November 2016

Dear Partners in Prayer for Cornell,

Thank you for praying for students in our ministry in November—the time to focus on answers to prayer with thanksgiving!

Here are a few items to pray over this month:

One of our team members who is also the wife of our ministry director, Liz Thomforde, was diagnosed with breast cancer. Join us in praising God for a good prognosis and a surgery that went successfully. Liz and Jim have served the students at Cornell for five years, so you can imagine the effect this news had on students. Within minutes of the news, students responded with offers to help with childcare and deliver meals. A group of football players stopped by Liz and Jim’s house to pray and they presented her with a jersey and a generous financial gift toward the cost of transportation and accommodations as Jim and Liz have made several trips to the hospital in Boston. Please pray for complete healing for Liz.

The Thursday before Thanksgiving break, students passed out 1,000 copies of C.S. Lewis’s classic rational defense of the faith, Mere Christianity, to students on a central plaza on campus. The books included a bookmark describing an event they named “Grill Me for Grilled Cheese.” It reads: “Do you have a question about the Christian faith? Text us! Nov. 28th-Dec. 3rd and we’ll deliver you a grilled cheese to your door with our best answer to your grilling!” While we passed out books, we already received questions texted to that number. Please pray for Lewis’ book to be read over the break, and for our students to respond to questions with winsome, meaningful answers, building some genuine friendships with those who may be curious about Christ.

We will be concluding our 10-week study in the gospel of Mark next time you hear from us. One student, reflecting on the semester thus far, wrote a prayer of thanksgiving to God for her growth in the ministry of Christian Union. In it she lists the blessings she has encountered so far. Her list begins: “receiving a newfound joy in reading and understanding Your word in the Bible that was not present in my heart before.” She goes on to count learned: “learning how to have difficult conversations with my family about my walk in faith and realizing that I don’t share all the same views as they do; being able to be selfless and shine the light of Christ for those around me who asked to come to church, needed a study buddy, a shoulder to cry on, or a second opinion from a sister in Christ; experiencing the power of confession; learning to trust in You with illness; holding Your word true to my heart in the watches of the night; coming to realize that this life is just a tiny piece of our everlasting time with Christ and that my life in eternity with God will be so much more real and truer than the life I live today.”

We praise God for hearts softened toward Him, and for you—our faithful supporters in the good work He has begun here at Cornell.

Thank you,

Anna Shea
Christian Union Ministry Fellow
Cornell University


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