In Like a Lion

It's been an exciting few weeks. I apologize for the lack of updates during that time. I'll try to give a sufficient summary and more info soon.

This past week was Wayne State's spring break. Everyone was looking forward to some rest of course but the Thursday before break began we had a large group meeting focused specifically on Chapter Focus Week. Chapter focus week is a week at the end of the school year where we reflect on what God has taught us the previous year as a chapter and as individuals, we prepare for where he's taking us in the coming year, and we choose a specific are of focus, or track, for the whole week. Focuses include small group leading, large group coordinating, sharing our faith on campus, exploring issues of faith especially for seekers, and a few more.

For our large group meeting we had six interactive stations set-up around the room where students could spend time exploring a little bit of what their week might be like. I was at the "Skeptic Tank" table for seekers and questions of faith. We all wrote questions we've had, still have, or have heard on post-its and then set them out in the middle of the table. We had a lot of fun digging deep into all that we had time for.

During the two weeks prior to Wayne State's spring break, two different groups of college students came to Detroit to give their time during their spring breaks, learn about God's heart for people, specifically those in Detroit, and share their faith on Wayne State's campus. It was a joy working with both enthusiastic groups willing to give up their time off and pursue God. I was encouraged to see the energy they put into sharing their faith, even if it was a new experience. I was touched to get to spend time with them and learn from them.

Lunch Anyone?

This past Sunday and the Sunday two weeks prior, carloads from the church we go to on the corner here, New Saint Peter's, loaded up with all kinds of good food and went down to Wayne State's campus to have lunch with students. This all grew out of a question we asked at our back to school meeting:"What are some needs on campus and how can we show Christ's love by meeting those needs?" I described the evolution of the idea a bit in the last post. I wanted to show some pictures of what we've been doing there in Ghafari. These three are the team as we were getting set up.

Another Week at Wayne State!

It has been a great week here at WSU. We had another Proxe Station up on Wednesday. This one was about stress and anti-stress. We got a lot of chances to talk with students about the good news that instead of a list of tasks for us to achieve, Jesus actually tells us not to worry. His burden is light. As well, God has ordained rest for us. We're doing the same station this Wednesday night in one of the dining hall lobbies. It's part of our large group theme that culminates in an evangelistic talk this coming Thursday night. Pray for the students we've talked with and those that will come to the talk.
Also on Wednesday I got to have what InterVarsity calls a "GIG" with a student. This is an investigative Bible study for a student who may be completely new to Christ. We got to have a good talk about Christ and the student's life experiences. Please pray for this student and our upcoming meetings. I also did some conversational evangelism with one of our students. We only had time to talk with one other student but it was a cool conversation.

Today was more excitement. During a discussion about how we could love the campus, one student suggested we could make some good food. Not only are many of the eating locations on campus closed during the weekends, but the ones that are open are pretty bad. We talked with our church here in our neighborhood about helping and they got a huge team of people together to make an impressive spread of food. Friends from a new church near campus came too to help welcome people and get to know them. It was such a sweet picture of God's kingdom coming together for his work.
We chose to have the meal in Ghafari. This is one of the two freshmen dorms on campus and the one where we had little presence last semester. We had an enthusiastic team, a lot of good food, and a lot of students came down. Pray for the interactions that came from the event and the small group Bible Study we have in that dorm this semester.

How has evil invaded your space? Do you think religion promotes racism?

These were just two of the questions I asked students this past week on campus. Luke and I spent a lot of time on campus as it was the first week back to classes, with most of my time specifically dedicated to evangelism. It was a week where we got to see God work but the work isn’t over yet. Please pray that the students we’ve gotten to know and those we’re still meeting will be moved to take a closer look at Jesus.
The questions above were asked at “Proxe” stations. These are designed to get students thinking and talking about a topic that not only matters to them but to the Gospel as well. A couple of pictures are posted from our religion and racism board. We asked students to vote yes or no on the question and then tell us a little more about their answer if they wanted. This opened up the chance for Luke, a student, or me to hear their ideas and then tell them about Christ’s reconciling work on the cross. It’s an issue that many students think about but not many organizations talk about in this way.
The next station, “How has evil invaded your space?” is pictured as well. We ask students to place a sticky red dot in each box where they or someone they know has been impacted by one of those evils. You can see some of the responses by about the middle of the way through. This brought up the conversation about what students think about these evils and their origins. We got to ask them if they think God exists and cares about it and what they thought about Jesus. We got to share the Gospel with a number of students as we told them of this terminal sickness that humans carry and the complete cleansing we receive through Christ taking the disease and death for us. A number of students even signed up to take a look at the Bible with us and investigate who Jesus really is! Praise God!
A few pictures show our students at the Urbana 09 missions conference held the week between Christmas and New Years. Check out www.urbana09.org for videos from the conference. It was a time for our students to hear and think about Christ’s call on their lives and for us to grow closer as a group.
Finally, we like to have fun here at Wayne. We went out bowling this past Saturday and laughed a lot together amid some healthy competition. It was the exact blend of laughing, yelling, and moving around that I love.

Urbana Video

Check out some videos from the Urbana main sessions. They can all be found here or for one of my personal favorites, here.

Urbana!

Hi freinds. Urbana pictures will be posted once I get back to Detroit tomorrow.

The week in St. Louis at the conference was full of God's word and encouragement. In our Bible study groups and at the main sessions we studied John, chapters 1-4. We saw how Christ entered our world and lived among us from his birth as a baby until his execution for the sake of knowing our joys, struggles, wants, and pains and to call us to himself. At Urbana, students are called to consider doing the same. Jesus didn't make decrees or write policy from heaven. He didn't come for the three years of his ministry or simply the week before his death. He made his dwelling among us. Praise God, a number of students committed to doing the same. 62 indicated a first time decision to follow Christ as well.

In seminars students had time to focus on different subjects or areas of need. I've gotten to talk a bit with students from Wayne State and it has been exciting to hear how God spoke to them at Urbana. One of my favorite memories is of New Year's Eve. A number of us from Wayne State sat together among 16,000 others worshiping God for what he has done in us that week, in our whole lives, and in all of history.

Thanks so much for your prayers and support. I'll get more updates on specific decisions made by Wayne State students in the coming week.

End of the Semester

It's been a packed month since my last post. Generally I've been trying to wrap-up well, reflect, learn, and get a vision for next semester. I'll try to choose some highlights.

Our past two large-group meetings have been a bit of a departure from our usual. Two weeks ago we had an open mic night. Some students shared songs that are important to them, some shared scripture, some works of poetry, and a variety of other ideas.

This past week we had a potluck party with another group- Campus Crusade for Christ. Along with being fun, we enjoyed getting to know fellow Christians and hear how God worked in their semester.

My small group is coming over to the house here tomorrow night. Again, we're looking forward to not only having fun together, but looking back on what God has done in the past few months.

Thank you so much for your prayers and support. They have been invaluable to this ministry and me. Please pray for our upcoming, week-long, national conference on national and international missions. Pray for the upcoming semester as well.