Hello to all my wonderful supporters!
God has certainly continued to bless InterVarsity at UNM this spring semester. While it is very common for a chapter to dwindle in the spring as schedules change and students become busier, this semester seems to really be the exception. We've continued to see new students coming and getting involved. We've also been able to have a number of really great events this semester, and while I can't talk about them all, I would love to tell you about a few of them.
We wanted to have another big evangelistic event this semester, so in February we held an event called "Sexy Pizza". For two days we set up a table in the SUB, inviting people to respond on our board to the question "What do you think Christians think about sex?" As with the Proxe Station we set up last semester, this allowed us to start conversations with students about what sex means to them, how their relationships have been affected by their views on sex, and how they think God feels about their lifestyle choices. We then invited them to come to a special Large Group meeting, where we had a panel of Christians including a pastor, a sex therapist, and some married and unmarried students willing to discuss any questions students raised. As you might imagine, there was certainly some interesting discussion! We ended the night with an invitation to accept Christ's offer of a relationship with us. Though no one wanted to make that commitment that night, we did have a number of students interested in getting together over the next few weeks to learn more about God's desire for a relationship with them.
The last weekend in February was our annual spring retreat, Cresciendo en Christo (Growing in Christ). From Friday through Sunday students from UNM, NMT, and UTEP gathered in Socorro to fellowship and learn more about what it means to be a Christian leader. We studied Titus, looking at how Paul encouraged Titus to raise up men of character to lead the church in Crete and battle the false doctrines that surrounded the church. We also held different short seminars which students could sign up for to learn more about discipleship, dating, evangelism, or godly living. I took the godly living one, and it was really great to teach how basic disciplines like Bible study and prayer. We had about 55 students total, 28 of whom were from UNM, and it was great to see them all growing through the studies, the worship, and the fellowship of the retreat.
One final opportunity we have had was the Albuquerque Urban Plunge, which happened this past Saturday through Wednesday, coinciding with UNM's spring break. The idea of the AUP is to show students God's heart for the poor by experiencing poverty homelessness. We had a total of 9 attendees including Hans, who was running the project, and myself. We also had 3 students from UNM, 2 from NMT, and 2 from NAU. We spent the first 2 days doing orientation - getting to know one another and bonding as a group as well as preparing ourselves for the cross-cultural experience of dealing with homelessness. Then the following two days, we experienced homelessness firsthand as we were sent out on an "urban scavenger hunt." We dressed as homeless people and were able to take only two items with us, which we had to carry wherever we went. Acting as if we were new in town, we engaged with the homeless, ate with them at missions, saw their health clinic, and tried to experience life from their point of view by going through the processes for a mailing address, food stamps, and bus passes. It was a truly eye-opening experience, both in seeing how well the homeless are cared for here in Albuquerque but more importantly in seeing that the homeless are not "lowly" people and that they deserve our care and friendship, not our snubbing and arm-length giving. I believe that I and all the other students now have a much fuller appreciation for God's love for these people, and I'm so glad for the opportunity to see life from their point of view.
A last big development that I would love to share with you all is that I have accepted a long-term position with InterVarsity. It will be a 5-year commitment beginning at the conclusion of my Intern year in August. For the first 2 years, I will be on staff at UNM, but after that there is a good chance that I will switch over to NMT for the final 3 years. It is a part-time position, so I will be working about 29 hours a week and likely continuing my work on the side with the game company SP Entertainment. I will try to tell you more about what this all means as later, but for now I would really appreciate your prayers as I begin this next phase of my ministry through InterVarsity.
I have some other prayers and praises that I would like to bring to you all:
- A number of our students have really shown a desire to become more evangelistic, which is a real praise! For now, though, they don't have much direction, so please pray that we would be able to find some really good avenues for them to engage their friends and fellow students with the Gospel.
- One of the students who has started attending this semester, the younger brother of one of our other students, does not seem to be a Christian but is also very interested in learning more about what Christianity is all about. Please ask God to soften his heart and make him receptive to the Gospel, and also pray for us to have the courage and the understanding to invite him into that relationship when he is ready for it.
- As I mentioned, a number of students indicated that they would like to learn more about God after coming to Sexy Pizza. We already have one guy meeting with Hans and one of our students, which is a great praise, while the other groups are still in the being scheduled. I ask that you would pray for the group that is already underway to be effective and for the other groups to come together soon and to also guide those students closer to a true relationship with God.
- Pray for me as I prepare to become a full Campus Staff Minister. I'll need to do a great deal of fundraising and training over the next few months, so pray that I would be prepared for that work, that God would guide my fundraising efforts, and that I would be effective in working for God's Kingdom over these next few years.
- A final praise is that my father's chemotherapy treatment has finished a little earlier than expected since there is now no sign of cancer in his lymph nodes! We had been worried for a little while since the chemo seemed to be affecting him more recently (though he still has all his hair), but for now he is able to do maintenance which will just mean taking some medications without full chemo treatments. Thank God for this turn of events, and please continue to pray for my father as he goes through the maintenance.
His servant,
Michael
No comments:
Post a Comment