Orientation for New Staff Day 3

Calling all Alum!!!!

If you are reading this and you are an alumnus from Albion College, I want to connect with you. I want to update you on what is happening in the chapter, send you alumni newsletters, and have alumni events. If anyone is interested in helping me coordinate this, it would be great!!!

This morning was sooo hard for me to stay awake. I did not sleep well last night and it really showed during our morning sessions. Today we talked about partnerships in ministry. It was so encouraging to know that I am partnering with other people as they give financially and prayerfully so that this ministry can exist on campus.

We had seminars in the afternoon. I attended "Women in Ministry" and "How to Integrate Fund Development and Campus Work." It was useful to hear the tricks of the trade and what has worked well for other people.

Each day here, we get a free book. YEAH! That means it just adds to the books that I am yet to read. I love InterVarsity Press. They truly print some quality material, books that challenge me in my walk with God, and challenge me in my mind and are a challenge and encouragement to students. Today the book of the day was "Finding God at Harvard." It is all about Christian thought and what is means to think christianly. I am excited to read that.

Tonight we had a table discussion at dinner about how to minister to alum. I am really excited about this part of my job. I have already had a chance to talk with some of the Albion alumni and they have been a huge source of encouragement. I am eager to hear their stories of how InterVarsity has impacted their lives. I look forward to serving you guys and getting to know you better!!

Best part of tonight.....free Ben and Jerry's ice cream!!! I had half baked frozen yogurt for those who care:) There is a Ben and Jerry's store down the street from our hotel.

Orientation for New Staff Day 2

I am an introvert and I get energized by spending time alone. Today I have been wrestling about what that looks like as a staff worker. There are areas of my job that will require me to be extroverted, that will require me to step outside of my comfort zone into a new place of discomfort. This makes me excited! Not the fact that I am getting rid of my introverted self, but that God is able to stretch me behind my selfish thoughts and desires to care for students.

Today was a good day. Sounds generic and boring but it really was. I got a great night of sleep last night. By the way, I have a great roommate from Virginia. She likes to sleep with the airconditiong on, a girl after my own heart. (Sorry for the tangent:)) Anyways, on to the day....

It stated with prayer and Bible study, specifically studying Psalm 1. We talked about the difference between the righteous and the wicked. Tom Boyle and Alec Hill (Alec is InterVarsity Christian Fellowship's President) talked to up about the Heritage and Vision of IVCF. During lunch we were on our own, and I took advantage of having some time for myself. I went to lunch and spent some time at the Capitol, well at a bench and in the Capitol lawn doing some much needed journaling! The rest of the afternoon was about the Ministry of Fund Development. We had a panel of donors come in and tell us why they give. It was very helpful and encouraging.

Tonight was an emotional night. Two staff shared their stories about their parents disapproval and lack of blessing, of their desicion to go on staff with InterVarsity. After their time of sharing, they asked if we could pray for those staff who are having struggle with their parents. It was so emotional as I saw the real pain of my coworkers whose parents were ashamed of their call to full time ministry. I am so grateful that my parents and Jon's parents have supported me and have been an active part of my team. Please pray for these men and women. Pray that God would do a work in their families, as well as give them the confidence and approval in Him that they need to do the work that they are called to do.

Orientation for New Staff Day 1

ROAD TRIP

Everyone loves a good old fashioned road trip right? Last night Tina and Lisa arrived in Albion and we left this morning for good ol' Madison, Wisconsin where we will be having our Orientation for New Staff. We hit a lot of construction traffic which put us behind. And who knew you could never find a gas station on a toll road (even if you get off the toll road to area roads). Thank God that we did not run out of gas. The trip was great.

We got into town before 5 pm and were able to get settled into our hotel room. It is a great hotel, overlooking the capitol. It is so beautiful. We are being catered with some great food. It makes me miss my hubby :)

Tonight was just the introduction night. I sat with a man that works at InterVarsity Press, and he had some great life stories and wisdom to share. Speaking of InterVarsity Press, we get a free book each day here---so that means I need to get to reading them. Look forward to future posts, and conversations about the books I read.

After introductions and basic instructions, we had family group time, getting to know people that we will be spending lots of time with in the next 10 days. I have people in my group from all over the country, and it is great to get to know each and every one of them.

PRAISE GOD!!!! I am currently at 49% of my funding. Thanks to all who have given, or will be giving to support this ministry! I believe that God will bless both the gift and the giver!!!!!

And the adventure continues.......

Planning Weekend 2007

Friday and Saturday, myself, Pastor John and 6 other students spent the weekend seeking the Lord for His heart for the campus and developing plans for the next semester. We spent time in prayer, Bible Study, learning God's heart. We cast a vision and developed plans to reach the campus (and enjoyed lots of food:) )

A brief recap....
FRIDAY:

-Discussed who we were and what we were called to do. We believe that God has called us to be witnesses on the campus to influence the campus for Christ.

-Studied Jonah 3:10-4:14. We saw God's heart was for Ninevah to repent from their evil ways and for Jonah to be used as an instrument of repentance. We saw that this could be God's heart for Albion as well. That we should desire to see repentance, and like Jonah, challenged to be obedient with that call.

-Spent time in prayer for our campus. We prayed for our influence and our plans. We also prayed for those in our lives who do not yet know Christ.

-Discussed our niche in the Christian community.

-Came up with our mission statement for the year:

ALBION COLLEGE IVCF 2007-2008 MISSION:

"The purpose of seeking out Christians and encouraging them to join a community where they will be spiritually challenged, as well as establishing a body that is a welcoming, wtinessing community to reach out to the unbelievers on our campus."

We all signed our mission statement as a representation for our commitment to the campus and our desire to see students and faculty transformed, campuses renewed and world changers developed!

SATURDAY:

Spent most of the day making plans for the year.

-We are praying for 3 Small Group Bible Studies. We currently have 2. We are thinking and praying about the idea of having a pre-med Bible study, asking questions about medical ethics. As we were sitting around the table planning, it was a clear direction that we should be praying, with 4 premed students on our vision team.

-High emphasis on freshmen outreach. We desire to see the Christian freshmen plugged in and having a place for evangelistic outreach.

-We will be having a weekly leadership team, that I will lead, continue to develop a vision for the campus, train in leadership skills, discipleship. Together we will be praying for the campus.

-We will have one fellowship event a month that is designed for us to spend time in outreach!

-In October we want to have a speaker come in from the community to talk about racisim. "The Issue of Racism: The Role of the Local Church." I am very excited for this event!!!

-We want to have some events that we can invite high school students to be a part of. It was brought up this week that it is a high need in the community to have high schools students plugged in with older students.

Here are some pictures of the weekend!

This is Elizabeth, our chapter president making some goals for us!

Sorry for the fuzzy photo, but I wanted to give you all a picture of what Pastor John looks like. He has been a great blessing to me and an amazing liason for me and the community!

This is Jon, a religion major, a junior, and Elizabeth's boyfriend. I am not sure if he is hiding from the picture, or engrossed in scripture!

This is Kwame (his name means "Saturday") He is a junior from Ghana. He is an amazing man after God's own heart and has been a blessing to me. He is an RA this year, which will be great for us to have someone who knows a lot of freshmen and have connections with Residential Life!

This is William and he is DEFINITLY hiding from this picture!

PRAYER REQUESTS:

-That the students would continue to develop a heart for unbelievers and a vision to reach the campus

-A possible pre-med bible study?

-1 more small group leader

-students would grow over the summer in their walk with God

-I am leaving for Madison, WI on Monday the 18th and will be gone for 10 days. Pray for safe travel, good fellowship and that I would retain all that I learn. I am there for New Staff Orientation.

-My continued funding process. I am currently at 35%.

Peace out!

Hey Guys,

It was pointed out to me that you could not post comments, well it should be working now. Let me know if it isn't. That means, I should be getting comments from all!

CHAPTER FOCUS WEEK '07

I am finally back at home in Albion! It has been a while and have missed Jon and Kaya, so much (Kaya is our baby---our CAT baby!)

For the past three weeks I have been back at home in St. Clair doing some fund development and then in beautiful Cedar Campus for our Annual "Chapter Focus Week." Fund development has been going fairly well. I trust that God will provide, because He cares for these students and this ministry more than I do. I am currently at 21%.

Chapter Focus Week was very different for me. There were 3 Albion students that came with me and God was really moving. I was able to clearly share the Gospel with one student. We had a great conversation. He is having a hard time grappling with the concept of evangelism. As we talked I had told him that if Jesus is really who we believe He is, the savior of the world, the giver of life, Redeemer, Reconciler and Life Giver, why would we not want to share that with other people? He did not make a desicion to follow Christ, but I believe it was a big step. He is living with a God-fearing Christian this summer and I am excited to see what comes out of their time together. Please pray for his salvation and his growing relationship with the Lord.

Another student has been numb from emotion for years. She hasn't allowed herself to feel feelings, or to be real to herself, or anyone else for that matter. For the first time in a long time, she broke down in tears and was able to share some real emotion. Please pray for her to continue to feel emotion, to be honest with herself and before the Lord as she begins to process some things.

And yet another student is heavily dealing with his past, concerning sexual sin. I valued and appreciated his openness throughout the week.

Throughout the week I was able to talk to several staff that were so encouraging and insightful. I talked staff at small schools, and those who have done chapter plants. When I decided to come to Albion, I thought that I would be building a small chapter up, but i believe that God is leading me to rid the chapter of the things that are dead and to start over. Please pray for me in this process. I need a lot of wisdom!!!!

Until next time.... I will leave you with some pictures of BEAUTIFUL CEDAR CAMPUS!

They Will Know We are Christian By Our Love

This was the closing song at Crossroads Community Church (my home church) this weekend. It was a great encouragement for me. As we were singing, God gave me pictures of how we as Christians do work together hand in hand for the glory of God.

We have a partnership!!! Those of you who are praying for me and Albion College, as well as those who are giving financially, we are partners! We are working together, working side by side, walking hand in hand to watch the Gospel spread on the campus to make a difference in the world. So here is the song. Read it. Picture us being partners in the Gospel together.

We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord And we pray that all unity may one day be restored And they'll know we are Christians by our love, by our love They will know we are Christians by our love
We will work with each other, we will work side by side We will work with each other, we will work side by side And we'll guard each one's dignity and save each one's pride And they'll know we are Christians by our love, by our love They will know we are Christians by our love
By our love, by our love
And they'll know we are Christians by our love, by our love They will know we are Christians by our love
We will walk with each other, we will walk hand in hand We will walk with each other, we will walk hand in hand And together we'll spread the news that God is in our land And they'll know we are Christians by our love, by our love They will know we are Christians by our love
By our love, by our love
And they'll know we are Christians by our love, by our love They will know we are Christians by our love