God is on the move! After a very eventful and successful Freshmen Welcoming Campaign, our students have settled into their Bible courses, studying the Gospel of Mark. Our ministry fellows are seeing our students engage with the Scripture, spurring one another on to seek the Lord. Even throughout October, newcomers have inquired about how to get involved in our Bible courses. One sophomore student, an atheist, has been coming regularly to our weekly Leadership Lecture Series, since most of his friends are a part of CU Nova. This year, he has finally requested to join in with one of our Sophomore Bible courses! He spoke to a ministry fellow recently, saying, “I think I’ve investigated faith from every angle I need to. All that’s left for me is to experience it….I’m open to change.” Please pray for his salvation!
We recently took 57 students on our fall retreat to the beautiful Jersey shore at a Christian retreat center there. The theme for the weekend was “The Power of Community.” Qwynn Gross, our women’s ministry fellow, kicked off the weekend with a talk on the “Sacrifices of Community,” preparing students’ hearts for the work that lay before them. Jake Thomas, our men’s ministry fellow, did an excellent job leading the students in teaching, small groups, and team-building activities that knit our students together. I gave the final message on the “Purpose of Christian Community.” After speaking, I invited the Holy Spirit to come and minister to us and asked for students to begin praying for one another. The Spirit showed up in a powerful way and students were praying, weeping, and worshiping for nearly three hours! There were also two non-believers there with us. One of them, a senior and former Hindu, gave his life to Christ! He was beaming with joy and tears. The other student, a sophomore, was very excited by our community and has joined a Bible course!
Here are a few student testimonials from the retreat:
"God moved through me and through everyone at many different moments, it was surreal."
"God is so good! Over fall retreat, He reminded me that He shows His love through community."
"God brought me and my friends so much closer together."
"I was drawn closer to Him and it was just a great reorientation."
"During Saturday night, for the first time in my life, I really truly felt the Holy Spirit speaking/working in me…it brought me to tears!"
"God showed up!"
"I experienced an outpouring of His love throughout the weekend and was reminded of how great He is."
"During the second evening, my heart was very heavy and towards the end, I felt a lot of that weight being lifted off. There were like pulses of shivers from the holy spirit running through me and I was crying and I felt amazing after."
"I heard the Holy Spirit speak to me the last night!!!"
"I felt the Holy Spirit moving and empowering me to pray with and for my sisters in Christ!"
"Already answered some of my prayers! I figured out what I want to do for my career, which I prayed about, and He already moved to help with internal conflicts that were going on back home with some family!"
Please join us in praying for the continued work of the Holy Spirit in these students’ lives. Pray for those who are newly following Christ as well as for those who are so close! Pray that our community will continue to grow in the love and power of Christ!
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"Under God's Power, She Flourishes,"
Mike Vincent
Mike.Vincent@ChristianUnion.org
Ministry Director, Christian Union Nova
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