A Look Back: Semester Review What a ride! As you saw in my last update, launching the One Cry Network in NYC comprised the bulk of our work this past semester. Planning and hosting 6 local, campus-wide prayer events and one citywide concert of prayer, all within 2 months, was an interesting initiation to the ministry work here in the city. From the reports that came in, about 43 of the 88+ NYC metro area campuses were represented at One Cry Citywide, apparently making it one of the largest collegiate city-reaching efforts here! I still connect with students, and when they talk about it, their eyes light up and their passions get stirred up. I ask them why? What about One Cry made such an impact? The most common response was the depth, the variety, the passion, and the focus of the prayer and worship. It was an experience that led to a deeper understanding and a clearer direction for the students. That was my absolute favorite part. Yes, it was an event and an experience, but it definitely led to a change in perception and urged many students more deeply and boldly into campus reaching. We are gearing up for two Citywide Gatherings (we must be insane) and many more campus Gatherings for the next academic school year. We are also as building up our network of Watchmen (students who report God stories on their campuses) and Connectors (students who gather together for catalytic prayer on their campuses). The door is wide open for the harvest!
Speaking of workers, because of our One Cry Movement, as well as some other connections, we've increased our student core volunteer team by almost double, and have connected with Alumni and business professionals in the metro area who would like to participate in some way. We've gained one intern, and we are in dialogue with a possible second. Please continue praying for more workers. The harvest is ripe and plentiful, and we need help! Our most immediate need is for a NYC Hub director; please agree with us in prayer and action for that! | | |  A Look Forward: A Strategic Staff Summit We just had our national staff summit. Fourteen of us gathered together in Tennessee, just outside of Knoxville, for some face-to-face time and strategic planning. Yes, I did write fourteen. Most people are amazed when they discover the size of our ministry staff - God can take the small things of the world and accomplish amazing things. Gideon and his army is coming to mind... The summit was by far one of the best ones I've been to (considering this is only my third one, I can be biased, but other people thought so, too!). We had a great time welcoming new staff - one from the Tennessee Hub, one from the Texas hub, and our new COO (praise the Lord, Hallelujah, thank you, Jesus) - and getting to know and reacquaint ourselves with our Partnering Campus staff from Arizona State. Along with the relational time, we had incredible times of prayer and strategic planning that I feel will launch CRM to new levels. It was wonderful time for the different types of personalities we have on our staff. As our University of Texas Campus Director said, "The fun thing about our team is that we are so different. It’s God’s funny way of making our team practice the unity we’re trying to develop on our campuses!" Click Here for the full article on that. In any case, I am excited for what this next year brings! | |  A Look Inward: A Renewed Vision I don't do a lot of personal updates in this (if interested in more frequent updates and to become a part of my prayer team, click here), but this is so timely and relevant, I thought I'd share. The vision of Campus Renewal Ministries is forging partnerships in prayer to build missional communities that transform college campuses with the gospel of Jesus (just as a reminder). I love what I'm doing, and am very passionate for it, but as I was studying in the New Testament, I was struck by how often Paul, and even some of the other apostles, said to care for the widows and orphans. I began trying to figure out how take some personal time (because I have sooooo much of it) to volunteer somewhere that would fall in that category. As referenced before, I wasn't having a whole lot of luck with that. One day, I saw a blog article on Facebook referencing the Mommy Wars issue. I promise, this does have a relevant point. This was a woman eloquently taking her frustrations out on the Mommy war issue, and one paragraph read: "I’ll be disturbed by the 18-year-olds I regularly see on adoption photo-listings who, despite being old enough to live independently, place themselves on national photo-listings because they desperately want a mom and a dad in their adult life. Because, in one teen’s words, he "wants to become a member of a permanent family”.” ( Full article) In one of my previous updates, I fully admitted to being slow sometimes. I work with a generation known for being fatherless, who want to know what a real family feels like. I'm already giving my life to work with physical and spiritual orphans. Thanks, God, for re-shaping my own perceptions. | | | |
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