As another fall semester is about to begin, things around our place are really ramping up with activity.
In fact, we're having a huge pancake breakfast for all returning and incoming students this Saturday morning at our place!! (woohoo!)
But before all the new freshmen move into the dorms, our student ministry team enjoyed an overnight retreat this past weekend, where Marc prepared and trained our group for reaching out and doing city-wide ministry this fall. That's no small task!
It was a beautiful time in the mountains to pray and make plans for the upcoming year.
This will be a year of rebuilding. Over the past two years, we've lost many seniors who provided alot of leadership in our group, so in some ways it feels a bit like we're starting over with a younger group.
We're also changing the location of our meeting space this fall. We'll be meeting at New Covenant Schools (where Caroline will be attending, actually), which is a beautiful facility centrally located to all five of our colleges. AND, did I mention they're not charging us rent? (such a blessing!)
We are quite needy, though.
Pray for us, as our family adjusts to the hectic pace of the next month. It's exciting, but exhausting!
Pray for Marc, as he prepares to teach through the book of Romans on Thursday nights (beginning NEXT Thurs!).
Pray for our student ministry team, that they'll naturally reach out to those God places around them and invite them to come on Thursday nights.
Pray for Marc, our intern, Tom, and our "pretend-tern," Nancy, as they meet one-on-one with students. Pray that they would listen well.
That they would speak when it's time to speak,
ask when it's time to ask,
encourage when it's time to encourage,
and confront when it's time to confront.
Pray for our RUF fundraising, which is doing well at the moment thanks to a huge end-of-the-year boost in giving last Christmas, but what we need even more than the one-time gifts are 50 folks to give $50 a month to sustain this ministry. (fyi, if you want to be one of those 50, go to www.ruf.org/donate and designate it to Lynchburg RUF)
Pray for students in Lynchburg, (is it obvious they need prayer? ha ha!)
-that those who are homesick and lonely would be comforted and find a new community away from home in RUF
-that those who are skeptical of Christianity would find a safe place in RUF to express doubt and ask questions
-that those who would benefit from the ministry of RUF would be invited and become involved
-that those who are tired and burned out from legalism might find RUF to be a rest stop where they see Jesus as more beautiful and believable than ever before
-that students from each of the 5 campuses (Liberty University, Lynchburg College, Randolph College, Sweet Briar College, Central Virginia Community College) would come to RUF and intermingle well. Historically, these are not colleges that get along.
-that the Gospel would be central in every area of their life, and that God would use the ministry of RUF to transform the places in their lives where it is not
We're off to begin Lucky number 13!
Thank you, friends, for your love and support.
I can't believe it's been 13 years! How are you both still so YOUNG?? ;)
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