A Good Weekend’s Work

At Flathead Lake
above: Lindsey catches the ball.
left: Alyssa, Faith and Kiira.



Elevation Weekend—a day and night at Flathead Lake, in early September, building community among students and staff. Spiritual family is the “rue” of Chi Alpha, the basis of love, trust and support that make spiritual growth possible through the challenges of the school year.









on the Mini-Mission trip in Plains, MT
left: Brit in the community wood yard
below: splitting logs before they can be stacked






Mini-Mission Trip to Plains—helping cut, load and deliver wood to needy folks in a rural community two hours from Missoula, working alongside members of a local church. For some students, the weekend is their first missions trip, a first taste of service for the sake of the Kingdom.

















At Fall Retreat
left: UM and MSU-Northern Chi Alphans playing Cranium. above: UM Chi Alphans at Avalanche Lake in Glacier National Park.

Fall “Go Deep” Retreat—Chi Alpha groups from four campuses gather in Hungry Horse, Montana for the weekend. Three sessions of teaching, prayer times, and long sets of worship all encourage students to encounter God. But there’s still time for a bonfire, consumption of junk food, late (all?) night games and a hike in Glacier National Park.

God has been doing some good work in students during these weekends. Just one example: Alyssa, a freshman, dove into community at Elevation Weekend and got involved in the weekly Chi Alpha activities. At the Saturday evening service of Fall Retreat, she shared how she has been noticing the lonely people on campus, feeling a burden for them to know Jesus. That night she was convicted to set aside the fear of rejection and start acting more in faith to reach out to these students. Please pray for her as she steps into the missional life in this way. I’m excited to see how God uses her!


Praise and Prayer

• Praise for deep times of connection with God and each other at weekend events.

• Praise that Chi Alpha students’ desire to share Christ with other students is growing.

• Prayer that students touched and convicted at Fall Retreat will continue to grow in faith and move forward with new commitments.

Big Sky Expeditions '09

Big Sky '09 team with Curt and Sara Hobbs, missionaries to Krakow, Poland

“If you died tonight, what would you tell God if He asked you why He should let you into heaven?” “I don’t know. I’ve never thought of that before…”

A month ago today the Big Sky Expeditions ‘09 team was finishing up its missions trip in Poland and Slovakia. What did we do? We led conversational English classes for students ages 6-18 in schools. We conducted interviews and evangelistic surveys, asking Poles and Slovaks their thoughts on spiritual topics, such as the question above. We listened as they shared what they would like to ask a spiritual adviser. We shared the gospel in park outreaches in Slovakia. We prayed with some to receive Christ as their Savior and others to receive healing. We encouraged and challenged Polish teens at a youth convention with testimonies, music and dramas. Some of my favorite moments as a leader were seeing “light bulbs” go on in the students on our team. Before we did surveys, Shani expressed that she was not looking forward to them, having seen similar outreaches done in a way that felt judgmental and inappropriate. I encouraged her to keep an open mind and let God lead her. A few hours later, she was deep in conversations with people she met through the surveys. Through these she was able to plant seeds of truth and share the gospel. Afterwards, she even said it had been fun! Thank you for praying for our trip. And thank you so much for the financial gifts that made it possible for me to help lead this team. Finally, if you would like to read more about my 8-day solo trip after the Big Sky team left, see the post “všetko v poriadku” on my blog leaves...

Bóg błogosławi was! (God bless you!)

Ashli sharing her testimony at a park outreach, Lenka translating






team performing drama, "Running the Race" (1 Cor. 9:24-27), at Poland Youth Convention





Shani (center) with a few of the Slovak girls she interviewed




Prayer Requests

• for the Poles and Slovaks we met and prayed with, that God would continue speaking to them and that they would seek to know Him
• for the beginning of semester outreaches here at UM in August, that God would connect us with new students
  

twms2

In my last newsletter, I asked for prayer about the World Missions Summit 2, a convention I was planning to attend December 28-January 2. Here are a few testimonies of how I saw God at work, before, during and after the event.

In early December, the Summit team (above) visited homes as Singing Christmas Cards. Quite a few Chi Alpha students joined us, and we all had a lot of fun. We sang carols and gave out homemade cookies then asked the recipients to send us to another home by making a donation for our trip. Students also raised funds by sending friends and family members invitations to a Pretend Tea Party. The invitation included an appeal to support the student’s discovery of God’s missional heart at twms2. The response was special provision far beyond what we had expected. One students’ entire trip was covered by her fundraising efforts. After the Summit, she slipped me a check of her own, this one to pay another student’s hotel expenses. It was great to see selfless generosity become contagious!

With the lowest gas prices in years, we drove 2000 miles from Missoula, MT to Cincinnati, OH in our Chi Alpha minivan (below) without incident. At the Summit, we experienced powerful times of worship and teaching, and took part in interactive exhibits of missionary activity around the world. It was intense. One missionary challenged us with the phrase, “Don’t be a afraid to cry,” by which he meant don’t be afraid to speak the Gospel, whether or not it is popular to do so. Each of the UM students responded to the Summit by committing to “Give a year and pray about a lifetime” of missions.

After the last session, our group took a few minutes to discuss what God had laid on our hearts during the week. Scott, the UM Chi Alpha Director, asked the students how the Summit would affect their lives in the short-term. Each shared the conviction that they had been negligent in sharing Christ with people they have seen daily at UM. As a group, we left Cincinnati with a renewed sense of urgency to make the gospel known among our classmates, coworkers, neighbors and friends.

Since then, Kiira has become more vocal about her faith and is inviting classmates to Chi Alpha events left and right. Clay has taken risks to act on the Holy Spirit’s leading, giving him opportunities to talk and pray with other students on campus. Laura is finding more ways to stand up for her faith among her coworkers in the Army Reserves, and God is putting her in places of influence and leadership in that community. Ashli is learning how to be a witness in the challenging environment of an athletic team. She will also be going on her first overseas missions trip to Poland and Slovakia this May. It has been an exciting semester, but I believe this is just the beginning— the “first fruits”— of the Summit’s influence. Thanks so much for your prayers. Someday we’ll know what part you have played in the harvest.


Prayer Requests

♦Please pray that the fire of evangelism kindled in students’ hearts is not quenched by stress or busyness, but instead keeps spreading and growing.

♦Please pray for Big Sky Expeditions ’09 to Poland and Slovakia, May 19-June 4. I’ll co-lead a team of 9 students with 2 other Chi Alpha staff. Pray for our fundraising, unity in our team, and safety in our travels. Pray that God softens and prepares the hearts of the Poles and Slovaks we will meet. Pray that we will proclaim the Good News with boldness. Finally, pray that I have wisdom and courage in leadership. Thanks!