Zachary Albanese
Christian Union Director of Ministry
Dartmouth College
"Our Lord Jesus wants our joy to be full. Certainly, he has made abundant provision for our joy. And if we focus our minds on the facts from which joy flows, springs of joy will well up in our hearts every day of our lives; and this will turn our ongoing pilgrimage through this world into an experience of contentment and exaltation of which the world knows nothing" (J. I. Packer, God’s Plans for You, 125).J. I. Packer rightly asserts that we can have joy because Jesus has made abundant provision for our joy. Christians are called to have joy in the midst of trials, rough days, bad times—you name it.
Matt Bennett kicked off Christian's Union Nexus 2019 conference by inviting students to consider the example set by one of the kings of the Old Testament: Jehoshaphat. As a leader, Jehoshaphat "set his heart to seek God", was obedient to walk in God's ways, and was took bold initiative to lead his people to the Lord.
Matt emphasized the grace that God offers and urged students to take time with God to search their hearts. He asked: Does anything prevent you from being courageous in the ways of the LORD? (32:53)
Here, he addresses college students about his faith in Jesus Christ and what it means to be 'courageous in the ways of the Lord'. Dr. Lin has published over 100+ papers, abstracts, and book chapters, in top academic journals, such as Science, Nature, Cell, Nature Genetics, Nature Medicine, Nature Biotechnology, Genome Research, and PNAS. He has presented at top scientific conferences and institutions including Harvard, Stanford, Yale, NCI/NIH, Vanderbilt, and Johns Hopkins. (41:58)
His Dec. 25th, 2014 op-ed for the Wall Street Journal, titled "Science Increasingly Makes the Case for God," is unofficially the most popular and shared piece in the history of the Journal, garnering over 450,000 Facebook Likes and 8,000 comments. Metaxas is a Senior Fellow and Lecturer at Large for the King's College in New York City. (39:39)
Harvard Law Ministry Director Has a Passion for Revival
by catherine elvy, staff writer
Since his seminary days of two decades ago, Justin Yim has been fervently praying for revival to ignite across New England. Now, the longtime pastor will have a chance to mentor law students and encourage them to seek God fervently via his new position with Christian Union. This fall, Yim stepped into the role of the ministry director for the organization’s ministry at Harvard Law School.
“I always had a heart for New England,” said Yim, who grew up in New York City and attended seminary in Massachusetts. “When this opportunity came up with Christian Union, my wife and I felt a pang in our hearts. God has always been faithful, and we felt like it was time.”
by makoto fujimura
In my studio, I make art. The term “Theology of Making” (the title of my upcoming book) amplifies how this human act is connected to the divine presence. Simply put, when we make, God “shows up.” Therefore, before I begin a discourse on what God has done to make even our broken shards of life invaluable essences of the new creation, let me began by describing the creative process that an artist knows well, and how God the artist reveals a vision beyond the “fixing” of our lives, a type of theology.
In addition to the areas above, she has also visited North Korea helping to promote Parliamentary initiatives and medical programs. Baroness Cox’s humanitarian aid work has taken her on many missions to conflict zones, allowing her to obtain first-hand evidence of the human rights violations and humanitarian needs. (27:35)
Christian Union Hosts Alumni Panel Discussion
by tom campisi, managing editor
Being a leader with Christian Union at Brown helped Ayisha Jackson make a smooth transition to urban missionary when she graduated in May. Jackson, an engineering major, said the ministry’s emphasis on a seeking-God lifestyle and rigorous Bible study prepared her for her work with Renaissance Church in Providence, Rhode Island.
Jackson returned to campus in the fall as a participant in Christian Union’s Life After Graduation panel discussion, which included three other members of the class of 2018 who are active in vocational ministry at Brown: Gianna Uson, an intern with Christian Union; Isaac Whitney, an intern with Athletes in Action; and Katie Hay, an intern with InterVarsity.
Christian Union Caritas Distributes Care Packages
by tom campisi, managing editor
Caritas, Christian Union’s ministry to students at Stanford University, pumped life into “Dead Week” in early December. 
Dead Week is a time of intense studying and reduced social and extracurricular activity preceding final examinations. In an effort to help reduce stress and bless fellow classmates, Christian Union Caritas delivered care packages to the dorm rooms of approximately 150 students. The packages contained candy, hot chocolate, stuffed animals, information about Christian Union, and a copy of Lee Strobel’s short book, The Case for Christmas.
by cheryl ennis self
Grace and peace to you, from God the Father and from our Lord Jesus Christ.
It is truly an honor to introduce myself as one whom God has recently called to serve at Christian Union in the role of Vice President of Development. My name is Cheryl Ennis Self, and for the past 26 years, I have had the privilege of working for three Christian organizations. Most recently, I served for 16 years at World Vision, a global Christian organization that ministers to the poorest of the poor in nearly 100 countries.
In that capacity, I visited and worked in 36 countries, mostly in remote parts of developing nations. While the living conditions were dire, I did meet believers in all parts of Africa, Asia, and the Americas who learned to place their trust and hope in Jesus Christ. Those villagers were supported by local churches and by their long-term relationships with World Vision’s Christian staff who lived in their communities. Indeed, the joy of the Lord was evident in some of the most dismal circumstances because God is able, His Spirit is all powerful, and His sons and daughters are faithful to serve others with the spiritual and professional gifts He has given them, for His purposes. In Christ, we are all made new.
The spring semester is underway here at Brown University. Students have already made it through their first round of midterms as they work hard to prepare for the ones to come. I wanted to take a moment to highlight one story that has encouraged me during these beginning weeks of the semester.
The Spring semester is fully underway here at Columbia; and as our students prepare to endure midterm season, God continues to be faithful through our ministry to them. We’re thankful to God for the Spirit’s work in our Bible courses, Illumina meetings, and discipleship time with our students. The Spirit is indeed at work on Columbia’s campus. One of the ways we are seeing this is by a lifestyle of seeking God on display through daily prayer gatherings happening early morning. Morning prayer is an inter-fellowship gathering that is growing in number and fervency. Join us in asking God to bring significant change to Columbia through these students’ faithful pursuit of God.
About a month into this semester, Bible courses, Vita, and prayer groups are meeting regularly, and are continuing to be a source of encouragement for our students as they seek God. Our outreach team began a new activity this semester which we have called “Mocha Mondays,” in which we hand out free coffee and hot chocolate at one of the libraries on campus. Along with this, we are also offering free books and mugs. We also have plans to show a documentary on campus about the dangers of the hookup culture, which is so common among college students. The goal is to promote a conversation about sexuality and God’s design for us as men and women.
Depending on where you reside, it may start to look and even, smell, like... well, Spring!? If you live in the Northeast, it’s definitely does not look nor smell like anything but the dead of winter. But, I digress. The wonderful thing about the seasons is that whether you like it or not, they are inevitable. Seasons change. From the “deadness of winter” we will most inevitably move into a season of new life, or Spring.
"…this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel: “‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy. And I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke; the sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day. And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.’ - Acts 2:16-21
The flurry of the Winter Retreat (on gospel and mental health) and restarting Bible course groups has settled down into the substance of Acts, Seeking God Lifestyle, and Vocational courses. God’s Word is the gospel-truth needed for disciples living in God’s presence, being missional with God’s gospel, and doing God’s work. With the medley of Bible courses, keeping track of the preparation has been a daily scramble.
