September Newsletter 2011

“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”

2 Corinthians 4:16-18

Romans 5:3-5 

 I really love being able to be apart of all that God is doing this year on Fort Lewis campus!  I love the fact that even though I get limited involvement God continues to push me to become the man He wants me to be!  It has really set a fire under our butt in wanting to be on campus full time.

This weekend we got the chance to go to the first retreat of the year.  It was an amazing time!  The main theme of the retreat was having an eternal mindset.  Leah, Nate and Erin all gave really good talks challenging everyone to live this life for Christ and not of the world.  This weekend was a good reminder of what we are missing by not being up on campus full time.

Being on the outside looking in to what is happening this year has been a learning experience of it’s own.  I have learned to be patient and content with what God has given me, while at the same time striving for more of Him.  He has also taught me that this truly is God’s ministry that we get to be a part of, not our ministry that God gets to show up in.  Too often I find myself telling God, “I got this”, only to realize later that I have nothing and HE is everything!  I can’t wait to be more involved with what God is doing in these student’s lives.

-Malcolm

  

Ecclesiastes 3:11

  

What a great 1^st month of ministry! With over 200 new students to follow up with, and more people being added every week – the staff are busy!! We keep being told of these amazing stories of students investigating God, being challenged in their walk, taking steps of faith… I mean, you really can’t ask for a better year than this!

Though there are many stories, this most recent one is very exciting. A girl came to our retreat this weekend as a skeptic of Christianity. A new guy in our ministry invited her as they were talking in a class, and she decided to come check out what Christianity is all about.  She was very attentive during the talks, asked good questions during discussion, and we even saw her read a bible during quiet times! She not only fully enjoyed her time this weekend – remarking on how nice everyone was – she also came to our weekly meeting!

Please pray for her!! God is definitely doing something in her life, and we’re praying that she will start a relationship with Jesus very soon!!

 

James 1:17-18

 

Though the rest of the staff are hustling and bustling in ministry, we have had very little participation. We’ve had the opportunity to join in on the retreat, girl’s/guy’s nights, and some weekly events, but, all in all, we don’t get to do much.

We wish we could tell you we’re busy in appointments to tell people about our ministry, but we haven’t had that chance either. But God has been absolutely MIND-BLOWING this past month! Though we haven’t had the opportunity to do much, God has come through HUGE by bringing in funds from seemingly nowhere! And we give Him all the praise for bringing us to  82.7% of our total goal!!

Thank you thank you thank you for ALL your prayers this past month! We know you may not be able to witness these things happening on campus or in our lives, but we definitely see the fruit of your prayers. So KEEP IT UP!!

Prayer Requests

 

-       Pray for all the students who are new. Pray that, if they haven’t heard the Gospel yet, that they will soon. And, if they know God, that they will keep in fellowship with God and other Christians. Pray for their overall walks with God!

-       Pray for our student leaders that they may keep their focus on God and reaching others, rather than on frivolous things that don’t matter. Pray that they will continue to step out in faith and watch God come through for them!

-       Pray for us as we get ready to leave for Paonia, CO (Leah’s hometown), very soon. Pray for our marriage and our time their, as well as the rest of the funds we need to come in so we can dive into ministry full-time!

Pictures from the Past Month

A VERY Packed House for Dinner

Having Fun at the Girl's Retreat

Fall Retreat

Trust and Obey - August 2011 Newsletter

“Then in fellowship sweet we will sit at His feet.
Or we’ll walk by His side in the way.
What He says we will do, where He sends we will go;
Never fear, only trust and obey.”

Verse from the hymn Trust and Obey

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me.” John 14:1

You know those times where you tell God, “Alright man, I have NO CLUE what to do but to trust you right now!” That’s where we’re at!

I (Leah) have been studying recently about the disciples in the early church. As we see time and time again, the disciples did miraculous things, spoke the boldest words even in the most dangerous of situations, and went the craziest of places. And all that they did had two key components.

The first component was the Holy Spirit. God, Himself, living in them, guiding and directing where they should go, what they should do, and what they should say. What encourages me about this is how the SAME Holy Spirit who lived in Paul, Peter, and Barnabus is living in ME – living in YOU as well! WE can do all that they did because of Him!!

The second component is faithfully walking in obedience. What if Peter decided to not go to the house of Cornelius because he didn’t quite like the Gentiles? What if Ananias was too afraid to meet with blinded Saul/Paul? What if the early church stopped sharing their faith once persecution hit? There is a good chance Christianity would’ve stopped if God’s people didn’t step out!

And this is what we’re realizing: God is ready to show up in big ways. For us, we know if we step out in faith – in the power of the Holy Spirit – and make phone calls and appointments to tell people about our ministry, that He will show up! And what we’re even more excited for is to step out in faith, walk on campus, and watch God show up bigger than He has before!

They’re Here!!!

Campus ministry is a fickle thing. One moment you are swamped with more people than you know what to do with, and the next you’re walking around wondering where all the people went.

This definitely described the first weekend of this school year.  We had a good turn out of last years student leaders show up to help  us meet as many new freshmen as possible. It was great to see them ready and willing to serve the Lord at FLC.

We started by helping the new students move all their stuff into their dorms, which went well until the football team crashed the party. So we moved on to doing spiritual interest surveys. 

This comprised of splitting up into pairs and asking a few short questions to see where the perspective student was spiritually and if they had a background in church or any other religion.  As a whole it was super fun! Sometimes there was so many students to talk to that it was overwhelming and other moments where we walked around wondering if this was a ghost town.

While doing the surveys we met two students who, through the course of the day, we saw at least three times. Each time we would stop and converse about how there day was going and invite them to the barbeque on Saturday. It was cool experience because in the course of 4 or 5 hours we had developed a small relationship with them!

That got me (Malcolm) thinking about how amazingly fun it will be to develop lasting relationships with these new students with Christ as our foundation! We can’t wait till we can be fun time working up on campus interacting and watching these students be changed by God!

Prayer Requests

  

Thank you for all your prayers!! We set out a month ago to raise an additional $2,500 a month. And we are currently at 43% of that goal – and, including the faithful finances from previous supporters, we’re at 64%!! We praise God for ALL of you and the role you play in God’s plan to provide for us.

-Pray for us as we continue to persevere through support raising. We spent a month in Craig, and now we will be in Durango for awhile. Pray we can make contacts and not get too distracted, because...

-THE STUDENTS ARE BACK!! Pray for them as they start classes, get settled, and make decisions that will set a tone for the rest of the year! Pray that those who need to be involved will, and that those who do not get involved will hear and respond to the Gospel!
 

-Pray for our marriage! We’re doing great, and we want to keep it that way. =)
 

-Pray for a couple Mormon women that came to our door the other day. Leah shared truth boldly (and lovingly) to them, and asks you to pray that God will lead them into HIS truth!!

 

Malcolm making phone calls to tell people about our ministry!

 

Around 110 people showed up to our beginning of the year BBQ!!

 

Our 1^st Connect was great! We had 100-125 students there. 15 said they trusted Christ, 3 wanted to talk more about Jesus, and 34 wanted to be in a Bible study!! Praise God for how He is working at FLC!!!

 

Excited to go be “fishers of men “ instead of fishermen!!