Pray for Cornell

September 2015

Dear Partners in Prayer for Cornell,

September has been full of answers to prayer already, and I hope this letter encourages you to pray specifically for students to come to know the Lord this year.

Beginning last spring, we asked God to handpick the next freshmen class for Cornell. We asked for students to arrive on campus thirsty for Christ, whether they call upon Him by name or not. Now various athletic teams are asking us to offer studies in God's word specifically for their teammates. We have transfer students and previously uninvolved upperclassmen asking to be a part of our studies too. Students from our ministry have been meeting daily at 7:30 a.m. to pray for their non-believing friends to come to know Christ at Cornell. Please join them in that prayer!

Pray for Lily, a freshman who arrived in the U.S. from China two years ago. Lily told me she is not a Christian, but she wanted to join a Bible study. She went on to describe the kindness she received from Christians on her track team in high school, her first two years in America. "College is a time to have new experiences," she said, and she wants to learn more about Jesus as the source of her friends' kindness. 

Her first week at Bible study, Lily heard testimonies from freshmen about their relationships with Christ. She told me afterwards, "I've heard about Jesus before, but today was the first time something inside of me told me that it is true. And this was the first time the story about Jesus made me feel emotional." Lily stayed after Bible study to ask her leaders the meaning of the terms she heard, including the word, "grace." 

The book of Colossians is our focus for this fall semester, and what a source of life it will be for these students! Colossians includes this prayer from Paul to the church. Please join us in praying this over Cornell students:

And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

Thank you,

Anna Shea
Christian Union Ministry Fellow
Cornell University