Pray for Princeton
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The 2020-21 school year is nearing its end and your prayers have made a difference on the Princeton University campus!
Christian Union Nova is thriving because student leaders are working to fulfill the vision. Within each student executive, assistant Bible course leader (ABCL), and student leader, there has been sincere compassion towards one another and a commitment to ensure that the CU Nova community is present and viable. Through large group meetings (i.e., Encounter and TruThursday), Bible courses, weekly prayer meetings, and discipleship for incoming freshmen, active ministry took place during a very challenging time.
Grace to you and peace from Christian Union Nova!
The weather in Princeton is beautiful and campus life is abuzz with activity! Being mindful of precautions, students are enjoying the sunshine as spring fever is in the air! Not only is the Melrose Center fast becoming a revolving door with students arriving to pray, to study, and practice vocally for worship, but students who normally joined the zoom calls for Bible course in isolation, have been found, in recent weeks, joining the study of Acts from outdoors under bright blue skies and on blankets along with others! It’s so refreshing.
Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever. Hebrews 13:8
This is the good news, a constant stabilizer amidst much change!
This month, we say farewell to our Ministry Director Christopher Heslep, who will be leaving Christian Union after 3 ½ years of faithful service. Pray that God will send us an exceptional leader to fill Christopher’s shoes. Meanwhile, pray that God sustains ministry fellow Cameron Garven and me as we take on additional responsibilities.
They’re back!!! At least two-thirds of Princeton students will return to campus this spring, and we could not be more excited to see them return. While much of our ministry will remain the same as it pertains to zoom Bible courses and weekly meetings, the ability to reconnect with one another in person is a blessing that is almost indescribable. Our God made us for community and face-to-face fellowship and our students finally get to return to a semblance of that. Additionally, it means that ministry fellows can begin meeting 1-on-1 with students who are comfortable doing so. I can tell you that there is much rejoicing.
As we begin a new year, we at CU Nova hope that your Christmas holiday was one of joy and fulfillment, even if it was different from previous years. CU Nova took the holiday time to relax, refresh, and recall how the Lord has been faithful within a wild year. Even through a global pandemic, our Heavenly Father has proven and will continue to prove that he is a faithful God who is sovereign and does not change. We worship him for he is worthy.
Here we are at the end of the most unique semester that any of us at Christian Union has ever faced. Classes at Princeton moved along through the semester as usual, but for the first time, there were no hangouts at Frist, no long walks to Whitman College, no ultimate frisbee games at Poe Field, or reading a book in Prospect Garden. No Ivy League championships from our amazing sports teams, and no theater productions that bring laughter. This year was filled with screen time, virtual environments, and online interactions instead. This semester is one that will never be forgotten by those who experienced it, but hopefully not for merely the reasons mentioned above.
Dear CU Nova Cornerstone Partners and other friends of the ministry,
Eight months into the pandemic, protests, and politics and God is still at work here at Princeton University! By the time this email arrives, the election will be over, and guess what...we’re still standing. It seems this year’s theme has been one of learning to adapt to the changes around us. Even with many changes in our culture as Christians, we can be assured as the author of Hebrews says “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”
Dear CU Nova Cornerstone Partners and other friends of the ministry,
Our freshman campaign is nearing its end, and it has been a campaign like none other before it. There have been obstacles to overcome, new events to develop, all the while doing ministry in an environment never experienced before. It has been a challenge to adjust to, and our faculty and students are still finding a way forward. But that does not mean that God is not at work.
Dear CU Nova Cornerstone Partners and other friends of the ministry,
I sit here today on the morning of the beginning of a year unlike any seen before on the Princeton campus. As you may have heard, the Princeton University administration decided to move to a fully remote model for classes this semester with no students on campus. And here on the final day of August, students begin their year at Princeton in a completely online format. Furthermore, as you have likely heard, Christian Union has gone through a vast financial transition where our ministry faculty has been reduced from eight full-time staff to three. Much has changed since our last interaction.
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
This past month I have been reading the book of Proverbs in the mornings. God has been using the wisdom of this book to strengthen and encourage me in this time. The central conviction of the book of Proverbs is that the thing we need most is the fear of the Lord. Elsewhere in Scripture we see commands to fear God, but also characters who embodied, albeit imperfectly, this fear of God—people like Daniel and Esther who feared God and followed him in the midst of crisis and at great personal costs.
