back in action

I've fallen quite short of my commitment to post weekly updates. Working on fixing that for the spring semester. It's going to be necessary because so many exciting things are developing!

I left St. Louis in mid-December for a trip home to AZ for Christmas. Honestly, I was not in a good place emotionally or spiritually. As I looked back on my first few months on campus I had a hard time identifying where God was working. I felt frustrated by the lack of fruit and equally frustrated by my apparent inability to sustain reasonable expectations for this new season of life and ministry. My struggle with perfectionism was on full display!

One Voice student leaders at our last gathering for the fall semester.

Plans to spend ample time with Jesus over the break didn't pan out - I spent most of my two weeks at home lying on the couch trying to get over a sinus infection. The thought of returning to campus for another semester of scrambling to do something, anything to prove that my ministry is worthwhile felt overwhelming to say the least.

I flew back into St. Louis on January 2 in order to attend InterVarsity's National Staff Conference. It happens once every three years and it is the only time when all 1500 or so of us are together. The theme of this year's conference was "I Am Not Ashamed of the Gospel". I came into the week feeling so weary, but expectant that God would speak to my heart in a significant way. He did.

As I listened to powerfully convicting teaching from Romans and had the privilege of engaging in praise and worship with my coworkers, I heard Jesus reminding me that He is attractive enough just as He is. I get so hung up on contextualizing truth for a postmodern college audience. Until that moment I hadn't realized that part of my preoccupation was evidence of my fear that He is not able to do what He's been doing for all of history. I feel the the crippling need to make it look right, say it the right way - as if that is enough to convince people into the Kingdom! I heard Jesus say, "The Gospel is powerful enough. My Spirit is at work. Move forward in faith." The Spirit was truly at work in our midst and it was incredible!

That just scratches the surface of what God did in me at staff conference, but I hope it give you some insight. Students began classes again last week. I hosted our first leader gathering for the spring at my apartment on Saturday and something was different. As I shared about my hope that we would be in tune with the Spirit's leading, rather than simply continuing to plan programs and events in the hope that others will show up when invited, there was excitement among the team. We're moving forward with a unity of purpose that I don't think ever fully crystallized during the fall. Praise God for fresh vision and new life!

I can't wait to see where this leads...

meet the team

These are my co-workers. We're spread across Missouri and Iowa with a small contingent in Kansas, but all that will change in the next few years. We're growing and expanding despite our small numbers, trusting that God has ushered in a season of harvest at college campuses across the Great Plains.

I feel so privileged to be a part of this team.

wrapping up

It is really hard to believe that this semester is coming to a close in just a couple of weeks. As I have been working with the students in One Voice it has become clear that the rigorous academic pace at Wash U pulls them in a lot of different directions. We talked at a leader gathering a couple of weeks ago about how to be good stewards of our time so that we actually have room in our schedules to reach out to the people around us.

In the midst of studying for finals and finishing up projects it would be easy for students to turn inward and neglect the opportunities to minister to their peers that God is placing in front of them. Please pray that God would continue to challenge us to be sacrificial with our time and view it as another resource that we can be generous with.

I was able to spend Thanksgiving in AZ with family. It was so good to get a break from the "transition" mode that I've been in for the last five months. I am looking forward to spending more time with them in three weeks when I return for Christmas break.

Hanging out with my silly nieces was one of the highlights of my visit home!

telling the story

Pray for our staff team this afternoon. We are heading out on campus to have spiritual conversations and share the gospel.

the kingdom is near

Rohit is a freshman at Wash U majoring in chemical engineering. His family is Hindu. I remember meeting him on move-in day when he came up to our InterVarsity table and wrote down his contact information. A couple of our chapter members began visiting him regularly in September. Three weeks ago he showed up at our Bible study on Tuesday night and he's been coming ever since!

Please pray that Rohit would continue to want to learn more about the kingdom of God. I sense that he is intrigued by our fellowship and the way that we've welcomed him. Pray that he would find Jesus intriguing as well!

I met Kevin at Praise Night. He is a sophomore at Wash U, but his hometown is Scottsdale, AZ. If that is not enough of a coincidence, he is also half-Korean! As soon as I met Kevin I felt prompted to pray for him. I started asking other students about his openness to spirituality. My inquiries were met with the affirmation that he is seeking. In fact, he spent the majority of his freshman year attending a prayer meeting for Asian Christian Fellowship, one of the four InterVarsity chapters at Wash U. As I've continued to pray for him, asking God for specific spiritual insight that will help me care for Kevin, I believe that I've been given the invitation to challenge him - to point blank ask Kevin why he is not yet following Jesus.

I don't run into Kevin very often, so the obedient response to this invitation feels tricky. Pray that I will have an opportunity to spend time with him in the next month and that his heart will be open to the God he's been searching for in the past 18 months.

God is at work and we're running to catch up with Him!

update

I am experiencing some technical difficulties with the e-mail version of my October prayer update. I've posted it below as an alternative. Thank you for your prayers!

InterVarsity at Washington University in St. Louis - October 2007 update

Dear ministry team,
As I scan the list of those of you receiving this letter in the coming week, I am so grateful for the truth that God does not call un into His mission alone - He uses teams! I am thrilled that you are a part of the work that He is doing on campus, specifically where He has placed me at Washington University in St. Louis.

NSO

Our official New Student Outreach events and activities for the 2007-2008 school year have come and gone, but the work of building relationships with new students never ends! More than 1300 freshmen arrived on campus at the end of August. For many of them, this is the first time they have spent extended time away from home and many are looking for community as well as people who will engage with them on a spiritual level. As a witnessing community on campus, One Voice desires to share the Gospel as the "big story" of God's redemption. It's a story worth getting caught up in! Pray for our leadership team as we learn what it means to communicate the depth and mystery of our journey as Christ-followers with students who have grown up in a post-Christian world.

FCO7 in Kansas City, MO

13 One Voice students joined 240 other InterVarsity students from across the Central Region for our inaugural Regional Fall Conference - FC07. We heard teaching that challenged us to consider the areas in our lives where Jesus does not yet have lordship and the echoed invitation to drop our nets and follow Him. In addition, my students were encouraged to pursue our vision to be a group that is marked by hospitality to non-believers, especially those who have had negative interactions with Christians in the past. What an answer to prayer!

Perseverance

One Voice has undergone several staff transitions in the past five years, the most recent being my arrival. The task of stabilizing the fellowship structurally is a big job by itself, but it needs to happen while simultaneously coaxing students out of their comfort zones so that we are embodying our mission to make disciples on campus. The challenge is huge! Please pray for God to encourage and empower us as a team. His spirit is moving and we want to partner with what He is doing. I will continue to post more regular prayer requests and stories about God's work in our midst on my ministry blog: agarnergirl.blogspot.com.

In Him,
Andrea
andrea.garner@gmail.com

Preparing to feed 100+ hungry college students following
Praise Night, one of our joint fellowship NSO events.

Sitting at the desk of Tom Lin, our new Regional Director.
I'm trying to look visionary.

expanding

The past several weeks have been full. I've been asking other IV staff folk when I can expect the pace to slow down and they just laugh. Reality is that there will always be too many things to do and not enough time to do them, so I get to learn how to discern where God would have me focus my energy on a daily basis! Not an easy lesson for a recovering people pleaser who cringes at the thought of having to say "no". Differentiating between what is good and what is best has never been my strong suit!

The weight of the job that I have taken on feels heavy right now. I have been reminded of the truth in Psalm 127:1 - Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain (NRSV). I want to build this ministry with Him, rather than relying on my own ideas and vision.

Praise God with me for:

• Cat - a freshman student who has been hanging out with us and has a lot of leadership potential
• One Voice student leaders excitement about bringing their cynical friends one step closer to Jesus

Prayer requests:

• clarity for the One Voice student leaders and myself as we seek God's guidance regarding how to best use our time and energy resources for the remainder of the semester
• wisdom as I learn how to disciple individual students
• grace to make the choice to spend time in prayer as a team, even when our instincts tell us to rush forward and "do" tasks