His resurrection power is alive in our CU Lux community as our students are using the summer months to strengthen their relationship to God and each other. God is to be praised. Our summer Bible study on the gospel of John has been well attended, the students’ new initiative to memorize Scripture is catching on, and our student executive team is faithfully invested in planning for the 2021-2022 academic year.
It’s summer here in Rhode Island, which means late afternoons at the local beaches and eating far too many lobster rolls! Normally, campus is far too quiet this time of year as most students return home or spend their days as interns or working in labs. This year is a bit different, as we’re excited to have freshmen on campus for their second semester. We continue preparations for the fall and eagerly await transitioning to normal programming in the fall. Thankfully, it appears that Brown will be fully vaccinated and campus activities can resume with few, if any, restrictions!
And when they had eaten their fill, he [Jesus] told his disciples, “Gather up the leftover fragments, that nothing may be lost.” So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves left by those who had eaten. (John 6:12-13)
We’ve been studying the Gospel of John for Bible course during the Summer A session. A few weeks ago we touched on Jesus’ miracle of feeding the 5,000. We examined how the gospel combats a scarcity mentality — “I’m not smart enough. Not good looking enough. Not wealthy enough. I just don’t have enough!” Jesus used a little boy's lunch to not just feed thousands, but after they all loosened their belts from eating more than they should have, there were 12 baskets leftover. Jesus lovingly shows us how God has come to do more than we possibly could ever dream or imagine. Only Christ can make slaves into sons/daughters, sinners into saints, debtors into heirs.
As we look forward to next year, we are praying that God will continue his good work at Cornell. We are so happy to report that we have already connected with many incoming freshmen, and we would love to meet more. Please pray that our efforts would be fruitful and that many incoming students would find Christian community at Cornell. Our leaders are eager to introduce new students to our community and many of the new freshmen are spreading the word about CU Vita with their class as well. It is such a big life transition for these new Cornell students and we long to be used by God to extend his love and grace and friendship to them during this challenging time. Pray that we would have wisdom and that God would open many doors for the gospel with this incoming group.
Summer in Hanover, the payoff for nine months of winter! Classes for the summer term begin on June 24th and this year the junior class will join the sophomore class on campus. Normality is swiftly returning to campus and it’s wonderful to see students gathering on the Green again. Summer is very much a time of transition and preparation. The class of 2025 will be here in two months and I am excited to meet them and graft them into the ministry. This summer will provide opportunities to reconnect with students who chose remote learning as well as forge new relationships.
and put away your indignation toward us!
5 Will you be angry with us forever?
Will you prolong your anger to all generations?
6 Will you not revive us again,
that your people may rejoice in you?
7 Show us your steadfast love, O LORD,
and grant us your salvation.” - Psalms 85:4-7 (ESV)
Dear CU Gloria Cornerstone Partners and friends of the ministry,
Thank you for your continued support and prayer as we minister to the students at Harvard. This summer we have been walking through the book of Exodus. You can watch some of the Exodus teachings on our student ministry’s YouTube channel here. It has been a blessing to all the students who have been attending, as well as a place of weekly gathering as a community to study the Bible.
I am a firm believer that things don’t just happen but they must be planned! And, while this is not a Scriptural quote, there are passages that affirm the same, principally. For instance, God gave Israel a plan of action to possess Jericho! Proverbs 6 presents the wisdom of an ant, as they plan for harvest by gathering in the summer. Proverbs 21:5 admonishes how “the plans of the diligent lead to abundance.” And, we can all be encouraged by the words spoken to Jeremiah—because if God had plans for him, before birth, then God most certainly has a plan for each one of our lives, including each incoming or returning Princeton student.
I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your concern for me. You were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity. Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me. Yet it was kind of you to share my trouble.
—Philippians 4:10-14
Stanford students are comfortably in the cadence of summer, and of course I’d love to ask you to pray yet again for these cherished image bearers of God. May the Lamb of God rule in and through them, more and more, for his glory and for the joy of His people! But I want to focus this prayer letter on two non-students who are near and dear to our ministry.
This month I was reminded of how God is involved in the little details of our lives. One of our graduating seniors asked for an alumni mentor to walk beside her during this transition. Because she asked later than the mentor/mentee match period, I found myself scrambling to find a good match. At the same time, another young graduate had to step back from her already assigned partnership. Providentially, the mentor who was left without a partner lives in the city where our young graduate looking for a mentor is headed! A new pairing was made and this young woman has someone to walk beside her. God’s timing and plan is perfect!
As our ministries prepare for an exciting back-to-normal fall, please pray fervently for these priorities:
Meet Dimas Salaberrios! We are BLESSED as a ministry to labor alongside him. In addition to being a NY pastor and the Ministry Associate for CU New York, he is the author of “Street God; The Explosive True Story of a Former Drug Boss,” and his new film “Chicago: America’s Hidden War” was recently nominated for an Oscar for “Best Documentary Feature”!
Enjoy this article about Dimas and our monthly pastor prayer initiative, his 40-day fast, and his acclaimed film!
https://www.christianunion.org/the-magazine/3007-spiritual-warfare-and-%E2%80%98chicago-america%E2%80%99s-hidden-war%E2%80%99
Revival, Reformation Are Preceded by a Return to God
By Chuck Hetzler
“We need to admit that there’s a problem,” said Matt Bennett as he addressed the need for widespread repentance to Christian Union Cornerstone Partners in a Zoom meeting, Monday evening, June 7, 2021.
Q and A with Dr. Vincent Naman
By Anne Kerhoulas, Staff Writer
Christian Union New York has teamed up with the ministry’s alumni engagement team to connect recent graduates and young professionals to mentors who work in the same field. Part of Christian Union’s mission is to transition college seniors into the workforce or graduate school well, linking them with a broad Christian network to support and sustain their faith while also networking professionally.
"God Weighs Nations in the Balance"
Judgment isn’t a topic most people want to talk about, but as Christian Union founder and CEO Matt Bennett argues on these two episodes of Forerunners of America INSIGHTS, it isn’t something we can afford to overlook. In light of the challenging past couple of years, many believers think they are being winsome by offering a watered-down gospel that shies away from the tough but beautiful reality of a just God. Yet, it is precisely God’s perfect justice and righteous judgment that our world and our culture are hungering after but attempting to find apart from Christ.
Amazing Dreams Led Him to the Truth
British author Paul Kingsnorth had tried it all in his search for “a truth he would surrender to.” He started with environmentalism, in hopes that saving the planet, educating people, and valuing creation and its limits would give him meaning. Later, Zen Buddhism offered the stillness he longed for and an attempt at communing with something bigger than himself.
Noted Author Speaks at CU Martus Lecture Series
By Anne Kerhoulas, Staff Writer
Most college students are not concerned about virtue. According to author Karen Swallow Prior, virtue has primarily been whittled down to an old-fashioned word for sexual purity. But the concept of virtue is a robust one, extending far beyond what most modern Americans attach to the word, she said. Prior shared those sentiments when she spoke earlier this year at CU Martus’ leadership lecture series, Philia.
CU Nova’s Tru Thursday Refocuses Outreach Efforts
By Anne Kerhoulas, Staff Writer
Prior to the current academic year, a handful of zealous Princeton University student leaders were given the reigns of TruThursday, the African, African American, and Caribbean culture leadership lecture series at Christian Union Nova. The team transformed the weekly gathering into one of the most popular events in the ministry.
The Pilgrimage to a Holy City
By Caleb King, Harvard ’23
Editor’s note: The following article was reprinted with permission from the Harvard Ichthus, a journal of Christian thought and expression produced by undergraduates at Harvard University.
Christian Fellowship
Christian Union Lux, Christian Union's ministry at Yale, hosted a virtual reunion on June 6 from 3:00 - 4:00pm EST. Christian Union Lux invited participants from all classes, all denominations, and all Christian ministries to this annual event. Thanks for joining us!
By Tom Campisi, Managing Editor
When Dr. Ben Pascut prepared to teach a workshop on organizational excellence for CU Lux at Yale University, he did not have to look very far for subject matter—it is one of Christian Union’s core values.
Christian Union Nova at Princeton
Andrew, a rising senior, believes the most impactful aspect of his experience with Christian Union Nova at Princeton has been stepping up into a leadership role within TruThursday. At Princeton, TruThursday's mission is to reveal and exemplify the Gospel while celebrating African, African America, and Caribbean cultures."Christian Union has definitely had a very impactful time on me during me time at Princeton and I definitely don't know where I would be without it." -Andrew Hama, Princeton '22
