a line allows progress

I have been so proud of my student leaders. They are totally stepping up to the plate to make sure that One Voice continues on the course we set for the year at the start of NSO in August. It has been such a good reminder for me that my presence on campus is not necessary for God's work to continue in them and in the group as a whole.. Now, I still want to be present on campus in order to be a part of that work, but it is thoroughly his. How quickly I forget that.

The parents of two of my students are interested in joining my support team, which is an unexpected blessing. God is raising up some advocates on my behalf and I am very grateful.

Your continued prayers are very much appreciated as my "40 Days of Fundraising" continues to gain momentum.

Photo: One Voice students went boating in Forest Park on Friday evening.

hope vs. trust

I was praying this morning about what book(s) of Scripture I ought to marinate in over the next two months. The Psalms emerged as the winner!

Psalm 31:24 jumped off the page - Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the LORD (NIV). I was curious at the use of the word hope as opposed to trust. I am well aware that I need to embody both of those traits these days, but I am not always clear on the distinction. I busted out the concordance to do some detective work. It turns out that the Hebrew root for hope as it is used in this verse is yachal (there should be a little carrot over the first a, but I don't know how to type that). It means "to wait; by implication be patient" and the synonyms are "be pained, stay, tarry, trust, wait". On the other hand, the word translated as trust in many of the psalms is from the Hebrew root batach which means "to be confident or sure".

I like the distinction. I am also appreciative of the timely reminder that the difficulty of hope lies in the painful reality that it involves waiting for what is lacking, what is yet to be. Hope is not the necessarily warm and fuzzy feeling that I imagine. I will be mulling that over for a while.

In the meantime, I want to practice the discipline of active, expectant waiting. I want to leap.

one mountain behind me, one up ahead

New Student Outreach has wrapped up more or less. We've got a good group of new freshmen who are connected with One Voice and they had their first small group Bible study last night. I so excited! I am also extremely tired from late night activities on campus, baking up a storm (homemade cookies are a great way to meet new students!), and pushing myself to be as extroverted as possible!

Even as the busiest part of the school year comes to a close there is a big change on the horizon. It's official: I will spend the next seven weeks off campus raising the rest of my budget for this year. The hope is that I will be able to be on campus full-time by the beginning of November. It's a high cost. I've met so many students over the past three weeks of NSO that I am anxious to invest in, but the reality is that my ministry on campus will be severely hindered in the long run if I have not kept up with this part of the work that God has called me into for this season. So far I have raised 41% of my budget for the 2008 fiscal year. I covet your prayers as I work diligently in the coming weeks and trust God to provide. He continues to prove just how faithful he is!

Leaders from One Voice, Harambee, and Asian Christian Fellowship track God's mission throughout Scripture during our undergrad leader retreat two weeks ago.

We packed a lot of material into our 12 hour retreat,
so we ended the day with some fun!