Yale Alumna Recalls Seeking God Lifestyle Course
By Alisha Reginal, Yale ’15
Christian Union whet my appetite for fasting. Nine years ago, I participated in Christian Union’s Seeking God Lifestyle Bible course at Yale. The course discussed seven principles to intentionally draw near to God. The first was “humility with fasting.”
Virtual Women’s Bible Course at Brown Stays Connected
By Anne Kerhoulas, Staff Writer
The women of Christian Union Libertas at Brown University are using this season to dig deep. Although the fall and spring semesters are very different than in previous years, with most students taking classes remotely, the women’s side of the ministry has found ways to deepen their connections with one another.
Ministry Fellow Laurel Copp realized that things would need to look different this academic year in order to engage students well, so she took two of the Chrisitan Union foundations, Bible course and discipleship, and reimagined them. While much is the same, a lot is different, as Copp believes this year can be one of substantial growth.
Christian Union Caritas Launches Small Groups
By Anne Kerhoulas, Staff Writer
In the midst of long-distance community and ministry, Christian Union Caritas has found an opportunity to launch a new initiative to help Stanford University students stay connected to one another and deepen relationships. Small groups have been something that Senior Ministry Fellow Justin Woyak, Princeton '07, has wanted to start for a few semesters, but the time never seemed right. But with students feeling disconnected from each other due to the COVID-19 pandemic, small groups have become a new focal point for the CU Caritas community.
Adewuyi ’20 Thankful for Christian Union’s Influence
By Catherine Elvy
A recent Harvard Law School alumnus plans to use his skills and talents to advocate for housing access and affordability. Yemi Adewuyi ’20 wants to play a role in initiatives that empower the disadvantaged to become self-sufficient.
“Justice is making sure that a person experiencing homelessness can escape poverty,” said Adewuyi.
Christian Union Bible Courses Are a Virtual Training Ground at Princeton
By Anne Kerhoulas, Staff Writer
Christian Union Nova, the student organization at Princeton University, was forced to get creative as it considered how to manage nearly twenty online Bible courses among only three ministry fellows this fall. Students wanted to stay in their regular Bible courses since they are places of growth, personal sharing, and deep spiritual friendship. In order to care for these students well, while also ensuring that they would receive high-quality instruction as they studied the Gospel of Mark, Christian Union Nova faculty created a new method of teaching.
CU Bible Courses for Female Athletes Thrive at Cornell
By Anne Kerhoulas, Staff Writer
Athletes understand the concept of family; a group of people you might not have chosen becoming the ones with whom you share life. The team forms such a family where sacrifice and faith in one another drive these individuals towards a common goal. It’s no wonder that athletes share a particularly special bond when they come together around the Gospel. And the female athletes at Cornell have been doing just that.
Christian Union New York
The challenges during this pandemic season have been significant — and at times even overwhelming — for healthcare providers. Christian Union invited three faithful doctors to share their experiences at a webinar on Christian Perspectives on Healthcare in a Pandemic on Thursday, February 9, 2021.
In the midst of such trying times, Christian Union is encouraged to see believers holding fast to Christ, our Rock.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Americans' latest assessment of their mental health is worse than it has been at any point in the last two decades. Seventy-six percent of U.S. adults rate their mental health positively, representing a nine-point decline from 2019.
Watt ’22 Is a Gracious Host and Leader
By Tom Campisi, Managing Editor
The extraordinary leadership of Caleb Watt has helped Christian Union Martus stay connected and in community for the last year, especially during the uncertain times of the COVID-19 pandemic at the University of Pennsylvania.
January has been a cold and snowy month here in Providence! Fortunately, students have returned to campus and the quiet, still winter days have been livened by the long-anticipated arrival of this year’s freshman class. CU Libertas has used the month of January to begin planning for the spring semester. We recall how good the Lord has been to the ministry over the years, and eagerly await the good works yet to come as students settle in and classes begin.
Your prayers continue to make a difference! Restrictions still remain relatively tight on campus, but smaller classes have begun meeting in person and staff eagerly hopes in-person Bible courses can begin meeting shortly. Until then, Zoom calls and socially distanced 1-on-1 meetings enable the ministry to make a difference in the lives of students who desire to seek the Lord with all their being.
Greetings in the matchless name of Jesus! I am thankful for your love and partnership with Christan Union Lumine at Columbia University. Because of your committed giving and prayers, we are seeing students’ lives transformed by the gospel.
After a very short break, the students started their spring semester on January 11th. You might be encouraged to know that some students have physically returned to campus. Though the majority of classes are still online, it was awesome to see students safely moving back to Wien, Wallach, EC, John Jay, and Hartley. It was so good to see students connecting and getting together on campus to fellowship, pray, and study God’s word all in the first week back!
Thank you for your continued prayers for our faculty and students who are starting to return to campus! Classes resume the week of February 7 and we will launch our Bible courses the following week. We are excited to report that our students have continued to think creatively about how to do ministry and pursue Christian fellowship at Cornell during a pandemic. In addition to weekly Bible courses and prayer meetings, students have volunteered to lead social activities as well as a new student to student discipleship program during the spring semester.
With so many new students joining the ministry this year, discipleship groups of three to four meet weekly for Bible reading, mutual encouragement, and prayer as a great way for students to deepen their relationships with each other and the Lord. It is truly an answer to prayer to see our students, during this difficult year, think about others with a willingness to serve their friends and the Cornell community! The gospel is bearing fruit and we look forward to seeing God at work by his grace in the lives of our students again this semester. Thank you for all your support and prayers!
Hello from Hanover and CU Vox. Our winter term is well underway and the rhythms of classes and ministry have returned along with the snow and cold temperatures. It's a joy to have the sophomore and senior classes in residence this term as well as a few members of the freshman class who chose to remain on campus. While the constant changing of who is on campus and who is remote hurts continuity, it is a blessing to have concentrated in-person time with a smaller group of students. In spite of the continued pandemic challenges, the students remain joyful and participatory. I'm amazed by their resiliency and adaptiveness as they adjust to this new version of college life.
As we enter a new semester of ministry to students, we are reminded of Psalm 31:19 which says: “Oh, how abundant is your goodness, which you have stored up for those who fear you and worked for those who take refuge in you, in the sight of the children of mankind!”
During winter break, CU Gloria was able to continue ministering to students in a number of ways, chiefly through a series of workshops about Hearing God’s Voice, Spiritual Warfare, and Leadership. There was also a wealth of student-to-student ministry taking place through discipleship groups and two student-led reading groups throughout the break.
On the precipice of this spring, many Harvard students are now celebrating their return to campus during the last two weeks of January. There are around 2,000 students back in campus housing by the river and in the Quad along with many more in the surrounding area who are living off-campus. The joy and high energy of starting this new semester were felt during the first Leadership Lecture Series (DOXA) where a number of students shared powerful testimonies about God’s work in their lives during winter break.
Thank you for your prayers and support in the ministry. Many students are growing in their faith because of your investment in CU Gloria.
They’re back!!! At least two-thirds of Princeton students will return to campus this spring, and we could not be more excited to see them return. While much of our ministry will remain the same as it pertains to zoom Bible courses and weekly meetings, the ability to reconnect with one another in person is a blessing that is almost indescribable. Our God made us for community and face-to-face fellowship and our students finally get to return to a semblance of that. Additionally, it means that ministry fellows can begin meeting 1-on-1 with students who are comfortable doing so. I can tell you that there is much rejoicing.
In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; Jesus has overcome the world! (John 16:33)
As a ministry, we’ve been considering Jesus’s overcoming of the world through the perspective of Revelation in a four-week read-through of the book. For almost two thousand years, this apocalypse has helped readers look beyond their present tumults and see Jesus—unshaken, overcoming, and worthy beyond description. The book’s imagery can be so foreign to us and difficult to piece together, but the main message comes through loud and clear: Jesus saves and Jesus wins. We concur with the great multitude that cries out,
“Hallelujah!
Salvation and glory and power belong to our God,
...
Hallelujah!
For the Lord our God
the Almighty reigns.
Let us rejoice and exult
and give him the glory.” (19:1, 6-7).
Ephesians 6:11
Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.
The theme at Christian Union Martus for this spring semester is Christian unity and perseverance. A personal theme has been summed up in a word: fight. Fight for unity, for hope, for joy, for the proclamation of the gospel, for that which is good and beautiful and true. Fight for each other. Mindful that we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the enemy of our souls, we utilize the grace that God provides. Students are tentatively returning to campus. Freshmen, who have spent a semester attending Penn from their homes, are moving into the Quad. The commencement of the semester still comes softly, with many restrictions in place and many students deciding to study from home. But there is hope that a breeze will blow into the upper room and bring God’s reviving Spirit to Penn’s campus. To that end, please join us in praying:
Our Biblical faith is the affirmation that God’s presence changes our lives in transformative ways. Once we were no people, but now we are God’s people; once we had not received mercy, but we have now received mercy. Once we were nothing, now we are something (1 Peter 2:10).
With Yale University students back on campus for the spring semester, CU Lux organized a retreat that invited students to unite for conversations about God’s transformative power and presence in their lives. The virtual retreat began with icebreakers that warmed up the conversation and continued with a heart-opening time of worship. Students experienced the liveliness of God’s presence in small group Bible study, silent moments of reflection, one-on-one prayer, and large group testimony sharing.
Praise be to God! You are making a tremendous difference in the lives of many through your prayers. As we partner together for God’s work in the NY area, Christian Union is focused on prayer. All of our full-time ministry faculty meet every single day, Monday through Friday from 9:00 AM-11:00 AM to seek the Lord together. Christian Union has been crying out to God because we recognize that it is not by might, nor by power, but by the Spirit of the Lord that anything impactful and lasting will happen. We are in desperate need of repentance and returning to God together so that God can mend us and heal our land. Your partnership in prayer is increasing the volume of our cries before the Lord and He is answering! We are so grateful for you.
Columbia Student Is a Leader with Christian Union, John Jay Society
By Luke Brown
In his Summa Theologica, Thomas Aquinas said, “There is no greater act of charity than to lead a neighbor to truth.” At Columbia University, Jonathan Tanaka ’23 is passionately seeking this greatest act of charity in a bold and wholehearted way.
“I believe that since God is the perfect, supreme arbiter of truth—He is truth. It is not only a good thing to pursue Him by pursuing truth, but it is my duty to do so,” said Tanaka, who serves on the executive team for Christian Union’s Lumine ministry at Columbia.
