Last Week Highlights

After being away from campus for almost 2 weeks I was excited to get back on campus and engage with students. It was a very full, exciting, and fun week. Here are some highlights!
- Monday 11/29 Staff Interest Meeting. We had 9 students attend an informational meeting for interning with IVCF after they graduate. It is exciting to see students wanting to continue ministry on campus through giving up one year to intern. Pray for these 9 students as they make future decisions.
- Tuesday 11/30 Discipleship Group with Taylor and Cassie. For 90 minutes we walked around the dorms praying for divine encounters. One of the encounters was with a woman named Gaby who has attended the freshmen bible study that Cassie leads. During one of her studies Gaby fell asleep so Cassie was concerned that Gaby didn't like IVCF or Cassie. Cassie entered into a great conversation about life, school, and faith. She left the conversation excited about her new relationship with Gaby. Praise God for the times when we are intentional about seeking out people.
- Wednesday 12/1 NOAH program. Amber wanted to do more outreach and service events. We found out that there is a place in Rohnert Park that hands out free food to people in the community. We went to get questions answered and help serve. On Wed. 12/8 we invited the whole fellowship to come and serve through giving away bags, coats, and clothing while also helping carry food out to the cars of elderly men and women.
- Thursday 12/2 Free Lunch Campaign. Kenny (a freshmen student) and I walked around the campus for 1 hour with the hopes and eyes to intentionally get into spiritual conversations. We met Kate who was the president of QSA (Queer Straight Alliance) and had a great conversation about Christianity on campus. Then we ran into Dillon who is not a Christian but very interested in checking out the Guatemala trip. Pray that both of these conversations will continue on.
WEEK HIGHLIGHT: If those stories aren't enough!!! Lance, a freshmen student involved in the fellowship told me this story. "In my freshmen seminar class we had to give presentations on the clubs we checked out. Cody shared about his experience in IVCF. (Cody is not a Christian, would identify as an atheist, and went to IVCF events as a requirement for a class) He talked about going to bible study and that he met this girl named Bethany. (The night Cody came to Bible study I stayed after and talked with him about God till midnight!) She was such a sweetheart!" We never know what God does when we open ourselves to being used. Pray that Cody's heart would continue to soften as we talk about Jesus, the Bible, faith, God, hurt, and healing. The night I talked to Cody he share how nobody ever took the time to listen to him. Hopefully me being a sweetheart meant I listened well to him!

Vision

Part of the joy in college ministry is that things are always changing and shaping through the years. I'm in the process of praying and seeking vision for Sonoma State. Through times of solitude and silence, reading scripture, talking to people, listening, and knowing the hope through Christ, I trust and believe that God is going to give us a vision and direction to take the fellowship over the next few years. Since IVCF is a student ministry then it has been a lot of fun to invite students into this process. Specifically 7 students that I have closely worked with since the spring. These 7 students make up our Vision Team for the fellowship. They each take a role in leading specific parts of the fellowship but also take time to pray, listen, and respond to God's vision for the fellowship. Through their model and influence we have seen change happen. Students truly are being transformed, the campus renewed, and see students changing the world. Please pray for me and these 7 student leaders as we listen and pray for future vision and direction at Sonoma State.

(Pictured above was a team building time with the vision team where we participated in the low ropes course at Sonoma State. Pictured right is the vision team at Trilogy- Top L-R: Kayla, Brent, Laurel, Ryan, and Chrissy. Bottom L-R: Bethany, James, and Matt)

Prayer Watch

On Wed. Nov. 10 over 35 students came to pray and intercede for the campus. There were 1 hour time slots from 1:00-6:00pm where students were able to sit in the room to meditate and pray and then go out around the campus to prayer walk. I'm so thankful for the desire and joy that comes from students as they pray for their friends that don't know Jesus. Thank you for your prayers and support as things like this happen on campus. You aren't there praying in the same room, but you are a huge part of what happens on campus!

Trilogy 2010

For three days I was with 560 college students from all over the Northern California area. 90 of those students came from Sonoma State (pictured on the right). Each student participated in one of the four tracks that were relevant to where they are in college right now. I helped lead the track for student leaders called MOC (Ministry on Campus). We looked at the relationship between Paul and Timothy from 2 Timothy and talked about ways that we suffer for the gospel as leaders and how to continue enduring through these hardships. Pictured left above was the group of students from Sonoma State that were part of the MOC track. We saw many students healed and transformed throughout the weekend! And had one student, Kathy say yes to following Jesus for the first time! We ended the weekend planning and talking about how we were going to live out the gospel back on campus. Students planned prayer days, outreach events, surveys, and more in order to engage the campus on a spiritual level. Here are a few ways that Trilogy impacted students:

Kenny (Freshmen- Pictured below): "Trilogy was a spiritually challenging experience; however, rather than feeling dejected and ashamed, I ended up feeling enlivened, uplifted, and closer To God than probably every before."

Sarah (Senior- Pictured right): "Trilogy was the perfect weekend to get away and spend time with God while learning about His heart for justice and plans for my future and growing closer as a community."

Where have we been?

Outreach (Oct.18-21)- Is the Bible Worth Studying?
I wrote about in my last blog that we would be taking a week to ask the campus their thoughts on the studying the bible. On Thursday night we had a speaker talk about the reliability of the bible and is it reliable. In the midst of having this event planned at the same time as a Halloween dance on campus and during the world series game we had 140 students attend (our largest Nexus yet). Carlee came to the talk and was so excited to study the bible she didn't want to wait to start a bible discussion group next week she met with someone that night! Pray for Brent as he starts to meet with her and some other non-Christian students weekly for a bible discussion group.

Coats and Cocoa (Nov.6)- 20 of us set out to Santa Rosa on Saturday Nov. 6 to hand out warm clothing and hot cocoa to people living on the streets in Santa Rosa. Two things about this experience I wanted to share.
1. This was all student planned and organized. I got to show up take pictures, have great convos with students and people in Santa Rosa, encourage, pray, and support the group as they served.
2. Many times when we do experiences like this there are mixed feelings. Some have a great time and others have a hard time. This was the first time where every single person had a positive experience. Every single student was able to have a conversation with someone.
Pray that students would continue to see how God loves the poor. Would they start to incorporate activities like this into their everyday lives and not just have it be a one day experience.

FLC (Nov.6)- Free Lunch Campaign
Free Lunch Campaign is also a student planned and organized event. A training was held on Saturday for anyone who wanted to participate. Free Lunch Campaign is an outreach/evangelistic way to get into spiritual conversations with people on campus. Those who participate in FLC will offer to pay for someone's lunch if they are willing to engage in a spiritual conversation. The hope is not to force our thoughts and beliefs on anyone or to make it an argumentative time, but to equally share and listen to one another. Pray for me as I partner with two freshmen students, Kenny and Sarah as we head out in the next couple weeks to participate in the Free Lunch Campaign.

Is the Bible reliable? Is the Bible worth studying?

(Pictured above is an outreach event from last spring 2010)

These are some questions we will be tackling NEXT week, Oct. 18-21. We will again be pulling out a board with a question on it that people can respond to. Next Thursday night on Oct. 21 a speaker will come in to answer and lead a Q&A time about the reliability of the bible.

Please be praying with us now and during to see students on our campus take a step closer to Jesus. Our hope is that we will see students come to believe in Jesus and that students will also get involved in joining a "Bible Discussion Group."

Here are some specifics of what is happening to be praying. Thankful for yoU!
- Sunday Oct.17: Training for entire fellowship on how to tabling. Specifically we will talk about how to give a gospel presentation and engage people with our board.
- Mon-Thurs from 11-2pm staff and students will be engaging with students on campus through asking questions like, "Is the Bible reliable?" and "Is the Bible worth studying?"
- Mon-Thurs from 10-2pm staff and students will be coming together to pray for the event and conversations happening at that time!
- Thursday Oct.21 at 7:30pm, Mark Almlie will be our speaker for the event. He will be inviting students to join a "Bible Discussion Group"
- Friday Oct.22 and beyond staff and students will be following up with those who attended to start up the discussion groups

Where are we at?!

Although numbers aren't everything, in student ministry it is a great way to measure what is going on. It's exciting to see where God is moving and how students are responding. I praise God for what has been happening and look into what is to come! This is where we are at:
Overall students involved in IVCF at Sonoma State: 210
Nexus Attendance: 130 (Average)
Freshmen Bible Study Attendance: 55 (Average)
Upper Class Bible Study Attendance: 85 (Average)
Greek/Sorority Bible Study Attendance: 13 ladies attended the 1st one!
Black Campus Ministries Bible Study Attendance: 8 (Average)New Believers: 11
Student Community Service Advisors (CSA) Bible Study Attendance: 4 attended the 1st one!
New Believers: 9
Recommitments: 15
Participated in service projects: 25
Christians meeting with Non-Christians to look at the bible: 17
Christian students inviting 2+ people to outreach event next week: 45
Conversation partners with international students: 10
Students signed up for Trilogy: 40