further up and further in

God answers prayer. In January I asked you to join me in praying that God would direct me towards missional students at Wash U who could be a part of re-planting One Voice. I have to confess that a part of me didn't believe that He would answer.

But He did.

Enter Jenn. I met Jenn in one of the freshmen residence halls at the end of January and had a gut sense that I needed to get to know her. It was an exciting moment!

It took a few weeks before our schedules lined up and we were able to meet for breakfast. I asked her about her time in college so far and why she wasn't connected with one of the other Christian fellowships on campus. She said that she had tried a few out but that none of them felt like places she would feel comfortable bringing her non-Christians friends. The more we talked the more it became clear that she had a lot of those and she was consistently finding ways to communicate God's love for them. She firmly believed that her ministry as a college student was to be the kind of friend that introduces people to Jesus.

Needless to say, this was a really fun conversation to be in the middle of!

I shared with her about my sense that God was calling One Voice to be a conversion community, a place where we were being transformed because of our obedience to Jesus and inviting our friends to experience the same thing. Jenn exclaimed, "Oh my gosh! You're the first person I've met at Wash U that has that kind of vision. That's what I want to see happen, too!"

Jenn is a missional Christian. She knows that God wants to uniquely use her in His mission to draw her friends into a relationship with Him.

Jenn and I are praying big, bold prayers for the incoming class of freshmen. We can't wait to see who Jesus is going to call us to serve in this Fall.

God answers prayer.

Jenn (on the far right) desires to see her friends and other
students at Wash U understand that they are deeply loved by God.

2009-2010 images

I hope you enjoy this photo summary of the past school year as much as I enjoyed putting it together! I feel a little overwhelmed by the awareness that each person in each of these photos has a story. I smiled and teared up as I compiled these images, recounting the moments throughout the year when I had the privilege of witnessing their stories interacting with the epic story of the Kingdom. That, my friends, is such a gift!

I invite you to celebrate with me because you have been a part of making these moments possible:

One Voice serving the city with WULF - I will always remember this school year as the year that the WULF atheists became my friends. How I long for them to know their true identity as friends of God!

Hmmmm...I find it suspicious that it's a One Voicer attempting to choke me in the above photo. :)

You mean to tell me that we can serve together more than once? Get outta here! :)

Nothing says, "Merry Christmas!" quite like this photo. One Voice has a tradition of inviting friends to a party involving a gingerbread house design contest. My team dominated this year. Yes!

There was some serious Bible study going down at this table! In February I had the incredible fun of leading three of my staff co-workers through an inductive study in the first two chapters of Mark's Gospel as we prepared for Catalyst, our summer training camp for students. The opportunities I've had to lead groups in Scripture study have been such a blessing to me this year.

Spending time at a local elementary school tutoring kids during the CityLights Spring Break Urban Project - our team included students from St. Louis, Minnesota and Georgia.

Christy just graduated from Wash U and she served as a leader in One Voice for three years. Fun fact: her mom was an InterVarsity student leader during her college days. Christy, on the other hand, arrived at Wash U pretty well determined to avoid InterVarsity. That didn't really work out for her. I am convinced that God has a sense of humor! She and her fiancée, Jonathan, are CityLights alumni and served as summer interns in 2009. It has been an absolute joy to watch their hearts expand to love the city of St. Louis.

It was hugely significant for me to be a part of the team that organized Wash U's first Veritas Forum. As I stood at the back of the room as over 200 students heard two opposing perspectives on selflessness, one of which was a thoroughly Christian worldview, I was so grateful. That evening represented over two years of dreaming and praying. Let me assure you that it was worth it!

InterVarsity was just one of the groups sponsoring The Veritas Forum. I had so much fun partnering with students from other fellowships on campus. I also enjoyed welcoming people at the door. :)

Wash U students engaged with the dialogue between two respected professors with two very different worldviews.

The best conversations happened after the dialogue had ended! What a good God we serve!

In April the Wash U staff hosted three leadership trainings for next year's leaders in our fellowships. Here I am reminding students that challenging those we lead is an integral part of actually loving them.

Catalyst 2010 - these students and staff studied Mark for a total of fourteen hours at our summer training camp in May! It is always exciting to experience community forming around Scripture. One of the students pictured above decided to commit his life to Jesus on the third night of camp and then shared his testimony in our study time the next day. Thanks be to God for good soil and new life!

Three cheers for partnership! Part of the fun of Catalyst is that our Central Region staff team gets to work together to serve all of our students. It's a community effort and we get to see God show up in a big way as students hear the call to be missionaries on their campuses. It's a good reminder for us, too!