October 2023

Dear CU Libertas Cornerstone Partners and friends of the ministry,

“For though I am absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the firmness of your faith in Christ. Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.” - Colossians 2:5-7

Here at CU Libertas we are abounding in thankfulness for the extraordinary ways God answered your prayers for our freshman campaign!  For the last four weeks we have welcomed new faces and shared meals with a plethora of wonderful first year students. Each student shared stories of their journey with Jesus, how he has won over their hearts and changed their lives for the better. Students shared how grateful they were to find a robust Christian community on campus. Through the many fruitful interactions and conversations, we rejoiced in knowing the Lord was answering our many petitions for an overflow of hearts seeking to know Him here at Brown.
There are so many stories of how students became established in their faith prior to college. There is one story in particular that spoke to the mission of Christian Union, as well as the magnificent ways in which the Lord reveals Himself to His children:

Recently, I had coffee with Shamariah, a first year student studying music here at Brown. She shared how her dad was a committed follower of Jesus and he facilitated family Bible studies throughout the week. He told her that it was important that she had the Word in her heart, so that she would always know the truth. Despite this strong Christian upbringing, Shamariah shared that she went through a season of wrestling with her faith. She started to question if God was real and it shook the foundation of her long established upbringing in the Lord. A dear friend of hers, who identified as an atheist at the time, decided in his later years of high school, to disprove the existence of God. Though steadfast in his pursuit to deny the existence of God, he instead encountered the undeniable love of our Savior. Lucas made Jesus the Lord of his life and made a public declaration of his faith through water baptism. Shamariah was there the day of his baptism, and shared that witnessing the radical transformation of Lucas, is what convinced her to believe again, and she has never looked back. She has plugged into one of our freshman Bible courses and smiled as she shared that CU Libertas is home for her. She said the warmness and welcomeness of the community is just what she was looking for in a campus ministry. To my surprise, Shamariah went on to share that Lucas is a first year student at Yale and has connected with CU Lux under the leadership of Jeff Walsh, ministry director of CU Lux. I was reminded just then of the mission of Christian Union - Christian Union develops and connects transformative Christian leaders.

It is amazing to see the faithfulness of the Lord, as he connects students across universities to be on mission for Him. We are excited to see the many more ways he connects students this year. May the landscape of each university be transformed for His glory!

God is greatly using your prayers to grow the ministry impact at CU Libertas.

Would you pray that these students and student leaders continue to deepen their faith?

Would you, also, be willing to consider blessing and empowering this ministry with a one time or recurring gift to help make Christ known at Brown through this secure link:

https://www.christianunion.org/cornerstone/libertas

Feel free to share this link with someone in your life who may be interested.

Thank you for your prayers to help develop and connect Christian leaders to transform culture for God’s glory! We couldn’t do this without you and your support!

In Christ,

Sheri Casali
CU Libertas Ministry Fellow

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