A long overdue update.

Its long past time for another 'blog update! A lot has happened in the past month and a lot of really cool stuff is happening currently. I shall start off with past news, then share current happenings, and finally discuss current prayer requests.

Past News

Though still significantly in “New Student Outreach” mode, the main force of our work has defiantly transitioned a little more into discipleship, maintenance, and service to those around us. The two bible studies are both going really well. They are not extraordinarily well-attended, but there are several committed students in each. It has been interesting to experience the temptation to be satisfied with this “apparent success” and be satisfied with building the kingdom of Andrew's success, rather then challenged to continue the task of building the Kingdom of God. After reading Don Richardson's book Peace Child over block break, I was struck with a new understanding of how powerful the gospel actually is, and how limited my expectations for watching God work had been. I am challenged to keep begging God to pour out his spirit on this campus, begging for revival, begging that we as a community would be transformed by the powerful message of good news brought through Jesus.

Another cool development is the fact that we have been able to form relationships with a whole bunch of freshman international students who are curious about Christianity. At one point last week I gave a guy from China a couple of books about Christianity that he had asked to borrow. He was with a friend, from Nepal, who then took one of the books to read! It was pretty amazing.

Our first event following up on the “In Christ Colloquium,” a pre-block prayer meeting for the leaders of different Christian ministries went really well. I hope the other participants were as encouraged by it as I was. We have also been in conversation with the people who are re-pioneering Campus Crusade for Christ (CRU) here at CC and are exploring what it looks like for us to be partners as missionaries on this campus.

Current Happenings

This block our theme for the Bible experiments is invitation. We have studied the parable of the shrewd manager and the parable of the lost coin and lost sheep. The applications to these passages are pretty clear-- we should be doing evangelism, using our resources shrewdly to find lost people, win friends, and show people Jesus. Last night we went into the dorms and did surveys about students perceptions of Christianity in-order to open up the door for spiritual conversation. We had some awesome conversations and were encouraged to be bold in proclaiming the gospel.

Right now we are in the midst of inviting people to Jesus Unplugged the regional InterVarsity fall conference. Our goal is to bring 20 Christians and for each of them to bring 2 non Christians. Pray that God would move in such a big way, and that we would be equipped with the necessary resources to deal with such an overwhelming crowd!

Our contemplative prayer service is as beautiful as ever. We are using a liturgy from the Anglican Church in Kenya this block. It has been weird though, how few people actually make it to the service. People will constantly say they are planning on being there, and then never show up (even to the point of walking there and somehow disappearing on the way).

Prayer Needs

Please praise Jesus for the ways he has blessed us with life while we are doing his work. It has been awesome for me to watch him work around and through me.

Pray for our scripture application experiments. Pray that we would not be satisfied with some measure of “success” but would constantly see the challenge of bringing the gospel to this community in a disciplined, powerful, and loving way. Pray also that we would be able to find those Christians who have not yet found Christian community on the campus and bring them into our fellowship.

Pray for Compline; that the apparent spiritual block keeping people away would be broken down so that more people can participate in glorifying Jesus on the campus.

Finally, pray for our current evangelistic outreach. Many people are hearing about Jesus, and many people are considering coming to Jesus Unplugged, where they will interact with him much more. Pray that we would understand the gospel and communicate it clearly. Also, in about a month (November 1) Ravi Zacharias will be speaking on campus. Pray that our advertisement will be effective, and that people would be able to hear the gospel through him. Also pray for wisdom as we consider follow-up methods for that and Jesus Unplugged. Finally, please pray for my apartment-mate Ariel. She is considering choosing to follow Jesus. Pray that my witness would reveal him in truth, and that her heart would continue to be receptive.

~Andrew Nelson