Challenged and Encouraged

Challenged and Encouraged is the name of the blog one of our students writes. Let me just tell you a bit about this amazing lady. Not only is she an excellent writer, she has a heart bigger than her little body can contain. She is going to graduate this May (after fitting 4 years of college into 3!). The Lord has been working OVERTIME in her sweet heart...I will let her tell you about it...

It's not about me. It never was. It's never going to be. It's about that tapestry up in the boughs of heaven being sewn together by God's great hand- it's those moments when a person struggling feels like the light has been left on for them. It's the community that leaves that light on and watches and aids the struggled body make its way to safe shores. It's those moments when I lay down in bed at night (or at 3 am) and just breathe deep thanking God for putting His work in front of me. For working pieces of this out at a time. For presenting me with moments of testing, but for making me work all the same.

For hands outstretched and a heart clear cut. For days like today, when I can still hear the courage through moments of loss and anxiety. Hey God, thanks. Truly.

What else? Well, there's the huge monster of Grad School and graduation. That comes around after night when I'm laying down and just, well, God just knows. He gets my fear. He gets my wonder and that's all there is to it. The formulas and plans I thought I had before are still existent, but they're changing all the same.

I know, after weeks of research and understanding, that God is starting to push me toward teen/ youth work and counseling. But even more, He's pushing me toward the door of biblical counseling. If you knew me just one year ago? This NEVER would have been a path. But here I am, caught in the thick and dedication patches of God's plan. He's writing to me, and i need to properly find the words to answer back.

Can't you just put yourself in her heart after reading her words?

I cannot tell you how encouraging this young lady is to me personally. It has been a rough start to this semester for me. I have had a lot of trouble getting back into the groove of things. On the ministry front, things are not how we envisioned them to be at this point in the semester. After reading these words I am reminded that it is not so much about how we think things should look. It is about hearts being changed. Lives being transformed...

God is so Good. HIS mission in being accomplished on this campus.

Pray with me for this sweet young lady as she boldly follows the Lord's plans for her life.

Catching up! GOOD GOOD stuff going on!

School started back up in late August and we've been staying very busy with the ministry here. I'm excited for the number of first-year students who are getting plugged in to this ministry.There are currently 8 small groups going, covering topics from the Gospel Centered Life to tough questions of the faith to Pauline epistles to Jonah. Our large group gatherings on Thursday nights are going well.
Our fall retreat in September was great...check out this video for a taste of our crazy good weekend! (Our theme was "I quit trying")



A praise I wanted to share with you is that Alaina, a first-year student accepted Christ as her Savior last week! Her small group leader, Kate, met with her for breakfast and shared the gospel, gave her a chance to respond to it, and prayed with her to receive Christ! Pray for Alaina and our students as she begins this new journey and others gather around to support and minister to her.

A prayer request... I'm going to be hitting the pavement to increase our financial support level. I really need to focus on it for the next few months in faith that God provides a bit extra here at the end of the year. Some extra administrative expenses (insurance), family expenses, and ministry expenses have increased and what's coming in is about $1500/month less than what going out. Please pray with us for provision, for me for boldness to ask, and for faith to those God calls to support us. If your church or individuals you know would be interested in more info, please follow up with me.

We're Famous!!!

Check out the CCO's 40th anniversary book! Open to the first page...you might see some familiar faces!!

Open publication - Free publishing - More cco history

Annnnd.....We're off!

It is hard for me to believe that Summer is over and it is time for school again. Classes at Arcadia started last Wednesday and our first ACF Large group meeting and Afterparty was Thursday night!

We had an absolute blast!In the slide show below you will see pics of the activities fair, where students have a chance to learn about all the clubs on campus. We had about 60 people sign up to learn more about ACF!

About an hour after the activities fair ended we had our first ACF large group meeting of the year! We wanted the first night to be really great, so we invited a local musician named Jason Min to lead our worship time. He was AMAZING! Overall it was a great night we had a big turnout with over 60 students there!

We also decided to make the Afterparty a bigger event for this first week, so we moved most of our furniture outside...lamps and all! It was a lot of fun. We had a great turnout...especially of first year students. (Going anywhere off camous the first few weeks of college is a big, and sometimes scary deal!)

Here are some pics of our night!

(Just realized in the preview of this post that there are a lot of exclamation marks...and YES, I am going to make the choice to leave them! It was an exclamation mark kind of night!)

Update in pictures!

Hello all, I have a blog post that I am currently composing in my head about the summer. I am back in Philly for a week and I need to get Caed all packed for camp, so I can't sit down to write. Here are some pics from summer for a quick pictorial update!

Adventures

We have had a fun first week at the Beach Project. The kids are absolutely eating up all of the attention from students. Check out this blog post from Brittany...

Adventures with Abby

Jersey Shore...Sovereign Style!

For those of you who do not know, our whole family is going to be living at the Jersey Shore for the summer! We are going to be working in a CCO summer ministry called Ocean City Beach Project (OCBP).

What is OCBP?

The Ocean City Beach Project (OCBP) is a summer-long community living opportunity for Christian college students to develop further as campus leaders. The Project provides the opportunity for you to grow personally in your faith and to develop a deeper vision for your life. At OCBP, you work and worship in one community while being challenged to become a kingdom leader. You live with other college students in a large beach house while you make an impact on the New Jersey shore. At the end of your time at OCBP, you will not only have sand in your shoes and the taste of salt water in your mouth, you will have developed character and skills to become an effective leader.

Sounds like fun huh? Watch this video to get a better picture of what our summer will look like!

The Ocean City Beach Project from CCO Campus Ministry on Vimeo.

Greg left this morning for the shore, the kids and I will join him when they get out of school in a couple weeks.

Thanks for checking in on us!

Seasons

So....I am not a fan of change. I like a schedule. I have a weekly routine with chores, meetings, and ministry stuff. This all works out well for 8 months of the year when students are around and life is crazy busy. But right about this time of year I start to loose steam, and then graduation comes and we have to say goodbye to students who we have come to love and are a part of our family. I DON'T LIKE IT.

When one thing in my routine gets thrown off the other things inevitably follow. I start dropping balls all over the place. The laundry doesn't get done, othodontist appointments are missed, I forget what day of the week it is. I am a MESS!

But I am coming to the realization that it really is OK. Things come in seasons for my life, it has always been that way now that I think about it. Moving a lot when I was younger, making new friends. It seems like even in our married life the same thing has happened. We have now lived in PA longer than we have lived anywhere else in our 10 year marriage. But the nature of campus ministry is change.

I recently completed a personality in leadership test and one of the encouraging things it came up with for me was to realize that "mentoring for the moment" is ok. There is no possible way someone with my personality can actively keep up with all the people/students in my life.

This concept is so freeing to me. I can get up in the morning and have one job...to love the people in front of me, and let the Lord work out the other details.

THAT is something I can rest in.

See these girls... (they all all dressed up for a dance they were in together)

I LOVE THEM.

Although I will miss them terribly, I know the Lord has BIG plans for their lives. I am honored, and blessed to have been a "mentor for a moment" of their lives.

Bragging!

I just saw this on facebook and HAD to share it with you all. This is Brittany...or "BITNEY!" as Cole calls her.

I just read an article about Brittany's experience studying abroad last semester in Jordan. Brittany is part of our ACF servant leadership team and has a special place in our hearts! Soooo I had to brag. Go read the article here.

Baptism Video!

Here is the video to go along with Greg's recent post about the 4 girls that were baptized last week.

Warning: Kleenex MAY be required!



Ok, now watch it again and notice the "gang" all crowding in the corner in the background! :) Love them <3

Public Declaration of Personal Faith

Greg here.
On Friday afternoon Jincy and I made the short walk to Dunkin' Donuts to catch up. It has become the place we go about every 6 or 8 weeks so I can hear about her young faith journey and encourage her in her new walk. Jincy trusted Christ on March 17 last year. She shared about her growth and the ways she has seen the Holy Spirit work in her heart.

We also talked about baptism. Jincy was very close to a decision about making public her faith through baptism. She decided to take the next step of obedience. On Sunday afternoon she joined ranks with three other girls from our fellowship who all worship at the same local church and were taking this next step of faith together. The pastor allows someone who has been part of the faith journey to assist him with the baptism. I previously wrote about the honor of being asked by another student, Candace, to help with her baptism. Jincy asked the same of me and I was equally privileged to help.

Jincy, Candace, Monica, and Caylynn all publicly professed their faith and were baptized on Sunday!

About Ashley

No, this blog post is not about me. It is about a student named Ashley.

Ashley trusted Christ as her Savior the summer before her freshman year in college. She is a deep thinker and feeler...and LOVES anything and everything purple. Ashley, like many students is trying to figure out how the Lord is going to use her gifts, talents and heart in this world.

Last year a couple who has served for many years with Trans World Radio hosted a pizza night for anyone interested in internships with TWR. Ashley was there that night, and she felt her heart tug. She applied this fall for the internship and was accepted... She tells the story so much better than I could...

I just read a blog post she wrote this week about her journey. I am just blown away by all that the Lord is teaching her. I know you will be blessed to read it.

Ashley's Blog is called A Separate Sky.

So, I know it has been a while...

(Insert witty euphemism about time here)

Update on the Home front:

It has been one thing after another around here for the past month. We have been battling illness, snow, illness again, snow again, and internet problems for a while. This morning we had another 4 inches of snow, and Greg is battling asthmatic bronchitis. I need to take Cole to the Dr before we get another 8-10 inches of snow tonight!


Update on the Ministry front:

Last Thursday was our first ACF large group and Afterparty. We had a great turnout, about 50 students! (Pics to come) We were also super excited to announce the reinstating of MAN NIGHT (the guys small group study time followed by games) as well as 6 other small group bible studies going on this semester.

There is also a new peer mentorship program we are calling "Journey" that we are making available to new believers and other students who want to be mentored or discipled by more mature students and lay volunteers from the area.

Spring Break:
This year for Spring Break Greg is leading a team of students to Nicaragua to work with a missionary we got to know through our old ministry. More info on that to come!

It is shaping up to be a great semester...if we can all only get well enough to enjoy it!

Anita Keagy @ ACF!

During the Spring of 2009 I took a few students to a ladies luncheon sponsored by a local church. The speaker that morning was a lady named Anita Keagy. Her story touch all of our hearts so much that I KNEW I had to try and book her to come and speak at an ACF large group. A few weeks later I contacted her ministry to try and set things up...and they were already booking for Dec 2010!

I am just in awe of the Lord's timing. He knew that on Dec 2, 2010 He was going to use Anita's story to touch the hearts of almost 60 students!

Through her story of teenage pregnancy, giving a child up for adoption and years of longing to connect with her daughter beautifully parallels how much the Lord longs to be be our loving Father, and connect with us through his letters to us...in the Bible.

One of the things I love about Anita's ministry is that she doesn't tell her (amazing) story and then leave...she gives people the tools and a plan to start learning how to seek the Lord first each day. She gave students a 21 day Challenege to seek God in His Word and learn more about who He is. She gave each student a Seeking God First Journal with the 21 day challenge explained on the front cover, a little Gospel of John, and a highlighter to get them started!

There is nothing that gets more more excited than seeing God's word come alive to someone! Please join me in praying for our students to make time to spend with the Lord in his word for the next 21 days, and that it would be an amazing time of hearing the voice of God through his letters to us!

Thankful

A few years ago one of the hot topics in Christian culture was Glory. There were books, albums, devotionals, and speakers all over concentrating on the concept of God's Glory.

I have to admit, it all went right over my head. Recently however, I have been connecting a few dots.

The thing that gets me most excited...even giddy...is seeing the Lord alive and active in the lives of those around me. THAT my friends, IS God's Glory! To quote Beth Moore, "God's Glory is the way He makes himself recognizable."

Today, on Thanksgiving I am thankful for God's Glory! He has been showing up big time around here!

The most recent example was on Sunday night (well, technically Monday morning. Gotta love the hours of campus ministry!).

Around midnight Greg got a text from a couple students asking if we were still awake and available to talk. When these two sweet girls walked into our apartment that night, it was evident that one of them had been crying.

As is so often the case...when we get to the point when we know that we cannot handle life on our own, we can see our need for the Savior the clearest.

"Cindy" described how lost she felt. She realized that the friends that she partied with were not really friends, that the guys she used to date really did not love or care about her. She recognized her need for the Lord, but at the same time she was scared that she was just beyond saving.

Doesn't your heart just break when you hear something like that?

That night Greg, Candace and I were able to tell "Cindy" about Grace. Unmerited favor. That we come to the Lord with nothing but brokenness, and in return the Lord does not give us what we deserve, but he gives us Jesus. To quote Candace accepting Grace "is the easiest and hardest thing to do".

Eph 2:8-9 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.

Candace (a month-old believer)led her friend to the Lord that night.

GLORY!

Could you not do the "happy dance" in your chair right now?

No...strike that...I am going to change the name of that dance to the "Glory dance"!

The Lord is showing up...making himself know...and changing lives.

Psalm 100
A psalm. For giving grateful praise.

Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth.
Worship the LORD with gladness;
come before him with joyful songs.
Know that the LORD is God.
It is he who made us, and we are his[a];
we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving
and his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and praise his name.
For the LORD is good and his love endures forever;
his faithfulness continues through all generations.

I just have to share!

It is a gorgeous fall morning here in Philly and I am just giddy with excitement. Last night I (Ashley) began a bible study with 2 of the girls who are brand new believers this semester. I wish you all could have been there to see their excitement and hunger for Truth! They left with plans to start their "homework" that very night, they didn't want to wait!

Join me in praying the the Lord would just capture their hearts as they spend time in the Word!

Spoiled for the Ordinary

I was talking to a student the other day, and she was telling me about her experience with a group called YWAM. One of the phrases they use is “Spoiled for the ordinary”. That phrase resonated with me.

I am reminded of what life was like for us in 1999. Newly married…no kids…both working full time. We used to joke to one another that we were living for the weekends. Now I know that God does not waste time and He was working during that time, but we KNEW there was something more for us.

Once kids came along and other things filled our time, but we still had that unsettled feeling. Even when we lived in SC and Greg was directing a short term missions program we had trouble making Columbia home.

I can tell you today that where we are now feels like home. It is a place where our gifts are being used, the Lord is working in us and in others, we live with a community of believers that love one another, and the Lord has blessed us with provisions above and beyond what we could have asked or imagined.

Think we are a bit spoiled? 

Spoiled for the Ordinary!

If you are stuck in the ordinary ask the Lord to open your eyes to what He is doing around you and ask Him how he wants you to use your gifts in those areas.

November 2010 Newsletter!

11

Doing More Than We Can

A couple weeks ago someone asked us how ministry is going so far this semester. I really liked Greg's response. He explained "we were really prepared for ministry to a group of 40 students that were a part of ACF at the end of spring semester, but when 65 showed up this fall, we were scrambling!"

I had a great time with the Lord today, He put our crazy lives into perspective for me. (I love it when he does that!)

The essence of the lesson was this:

Life in the Spirit is doing MORE than you can. If you can possibly do things on your own, you will try.

Yep, I am pretty sure the Lord want us in a place where we know we cannot do anything without Him. Mission Accomplished!

Another thing that I am learning is that years of growth and harvest are not leisure years. When Joseph (Gen 41) was in charge of all of Egypt during the years of abundance he worked pretty darn hard coordinating the storage of food throughout the empire in order to prepare for the famine. Joseph was not just sitting back and enjoying the view...

So how is ministry going?

We are working hard trying to keep up with this season of growth and abundance. We are keeping our eyes on the One who is really in charge and looking for ways He wants to use us.

Thank you so much for praying for us friends.

Oh My Goodness!

I guess a better title for this post would be Oh God's Goodness!

I am sitting here at my computer screen trying to collect my thoughts. I wish you all could have been at the first ACF large group meeting of the year last night. THERE WERE 65 STUDENTS THERE!

This is by far the largest group we have had for any event since we began working here at AU. Praise the Lord! And the best part: They all heard the gospel loud and clear!

Greg Baker, a co-worker from Intervarsity did a great job speaking! To end his talk he shared this video with the group.



WOW! What a story! Right?

Bottom Line: The Lord changes lives! And He is up to somethin' good here at AU!

Here is a pic taken last night with Greg's Phone so the quality is not that great, but isn't it 65 college students praising the Lord an awesome sight!?!