Hello Upperclassmen

Last school year, I oversaw all of the freshmen small group Bible studies. This year I have a new role, which is overseeing all of the upperclassmen small groups, as well as leading one. This is exciting because this is a role I have never had, and God is using this to grow me as campus staff worker! Reaching out to upperclassmen is very different than freshmen!  It's been a blessing because it means I get to spend more of my time continuing relationships I've built with past freshmen (as opposed to focusing on a new class of freshmen).

One of the girls from my freshman small group last year, Stephanie, is co-leading a small group with me! Initially not wanting to lead, she has grown from a place of fear to faith, and is now one of our strongest young leaders. Please pray for she and I as we lead a small group of around 15-20 students (pictured above) including sophmores, transfers and grad students!

Transfers Galore!

Over the years the fellowship has generally had a hard time getting transfer students plugged in, on average we might have 1-3 new transfers get involved each year. This year, God has blessed us with an unprecedented amount of transfer students, there are at least 12 actively involved this semester!  After meeting all these transfers, I've happily made it a priority to help keep them involved.  Recently, I hosted a dinner for Transfer Students (pictured).  We enjoyed a time of food, getting to know each other and talking about what it's like to be a transfer student at SSU and in InterVarsity.

One of the transfers, "Tom," started the semester as an atheist who regarded gravity as his ultimate truth.  As he has gotten involved he has taken steps of faith towards God, and no longer identifies as an atheist.  He has said that he can see God present in the community and that he was committed to further exploring Jesus and wrestling through his questions.  Please be praying for him!

Sacramento Urban Project

Erin and I took a team of students (pictured) from Sonoma State and UC Davis and spent a week, 6/13-19 learning and serving in Sacramento. We learned about the topics of poverty, homelessness, racism and God's love. We served by doing food distribution, community gardening, at a women's shelter and more. It was an intense week and all 5 of the SSU had their world rocked! Here is what one had to say...

Megan (pictured bottom middle): "I really enjoyed being a part of this experience because it is something that can be related to my daily life. My eyes were opened so many times to the injustices that are present in my own back yard! Learning about the Lord's vision for Shalom [The Hebrew word and idea of peace, harmony and reconciliation] -- how things ought to be has inspired me to be more active in my community. Through hearing other people's stories, I am sure that with God's hand in everything...we can eventually live in a world of Shalom."

"Repent and Believe" JOURNEY 2011

"The kingdom of God is at hand; Repent and believe in the gospel," were the first words spoken by Jesus in the Gospel of Mark and they were a main theme for our retreat called Journey. Right after the school year ended, we retreated to the redwoods from 5/30-6/3. I had the priviledge of leading over 40 students (pictured) from Sonoma State, Santa Rosa JC and San Jose State in a study of Mark. We studied it for 7 hours each day! God must be good if college students are willing to study for that long, the week after finals! Many students experienced healing, repentance, and were challenged by Jesus through Mark study. Here is what Laura said, (a woman from the freshmen Bible study I led, who has been mentioned in a previous post)...

Laura - "Coming into Journey, I was putting Jesus in a box and therefore not trusting him as I should have...Through prayer, I felt Jesus' presence around me. It was total and complete happiness, peace and warmth.... Jesus healed my spiritual blindness."

Graduation

The end of the school year is upon us and it is always a mix of sadness and joy. We are graduating what is the largest class of InterVarsity students that SSU has even seen (most of them pictured) and many of them have been influential leaders for the Kingdom on the campus.

I must confess that sometimes I struggle with the fact that I raise financial support for ministry, when there are so many other organizations out there that seem more worthy of support. (i.e. WorldVision, Charity Water) But when I see all of these students graduating, aware of how much they've grown while in college, and how much they are going to change the world, I know that IV's ministry is invaluable. Here is link to a one-minute video testimony of one of the graduating students I mentored, talking about how IV's ministry has impacted his life.
Looking at this class of students that will be graduating, there is...
- 1 going to seminary to be a pastor
- 3 going on IV staff
- 3 possibly going into youth ministry
- 5 going into teaching
- 1 doing a 2yr inner-city mission
- 3 on short term missions
- 4 or more nurses
- several going into the business world
- many still figuring it out

Pray that these men and women would have an exponential impact as they go out into the world as nurses, teachers, ministers, etc.!

Is What You're Living For Worth Dying For?

In April, for a campus outreach, our question was "Is What You're Living For Worth Dying For?" We asked many people and as you might expect, had many different responses. Most people said "Yes" and that they were living for things like "Justice", "Family", "A Better World." Some people said "No" and that they weren't living for anything important or that they were just living for themselves. With some of the people, we were able to share what we live for as Christians, and what we think the meaning of life is. Please be praying that the students at SSU would find their purpose and meaning in life in Christ!

The Great Banquet

The theme for our fellowship this semester, and the coming years is "The Great Banquet" from Luke 14: 15-24. In this passage, Jesus describes the Kingdom of God as being like a great banquet, in which people from all areas of society will be invited. For our context, we are applying this scripture by trying to reach out to all areas of campus, i.e. other clubs, fraternity/sorority students, the dorms, Black students, etc. We believe that the banquet is great, that all should be invited, and that God wants us to be inviters!

In trying to live this out, two weeks ago, at the first Bible study of the semester, I challenged the group to bring someone new the next week. Over the last couple weeks, we've seen 4 new people come!

Please pray for us as we invite people to "The Great Banquet." Also, this isn't just for us at Sonoma State, be looking for opportunities in your own life to invite others into God's Kingdom!

Fall Semester Review

This spring semester has just started, but I wanted to let you know how the previous semester ended. While numbers aren't everything, they can often be a good indicator of fruit. (They also help keep us accountable!) So here are some numbers from key areas in the ministry...

Numbers At A Glance:
Overall students involved in IV @ SSU: 210
Large Group Attendance: 130 (Average)
Freshmen Bible Study Attendance: 60 (Average)
Upper Class Bible Study Attendance: 85 (Average)
Greek/Sorority Bible Study Attendance: 15 (Average)
Black Campus Ministries Bible Study Attendance: 10 (Average)
First time decisions to follow Jesus: 12
Christians meeting with Non-Christians to look at the bible: 17