Hmmm

Well, I am obviously not a very good Blogger. I won't be winning any awards for consistency or being quoted on any T.V. shows.

Anyway...we are coming up to the end of the school year at SDSU and are in the middle of selecting new student leaders for the fall. There is always a buzz and excitement as students step out and step up, taking on more responsibility for the group. I love their energy!

We are gearing up for our last meeting this week. Though it's not really a meeting...it's a beach day with a bonfire. We'll play volleyball, eat and share stories of what God has been doing in people's lives.

I can't believe we're at the end at SDSU! Of course we still have a few weeks at UCSD...which brings me to the outreach we are doing tonight. I'll be leading a seminar on healthy relationships with our other staff, Lis. It will include a short lecture with tools students can use to have better relationships with the people around them; friends, family, roommates, etc.... Then a time in groups to discuss some questions, then a short Q&A. We will finish with some refreshments and then invite students to hear a short presentation on how to have a relationship with God. I'm excited for the time and our prayer is that it will turn into a 3-week study in what the Bible has to say about relationships. If you get this in time, please pray for it!

Freshies

We have about 5 students at SDSU who are making some relationships in one of the dorms on campus and will be starting a study group looking at the life of Jesus. Who He is and what he's done.

Please pray that we would see a number of freshmen who would be a part of the group.

Transform

Recently on campus at SDSU, our students have done a great job of talking to their friends, classmates and even strangers about faith.

Trying to hear where people are at with eternity, the unknown, or with their particular spiritual journeys. I know our students have been scared, but they have stepped out with love and concern to meet people right where they are at.

I have been thinking of the word 'transform' lately. Seeing how the students involved in our spiritual community are being transformed as they help to see others transform. Trans...to move through, to change, across or beyond. And form...appearance, shape or condition.

Our community is shifting from being exclusionary to inclusionary. From being preoccupied with self and appearance, to being broken, humble and open.

People on campus are also being transformed as they see that not all 'Christians' are rigid, cold and hateful. We are seeing people take just one step closer to Christ, wherever they are.

They are being transformed or moving beyond where they have been stuck...to a new place. A new perspective. At times to new life.

I see that as my job these days. Helping nudge people towards Christ. If they say they are Christians, I help nudge them towards greater surrender. If they don't identify with Christ, I help nudge them in ways that they see Jesus a person who is loving, compelling and worth trusting with their lives.

Please pray for us as we pray for you...that we would all be transformed.

Announcement: Fall Getaway

So, I'm horrible at updating this...let's be honest.

However, we have our annual SDSU Fall Getaway this weekend! I'm excited. For the first time in I don't know how long, we are having it at an ACTUAL retreat place [not a hotel], up in the mountain with trees.

Please pray for our time up there with students as we connect with God, each other and God's heart for people who don't know him.

First week

As I'm writing this, I'm thinking through what I will share tonight. This has been our first week back at San Diego State University and it has been busy.

We are focusing on connecting with students and getting into spirtual conversations. Listening to their story, sharing parts of our stories and connnecting those to God's Story. It has been tiring but fruitful.

We are seeing more response than in past years and students are generally more interested in hearing about Christ than I can remember from other Fall semesters. God is at work.

I think of a girl named, Rachel, a sophomore who basically tested the waters her first year in the whole social scene. She's realized recently that she wants something more out of life and some of our students have met with her a couple times already. She's shared how she feels more cared for and connected and is trying to figure out what 'walking with God' looks like.

It's amazing how few people really take the time to listen to these young people, and how lonely many really feel.

If you happen to read this today, please pray for tonight as we have our first weekly meeting, that we can share who God is and his heart for these students and that we can invite them to pursue that relationship alongside us.

Degenerate

Recently I found that in a magazine called Radar [popular culture magazine for 20 somethings], San Diego State was listed as 'the most degenerate student body' in the United States.

The frightening thing is I wasn't that surprised. It made me sad, but not surprised. Having been on campus there over the last few years, I've seen that what stands out most is also accurately portrayed in the article; students are on campus to socialize and 'party'...and hopefully graduate.

It is such an incredible opportunity for me and my team to meet them at that spot, love on them, and prayerfully help them live for something more than the next party.

Please join us in praying for these students trying to figure out who they are and who they will be.

Oh, and the link to the article online is:
http://www.radaronline.com/from-the-magazine/2008/08/worst_colleges_in_america_2008_part_1_03.php

New year....

Wow, the summer went fast. Wendy and I got back from a 'debriefing' conference a little while back and were so encouraged and excited to see and hear what God was doing through our college students around the world. Hearing about life change is always exciting.

We will be meeting with our students from San Diego State this next week to dream together about the upcoming school year. We have met as staff for a few days already and can't wait to try some new stuff on campus.

Please pray for us the next week that God would give us clear vision, would fill us with passion and help us with determination to do what it takes to love people where they are at.

Sent ones

Wendy and I were recently at a conference where we were helping send 12 teams on summer mission trips. I was asked to emcee and do a teaching and we were both asked to coach teams. Wendy coached a team going to Turkey and I coached a team going off to South Africa.

It is so incredible to share in the energy of college students stepping out in faith to share God's love with people who may have never even heard the name Jesus. Such a privilege.

Please join us in praying for these teams and the thousands of other young people stepping out to reach the world this summer.

Summer's begun

Well, summer has started for us as our main ministries have wrapped up. Please join us in praying for these things specifically:

1. San Diego State. we have a summer mission team helping us do some outreach here over the next few weeks. Pray for soft hearts and great spiritual conversations. Ask God to help us find new student leaders as well.
2. UCSD. Campus stuff just ended for the year, but we are excited about next year and trying some new stuff on campus to really share life and the Life with students who don't know Christ yet. Pray for this campus which seems to be spiritually darker than most. The Library even architectually represents the Tree of Knowledge and there is a tile serpent that weaves up the path to the library. Knowledge is king on campus, yet students don't know Christ. Pray for breakthroughs.
3. Cal State San Marcos. Pray for us to start something there this next Fall. We need a breakthrough to find the right student leaders.

Thanks!

Ready for work

I recently talked to a grad who was having a great ministry to her coworkers. It was so encouraging. We often pray for students that even if they don't go into 'vocational' ministry that they will own the idea that they minister to the people around them wherever they are.

This woman was relating that she often traveled with coworkers and had long flights and other extended times with them. She was excited for all the conversations they had and that often people would bring up questions of their own.

I am in vocational ministry at the time and realize that I can separate my 'work' from my life. As if ministry for me only happens at work. I'm seeing that I don't do a lot to pursue my neighbors or other peers.

It's great when God challenges me to take faith steps through the people I used to challenge.

Feed me, feed you

So, I was reading in Proverbs recently, specifically 10. When I got to like verse 21, I was struck by the truth that our words when spoken wisely can feed others. I really liked that visual and felt the weight that when I teach or speak with students on campus, I can be feeding them spiritually or even emotionally.

Of course then I thought of my own kids and Wendy and hope and pray that when I speak into their lives, they will be nourished and not starved. I thought of how my words spoken in anger or hurt can starve them...which felt heavy but is true.

I love that the Bible can be so alive and relevant in my life. That God's words so tangibly feed me in places I hunger.