Witnesses to Changed Lives - September 2012 Newsletter

“Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

Romans 12:2

Witnesses to Lives Changed

 

One reason people love fall is for the change that happens – the air, the smells, and especially the colors on the trees. But one change that we have been privileged to witness is the change in the students. And just like the oncoming of a new season, these students have been transforming right before our eyes.

I (Leah) met with two girls on two separate occasions at the beginning of the semester for one specific reason – to find out where they were with God. One professed to me, “I would really like to look into different religions this year.” The other said, “I really don’t want to follow God cause it’s been so boring for me.” Now, a little over a month into the year, the first told me recently, “I learned at the retreat how God shouldn’t be just someone I go to just when I need Him, but someone I need to follow every day.” While the other girl asked me later that same day, “How do I seek after God? What should I do?” (These were all paraphrases from our conversations we had.) As you can see, a complete 180º!!

Malcolm has seen two lives change before his eyes this last month. One was an encounter with a new student named Ray, with whom Malcolm got to share the Gospel and bring this young man to a point of decision. His reply to this invitation was, “This is something I’m definitely interested in, but I don’t want to quite yet.” Malcolm has tried to meet up with him again, but hasn’t had the chance to. Please pray for Ray, and that Malcolm will get another chance to meet up with him to see where he is at with God.

The other transformed life is our good friend, Chris. Chris is now a junior at Fort Lewis. When we met him his freshmen year, he was so quiet and shy he barely spoke to people. This year he is leading a bible study on campus, sharing his faith and taking other steps in becoming a leader. He certainly has a heart of gold, and it’s a pleasure to watch God change him over the last few years!!

 We praise God for all that He has done!!! We thank Him for calling us and using us to be His tools to live out the Great Commission here at Fort Lewis College. And we thank Him for providing us YOU – our faithful team and partners in the Gospel – so we can be here to work alongside His amazing work!!

 

Prayer Requests

 

-       Please pray for the administration at FLC: A new solicitation policy has limited (but NOT eliminated) our ability to share the Gospel on campus. Though we are still able to meet people and get into conversations, it has made it difficult to do so. Please pray that this can change, but in the mean time still be able to share boldly with the whole campus! And pray that we can keep making and maintaining good relationships with those in the administrative positions.

-       Pray for the new students: Many new students, who came to events at the beginning of the year, have already dropped off from Christian fellowship. Pray that not only for them, but also for those who are involved to make the right friendships that will encourage them towards Christ.

-       Pray for our leaders: Our leaders have busy schedules, but are devoting themselves to serving despite their workloads and long hours on campus. Pray that they have time to not only be diligent in their schoolwork, but also to be able to rest and invest in others on campus.

-       Pray for us: Malcolm and I have loved being on campus, but we also haven’t had many nights or weekends free. Pray that we get time to rest here and there. And, overall, have Christ’s strength in our weakness, and His wisdom in the work He has called us to.

A New Season - August 2012 Newsletter

 

“May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.”

2 Thessalonians 2:16-17

 

A New Season

 

Thank you to all who prayed for our trip. We had a WONDERFUL time!! We traveled through 5 different states, visited 6 different national parks, and enjoyed the last 13 days of summer vacation.

Many of you may have had to go buy pencils, notebooks, rulers, and all the other supplies to get ready for school. Some of you may have had to pack up childhood rooms in cars and see your kids off to college. While others of you may be simply enjoying these last days of summer, and looking forward to changes that fall brings. For us, we have prepared our hearts, minds, and schedules for our favorite time of the year – the beginning of the academic school year!!

We returned from our vacation to sprint into ministry. What a blast we have had! Getting to hear stories from the summer, meeting new students from all over the place, and being able to share the Gospel with people – we are thoroughly enjoying being back in the swing of things!!

We’re only a week in, and so far we have had over 15 people indicate decisions to follow Christ!! PRAISE GOD!!! Many of those were indicated on cards after our first Connect meeting. One guy met with a staff member before classes even began to talk about Jesus, and made a decision at the end of their meeting! God is doing amazing things before our eyes, and it has only been one week.

Another great story was at our first Thursday dinner of the year. We had a great open discussion, with a handful of students being fully honest that they were there investigating Christianity. After the big discussion, one student said he didn’t know the Gospel to one of our student leaders. The leader shared the Gospel, and though the student was very interested he didn’t make a decision yet as far as we know to follow Christ. Please pray for him to make a decision soon!!

First Thursday Dinner!!

Prayer Requests

 

We are so excited to see all that God is doing! For this reason, we really wanted to share this with all of you. These praises have come with their fair share of pressure. As we have faced some obstacles in meeting students. And as a couple, small things have come up this week to distract us from ministry and getting time together. But thanks be to God as He continues to give us the strength to persevere!

-       Pray for opposition to cease so we can continue to meet students to share the Good News with Fort Lewis College.

-       Pray for our student leaders to have the time and heart to serve this year.

-       Pray that we can be faithful to follow up with the students who we have met so far this year. We both have packed our schedules with appointments with new students to learn about and share Jesus with!!

-       Pray that both Malcolm and I can stay refreshed and energized to keep going. We will be leaving for another wedding (this one in Idaho) for another good friend of ours this month. Pray for safety for our trip, and for us to return ready to keep running the race in Durango!!

-       Thank you for your prayers, and for sharing your prayers and praises with us!

Swimming in the pond at the Ranch fun day

Paintball fight!!

 

Our Passions for HIS Glory - July 2012 Newsletter

 

“…if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.”

Colossians 1:23

 

Our Passions for HIS Glory

 

As Leah and I walk through our first full summer together, we find that expectations can crop up everywhere.  For example, we were wanting to make sure we were well rested, recuperating from the past school year, and able to do ministry the way we have wanted to over the summer. These were difficult to keep balanced, but it has been a great learning experience, especially for me (Malcolm).

This summer brought more challenges than the school year in some ways. I got the chance to step out of my comfort zone of being in a leadership role when Leah and I got to lead the evangelism team at Night Vision. The time and energy spent there was great, and all the effort was not a loss as we learned just the other day that over 100 people gave their lives to Christ at the event.  Praise God for His faithfulness in working in people’s hearts! God exceedingly showed how faithful He can be if we are just willing to get out and let him work. I’m in awe of how God can take all of our insecurities and make them disappear and loose all meaning compared to watching people come into a saving relationship with Christ. Thank you for your prayers and help!

Almost as soon as the show was done, we were off Denver as we had planned a climbing trip with the three interns we have this summer. The purpose of this trip was to go climb and share the gospel with climbers we met (and, at least for Leah and I, to learn how to plan and lead some sort of trip).  We really want to learn how to use the things we are passionate about for the glory of God’s name.

One story of the week was when we were working on a boulder problem with about 6 other people at the same time, learning about them as we climbed.  After a couple of hours the conversation about God naturally came up and we had a full blown conversation about whether or not God was perfect and whether Christ was the only way to go to heaven. For me, there is nothing more exciting then talking to people about Christ while climbing!

We had a very fun week as we got to go to Boulder and Mt Evans for climbing, and Rocky Mountain National Park, Water World, and a Rockies Game for some relaxing good times.  I’m blown away with the blessings that God have given us.  We got to spend a week in some of the most beautiful places, enjoyed God’s creation and sharing the best news ever with people that desperately need him.  As always the first time you do something there is always kinks and quirks to work out, but overall I came away thinking these trips could be very successful in the future. 

Sharing the Gospel at Night Vision

 

Prayer Requests

 

-       Pray for those who received Christ at Night Vision, and for the staff who are following up with all of them!!

-       Pray for our students – freshmen move in  August 23^rd, our big kick off BBQ is August 25^th, and classes begin August 27^th!! Pray that our students will come back ready to serve, and that students and staff will get the chance to reach as many people as possible and quickly as possible.

-       Pray for us as we leave August 14^th for our last trip for the summer! We’re bummed because we’ll be gone for all the beginning activities (we’re returning August 27^th), but we’re so excited to get a fun vacation AND get to see some dear friends get married August 25^th in Oregon!! Pray that we will have a safe trip, and also come back ready to go hard on campus for the 2012-13 school year!!

-       Thank you to all of you who have been sending us prayer requests!! Please know we’re praying for you all.

 

Never Will I Leave You

Malcolm got to write the newsletter this time around (which he did a great job, I can't wait to post it)! We had a great time this last month and God has been showing us both a lot. I (Leah, if you couldn't guess) really wanted to share something that God showed me this past month.

When we were up in Denver, God really put on my heart to reach out to a couple friends of mine from childhood. They have both been on my "Most Wanted" list for a long time. When we were in middle school, I took both of them to Camp Id-Ra-Ha-Je west where one did pray to receive Christ (though I do remember she was very afraid of hell, so I'm not sure if it was actual surrender to Christ or not - I'm not judging her decision, but she definitely is not living for Christ needless to say). The other I remember loved her experience at camp, but not sure she really made any commitments to Jesus. Regardless, they both have been exposed to the Gospel, but neither are living for Christ. In fact, I have seen them both go through very hard things since leaving high school. I don't want to share their personal lives here.

Anyway, with one friend, it took almost all week just to set down a time to see her. She kept changing times, bailing on our set time, etc. It was becoming a little discouraging. But God kept encouraging my heart saying, "Keep pursuing her. Show her how I won't give up pursuing her." So I kept pressing! Finally, we set down to have dinner after her work. Malcolm and I went to her work, and asked if we were still on for dinner. "Oh, I have to go to Boulder for something tonight!" she replied. AH! All this work, and I got 15 minutes of chat time! I wanted so badly to share the Gospel with her, to remind her of how good God is and how much He loves her! But God (and Malcolm) reminded me as we drove away - HE is in control! It's not my job to change hearts. It's my job to be obedient. And that's what I did. Gosh, even now my heart hurts for this friend of mine! How badly she needs Christ's healing in her life! How much hope she could have!! 

God keeps reminding me of one thing she said to me as we were hugging, "You are such a light to my life." How good is God! I barely did anything, and yet I did exactly what God wanted me to do - be obedient - and He did all the rest of the work!

My other friend is at a whole different place than my other friend. We got a whole hour to catch up, but I also didn't get to share the Gospel with her. But while I used the restroom, Malcolm got to share his testimony with her! (May I just say, I love that man I married!) 

I really desired to open up these relationships again, and to show these ladies just how much I love them and care for them, and ultimately how much God loves them. Pray for them please! And pray that I can be more bold next time to share the Gospel - or really, just be faithful to be obedient to what God wants me to do. 

God has really put this on my heart to encourage anyone who is reading this that it is never too late to reach out to those around you! Whenever I think of these friends, He has brought these scriptures to mind:

"Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, 'Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.'" Hebrews 13:5

"...if we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself."

2 Timothy 2:13

God doesn't give up! God is relentless in His pursuit of people! We don't have to give up either. There are 2 times in which it's too late to keep reaching out to other people: if they die, or if you die. Sharing the Gospel with nonbelievers is one thing you can't do in heaven. Let's pray for each other in this!! Let's be persistent to show how persistent God is!!

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