Christian Union Universities
I am writing to you on a cold January day here in Princeton. The students here are just finishing their exams, which they have been completing, along with final papers, over the last three weeks. In this letter, I want to update you on the ministry that has been happening here, as well as alert you to several specific ways you can pray for us.
Praise God! Our students have returned safely to campus after Winter Break and our Bible Courses have had an excellent start. We currently have 13 Bible Courses meeting, with the possibility of adding an additional course for those who are serving in Penn’s Gospel choir. We are thankful that God’s Spirit is moving among the students, bringing a sense of unity and hunger for God’s Word. Please pray that our students would have an increasing affection for Jesus and would translate that passion for Christ’s glory to tangible action on Penn’s campus.
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”.
Greetings from Palo Alto!
“Do not be led away by diverse and strange teachings, for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods, which have not benefited those devoted to them” (Hebrews 13:9).
Students in our Bible courses meditated on this verse recently as we concluded our Bible course on the book of Hebrews. The author’s teaching certainly includes the temple sacrifices which, after the sacrifice of Christ, had become obsolete.
We’ve finished another semester here at Brown University. Students are finishing up final exams and heading home to be with family during the holidays. Just this last week, we celebrated the end of our semester studying Hebrews with a large, family-style dinner at the Judson Center (the ministry center here at Brown University) with students from our Bible Courses. The Judson Center was abuzz with chatter and laughter as we sat around the large dining room table enjoying one another and the God that has so graciously provided for us over the course of the semester, in these Bible Courses and so much more. It struck me, as we sat there eating and talking, how necessary it is to have Christian Union ministries at these universities. It is because of the love and generosity of so many folks, including you, that these students have a place to belong, a community in which to study God’s Word, to pray, and to witness to the larger Brown community. So, thank you for being a part of what God is doing here at Brown in transforming students’ lives for the sake of Christ’s name!
Our semester is coming to a close, and we thank God for all the ways we saw him move. This semester marked the opening of our ministry center and our community was invigorated because of the brand-new space. The center has been serving the needs of students in a variety of ways. For finals reading week, we implemented study hours for our students, and many students had an accommodating space to prepare for finals. Most of our Bible courses, many one on one discipleship meetings, and seeking God prayer hours have already been held in the two months that it has been open. We continue to be grateful for everything that went in to securing a center one block from campus.
It is hard to believe that this semester is at an end. Our students are finishing up their last finals this weekend, and many have already made their trips back home. This last month was a busy one with a number of important events happening. The annual Christmas party we hosted after the end of classes was a great time of fun and fellowship for our students. The following day, we hosted Grill Me for Grilled Cheese. Students were invited to text in their questions about Christianity and in return would receive a free grilled cheese. We had around 350 students text in questions, and had a number of volunteers help to answer those questions. Students reported several encouraging conversations they had with unbelieving students, as well as some Christian students not connected with Christian Union.
Happy Advent and a Merry Christmas from Hanover!
The students are enjoying their hard earned winterim while the Christian Union team at Dartmouth prepares for a new term in the New Year. We are sad to say goodbye to Julia and Chase Carlisle as the Lord has called them to Texas. This means we are looking for new candidates to fill two Ministry Fellow positions. Please be praying that the Lord brings to us the right people to minister to the Dartmouth students. He knows who they will be and so we are trusting Him and waiting patiently with expectation.
One of the most frustrating things in life is to invest an exorbitant amount of resources—time, talents, and sometimes treasures—towards something, to only see questionable ROI’s - RETURN ON INVESTMENTS. It’s painfully awkward when it’s someone else’s resources, but when it’s our own, it’s just painful. My wife, Melissa, will commonly say, “Well, that’s a part of my life I won’t get back!?” Ouch.
As we remember the birth of Jesus and celebrate the breathtaking global impact of the incarnation, I’ve been thinking of the extraordinary lengths that God went to so that we may know. John includes a remarkable number of things that we know in the end of his first letter; none more important than verse 20 (italics mine):
