Mission: Improbable

One of the great things about working in ministry is that I get to see more often how God is at work behind my back. Whether it's a message that hits someone at just the right time or a meaningful spontaneous conversation or whatever, things just seem to fall into place some of the time. That seems to have been the "theme" for this week.

Once again, I changed up my small group for the week. We have only 3 more lessons left, and 3 weeks of school to do them in, so we had a bit of room to have a change of pace this week. More importantly, I had been trying to find a way to incorporate some worship into our group, and it just so happened that the Rock & Worship Roadshow was passing through this last Tuesday. So I conferred with the group, and we decided to attend. The music was great, featuring the likes of Flee, Family Force Five, David Crowder*Band, MercyMe, and others. We were also lucky enough to run into some of the Tech IV group and hang out with them during the show. It was a really great time of worship and fellowship. I also found out it was also my friend Frank's first outing to a Christian concert, and it really changed his opinion on Christian music (namely, that it's actually fun!). Though I wasn't planning on helping my group discover a different kind of worship, it's great to see that that's what God had planned for Frank.

For Large Group, we had our Evangelism Coordinator, Nikki, speak more on prayer. Following up from my talk a couple weeks ago, she had us do some more listening prayer to see what God was trying to tell us at that time. Then she added a bit of a twist, though, and sent us out in small groups to do something called "treasure seeking". No, it's not some kind of an Easter egg hunt; it's a way of walking around and staying prayerfully in tune with what God is doing, ready to participate as you feel led. I went with my group to pray over the fine arts building, especially for a friend who is preparing for a major performance in the coming weeks. Though nothing especially dramatic came out of the evening, I was glad to see another way that prayer is becoming a part of our chapter and how the students can use it to directly affect the campus.

Friday was the Guys' and Girls' Night Out, and though I can't speak for the girls, the guys had a blast. We try to combine food, fun, fellowship, and uh... (f)learning at this events. This semester that meant starting with a trip to Pepper's BBQ to enjoy piles of roasted meat slathered in BBQ sauce. Then, after thoroughly stuffing ourselves, we undertook a special "mission". Traveling into the foothills of the Sandias, we split into two teams: Impossible Mission Force and KGB. The task of the IMF was to retrieve 3 canisters of nuclear material (glowsticks) being guarded by the armed KGB (who all had Airsoft guns) and return them to our vehicles without being caught. We scrambled around for a while and had a great time, and though it was windy and rainy the whole time, that just made the experience all the more fun. Finishing the game, we returned to my house and received a message from the Guys' Small Group leader, Clayton. He spoke on spiritual warfare and had us spend time in groups discussing ways in which we are vulnerable to spiritual attack, banding together to pray for and support each other. Once more, though I wasn't sure what would come of this night, I kept hearing people share meaningful issues and knew that this was just what God had planned for us.

There's some other stuff coming down the pike that I would really appreciate you all praying for. First is our welcome party for the new student leaders for next year, which will be happening this Friday. Second, we're planning an end-of-the-year party and a separate party to say farewell to the seniors. Finally, we're gearing up for Chapter Camp, our annual region-wide retreat in the heart of the Colorado Rockies. These are all some final opportunities for us to really disciple the students this year, and so I ask that you pray for them to be effective. I would also appreciate your prayers again as I restart my fundraising for the coming year, which will begin in the coming weeks. I'm still a bit unsure of how I'll get fully funded, but we do serve an awesome God!

"Great is the LORD and most worthy of praise;
his greatness no one can fathom."
- Psalm 145:3