God's Provision

I've been reminded time and time again about God's Provision.  I just came back from Basileia, which I will share more about in a post soon, but at the wonderful week in the Adirondacks with 350 students, God spoke.  He reminded me of how even though I've been stressing about raising the needed support to be staff on campus by Fall that He's got my back.  I mean, He is in charge of all of the money in the world, so me stressing is really just not trusting God to provide for my needs.
Last year, I started a little challenge against myself to see if I could go from April to June when I went to camp without buying groceries.  I could still buy a limited amount of fresh fruit, veggies, or milk and I wasn't able to increase the amount I went out to eat to cover my lack of grocery shopping.  I saw God provide in wonderful ways so I was never hungry.  This year I decided to do the same thing.  So far God has provided for me in many of the same ways as last year and also in new ways.  At Basileia, He challenged me to go until college starts back up in August.  That means five months of no groceries which means five months of having God provide for my basic needs.
For those of you who can't believe this can happen, I've learned that as students leave campus, they have to consciously use up the meal plan before the lose it.  I help out by eating on campus with them, which also gives me time to have some final goodbye chats.  Then people living in apartments check in with me and anything they can't or don't want to take home I end up with.  While I was gone this last week, I ended up with some new food in my fridge and freezer.  Additionally, my small group often has food at the gatherings and willingly shares leftovers with me and the other individuals who will eat it.  In many different ways, God proves that He will provide.
The last way that I've seen God working in caring for my needs, is that I decided to change my budget for IV staff.  Since to keep my teaching certification I still need to substitute about 2 days a week and therefore working 40 hours for IV and 14 teaching is a heavy load, my new budget is for me to work on staff just 30 hours a week.  I'll get all of the benefits of being a full-time staff worker, the smaller budget makes it more likely that I can start full-time in the Fall (as I am now over 50% of the way there), and then Fredonia will have me to support the vast changes that are planned for next year.  The vision is great, but God is greater and can accomplish all things.

New E-board and Basileia Prep

A few weeks ago we selected the new e-board of six students to lead the chapter throughout the next year.  Two are returning e-board members, one switching from secretary to President and the other repeating as Large Group Coordinator.  We've got our Small Group Coordinator, Worship Coordinator, and Sec/Treasurer... then finally we've got one of our newest Christians filling in the Outreach Coordinator role that was vacant last year.
As I've met with many of these students and begun to prepare for Basileia where we will spend a week of training in the Adirondacks preparing for next year, I've become very excited to work with this group of leaders.  There seems to be alot of momentum building for some culture shift and ideas such as working in conjunction with Price of Life (in NYC) to raise awareness of human trafficking are resurfacing.  I believe this group of students, in partnership with other members and leaders in the group, can effectively work toward Transforming Lives, Renewing the Campus, and Developing World Changers.  The servant leaders and I will be refocusing the chapter and helping it to grow, and I'm thrilled about the possibility to work full-time with them by the Fall.  Please be praying for the leaders and students as they finish the last two weeks of the semester, for God to work in all 9 students total as we attend Basileia, and for me to be able to reach the funding to be on campus next fall. 

Easter/Spring Break

Fredonia enjoyed a long Spring Break, including a day off for Easter Monday.  I was blessed to follow the local school break and spend two weeks at my hometown.  During that time, I was able to connect with many friends and individuals from local churches.  I enjoyed the time and am thankful for the new partners in the ministry.  I look forward to continuing the relationships I have built so far and the work I am doing on campus. 

The next few weeks for me include: 

-A trip to Syracuse for Upstate Team meetings which will be my first time actually meeting all the full-time staff in Upstate NY

-A trip to Rochester to visit other InterVarsity chapters to learn more about my role as a full-time staff worker and to gather ideas

-Preparing for a week of training camp with students in the Adirondack Mountains in late May

-More meetings with individuals to share the vision of InterVarsity

-Selecting the new leaders for next year

-Meeting with all of the graduating seniors

Praises:

-Safe travel during trips including back to Fredonia

-Finished a two week break filled with many opportunities to connect with people

-A new smartphone

-60 Caregiver Kits ordered to build May 26th then send through World Vision for those who care for individuals with AIDS

Prayer Requests:

- Continued provision through substitute days and more

- For my support to continue to come in as I approach 40% funded

- Fredonia's NomCom as we choose new leaders for next year

-Traveling mercies and productive times with other staff members and students

-A large number of students to attend Basileia, our May training conference, including all of the new leaders

-Church guidance as they decide if/how to support me

A Join-In: How A New Chapter Of My Life Began

      Last year, I was told that something called Urbana was coming up. I thought that perhaps I was suppose to be a part of missions, so I prayed about it and decided to go.
      At first, Urbana was overwhelming; there were so many missionary organizations to be a part of, so many people there, and so much to take in. I felt that I had no idea what I was supposed to learn. However, the worship, skits, seminars and Bible studies were amazing. The worship drew you into the presence of God and they taught us to sing the songs in other languages. The skits symbolically illustrated Biblical truths, and the seminars taught us a lot of great information. The morning Bible studies taught us a new way to study scripture; first, look for questions or things that stood out to you. Next, look at the text and see if the questions can be answered by looking at the verses around it or at the text as a whole. Finally, find a way to apply it to your life. It was interesting to do this as a group and to hear what others had to say.  

      The third night, we had something called "A Join-In" for our evening session. We had no idea what that was until we got there. It turned out that all 16,000 of us were going to make something called Caregiver Kits. They showed us videos like the one below, and explained that they are medical kits that Caregivers bring to the homes of people with AIDS to take care of them. http://vimeo.com/56112963
They also gave us a booklet that shared some of the stories of the caregivers or the people that they help. When it was my section's turn to go and make them, I felt that there was something special about it. It was then that God encouraged me to want to be a part of this project. I mentioned the idea of bringing it back to campus and was told that I should go for it. Hesitantly I agreed.. and the journey began.

NYC and My Parents

As I write this, I am preparing for my trip to NYC and Jersey City this weekend. I have training with other new staff members in the region on how to best build fund development relationships. I am excited to spend the time connecting with other staff members and also to learn more about how to raise the funds needed for the ministry. After I finish the training, I will be staying at a fellow staff member's apartment for the rest of the weekend. During that time, I will be connecting with alumni of Fredonia, enjoying some of what NYC has to offer, and trying to not get lost on the public transportation before enjoying a train ride back to Buffalo. Next Friday, I leave for two weeks visiting my parents in the Alfred area which will be filled with meetings with possible donors, churches, and other people I have not seen for a while. It will be wonderful to spend all of Holy Week and the week after at my parents and to finish up some of the lose ends I need to do as I fully prepare to move to Fredonia. When I return, I will be bringing back a 'new' stove for my apartment which will nicely go with the other small upgrades I am making to my college apartment. It will be a much nicer place when I finish and a place I will be proud to call my home. Until then, I have more phone calls and meetings with possible donors and would appreciate prayers for God's blessing as I trust in Him completely with my life, including finances. He's provided so far and will continue to provide. Thanks for your prayers.

Travel and technology

This week was categorized by travel and technology as I spent a lot of time travelling to Jamestown, Buffalo, Rochester, and back to Buffalo mostly to fix my computer and update other pieces such is finally getting a smartphone. I plan to go back to Buffalo again to finish fixing my computer.  On my journeys I was able to connect with my family and meet with alumni from Fredonia. I am also working to connect with other local churches and ones from my home town to update them on my ministry with InterVarsity.  When attended small group this week, I was able to share my testimony and how God is changing my plans and putting His into place in my life instead.  He is continuing to show me how he is working in my life and the lives of my unsaved friends on campus. Please be praying for these friendships and for them to trust God.
Later this week, InterVarsity will do a spaghetti dinner to raise money for the AIDS caregiver kits. The fundraiser will be held at harvest chapel on Thursday from 5:30 to 7 with tickets costing 7 dollars. Please come join us to help us build as many kits as possible.
This weekend I'm looking forward to connecting with more of the youth from kids club as we attend snow camp held at a local camp. It should be a great time for the youth to learn more about God and to see God's kingdom at work with youth and college students.  God is certainly moving right now in the Fredonia Dunkirk area.

February Newsletter Emailed!

My first newsletter has been emailed out. I hope to put together the print ones tomorrow and send them out. If you did not sign up for either please check it out at http://us6.campaign-archive1.com/?u=b8ad235dbdf3cdd411d46dca5&id=d9d7428a71 The print is not exactly the same as the online one, but has all of the important things. If you would like to sign up to receive an email version of the next newsletter (which will be sent in a few months), please use the link from the last post.