InterVarsity Fall Ministry Update

Well guys, here's my rundown of the semester so far. Many of you will probably be getting this as an email, but I know that some people who read this blog aren't on my support email list (let me know if you would like to be), and I didn't want you to be left out! A lot of this stuff you can get from reading my previous posts, but there is also stuff on the Great Escape conference from this past weekend as well as some updated prayer requests. In any case, here's the update:



Greetings my wonderful support team!

Wow, the semester is half over! So much has been happening these past few months, it seems like the start of the school year (and my internship) was ages ago. I certainly don't have the space here to go into much detail on all that has happened, but I wanted to give you all an idea of how God has been at work at UNM so far this semester.

We begin each semester with a short time of New Student Outreach (NSO), and this semester saw some good success. We had several events throughout the first couple weeks of school including numerous informational tables around campus, a movie discussion night, and an ice cream social/snowball fight (that's right - a snowball fight in August!). We had an evangelistic table event for two days as well - an interactive and visually appealing tool called a proxe station. Our proxe station was called the Thirsty Proxe, and through it we were able to interact with dozens of students, asking them how they fill thirsts in their lives and using that as a way to share the Gospel with some of them. Though we did not see any conversions from the Proxe directly, we had many great conversations. We met many students through these NSO events, and several of them are now really beginning to get involved in the chapter. It's so great to see God raising up new leaders!

We also decided to make a bit of a leap of faith with our first Large Group session of the year during the first week. Traditionally our first Large Group is a time to get to know new faces and just hang out after a summer apart, but we wanted to hit the ground running this year. We had the Area Director, Rod Pauls, speak on the woman at the well to go along with the themes from the Thirsty Proxe. He ended with an alter call, and 3 students made decisions to follow Christ! Praise the Lord!

Our other Large Group events have been very successful as well. We've seen around 40-45 students attending regularly - about 10 higher than last year. We are also going through a curriculum started at the New Mexico Tech chapter a couple years ago called "Salvation to the Ends of the Earth". It's from a book that goes through the entire Bible, looking at it through the lens of missions and the way God uses things like the Abrahamic covenant or the Diaspora to share His good news with the nations. We have also had several special events including a testimony night, a speaker talking about the place of cynicism in faith, and a night of prayer. Combined with some great worship, the Large Groups have been a great experience so far this year.

I'm also really excited about our small group Bible studies and our prayer groups this semester. There are currently 4 different small groups and 2 prayer groups. I'm actually leading one of each. My small group is going through The Truth Project: a series developed by Focus on the Family for presenting the Biblical Christian Worldview. It's a wonderful series and really challenges students to reflect on what they think the Bible has to say on things like ethics, theology, reality, man, and many other topics. After a few rough weeks, there are a handful of students coming to both groups, and they really seem to be growing from them. I am also just about to start a discipleship group with a few guys from the chapter, and we'll be going through a book called "Hearing God" that talks about how we can discern God's will in our lives. It's a great opportunity to develop some real Christian leadership in these guys, and I'm very excited to see how God uses the group.

The other big event of this semester was the Great Escape, a weekend retreat for the chapters in our region (UNM, NMT, and UTEP). We went to a camp called Sivells Retreat, which is secluded in the mountains outside of Cloudcroft. Altogether, we had around 60 students attend, 23 of which came from UNM. The other UNM staff worker, Hans Schenk, was the main speaker for the weekend. He gave a challenging message for the students from the raising of Lazarus, encouraging students to recognize the abundant love of God in their lives and to wait on His timing for answers to the crises that we undergo. My tasks for the retreat included developing the quiet time materials, providing prayer for students during the response time, and giving an overview of my time in Kenya this summer to encourage students to participate in a mission trip this summer. It was a great privilege to be able to help with the weekend, and overall the entire event was a great time of fellowship, learning, relaxation, and fun.

Lastly, I would like to let you know about some of my current prayer needs.

* I have pledges for about 90% of my support needed for the internship, meaning that I still need to raise about $1,300. Thank you all for the various ways that you have supported this ministry, and please pray that I will be able to find the rest of my support in the next few months.
* Please also pray that the small groups, prayer groups, and discipleship groups will be successful in the coming months and that they will be a place for God to help students to grow closer to Him and to one another.
* We have about 16 students signed up for the Urbana missions conference coming up this December, which is really great. The conference costs about $700 altogether, though, and many of these students are stepping out in faith that God will provide money for them to go. Please pray that He will give them the money needed in the coming months.
* As many of you know, my father was diagnosed with lymphoma this year: a cancer of the white blood cells. We recently found out that he will be starting chemotherapy in early November, and he has already started some medications to combat the disease. He's strong, and the cancer is not that serious compared to some cases, but he could definitely use prayer for healing and for wisdom for the doctors in the coming months. Please also pray for his strength as he starts the chemotherapy and for comfort for my whole family as we trust God during this trial.

Thank you all once again for your continued prayer and support. I cannot express the gratitude I have for you all and your partnership in sharing God with the UNM campus. God bless you all!

In His strength,
Michael