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Please Pray for Christian Union's ministry at Yale.

Dear Prayer Partners,


Blessings to you in the name of Jesus! Thanks for praying for us regularly.  I’ll maintain that our primary strategy in ministry here is what Paul spells out as the “communications equipment” of God’s armor, saying in Ephesians 1:18 “praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints”.

We come again to the end of a semester. As I write this, a few students have finished all their work and are packing to go home, while others are still gearing up for the push through final exams, papers, and projects. Please pray that our students receive grace, not only to finish well, but that they would turn to their heavenly Father in times of pressure. Truly, He carries us through when our strength and wisdom fail; and by trusting in Him, our hearts find rest even where others are crippled with anxiety. As the psalmist says: “In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety” (Ps 4:8, ESV).

Pray that our students rest well over the break: that they sleep well, spend quality time with family and friends, exercise their bodies and have fun—those things we all know to do, and which can be difficult to keep in the balance with busy lives, especially for young and ambitious students—and that they will seek God’s face diligently. It’s all too easy, when the structure of a regular routine is interrupted for a few weeks, to lose the momentum of positive habits that we’ve built up. Pray that our students will use the break not to sit around aimlessly, but to increase the time and energy they devote to prayer and reading the Scriptures.

And let us all—students, Christian Union faculty, and you, our partners in prayer—give thanks for the abundance of good work God has done in our midst this semester. “Blessed are those who keep His testimonies…” (Ps 119:2). We’ve seen a deepening of fellowship and unity in our community; we’ve welcomed in a wonderfully eager and engaged freshman class, who continue to bring in new friends even at semester’s end; and we’ve seen movement along every stage of the discipleship spectrum, from the un-churched exploring and discovering the gospel for the first time to established believers deepening their faith and growing in knowledge and love. God has been good, as He is and always will be, and He is worthy of our thanks and praise.

To you also, whose prayers are precious to God and a help to us, my co-workers and I extend our sincere gratitude. May the Lord bless you and keep you in Christ Jesus, until he comes again in glory to reign forever and ever.

Michael Racine
Ministry Fellow
Christian Union at Yale

Please note: if you would like to receive regular updates on how to pray for Christian Union's work at Yale, please email prayer@christianunion.org.
Thank you all for your continuing prayers in support of God’s work through Christian Union at Yale. The Lord is indeed moving here in beautiful ways. We celebrated as one of our freshmen, who made a faith commitment in high school, passed through the waters of baptism this past Sunday. Another student came to faith after a spiritual encounter two weeks ago. Still others are actively exploring, drawing near, and on the verge of giving their lives to Jesus. We’ve even had non-Christians bringing their friends to our Friday dinner and Leadership Lecture Series.

Dear Friends,

Thank you for continuing to remember us in prayer before the Lord Jesus Christ! I’m pleased to share that Fall Retreat (Oct 12-14) was the encouraging, faith-building experience that we had hoped it would be! We brought 28 students to the Incarnation Center to reconnect with God and with one another, and evangelist Chris White (Yale ’87) taught richly from God’s Word and his own life. Saturday night was particularly powerful as the Holy Spirit flooded the room during our time of worship, and God’s Spirit helped staff and students pray over and minister to one another. I had a strong impression right before the retreat that the young men and women in our ministry would begin to live more like “brothers and sisters” in Christ as a result of the weekend. Progress towards that end was evident in group times, play times, meal times, and we all agreed that God had graced us with much deeper sense of “openness” as guards had come down in response to His work in hearts.

Dear Prayer Partners,

We’re in the 4th full week of the semester — classes are in full swing, fall weather is here, and the students are feeling quite harried with all the demands on them!  Thank you for each of your remembrances and prayers for us and the ministry here at Yale and thank you for lifting up our students.  Someday we’ll all have a better view into how much Christ has truly been holding all things together!

Dear Prayer Partners,

As I write this update, Clay and the Yale team are in the midst of their pre-retreat with student leaders!  Before classes start, the student leaders and the CU staff come together to reconnect with each other, the Lord, and the mission to reach Yale's campus with the gospel of Christ Jesus.  In particular, they'll be strategically focusing on hospitality and outreach to the first-year students.  Join me in praying that this time would be fruitful in terms of their relationships with each other, the Lord, and in stirring up these leaders to boldly proclaim the Lord and minister to their classmates.