Hey friends,
Thanks so much for praying. So many exciting things have happened in the ten days since students have returned. We have much to tell you about, and we'll try and get a more comprehensive update out soon.
In the meantime, know that your prayers are being answered, and the Lord is doing mighty things! Please continue to pray. Thanks!
-Noah
Sometimes people will ask, "Where's your office?" I usually respond, "Wherever I'm working!" or "The campus is my office!" I have a home office, but find that my most productive work time comes when I'm at a table in the vending room of the Union or at the library on campus. It's a blessing not to be chained down to one place! Recently I was walking through the Union on the way to my "office", and I came across the Campus Navigator. Naturally the name caught my attention :). I discovered that I was looking at the campus newspaper's summer guide for freshmen and others who would be arriving on campus this summer and fall. The publication is full of articles by current students with common sense advice to those who are new to campus. Good stuff. Yet one article saddened me. I wished it shocked me, but what I saw was all too common. The article is all about tips on avoiding the "Freshman 15" (the infamous extra pounds an American college student supposedly puts on in the freshman year). While most of the tips are in response to the consumption of all-you-can-eat cafeteria food and large amounts of alcohol by many freshman students on campus, the last "tip" caught my eye. I'll quote it for you: Have lots of sex: This is what all the experts really mean by "living active lifestyles." Seriously though, Google "calories burned during sex." It's a workout! --Daily Illini Campus Navigator Summer 2011, page 9. That's what the article says! Students (eighteen year old students!!) arriving on campus and picking up this publication will see that casual sex is a very normal activity on campus (which sadly, it is). One might argue that the writer is kidding, but it's doubtful. This unfortunately reflects our campus (and culture's) incredibly casual attitude regarding sex, strongly conflicting with the Scriptures view of sex as a precious gift, sacred act, and wonderful thing...in the context of marriage.As we'd expect, the consequences of cheap sex is a whole lot of sexual brokenness--which is also very evident in the lives of students on campus-- Christian and not. It's an incredibly sad state of affairs.Would you please pray today for the sexual state of our campus? Brokenness runs rampant here, but God offers hope, healing, and wholeness to those who desire it.At the beginning of His ministry, Jesus declared Himself as the fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy from Isaiah 61--The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor. --Luke 4:18-19Please pray that this work of Christ would be fulfilled in the lives of many students on campus, as they come to Jesus for life.You can find the aforementioned article here.-Noah
Prayer has been a big theme in our time leading up to this summer. - Our summer study with students this summer is on prayer using Lee Brase's Approaching God, which uses different prayers found in Scripture to help us discover for about God's character and how we can more effectively approach Him in prayer.
- This spring, I received a free copy of Bob Beltz's Becoming a Man of Prayer, and have started to work through it this summer on my own.
- Students have expressed their growing desire and heart for praying for our campus.
It seems to me that the Lord is doing something, as all these prayer developments have seemed to pop up independent of each other. I wonder if the Lord wants to do something big in the coming months...in us...through us? How might He want to impact the campus, especially as many of our students are taking over the responsibility to lead our freshman Bible studies this fall? It's exciting to think about, as I wonder if this season of prayer is preparing us for something exciting that is to come... Would you please join us in praying this summer for God to do big things here at Illinois? In and through our lives and the lives of our students? You can find specific requests on the Prayer page. -Noah
This semester is off to a really great start!! Noah and I are both leading students through an inductive study of the book of 1 Thessalonians! It is really exciting to watch our students really dig into the word together. Now that school has been in session for a few weeks, we have gotten into a "routine" of sorts for the week. It's a big blessing for me especially to have a basic pattern of what goes on throughout the week. It is great to be meeting with students, planning Nav Nights, leading Bible Studies, etc. etc. It is amazing to see students start taking initiative/ have leadership roles in some of these things as well. Up until this semester almost everything in our ministry has been staff led. Last week was the first week since we have moved here that neither Noah nor Norm (our boss) was a part of the Nav Night worship team. This means that a student LED the worship team and we have students to be ON the worship team! It may seem small, but this is huge! Noah is also training some people to do sound/tech stuff at Navs which will ease his Thursday night load. We even have a team of students helping plan our upcoming retreat (did I mention how THRILLED we are to have student help/input?!?!) We are eally enjoying EVERYTHING this semester (which makes for long days and busy weeks, but we are really grateful!) Two big things that are coming up are:1) Navs "Spring" Retreat:: Noah and I are planning (along with a team of students) a retreat for the U of I Navs group. This is the first time we have done something like this where we have a co-ed retreat that is just our Navs group (Our fall conference is a regional conference with Nav groups from multiple campuses coming together.) The retreat is just about 10 days away! (It is Fri-Sun February 18-20) If you want to see the great promo videos Noah made to promote the conference to our students, go here: http://www.illininavs.org/retreat.htmlThe retreat is about loving God in singleness, dating and marriage. We really want to encourage students to love God first and foremost! Please be praying for all the preparations that go into planning a retreat!2) An Evening with the Illini Navigators. This is also a first for our ministry. In just about a month we are holding a fundraising banquet. The intent is threefold: (a) It is an opportunity for students to invite their parents, relatives, friends, mentors, etc to come and find out more about the ministry. A variety of students will be sharing testimonies about how God is using them at the U of I, Norm will give a short message, and we will be showing a video about The Navigator Collegiate work. (b) We as a ministry will have a chance to serve together! We will be decorating, doing valet parking, preparing and serving food, doing childcare, etc etc. It should be a great bonding event! (c) We will be raising money for the Navigator ministry here at the U of I (Things like conference scholarships and subsidies, weekly Nav Night expenses, food for socials, etc. ) If you interested in knowing more about the banquet (or if you want to come!) go here: http://evening.illininavs.org/
The answer is BOTH! The area of campus that Noah and I are focusing on primarily is affectionately known as, "The 6-Pack". (Six large dorms on the Champaign side of campus.)
This summer our mission field has been turned into a construction zone. They tore down two large dining halls that were in the center of the block so it looks more like a disaster than a place a new freshman would be anxious to call home :)
Nonetheless in less than a month (August 19th) thousands of freshman students will be moving in to these dorms. Noah and I have spent much time in this area walking and praying for the Lord to do great things here.
We are praying for the students that will be moving in. We are praying for God to put us in contact with many students living in these buildings that want to know more about Him. We are praying to connect with students in the 6-pack that we have something in common with. We are asking the Lord to go before us in this very place!
There are also about 15 students who were involved with us last year who are returning to live in these dorms. We are praying that God will connect them with roommates, neighbors and floor-mates that are open to the gospel.
Will you join us in praying for the students that will soon be calling this construction zone their home?
Just so you know... there is a perk to all of this work and mess. The picture below is the new dining hall that was built to replace the two that were torn down. It looks like a beautiful building. We are anxious to get inside when it finally opens on August 15.
TMS. This acronym wouldn't ring a bell in the minds of most, yet is becoming very common among our students. TMS stands for Topical Memory System, a tool developed by the founder of The Navigators that, for decades, has been helping people memorize God's Word. Katie and I have benefited greatly from memorizing the Scriptures: encouragement in tough times ( Is 41:10), strength in temptation ( Ps. 119:9-11), and wisdom in sharing with others about the Gospel ( 2 Cor. 5:17-21). We long for our students to experience these blessings as well. Last October, I challenged two freshman guys to begin memorizing two verses a week, and watch for God to move in their lives via these verses. I even put it out there that with a little extra work, they could finish the whole 60-passage TMS by the end of the spring semester. They were skeptical, but agreed to give it a shot. (I upped the ante slightly by promising a steak dinner for each of them if they finished by the end of the year!) It's now near the end of March, and these two students have been flying through their verses, deciding to shoot for at least 3 verses a week. They're on pace to finish the TMS by mid-late April. More importantly, they are seeing God move in powerful ways in their lives through these verses. They now see the literally life-changing benefit of Scripture Memory. And students around them are taking notice, saying, I want what those guys have! Want God to move powerfully in your life in this way? Check out the Topical Memory System here. And please continue to pray for our students, that God would continue to transform their lives as they grow in His Word. We appreciate your prayers more than you know! - Noah
Check back on the post from 9/1/08. You'll see a reference to some games of croquet played with students.
One of the students we played with was named David. After that croquet match, we invited him to our freshman party and other kickoff activities. David came and has enjoyed being a part of a loving group of Christians. He joined a small group Bible Study led by one of our students.
This past week, the students were asked to write their testimonies- the story of God's faithfulness in their lives and of how they came to know Jesus as their Savior. David realized he didn't really have a testimony. He talked with his Bible Study leader who shared the Gospel with him, and David surrendered his life to Christ! Please pray for David as he begins to grow in his walk with Christ. Thank God for saving him, and smile as you think about the party happening in Heaven! (Luke 15:7,10)
Check out the prayer page. We'll be joining 348 other students and staff for The Weekender our Upper Midwest Collegiate Fall Conference.
Pray for a fruitful time of teaching and fellowship. I (Noah) have many responsibilities throughout the conference. Pray that I can perform them well. Thanks!
Here's some math for you:
50 lbs of flour + 4 ovens + 150 students = ??
Our annual homemade pizza party! We were (pleasantly) overwhelmed by the turnout for this annual kickoff event. Students had a great time eating delicious pizza and making connections with their fellow students and staff. God has surrounded us with so many people. What a blessing!
Next week, many of our students will be starting Investigative Bible Discussions (IBDs) in their dorms- a short 4-week discussion for non-Christians on Jesus and His encounters with various people in the Gospels. Please pray that God would bring people to these studies, and they Jesus would draw them to Himself!
We're up to 61%. Thanks for the prayers. Keep 'em comin!
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