10:30am – 1:00pm
Christian Union Ministry Office
1166 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
Christian Union and Harvard College Faith and Action invited all Reunions participants from all classes, all denominations, and all Christian ministries to this annual event. Connect with Christian alumni, visit with current students, and meet the Christian Union ministry faculty and staff.
Learn More
For questions about the Harvard Reunion Gathering 2018 hosted by Christian Union and Princeton Faith and Action, contact Christian Union’s Director of Alumni Engagement Meghan Foley at Christine.Foster@christianunion.org.
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Dear Friends and Family of HCFA,
Thank you so much for your ongoing prayers and partnership in the gospel. With eyes of faith we continue to look to the Lord Jesus for grace, strength and wisdom as we navigate through troubled waters.
Hello from Dartmouth,
We are happy to report a wonderful end to our winter term. A major highlight for our students (and staff) was a giant CU-wide game of Assassin, graciously renamed “Angel’s Arrows” by our fabulous socials team. The neat thing about the game is that it forced people to seek out those they have not met before or gotten to know yet, so new connections were made every day!
There is never a bad time to elicit interest in Jesus Christ among Cornellians. In an effort to do just that, we served hot chocolate and coffee in free, logoed mugs to dozens of students this past Monday. The ever-bustling lobbies of Willard Straight Student Center and Mann Library were filled with people. Lots of good conversations about our fellowship here on campus took place and everyone we spoke with has been invited to visit our large group meeting this Wednesday. Would you pray that they would take us up on that offer? It would be a unique opportunity for them to hear clearly the claims of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in a worshipping and loving community of faith.
Thank you for your faithfulness and continued support. We are grateful and want to update you for March to inform your prayers.
I am writing you again to express our continued thankfulness for your support as well as to give you an update on our ministry here in Princeton. As a result of your prayers, God continues to work in the lives of our students.
Spring break has come and gone. I have seen snow blowing upwards and snowing-raining at the same moment. Bible courses for the semester are under way: some groups are on schedule (Romans 6) while others are camping out on Romans 3. Thankfully, our sense of righteousness is not in our ability to lead the courses but by faith in Christ’s death and resurrection.
I was recently rereading a book chapter that God used to get me through a very tough semester when I was a freshman in college. In the last chapter of The Normal Christian Life, Watchman Nee reflects on the story in the Gospels (only a few days before Jesus dies on the cross) when Mary comes to a dinner uninvited, breaks an alabaster jar of ointment—worth a staggering amount—and anoints Jesus with the jar’s entire contents (Mark 14:3–9). Even the disciples were indignant and cried out, “Why this waste!” Judas’s voice may have been the loudest among the disciples (John 12:4–6), but he was not alone (Matt 26:8–9). Nee remarks, “Human reasoning said this was really too much; it was giving the Lord more than His due.”
Friends,
Students are currently scattered around the globe enjoying some rest and relaxation during Brown University’s spring break. Once they return to campus, we’ll have four more weeks with them before they move into reading/exam period. Hard to believe the end of the semester is so close at hand!
Christian Union at Columbia continues to see God’s goodness to our ministry. As you may already know, Christian Union was working tirelessly to acquire a ministry center for Columbia. As of February 13, that purchase was completed, and we will be using the center next semester. We could not be more thankful to each of you for your prayers and sacrificial giving. Our desire is to use this space as a hub for gospel engagement with Columbia University. Please pray that many students would be encouraged in their faith and come to know Jesus through the work that will be done there.
We have much to give thanks to God for this month.
Just last week we hosted apologist Alycia Woods from Ravi Zacharias International Ministry. Alycia is a winsome speaker who has addressed mixed believing and unbelieving audiences at MIT, Harvard, Brown, Boston University and, now, Cornell. She addressed the question, "Is Christianity Intolerant?" to a room of about 75 students, and made a clear statement of the Christian principle of expressing the truths of Christianity with love and respect even to those we have deep and fundamental disagreements with. She gave clear expression of the beauty of the Gospel. Her 40-minute talk was closed with 15-minutes of Q&A. Friendly, but serious, questions were raised by the audience, like: "How do Christians explain their checkered and, at times, intolerant past?" "What are some practical, effective ways we can 'break the ice' to speak with our atheist and agnostic friends about the truths of Christianity?" About a dozen people stayed after the event to dialogue further with Alycia. Please pray that the unbelievers who came would continue to grapple with the truths of the gospel in community with us. Cornell is a fiercely secular place which means your prayers are especially needful to break through these hard spots and skeptical hearts.
We are grateful for your support and want to give you an update through February of this spring semester to inform your continued prayers.
I am writing you as we begin a new semester at Princeton to thank you for your ongoing prayers, encouragement, and financial support for our ministry. We depend on your prayerful support for the ministry we do here, so thank you. We want you to know that God is at work in the lives of our students!
—C. S. Lewis, Till We Have Faces
This short, but loaded statement from Lewis’ reimagining of the Cupid and Psyche myth contains a good measure of hope, but also a fair amount of challenge. We are creatures in process, striving toward Christlikeness, often stumbling along the way. As our students endure the midpoint of the winter quarter (and the school year!), they have a keen sense that their lives are yet not in a true and final form. God has begun a good work in many lives on this campus, and He will carry it to completion through His Son.
Hello from Dartmouth,
It’s hard to believe we’re already in week 4 of the winter term! It’s been a full one so far. Thank you for your prayers for our Winter Conference. It truly was a blessed weekend of fellowship, growth, and fun!
As we begin the spring semester, I want to encourage you to continue praying for the Christian Union ministry at Harvard Law School (HLS) and our student group, Coram Deo Law. This semester will bring its own share of possibilities and challenges. And we know that success in both requires the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and our faithful submission to him. So please join us in praying that the Lord's work continues to bear fruit in the lives of our students and on the HLS campus.
As I sit down to write this letter, Princeton students are busy preparing for their final exams and making the final push on their final papers. Since our last letter, students have mostly been away on their winter break, so most of this update will be forecasting the exciting spring semester ahead. We are grateful for your faithful support in the form of prayers, encouragement and financial gifts that make all of this possible.
Praise God! Our students have returned safely to campus after Winter Break and our Bible Courses have had an excellent start. We currently have 13 Bible Courses meeting, with the possibility of adding an additional women’s course. We are thankful that God’s Spirit is moving among the students, bringing a sense of unity and hunger for God’s Word. Please pray that our students would have an increasing affection for Jesus and would translate that passion for Christ’s glory to tangible action on Penn’s campus.