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Student's Faith Invigorated by Christian Union Holy Land Tour
BY FRANCINE BARCHETT, CORNELL '20
Next to climbing Mount Kilimanjaro and writing a book, visiting Israel was at the top of my bucket list. Because my grandparents had an unforgettable experience, they would often tell me, “Francine, if you ever get a chance to go to Israel, by golly go!” Like King Arthur questing for the Holy Grail, like an intrepid explorer journeying to his ancestors’ homeland, this would be my once-in-a-lifetime, spiritually awakening, Christian pilgrimage. Little did I know this trip, which I imagined occurring decades in the future, would happen this past summer, following my freshman year at Cornell!
In June, I joined 83 students and four Christian Union ministry fellows for the Passages: Experience Israel trip. We drew on the nation’s biblical foundation and modern development. We traveled far and wide, from Christ’s ministry headquarters in Capernaum to the Dead Sea, sampling rich Middle Eastern foods, wandering traditional marketplaces, and hearing guest speakers from around the country. While what I learned those 10 days could easily fill a novel, I thought of five main takeaways:
Christian Union Welcomes Class of 2021
BY CATHERINE ELVY, STAFF WRITER
Students involved with Christian Union’s ministry at Harvard College eagerly welcomed members of the class of 2021 as they descended upon Cambridge.
During late August and early September, ministry fellows and returning students hosted a series of events to greet freshmen, including a pizza party, waterfront picnic, and ice cream social.
“The upperclassmen and ministry fellows are hungry for a harvest,” said Tyler Parker, a Christian Union intern and Harvard alumnus of 2017. “We are motivated in our mission.”
Christian Union Hosts Forum with Ravi Zacharias, Abdu Murray at Yale
by Kayla Bartsch, Yale ’20
Why does the truth matter?
This was the question posed by renowned apologists, authors, and scholars Abdu Murray and Ravi Zacharias to skeptics and believers alike at Yale University on the evening of October 10th. In the woody, warm sanctuary of Battell Chapel, a full house of 650 Yale students, local community members, and travelers from across the region congregated to hear Murray and Zacharias discuss “The Quest for Meaning in a Post-Truth Culture.” The Yale University Open Forum was made possible through the sponsorship of Ravi Zacharias International Ministries and Christian Union at Yale.
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To learn more about Christian Union Nova at Princeton or to get involved, click here.
I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds.
— Psalm 9:1
I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.
— Philippians 1:3-6
We are over halfway through the term and have been enjoying a beautiful, mild fall in Hanover. Bible courses have been going very well and the new freshmen (‘21s) are quickly getting plugged into the community. Many have already joined a ministry team and are weekly showing up to our Friday Leadership Lecture Series (The Vine).
It has been a great start to the school year at Penn. Thank you for your continued prayers for this ministry as we continue to proclaim the Gospel and develop our students to transform the culture of Penn for the glory of Jesus Christ.
Friends,
I pray this email finds you well. The Lord continues to show himself faithful to us here at Brown University, where our ministry has begun its fourth year on campus. For the first time ever, we have a graduating class, which means there are, also for the first time, four classes of students – freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors; four classes of Brown students that we have the incredible privilege of walking alongside as we all follow after Jesus. Praise the Lord for his goodness!
Greetings,
Christian Union at Columbia continues to experience God’s grace as we minister to the students on campus. We recently wrapped up a successful Freshman Campaign, in which we attained all our goals for the new freshman class. These students are enthusiastic new members of our family here at Columbia. We also had an impactful Fall Conference. For the conference, the staff chose to focus on the topic of wisdom, giving a series of talks from the book of Proverbs. Feedback from those in attendance was that it was one of our best Fall conferences yet. The students loved the talks we gave, and we were privileged to see one Freshman give her life to Christ during student prayer after one of the main sessions. We were also told that the conference was successful at causing friendships to form among students who usually don’t have much interaction with each other.
