August 2018

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

As I am writing you today, it is a beautiful day in Princeton. The weather is becoming cooler—a clear sign that that summer is coming to a close. Our staff recently returned from our annual “Christian Union Faculty and Staff Conference.” This was a conference for all Christian Union’s ministry faculty as well as our support staff. We had a wonderful, encouraging time of seeking God together through prayer, as well as a time of training and equipping.

Having returned from the conference, we are now beginning our preparations for the Fall in earnest. At this point in the summer, things are beginning to pick-up. We are just over a week away from our Pre-Retreat, which runs from September 4^th-7^th. As a ministry faculty, we are praying for this time, eagerly anticipating how God will use this retreat in the lives of our students. After the Pre-Retreat, we will have our Freshmen Campaign, which is one of the most significant times of our ministry year. During this time, we will be reaching out to freshmen who are making literally life-altering decisions about how they spend their time at Princeton and the rest of their lives. It will be a very busy time for us as faculty as well as the students who are leading elements of the campaign. We ask for your prayers that students’ lives would be changed by joining our ministry or another Christian group on campus.

As we look towards the Fall, would you consider praying for us along the lines mentioned here:

Pre-Retreat—Please continue to pray for Pre-Retreat. Pray that it will be a time when students are spiritually renewed (and perhaps in some cases students gain a vision of God’s glory and beauty for the very first time). Please also pray for our planning for Freshmen Campaign during this retreat.

Freshmen Campaign—As I emphasized already, this is an extremely important time for both these incoming Freshmen as well as our current students. Please pray in particular that many freshmen would join our ministry as a result of our efforts.

A Fresh Outpouring of God’s Spirit—More than anything, this is what we need. We need God to pour out His Spirit on us as ministers of the gospel and on students at Princeton. Please pray for this. Pray that each of the faculty and staff would be full of the Holy Spirit and that this same spiritual fervor would also be a characteristic of our students. In addition to praying, perhaps you would want to consider fasting to this end.  

Grace and peace,

Ryan Reed
Christian Union Teaching Fellow
Princeton Faith and Action

Please note: if you would like to receive regular updates on how to pray for Christian Union's work at Princeton, please email prayer@christianunion.org.