Growing in Christ

Man, what a weekend. I just got back from our annual IV Spring retreat, which we've "newly refurbished" and renamed Cresciendo en Christo (Growing in Christ). Over the course of this weekend, students from our chapters at UNM, NMT, and UTEP gathered at the First Baptist Church in Socorro to learn more about what it means to live Godly lives as we explored the book of Titus. It was a weekend of fun, fellowship, growth, and worship, and I absolutely loved it.

We changed the style of the retreat from previous years due to the changes in our capabilities as a staff team. We used to have separate tracks, usually 4-5, throughout the weekend that students would choose between as the focus of their experience. There would be times of unified worship, but most of the retreat was spent in the track, meaning that there was a huge amount of preparation involved for the staff. Well, our staff team is significantly smaller now: only Hans, Rod, and myself. There was no way we could effectively put on that kind of a conference, so we opted instead to focus on group study of a single passage and devote only a limited amount of our time to what we called "breakout sessions" in which students could get some more specific instruction.

Titus was the focus of the weekend this year. It's a short book, but it says a lot about what it means to live a Godly life. Hans gave an intro to the book Friday night, describing how trying to live a Godly life is important for our credibility as Christians as well as our ability to answer the call that God has given us. Then Saturday morning we dove right in, spending about two and a half hours studying the first half under Rod's leadership and looking at the characteristics of a Godly, upright person versus one who is unsaved. It was the first time that many of the students had experienced a manuscript study, but they really seemed to take to it and got some good insight into the passage. Then that night I got to lead the group through the second half of the book over an additional two hours. It was my first time leading in that kind of context (I'm more used to leading a group of about 2 or 3, not the almost 60 students we had), but in spite of being exhausted from the weekend up to that point, I really enjoyed it. We looked at how Godly character stems from the work of God in us - it is our response to the gift of salvation we have received and is evidence of how God has changed our lives for the better. On Sunday we attended service at First Baptist, and the pastor even focused his message on a section of Titus to bring in some extra insight about how God's salvation works in our lives. Finally, we switched venues over to the NMT campus, and Hans closed off the weekend with a call to action in response to what we learned throughout the weekend.

As I mentioned, though, the study of Titus was only a part of what we did this weekend. We were also blessed to have the Tech chapter worship team lead us in several worship sets during the retreat as well as for the service on Sunday. It was really great to have them leading us through some moving worship, bringing us into fellowship with one another and with God.

Another big part of the weekend was the breakout session time. We knew that we couldn't spend as much time as we used to on specific topics through the retreat, but we also realized the great value of the training for the students. We had 4 topics: Godly Dating Relationships (Rod), Evangelism (Hans), Helping Others Grow (Matt, a volunteer from UTEP), and Putting God First (me). I focused mine on some practical aspects of growing in a relationship with God, going through how I have grown by studying Scripture, praying, attending church, tithing, and participating in missions.

I was honestly really worried about mine going into it. I had no idea if students would be interested in a seminar on basics of living a Christian life; generally those tracks are the lowest in attendance at the retreats I've attended. I led 2 sessions, though, and both were completely full. I got a lot of positive feedback as well, with some students saying it was the highlight of the weekend for them. I'm really glad that God used it the way He did.

Overall, the weekend was simply amazing, but only because of your continued prayers and support. Thank you so much for lifting up Cresciendo to God. He has certainly done great things through it, and I can't wait to see how the lives of our students continue to change as they put into practice the lessons of the retreat. I ask that you would continue to pray for them as they return to the realities of school and homework, that life won't snuff out the lessons they've learned. There are also a number of students who came to us for prayer during the retreat for various reasons. While I can't really go into their specific requests or situations, it would be wonderful if you would pray on their behalf as well. Thank you again so much for the ways you support my ministry and the ministry of InterVarsity as a whole. May you be blessed for the ways you have been a blessing to us.

"For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good."
- Titus 2:11-14

Danger in Denver

It's been another really interesting week here with IV. Whereas last week was centered mostly around Sexy Pizza, this week has been almost entirely consumed with prep for Chapter Camp this year.

What's Chapter Camp, you ask? It's our annual region-wide week-long retreat held at Bear Trap Ranch at the end of each Spring. It is, in a word, incredible. I likely explain about it more in depth later, but for now I'll say that we center the whole week around a set of passages, which students study in the mornings and hear talks on in the evenings. There is a time of "creative response" each day as well, and I have the privilege of being on the creative response team this year. That meant a trip to Denver this week to meet with the rest of the team as well as the "manuscript team" - those who are responsible for leading the morning study sessions and really try to get across the main points of the passage.

The trip lasted from Tuesday through Thursday, and while out-of-town business trips aren't generally known for being "relaxing", it was certainly a nice change of pace for me. I ended up canceling my discipleship group and handing the small group over to another leader (who I hear did a bang up job; thanks Marcie!), so I had a lot less work to do for the week; just go out and study the Bible for several days.

However, the trip was anything but uneventful. Hans and I both woke up feeling sick on Tuesday morning, meaning that for the whole trip we were fighting our illness through sleep deprivation and the occasional sugar/caffeine downer. A note of warning: if you are starting to come down with something, a diet of Sour Patches, Cadbury Eggs, chocolate, Coke, and coffee might not be the best idea.... So anyway Hans and I flew out, only to find that the guy who was supposed to rent the car to take us from the airport had missed his flight and wouldn't be able to make his way out until about 9 that night. We waited in the airport for a few hours, had lunch, and met up with the next group of staff leaving, at which point we found out that another two staff workers coming out of Flagstaff were delayed several hours - something about their plane smoking in the terminal - so they also wouldn't be out until late that night.

We went to the church we were meeting in and decided to study the first couple of sections. I must say, it's a blast doing this kind of in-depth study with a bunch of other staff. We got to spend hours looking at a passage and evaluating what it was saying and how we would get that message to the students. That led to some great passage-related conversations like can God change His mind or do we consider the Angel of the LORD to be a pre-incarnate Jesus. To study these topics with such a knowledgeable group was a real treat.

We also got a fair amount of time to just hang out and relax a bit, whether that meant going out to dinner or playing some Mario Kart at the house many of us were staying at. I've decided that I really like hanging around IV staff, especially in down time.

The week still had one more curve-ball for us, though. Wednesday morning we got a call that one of the guys (in fact, one of the speakers we were learning from, who also happened to get in late on the smoking plane) had been hit by a car when he was out for a morning run. Thankfully, it was a small Smart Car going relatively slowly, and so he didn't have any noticeable injuries, but x-rays at the hospital revealed fractured ribs. He wouldn't be joining us for any study. It's truly a blessing that he is doing as well as he is; the situation could have been so much worse if it changed only slightly. Please pray for him, though, as he recovers. I'm sure the flight back alone wasn't a wonderful experience for him.

We finished the study on Thursday, and so the creative response team was able to get together to go over the things we want to do for each day. I can't really say much about the study or what we'll be doing, but I'm really excited to see what will come out of them during Chapter Camp!

I managed to get back into Albuquerque Thursday at about 7:15 - just enough time to get my car and go straight to Large Group. It was a good meeting, and we were able to study Jesus as the bread from heaven, but man was I wiped out the whole time. I was really glad to be there, though.

We also got pretty much a final count that night for our upcoming spring conference: Cresciendo en Christo. It's this coming weekend, so please be praying for it. We're going to be down in Socorro going through the book of Titus and seeing how we are called to live Godly lives in response to God's work in us. I'll be leading a couple studies for the weekend, so please pray for effectiveness for me as well. In any case, it looks like we'll have at least 25 students going, meaning that over half of our chapter will be there! Even more exciting is that some of these students have only just recently joined IV, so they are really showing an eagerness to get involved. I also know of one girl who is bringing her younger brother, who isn't a very strong Christian (if one at all) but who is willing to give the retreat a try. Please join me in praying for all of these students. It's really a blessing that so many are willing to come, and I hope that now we can bless them with a great experience on the retreat.

"The LORD replied, 'My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.'"
- Exodus 33:14

Lighting Up the Darkness

After weeks of buildup and preparation, we finally had Sexy Pizza and the Proxe Station at UNM, and both went really well! I don't know how many people actually came and talked to us at our table, but we got dozens of responses on our board to our prompting question "What do you think Christians think about sex?" Interestingly, the responses quickly moved from what Christians think (for instance, sex is for making babies only) to what people think about the Christian position (Christians shouldn't be so unrealistic in making everyone get married first). We also had a number of really great conversations with students at the Proxe. I was personally amazed at how well they seemed to go; pretty much everyone I talked to said that they thought people treat sex too lightly and that it should at least be reserved for very devoted relationships. Granted, one guy said that his definition of too lightly was basically "involving more than four people at once", but there was at least some recognition of boundaries... I guess....

Sexy Pizza itself went pretty well also. We had really no clue how many people to expect, especially since we advertised constantly for almost a week. That meant having students hand invitations to friends, telling those who came to the Proxe, chalking sidewalks, and hanging up a ton of posters. We ended up with a total of 76 people in attendance, and more than a third of them were totally new to IV! We were also able to have 4 panel members for the event: a local pastor, a Christian sex therapist, an IV alumnus (the former UNM chapter president), and one of our married IV students. They were given questions which we had received as part of the Proxe, including topics like "Why does God want people to be married to have sex?" and "What do you think about homosexual marriage?" and they answered consistently with both grace and truth. Then we opened up the floor for questions from the audience, and we got even more great questions. Finally, we had another student give a brief explanation of the Gospel, emphasizing that God has made us for relationships and that He desires to have a relationship with us. I don't think that anyone made a decision to follow Christ that night, but I'm sure that some relationships were formed, and I'll be really interested to see how we can follow up with those who came.

Please pray for the students who did show up for Sexy Pizza and the Proxe. As I said, we had a fair number there, and at least one indicated interest in learning more about being a follower of Christ, and it would be so great if we could continue those relationships. How great would it be if we could see 30 students come to know God through these events as we build relationships with them!

I must say, though, that overall I've been wondering how effective our outreach on campus is. It's a difficult thing trying to evangelize on campus. From my experience, evangelism occurs most easily in the context of a relationship, but the few years students spend at the university often seem far too short to train students to seek such relationships and to also invest significantly into their non-Christian friends. That's why so much of the time we focus our time and energy into one-time events, hoping that we can attract some non-Christians and get them interested in spending more time with us. Yet from all of these events over the past few years, I only know of one students who has been interested in really finding out more about Christianity. I think that there really should be a more effective way for us to build relationships with other students and share God's love with them, but I'm a little at a loss as to what that would look like. I'd really appreciate it if you all would pray for me and for all of us as a chapter that we would come to an understanding of how best to engage the campus. If we are called to do more events like Sexy Pizza and the Proxe stations, I would love that, but if we are being called to move in a different direction, I want us to get there.

I'm going on a short setup trip for Chapter Camp (our end-of-the-year conference) this week. I get to be part of the "Creative Response" planning committee, meaning that I will help set up stations where students can respond to the message being presented through things like art, silent prayer, or symbolic action. It's a pretty cool opportunity, but it also means that I'll be away in Colorado for a couple of days and will miss a good number of things here. Anyway, I ask that you would pray both for safe travels and that I would be an effective part of the team, that we could come up with some really great means for students to connect with God this year.

Oh, and I have some other really exciting news: apparently several students from the chapter are interested in the Kenya Global Project, and at least one of them is actively filling out the application! I know that it'll be a great opportunity for any who are willing to go. Please pray for those who are still undecided to know what God's will is for their summer, and for those who have decided to commit to the project this summer that they would be able to find all the support they need in the coming months.

"I will proclaim the name of the LORD.
Oh, praise the greatness of our God!
He is the Rock, his works are perfect,
and all his ways are just.
A faithful God who does no wrong,
upright and just is he."
- Deuteronomy 32:3-4

Sexy Pizza

Well, I can't really say much about this week; now that we're pretty much done with the New Student Outreach events for the semester, InterVarsity is starting to take on something of a normal pace. I'm definitely not complaining.

So, yes, my small group went well, though again only 2 students were able to show up. I also had to cancel my discipleship group for the week since all of the guys had other things to take care of. That pretty much leaves the Large Group, and well, let me start off by explaining some things:

This coming week, we're holding a special outreach called Sexy Pizza. We got a grant from the region for holding an evangelistic event, so we're offering free pizza to anyone who stops by and then having a panel discussion of the Christian view of sex. Our panel includes pastors, and even a Christian sex therapist, which is good because as an outreach event, we're sure to get all kinds of, um, interesting questions from the audience.

To lead up to the event, though, we're going to run another Proxe Station - one of our interactive evangelistic tables. As with the Proxe we did last semester, we are again providing a place for students to respond to our prompt: "What do you think Christians think about sex?" We hope that through our interactions with students we will be able to really show them the reasons that God has set standards for our sexual lifestyles and reveal their need for Him.

All of this to say that we wanted to have our training for the Proxe Station for the last Large Group , and I had the privelege of leading it. We had a demonstration of me running the table while one of the student leaders, Nikki, was our student for the demonstration. The presentation went well, but apparently I was blushing the whole time. (It was unscripted, and some of the questions ended up a little awkward, haha.) After the demonstration, we had the students split up and practice with one another and attempt a Gospel presentation as well. All in all, the night went really well, and even my little blunders helped make the whole thing a bit more fun and hopefully less intimidating.

We'll have the Proxe this Wednesday and Thursday and then Sexy Pizza Thursday night. Please keep both of those events in your prayers, especially that all of us would be able to effectively engage the students with both truth and love. I expect some great things to happen both for those who show up and for our students who will be running it, and I'm really excited to see what God has in store!

"May your fountain be blessed,
and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth.
A loving doe, a graceful deer—
may her breasts satisfy you always,
may you ever be captivated by her love.
Why be captivated, my son, by an adulteress?
Why embrace the bosom of another man's wife?"
- Proverbs 5:18-20