“I thank my God in all my remembrance of you.” - Philippians 1:3
The familiar words above spoken by the Apostle Paul to the saints in Philippi ring true for my heart towards you as well. Your faithful support (financially and through prayers & encouragement) has made it possible to reach so many incoming freshmen this past month. After a week of planning with student leaders during Pre-Retreat in August, we hit the floor running welcoming incoming students. The first two weeks were packed with events from an ice cream social at midnight on the steps of Low to an open house and pancakes & prayer at the ministry center, our Freshmen Welcoming team had the chance to meet hundreds of incoming freshmen. Overall, our freshmen welcomers put on ten events throughout NSOP (New Student Orientation Program)!
We held our first Illumina (Leadership Lecture Series) and had over 74 students pack the ministry center to worship Jesus and hear my talk entitled “A Conversation with God: Who’s Invited?” All in all, you could sense the desire of the students to be in community with other Christians and a hunger to be in fellowship with Christ.
We will be officially kicking off Bible courses in a week and meeting to study the book of Hebrews. We held our Bible course preview night with over 27 students signing up.
All of us at CU Lumine are excited for what God has in store for us this fall. We are gearing up for our Fall Conference which will be held from September 30 to October 2. We are trusting and believing God to move in a mighty way at Columbia!
Would you please join us in praying for:
- Columbia’s class of 2026: Pray for the freshmen that have connected with CU Lumine in the past few weeks. Pray that they would find a home with this ministry, connect with upperclassmen and build deep, meaningful relationships.
- Student leaders: Pray that God would give them strength and wisdom as they lead this ministry and plan events for the fall. Pray that God would give them favor with the school and their peers.
- Raising up new financial supporters: We know that we can’t do this ministry without Cornerstone Partners like you. Join us in praying that God would bring new Christ-minded friends of this ministry to help rebuild CU Lumine at Columbia through their partnership.
- One-on-one Discipleship: Pray for deep, meaningful conversations with students. Pray for those that are struggling in their faith and for those that seek to grow in their walk with God. Pray that God would use these one-on-one times to strengthen and grow individuals.
- Revival on campus: In the midst of unknowns, we know that God is able to do more than we can ask or imagine. Pray that God would continue to open eyes to respond to His call of grace and bring about a mighty wave of peace, joy, and transformation as we begin this semester.
Grace and Peace,
Stan Thomas
Ministry Director
Christian Union Lumine
Please note: if you would like to receive regular updates on how to pray for Christian Union's work at Columbia, please email prayer@christianunion.org.
