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Wednesday, August 08, 2007
2007.06 In light of tragedy
During the wake of the tragedy at Virginia Tech, a lot of students on campus have been questioning why God would allow something like this to happen. When people can’t see answers, they often reject the notion of a loving God. In light of this tragedy, God allowed us to try and answer this question. “Todd was shot” was our campaign to provide some intrigue in order to allow people to hear the message of how Jesus can change a person’s life and give them hope in light of tragic circumstances. Todd, the speaker, was shot by his cousin when they were playing with his father’s guns when he was 12 or 13 years old. He became a quadriplegic. That was almost 20 years ago. Todd shared how his hope in God has allowed him to persevere and thrive despite his difficult new lifestyle. This event provided many conversations and opportunities to share our faith. It was a tremendous time to allow our students to share their faith and to give many students the opportunity to be exposed to the message of Christ and to respond to Him.
Our Summer
We will be in Lake Tahoe from June 3rd through July 13th. As some of you may remember that I, Andrew, had the opportunity to go on several summer mission trips with CCC as a student. These times were huge as a part of my growth in the Lord and trusting Him to share my faith with the many lost people in our country and the world. It is our hope that we will help foster this type of life change in the students we will be ministering to and with.
Our next stop will be in Colorado from July 15th through the 26th. This is our national conference where staff from different ministries gather to be refreshed, trained and ministered to. I am looking forward to hearing what God is doing in our organization and ways that we can learn from one another.
Our Summer
We will be in Lake Tahoe from June 3rd through July 13th. As some of you may remember that I, Andrew, had the opportunity to go on several summer mission trips with CCC as a student. These times were huge as a part of my growth in the Lord and trusting Him to share my faith with the many lost people in our country and the world. It is our hope that we will help foster this type of life change in the students we will be ministering to and with.
Our next stop will be in Colorado from July 15th through the 26th. This is our national conference where staff from different ministries gather to be refreshed, trained and ministered to. I am looking forward to hearing what God is doing in our organization and ways that we can learn from one another.
2007.03 Power of prayer
God proves His power with answering our prayers in our students lives. It has been an incredible couple of months to trust God for these students’ growth and life change in His kingdom.
This past weekend was no exception. I traveled with a group of 8 Asian American students down to San Jose where they encountered God. A part of the exhaustion from traveling opened us up spiritually to what God wanted to do in us. God compelled me to pray for brokenness in the students hearts. Many of the students seemed to be apathetic toward God, but it was during this time that God was painted a fresh and a renewing in their hearts was taking place.
One student, Andy Son (pictured in photo on other side of this letter), has a scar on his face. He got it from celebrating his 21st birthday only a week before the trip. He had gotten so drunk that he blacked out and couldn’t remember what had happened to him. He woke up the next morning with his face all red. And yet he came to our EPIC conference wanting to know what it was about.
One neat characteristics of the Asian-American community is that there are people that desire to hang out with one another simply because they are Asian-American. Andy Son had been friends with several guys involved in Epic for a while, but he had never wanted to engage with them spiritually. He was very honest that he was agnostic and stated that he knew that there had to be something more to life than the life he was living. He often found himself empty and unfulfilled.
We prayed that God would break down every argument that Andy had against God and that He would be drawn to him. At first it seemed that a lot of the content of the speakers at the conference wasn’t very relevant to non-believers, but God hadn’t forgotten about Andy, and the last three talks were very much filled with grace and a teaching of the love that God has for those who will believe in Him. It was after the second talk that Andy surrendered his life to God. It was beautiful to see God specifically work in Andy’s life and answer our prayers.
I continue to praise God for the opportunity that we have to serve Him at the University of Oregon. Sometimes I can be down because I don’t always see the results (conversions to Christ or life change in my disciples), but this past month God has revealed His faithfulness to me. My ministry and identity is found in Christ alone and I thank you so much for the ability to serve with you in this worthwhile effort.
This past weekend was no exception. I traveled with a group of 8 Asian American students down to San Jose where they encountered God. A part of the exhaustion from traveling opened us up spiritually to what God wanted to do in us. God compelled me to pray for brokenness in the students hearts. Many of the students seemed to be apathetic toward God, but it was during this time that God was painted a fresh and a renewing in their hearts was taking place.
One student, Andy Son (pictured in photo on other side of this letter), has a scar on his face. He got it from celebrating his 21st birthday only a week before the trip. He had gotten so drunk that he blacked out and couldn’t remember what had happened to him. He woke up the next morning with his face all red. And yet he came to our EPIC conference wanting to know what it was about.
One neat characteristics of the Asian-American community is that there are people that desire to hang out with one another simply because they are Asian-American. Andy Son had been friends with several guys involved in Epic for a while, but he had never wanted to engage with them spiritually. He was very honest that he was agnostic and stated that he knew that there had to be something more to life than the life he was living. He often found himself empty and unfulfilled.
We prayed that God would break down every argument that Andy had against God and that He would be drawn to him. At first it seemed that a lot of the content of the speakers at the conference wasn’t very relevant to non-believers, but God hadn’t forgotten about Andy, and the last three talks were very much filled with grace and a teaching of the love that God has for those who will believe in Him. It was after the second talk that Andy surrendered his life to God. It was beautiful to see God specifically work in Andy’s life and answer our prayers.
I continue to praise God for the opportunity that we have to serve Him at the University of Oregon. Sometimes I can be down because I don’t always see the results (conversions to Christ or life change in my disciples), but this past month God has revealed His faithfulness to me. My ministry and identity is found in Christ alone and I thank you so much for the ability to serve with you in this worthwhile effort.
2006.11 God's faithfulness
He answers our prayers.
We have seen an explosion of God working on our campus. Last year we spent hours praying for God to move at UofO. A new residence hall was built called the Living Learning Center. Last year it was an inconvenience to walk around the construction area and to not know what was going on. We prayed for those that would move into these halls and for them to respond and hear His truths. We praise the Lord because many students are hearing the message of Christ. In a hypersensitive collegiate culture we must be careful in how we approach people to share the message of Christ. Even so, many have responded to meeting with us and have wanted to hear His story. We praise God for the many opportunities to testify of Christ. So far we have seen 6 people place their trust in Christ and we are waiting for more.
He answers Peter’s prayers.
I had been sick the previous day and I was not feeling like myself. I did however get some rest and the next morning I recalled a verse, Isaiah 40:31. “Those that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up on wings as eagles.” I came on campus and arrived at the bottom of the student union. I started to contact people to get together for discipleship appointments when Peter approached me and started to talk with me about his sociology class and its difficulty. We continued to talk and he shared about his spiritual background and the hurt of his parents’ divorce. I shared with him the hope of the Heavenly Father and how he never leaves us and never forsakes us. Peter had gone to a church growing up but he never understood that he could be in a relationship with God. He often prayed that he would be close to God but didn’t know how. Upon explaining Christ’s saving message Peter received him then and there. It was awesome to see God work despite my sickness. As we continue to go over the foundations of Christianity, pray that Peter would understand his worth in Christ alone.
We have seen an explosion of God working on our campus. Last year we spent hours praying for God to move at UofO. A new residence hall was built called the Living Learning Center. Last year it was an inconvenience to walk around the construction area and to not know what was going on. We prayed for those that would move into these halls and for them to respond and hear His truths. We praise the Lord because many students are hearing the message of Christ. In a hypersensitive collegiate culture we must be careful in how we approach people to share the message of Christ. Even so, many have responded to meeting with us and have wanted to hear His story. We praise God for the many opportunities to testify of Christ. So far we have seen 6 people place their trust in Christ and we are waiting for more.
He answers Peter’s prayers.
I had been sick the previous day and I was not feeling like myself. I did however get some rest and the next morning I recalled a verse, Isaiah 40:31. “Those that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up on wings as eagles.” I came on campus and arrived at the bottom of the student union. I started to contact people to get together for discipleship appointments when Peter approached me and started to talk with me about his sociology class and its difficulty. We continued to talk and he shared about his spiritual background and the hurt of his parents’ divorce. I shared with him the hope of the Heavenly Father and how he never leaves us and never forsakes us. Peter had gone to a church growing up but he never understood that he could be in a relationship with God. He often prayed that he would be close to God but didn’t know how. Upon explaining Christ’s saving message Peter received him then and there. It was awesome to see God work despite my sickness. As we continue to go over the foundations of Christianity, pray that Peter would understand his worth in Christ alone.
2006.08 Refreshed in Orlando
Knowledge is one thing, but using it for God’s glory is another. I can’t wait to see what God will do with the new structure I have learned about over the summer. It seems that God has done a lot this summer. Let me share some of it with you.
The first part of the summer took us to Florida. I was able to refresh my thoughts with classes to help me understand truths of the Bible and how to effectively communicate them. The greatest truth I learned was to identify our fallen condition (sin tendency) in passages of Scripture and in pointing out our sinfulness exposes our need for Christ. The professors were great at teaching truths from scripture and applying it to ministry as many of them have several years of ministry experience.
One encouraging event that happened over the summer was with one of the students that I highlighted in our last prayer letter-Scott. He was a sophomore and was going on a summer project to Lake Tahoe. He called me in the middle of the summer and was very thankful for the time I had spent with him and teaching him to share his faith. From what He told me, his perspective on sharing the Gospel had changed from being an inconvenience, to sharing something of significance. It was amazing to hear the excitement in his voice of how he continued to share the Gospel with people and to love others. Praise God that His message is so relevant despite this world’s pessimism toward Him. Several times this summer people asked me what I enjoy about what I do. I often thought of Scott and replied that I get to invest my life into men who need direction in their lives. Whether I am helping them with a small issue or leading them to Christ, it is all worth while. I also think about Terence, who was also highlighted in our last letter. He was a senior last year and won’t be back this year, but there are so many things that I am reminded of. The way he talked. The deep questions he had about how Christian culture ran things. I always enjoyed his deep thinking. It will be a tough challenge to know who or how many people I should invest my time in, but I pray that God would guide me and lead me to those who not only want to grow up to be leaders, but who want to live their lives for Christ.
This summer was a great time to be refreshed and to have new focus for this year. I pray that God would carry us though this year trusting in Him for His purposes and not our own. I praise God that He alone can accomplish life change in these students, not just some new strategy or new way of doing things. I praise the Lord that He will continue to do His work in our lives and on the UO campus.
The first part of the summer took us to Florida. I was able to refresh my thoughts with classes to help me understand truths of the Bible and how to effectively communicate them. The greatest truth I learned was to identify our fallen condition (sin tendency) in passages of Scripture and in pointing out our sinfulness exposes our need for Christ. The professors were great at teaching truths from scripture and applying it to ministry as many of them have several years of ministry experience.
One encouraging event that happened over the summer was with one of the students that I highlighted in our last prayer letter-Scott. He was a sophomore and was going on a summer project to Lake Tahoe. He called me in the middle of the summer and was very thankful for the time I had spent with him and teaching him to share his faith. From what He told me, his perspective on sharing the Gospel had changed from being an inconvenience, to sharing something of significance. It was amazing to hear the excitement in his voice of how he continued to share the Gospel with people and to love others. Praise God that His message is so relevant despite this world’s pessimism toward Him. Several times this summer people asked me what I enjoy about what I do. I often thought of Scott and replied that I get to invest my life into men who need direction in their lives. Whether I am helping them with a small issue or leading them to Christ, it is all worth while. I also think about Terence, who was also highlighted in our last letter. He was a senior last year and won’t be back this year, but there are so many things that I am reminded of. The way he talked. The deep questions he had about how Christian culture ran things. I always enjoyed his deep thinking. It will be a tough challenge to know who or how many people I should invest my time in, but I pray that God would guide me and lead me to those who not only want to grow up to be leaders, but who want to live their lives for Christ.
This summer was a great time to be refreshed and to have new focus for this year. I pray that God would carry us though this year trusting in Him for His purposes and not our own. I praise God that He alone can accomplish life change in these students, not just some new strategy or new way of doing things. I praise the Lord that He will continue to do His work in our lives and on the UO campus.
2006.06 reflections
I contacted a student, named Andrew, during the fall term, who filled out a survey about his thoughts on spirituality. He was a typical freshman, trying to figure out life and wanting to know what role God might have in his life. As we talked more he revealed his homosexual lifestyle. He wanted to know if he could stay homosexual and be a Christian at the same time. I told him that it was clear that the God of the Bible was against this sin, but it was no different than any other sin (i.e. gossip, drunkenness, stealing). It didn’t seem to matter what I reasoned, Andrew had a counter for everything. Our conversation turned into more of a discourse on the difficulty of being gay in our society and how he felt it was unfair. He thanked me for our discussion and appreciated me sharing my thoughts with him.
After that meeting, I pondered a lot different words I could have said or how I could have challenged his thinking more. My heart just prayed for Andrew to desire God more than he loves his lifestyle. I tried to get together with him several times throughout the year but every attempt failed. I would run into him on campus but each instance was only a brief “hello” in passing. He never seemed to have time.
I still think of Andrew every once in awhile, and today I ran into him again. Today was different. He said he wanted to talk because he had been thinking about God a lot lately. He asked the same question- if he could still be a homosexual and be a Christian. He had some of the same arguments of why God should allow him to keep his lifestyle. I told him Christ’s words, "Whoever saves his life in this life will lose it and whoever loses his life for my sake will save it." We talked a lot more, but it seemed that Andrew still wasn’t willing to give up his lifestyle for Christ.
I share this story with you because it encourages me. I know it is not one of conversion, but of a struggle for someone whom God dearly loves. I was not expecting to see Andrew again this term, let alone have an in-depth conversation with him. God reminded me that He is still working on this campus and is pursuing students, even students that I have given up on. God is pursuing Andrew’s heart greatly. I believe that is why he wants to be able to reconcile his lifestyle with one filled with Christ. Please pray for this man to experience the full love and acceptance of God. That he would be used by God to reach out to the gay/lesbian community. Pray that Andrew would desire God more than what he can find in his present lifestyle.
After that meeting, I pondered a lot different words I could have said or how I could have challenged his thinking more. My heart just prayed for Andrew to desire God more than he loves his lifestyle. I tried to get together with him several times throughout the year but every attempt failed. I would run into him on campus but each instance was only a brief “hello” in passing. He never seemed to have time.
I still think of Andrew every once in awhile, and today I ran into him again. Today was different. He said he wanted to talk because he had been thinking about God a lot lately. He asked the same question- if he could still be a homosexual and be a Christian. He had some of the same arguments of why God should allow him to keep his lifestyle. I told him Christ’s words, "Whoever saves his life in this life will lose it and whoever loses his life for my sake will save it." We talked a lot more, but it seemed that Andrew still wasn’t willing to give up his lifestyle for Christ.
I share this story with you because it encourages me. I know it is not one of conversion, but of a struggle for someone whom God dearly loves. I was not expecting to see Andrew again this term, let alone have an in-depth conversation with him. God reminded me that He is still working on this campus and is pursuing students, even students that I have given up on. God is pursuing Andrew’s heart greatly. I believe that is why he wants to be able to reconcile his lifestyle with one filled with Christ. Please pray for this man to experience the full love and acceptance of God. That he would be used by God to reach out to the gay/lesbian community. Pray that Andrew would desire God more than what he can find in his present lifestyle.
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