Hello from Dartmouth,
We are wrapping up our sophomore summer with the ‘18s and it has flown by quickly! We spent several weeks walking through a book study with them over Counterfeit Gods by Timothy Keller, which proved to be not only impactful for the students, but for us as staff as well. It proved to be the perfect read, given the phase of life the students are in with all the pressure they feel to perform and to put their value and worth in their grades or a job or a spouse. We were thankful for the conversations that led to a greater hope and thanksgiving for Christ who frees us from bondage to the things that do not satisfy that we might worship the only One who can truly fulfill us.
We are looking forward to welcoming the incoming freshmen (‘20s) the first week of September, so we are hard at work in preparing for their arrival. Please be in prayer for our Pre-retreat to which we will be taking 29 students the weekend of September 4th. This retreat is used to prepare upperclassmen to reach out and introduce the ‘20s to our ministry, to make them feel welcomed and that they immediately have a place to belong. There will be time for training, planning events and for lots of prayer. Please pray for these upperclassmen who are giving up the first few weeks of their fall term to serve the ‘20s and make them feel at home. Pray that they quickly make strong connections with them and that they pursue them in a way that shows them Christ. Pray that the Lord will fill up 2 freshman men’s courses and 2 freshman women’s courses. We would also appreciate prayer for the staff as this tends to be our busiest and most tiring time of year. We ask for energy and perseverance, for the ability to remember a lot of names and information about the ‘20s and discernment on which ones God wants us to focus on the most. I look forward to sharing with you about all the Lord is doing with our new class in the next letter!
This fall we will be studying the gospel of Mark with all the classes, which we are very excited about. I know that we will have many students who do not yet know Christ, so we see this as the perfect opportunity to share Him with them. Please pray with us for gospel transformation in many of our students’ lives, and for a deepening love and relationship with Christ for those students who have been straying. May the name of Christ be exalted and hallowed on Dartmouth’s campus this year!
Until next time,
Julia Carlisle
Christian Union Ministry Fellow
Dartmouth College
Please note: if you would like to receive regular updates on how to pray for Christian Union's work at Dartmouth, please email prayer@christianunion.org.
