Dear prayer partners,
We are well on our way into winter term and started off strong with our winter conference at Singing Hills Retreat Center. We were so pleased with the number of students who came, especially since we had so many freshmen (‘20s) and seniors (‘17s). As hoped, it was a restful time for the students, of hearing the word, spending time together in prayer, and connecting with new people in the ministry.
Our speaker, Drew Matter, spent the weekend calling students back to the gospel, reminding them that they will never “graduate from the gospel,” but that the Christian life is all about growing deeper in understanding it and being transformed by it. I have heard many students say it was exactly what they needed to hear, so praise God for showing up in such an incredible and needed way over the weekend.
We just completed our second week of Bible Courses. As always, we’d appreciate prayers for hearts of commitment from our students, for deepening community and accountability, and for great growth and maturity in the faith throughout this term. We long to see our students not merely grow in knowledge of scripture, but that their character would be formed by it. Please also be praying for gospel transformation, as many of our students, especially freshmen (‘20s) girls have not yet made the decision to follow Christ.
A new exciting opportunity to be praying for is a theological reading and discussion group led by ministry fellow, Chase. This group consists of 6 students who have committed, in addition to their Bible course, to reading and discussing weekly the book, Dominion and Dynasty: A Biblical Theology of the Hebrew Bible by Stephen G. Dempster. It’s encouraging to see young men and women desire to learn more and be challenged in their faith in a new way. When asked why they wanted to join, several of them said that it was because they knew it would be difficult. It is a good reminder to me that Dartmouth students thrive on high expectations and want to rise to the challenge!
Please also continue to pray for the search for our new women’s ministry fellow, that the Lord would provide someone who fits well with our team and has a heart for teaching and mentoring college students, especially in the unique context of the wilderness that is Hanover.
With a grateful heart,
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.
