her in prayer to commit her life to Jesus. I could literally see Callie's body react to giving her life to Jesus...her physical posture was relief. It was awesome. Then we prayed for her to be "sent" to her friends. Callie has 3 friends who come to IV stuff with her and they are all culture Christians--probably very little if any relationship with Jesus. She was so excited and I asked her to share her testimony this Wednesday night at our weekly service! :) Pray for her.
I drove Annika home later and she was SO EXCITED! She said..."So Amy, that was my first?!! That's the first person I got to see get saved!" And then explained that she "wanted to do it again!" Haha....ooooh I love it."
The prayer request is for me--
Tomorrow night at 9pm, I'm going to be speaking at our gathering on campus at Central (called NINE) out of Luke 15, "The Prodigal Son". At the end of my talk, I'm going to invite students to make a decision to follow Jesus for the first time, so I'd love for your prayers on a few points:
Jon
I hope you had a good Labor Day weekend. Two stories (couldn't help but share the second, it just came in!) and a prayer request for you today...
The story comes from Sarah Plowman at William Penn University--
"Jen is one of our leaders. She was hanging out with one of her suitemates, Abby, and one of Abby's friends, Nate. When the subject turned to spiritual things, Nate told Jen, "forgive me if I laugh," saying he didn't believe in God. Somehow in the conversation, Jen got Nate to open up more to her as they shared about different family stuff. At one point Jen invited Nate to do a Bible Study with her, saying, "why don't you just do a Bible study with me and let Jesus define himself?" Nate's response? "Ok." Last night during our leadership meeting, Jen got a text from Nate asking, "hey, when are we going to do Bible study?" Cool! Pray for Jess as she prepares to do a GiG with Nate, and for Abby as well and the conversations she and Jen have. "
Here's one from Amy Schoepf, our staff at Drake University--
"So Callie had been a little bit involved in InterVarsity last Spring--and stayed in touch with some students over the summer. She had connected quite a bit with Annika--who became a Christian last year. Long story short, Callie, Annika, and some other IV girls were over at my house Friday night. We were just hanging out and talking and I don't know what got into me--I just looked at Callie and blurted out "When are you going to commit your life to Jesus?" She began to cry (woops!) and share about the things that were holding her back. Annika jumped in and started sharing her testimony and telling Callie she just needed to "go for it." Callie agreed and then Annika and I led her in prayer to commit her life to Jesus. I could literally see Callie's body react to giving her life to Jesus...her physical posture was relief. It was awesome. Then we prayed for her to be "sent" to her friends. Callie has 3 friends who come to IV stuff with her and they are all culture Christians--probably very little if any relationship with Jesus. She was so excited and I asked her to share her testimony this Wednesday night at our weekly service! :) Pray for her.
I drove Annika home later and she was SO EXCITED! She said..."So Amy, that was my first?!! That's the first person I got to see get saved!" And then explained that she "wanted to do it again!" Haha....ooooh I love it."
The prayer request is for me--
Tomorrow night at 9pm, I'm going to be speaking at our gathering on campus at Central (called NINE) out of Luke 15, "The Prodigal Son". At the end of my talk, I'm going to invite students to make a decision to follow Jesus for the first time, so I'd love for your prayers on a few points:
- Pray that God would draw the "right people" to come
- Pray that God would give me the "right words" to speak
- Pray that tomorrow night would be the "right time" for students to make a decision
Jon
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