Princeton University
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.
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Thank you, as always, for your prayers for our ministry! With the summer having begun, our staff will be spending the next two months completing intensive training, praying and planning for the coming school year, and taking some much-needed vacation time. We are looking forward to the year ahead and the many things we expect God will do in us and in the lives of students.
May 31, 2020
Christian Union Nova invited participants from all classes, all denominations, and all Christian ministries to this annual event. We enjoyed a time of connection and fellowship.
Get Involved
To learn more about how you can get involved, please send an email to Christian Union's VP of Alumni Engagement Christine Foster: christine.foster@christianunion.org.
(Psalm 46:1-2)
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
The semester has just concluded for our students—and what a semester it has been! As others have said, we are very excited to get back to more normal times rather than “unprecedented” ones. Though it has been an unusual semester for us, God has remained the same and has continued to be “our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble,” as the Psalmist declares. What a joy it is to know God is constant, even when everything else appears to be in disarray.
In this midst of this difficult time, thank you for your continued prayers and financial support. We are thankful that we stand together as brothers and sisters in Christ, even as we face many challenges as a country and as a ministry. Our ministry in Princeton continues to be greatly affected by the novel coronavirus. The coronavirus has hit home most profoundly for us with two students having already lost family members to the virus. We are grieving with these students. Beyond these tragic loses, all our students are still adjusting to the new realities and seeking to show resilient faith during this time. For some, the transition home has been especially difficult as they have been put back into difficult home and living situations.
As you are well aware, I am writing you during an unprecedented time in our country and the world where many unknowns lie ahead of us. The COVID-19 virus has impacted each and every one of us in some way. Our students are no exception to this. As you likely know, Princeton students received word to return home and to complete their classes online through the remainder of the semester. These changes have affected students’ lives profoundly—it has upended their lives, causing confusion and anxiety for many. International students, as well as seniors—who have had their final semester come to a rapid halt—have likely seen the greatest effect.
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Having returned from Ski Safari, the Spring Semester is now well under way—we are now in our fourth week of classes. Our students, true to form, have begun the Spring Semester with both intensity and excitement. This same intensity and excitement has been on display in our students’ spiritual lives—the Melrose Center has been bustling with students studying Scripture and praying with one another. This Spring our students are studying different material in Bible Course, based on their class year. Our seniors will be doing vocational preparation, as they look to enter the workforce; our juniors and sophomores are studying one of the most influential books in the Scripture—Paul’s letter to the Romans; and our frosh, in turn, are completing two studies—one on the Seeking-God Lifestyle, which lies at the heart of Christian Union, and another on Christian sexual ethics. The Spring semester is always an exciting time for students of seeing how God’s word applies to many aspects of their lives.
It has been a spiritually rich month here in Princeton as our students have returned from break with a desire to seek the Lord. As you may know, Princeton’s usual academic calendar means that January is the month of final papers and assignments for the students. During this time, we have developed a tradition of hosting our daily prayer meetings at the Melrose Center. In the midst of exams and assignments, our students have been faithful to pray. Over this month, we regularly had groups of well over a dozen students praying together. Overall, we sense our students are showing an increased desire to seek the Lord and we praise God for this.
“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.” (John 1:14)
Blessings to you during this season of Advent! At this time, we and our students are reflecting on Christ’s incarnation that we might become like him and have eternal life. We trust that during this season you will also be able to reflect on this profound truth that God dwelled among us in the person of Christ.
