Dear HCFA friends and family,
Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you are all doing well. It’s hard to believe that the semester is wrapping up so quickly. We are in the final weeks of Bible Courses and DOXAs and students are beginning to eye their final exams in the first weeks of December.
It is exciting to write this inaugural prayer letter! Please praise and thank God along with us for what has happened so far this fall:
Greetings from the campus of Harvard Law School!
Famous for its fall foliage, the bright colors that once hung so magnificently in the New England autumn sky now drape the ground in subdued and faded shades of brown. Like life, fall foliage reminds us of the cycle of birth and death that marks our own journey through the present world to the heavenly Zion.
Dear friends,
Thank you for your continued prayers, support, and encouragement to all of us who labor for Jesus Christ on the campus of Princeton University. As you know, Christian Union’s ministry at Princeton has a goal of developing Christian leaders to transform culture; we seek to never lose sight of this goal, as we teach students the Bible, train and mentor young men and women, and do our best to equip them for lives of service, leadership, and influence in our world for the glory of Jesus Christ and the good of all people in Him. Below, I offer you a few brief updates on various aspects of our ministry at Princeton.
![CU-Grateful](/images/CU_Today_Images/CU-Grateful.jpg)
In an article entitled ‘Why we Should Be Thankful for the Gift of Gratitude’, Joe Carter explores the essential nature of this attribute, as well as helpful suggestions for how to grow in it.
![CU-Students-Solace-Secular-World](/images/CU_Today_Images/CU-Students-Solace-Secular-World.jpg)
The biweekly eNewsletter from Christian Union
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For the Lord, the Most High, is to be feared, a great king over all the earth.
— Psalm 47:2
Dear Prayer Partners!
Thank you for your prayers and support of Christian Union at Yale. Shortly after I sent the last prayer email, one of you encouraged me to keep on spiritually “mothering,” and later that day a student confessed some sin to me, asked for my advice and help to get out of the situation and then said to me, “Thank you for being my mom that I can tell things to” (as opposed to her mom that she can’t tell things to).
Dear Friends and Partners of Penn,
My family is new to Philadelphia and Christian Union at the University of Pennsylvania, and at times it seems as though we’ve crammed 3 years into our 3 months here. But what a joy it has been. We have seen God working in the students of Penn, in the churches of Philly, and in the ministry team here of which I’m overjoyed to be a member. Thank you for your continued prayers for myself and my family, and the prayers for the other new Ministry Fellow, Kelly Schaaf, and her family, and Ministry Director Justin Mills and his family.
For Namans, Giving is a Family Endeavor
![namans](/images/content/photos/magazine/2016-Fall/namans.jpg)
![CU-Christian-Economics-Today](/images/CU_Today_Images/CU-Christian-Economics-Today.jpg)
Christian Union's Engaging Lecture Series at Columbia
![illumina2](/images/content/photos/magazine/2016-Fall/illumina2.jpg)
"Students are told that the meaning of the motto is 'by the light of you (incoming freshmen), we will all see the light.' That is a terrible misrepresentation of the biblical text," Black said.
At its weekly leadership lecture series, however, Black and Christian Union's ministry at Columbia are rightfully shining the light where it truly belongs—on Jesus Christ.
Ministry Welcome Events for Young Professionals
![transition-team2](/images/content/photos/magazine/2016-Fall/transition-team2.jpg)
This summer and fall, Christian Union New York City held receptions aimed at providing young professionals with spiritual and practical support systems as many settle into new careers, especially in Manhattan's financial sector.
"We're intentionally helping people connect. Some people who come here are self-sufficient and some who come are overwhelmed," said Scott Crosby, director of Christian Union New York (CUNYC).
![CU-Seven-Prayers-Daily-Today](/images/CU_Today_Images/CU-Seven-Prayers-Daily-Today.jpg)
Knaus '17 Has a Heart for Refugees
by Catherine Elvy, Staff Writer![aimee-knaus2](/images/content/photos/magazine/2016-Fall/aimee-knaus2.jpg)
"I want to make a difference by helping people, so they can see God's love through me, especially with their tangible, practical needs," said Aimee Knaus '17, who grew up with her American family in Jordan and the Togolese Republic.
"God definitely set me up for it. God has me at Penn for a reason."
![CU-Cultural-Erosion-Today](/images/CU_Today_Images/CU-Cultural-Erosion-Today.jpg)
Hendricks '17 Works on Law Degree as Undergraduate
Rob Hendricks, a member of Christian Union's ministry at Cornell, has become the first undergraduate ever to be accepted to the Cornell Law School. He is simultaneously a senior at Cornell and a first-year law student.
Ministry Celebrates First Graduating Class
![HLS-first-class](/images/content/photos/magazine/2016-Fall/HLS-first-class.jpg)
"Emotions of both joy and sadness well up in one's spirit as we both celebrate our graduates and mourn their departure from local campus life," said Jim Garretson, Christian Union's ministry director at Harvard Law School.
"...the key actor in history is not individual genius but rather the network and the new institutions that are created out of those networks."
− To Change the World, James Davison Hunter
![networks-culture](/images/content/photos/magazine/2016-Fall/networks-culture.jpg)