noah&katie

Happy April to you!

I had an interesting conversation yesterday with a student.  He's wrestling with what Paul means in Romans 6:22--

But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God....

It makes sense that we've been set free from sin, but what does it mean that we're slaves to God?  Aren't we free?

Our world preaches a kind of freedom from any rules or bounds or authorities.  We greatly value our own sovereignty, the freedom to make our own decisions.  Yet, God's Word teaches that everyone is a slave to something.  It's not a matter of if you are a slave, but to whom you are a slave.  On this, my student friend made an interesting observation.

Our world that promises freedom through personal sovereignty fails to see that all are slaves to sin.  And it's this slavery that makes the world's "freedom" not actually free.  Those who seek "freedom" through pleasure, entertainment, drugs, or pornography are attempting to escape all the things about life that are a part of life in our world:  responsibility, relationships, hard work, and suffering.  "Maybe I'll be happy if I can just escape those things for a while."  Yet, one can't escape from those things, and thus the "freedom" that is sought is a falsehood.

Freedom in Christ (i.e. slavery to God) doesn't ignore the difficult realities of our world, instead it redeems them.  Relationships and suffering become means by which we grow as people and learn about ourselves and our world.  By embracing them according to God's direction and standards, we actually find life and participate in God's redeeming work in our world.

My student friend is seeing this at play in his life.  Whereas he previously avoided difficult things at all costs, trying to play it easy and safe in every circumstance (often leading to sin), now he's learning to walk by faith.  He's thinking about his past sin, not to dwell on it, but to learn from it.  He's learning how God's strength comes through his weakness.  He's learning that the easy way is often not the best way.  And he's finding the power and conviction to walk according to God's ways.

I'm watching a man of God develop before my very eyes.  It's exciting to see.  Thank you for praying for us and our students.

-Noah

PS- Some April Fool's fun for you nerdy types like me.  Click here and enjoy the NES memories!

Happy almost-weekend friends!

It's a beautiful day in central Illinois!  This is the best time of year to be here.  The trees are flowering,  flowers are blooming, and the temperature is perfect.

And today is a Threads of Hope day!

Threads of Hope is an organization started by a missionary to the Philippines.  Our students partner with them, by selling friendship bracelets to students on the Quad.  The bracelets are made by women and children in the Philippines and sent to us, where we can sell them for much more ($1) than they would get over there.  The majority of the proceeds goes to support their communities and development, while part stays with The Navigators student organization and is used for scholarships to conferences, etc.

There are lots of student orgs out on the Quad selling hot dogs, donuts, and other things.  But for some reason, people just flock to these bracelets.  It's a great cause, and a great opportunity for The Illini Navigators to participate in the campus community at the U of I.  Below are a few pictures.

Also, this weekend, we'll be headed to Purdue University for our semi-annual meetings with our regional leader and staff from different campuses in Illinois and Indiana.  We'll fellowship and pray together, plan for our upcoming training program (which Katie and I will be directing!) and fall conference, and map out strategy for future ministry.

Please pray for unified hearts and wisdom from the Lord as we collaborate to faithfully serve our students in the coming months.

Thanks!  And have a great weekend!

-Noah

We were on Spring Break last week, so Noah spent the week traveling to visit current and future ministry partners and Ellie and I spent some time with family and friends.

All that to say, we missed our Friday update last week. I decided I would jump in and do a belated Friday update instead of Noah this week :) Here's an update on what God is doing in the freshmen women in our ministry!

There is nothing like the transformation of freshmen women in our ministry. It is amazing to think back to August and picture them-- shy, somewhat insecure, and overwhelmed.  Some are walking with the Lord and looking for fellowship, others are just around- because they were invited, or had nothing else to do.  (I like to say that when I was a freshmen, you could've invited me to go pick up trash with you, and I would've come. I was that eager to meet people, and that desperate!)

Now, these same women seem like totally new people. They have found their place at the U of I. They know how to get to class, they are committed to school, to their dorm friends, to their Bible Studies, etc. They are learning, growing and experiencing the work of God in their lives!

Yesterday I met with two freshmen Bible study leaders, and asked them for an update on some of the freshmen women. They proceeded to tell me about one girl who is going on a trip to Turkey with her business honors class. They will be visiting Ephesus, and so she decided to invite her classmates to learn about Ephesus with her in preparation for the trip. Thinking no one would say yes, she was shocked when 8 people said YES! She is preparing to teach them both the historical and religious history of Ephesus. Another girl is preparing to lead an IBD (Investigative Bible Discussion) this summer with some friends from back home. Another is on the track team and placed 5th at the Big Tens meet- she is totally God-honoring in her sport, and connecting with her teammates with a team Bible Study.   I could go on and on....

I sat there with my jaw dropped, thinking, WAIT, are these the same freshmen I met in August who were nervous to just walk in the room? YES they are!! God is doing a work in these freshmen, and it is amazing! It is especially incredible as two falls ago we had zero freshmen women involved. Last fall, we had 1! This fall- we had 15+ women join our ministry. God is moving!!! Praise the Lord!

-Katie

Hey friends,

Happy Spring to you all.  I'm loving this weather- where I can wear shorts and sandals all the time!  It's been in the 80s in Champaign.  Crazy.

I've felt like a Debbie Downer on here, sharing difficult things about life on campus and the dark world we currently live in.  But the examples keep popping up each week for me.  

I apologize that this week's update again isn't a bright one.  But it's a true one.  Many of the ideas on campus are ideas that will be or already are influencing society at large.
Let marriage be held in honor among all...  -Hebrews 13:4 ESV.
It's no secret that marriage in our culture is on the defensive.  We see this as the debates rage over public policy and laws relating to marriage.  But at the root of these debates are questions to relating to marriage itself and its purpose and place.  And the view of marriage held by many of tomorrow's leaders doesn't paint a rosy picture.  I happened to pick up the student newspaper and read an article called "With This Diploma, I Thee Wed" about students getting married before graduating.  I'm not permitted to print the contents of the article here, but you can read it yourself for free by opening this .pdf file (page 6A).

In short, the tagline under the article's title is this:

"Getting married early may seem controversial, but for some couples, it is the mature decision."  (emphasis mine)

Controversial?  Really?

So apparently we live in a world where it is now considered normal not to get married, and controversial to get married, at least while you're still in college.

To many of today's students, marriage is scary and uncertain (half of their parents' marriages have ended in divorce), and actually seen as a hindrance to a full life.  This is reflected by the views in the article.

So they settle for hooking up, or cohabiting with a girlfriend or boyfriend.  Brokenness almost inevitably results.

Check out the article, and let it motivate you to pray.  Pray that marriage would be held in high honor among our students, that we would teach about it faithfully, and that we would model to our students a godly, healthy, and fulfilling marriage relationship ourselves.

The darker it gets, the brighter the light will shine.  Pray for God to move mightily here!

-Noah

Happy Friday, friends!

Despite last week's post definitely being on the somber side of things, we have much reason to be positive.  Great things are happening here.

I just finished meeting with one of our student leaders.  We discussed the themes of pressure, worry, and anxiety.  These are things we certainly all face, but this student is facing them in a unique context:  he's working on taking his MCATs and applying for medical schools.  As a physician, and in the years leading up to that time, he'll be constantly facing down those issues:  pressure, worry, and anxiety.  One source of this for him comes in the form of competition.  His acceptance to a good medical school depends upon his ranking in comparison to his peers, which will depend for now entirely on numbers:  GPA, MCAT scores, etc.  The competition is fierce, with everyone trying to outdo one another.  One of his solutions to dealing with this competitive stress struck a chord with me:  gratitude.  In situations where the pressure is on, this young man thanks the Lord for His gracious provision and presence in his life.  He is practicing Philippians 4:6-7:

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God which transcends all understanding, will guard you hearts and minds in Christ Jesus."

Katie and I are often thinking about ways we can help our students to take what they're learning now, and translate it into their future context, whether it be their workplace, family, church, or neighborhood.  We desire to see our students walk with Christ and labor for His kingdom for a lifetime, not just during their days at university.

To assist in these efforts, we invited Bryan and Pam Bloom to share during a dinner at our house with student leaders (pictured above).  Bryan and Pam were involved with the Illini Navigators...thirty years ago!  They brought a unique perspective to our students about what it takes to make a difference in God's Kingdom for a lifetime.  We appreciated their insight, and passion to help our students.

Please pray for our student leaders, that through the equipping they are receiving now, God would bear fruit in their lives...for a lifetime!

Have a great weekend!  We're thankful from the heart for you, our friends and family, who invest in and pray for this work!

-Noah

No this is not an under-the-table unofficial blog post.  It's an inside report into part of the campus life here at Illinois.  We often tell you about the students we're actively connected with on a daily basis, but today, I'll give you a picture of what's going on with Illinois students at large (most of them who aren't walking with Jesus).

It's not every day you see large numbers of drunk people walking around in the broad daylight.  Today marks the annual "Unofficial St Patrick's Day" celebration, a student-planned drinking holiday.

Thousands of students in green tshirts descend on the Campustown district and nearby apartments and frat houses for a weekend of drunken revelry.

These are some of the future leaders of our communities, businesses, and governments.  Some of the brightest minds in our nation.  They'll spend this weekend feeling entitled to live like fools, worshiping the idols of pleasure and self.

This weekend is one of vomit, loudness, lewdness, and STDs.  And it's very easy for me to judge these students, as they follow what Paul calls "the course of this world and the prince of the power of the air, living out the passions of the flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, being by nature children of wrath."  That's Ephesians 2:2-3.

Yet I left out one descriptor of these people.  Paul writes in v2, that a life like this is one that "we all once lived," living out our bodily passions and incurring God's wrath.  This evens the playing field.  This allows me to respond like Jesus: 

When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”  -Matthew 9:36-37

Would you please pray for these students?  Pray that their lives of self-gratification would not satisfy.  Pray that they would party so hard that it would break them- IF that brokenness would turn into a search for the Way, Truth, and Life.  And pray for us: for compassionate hearts to continually love and engage with students who are lost.

And follow Jesus' instructions:  pray for Him to send laborers into His harvest field, here at the University of Illinois and beyond.

-Noah

PS: If your heart breaks for these students and you'd like some fuel for your prayers by getting a better idea of the environment here, in that spirit you can check out this photo gallery from our local newspaper.