December Update

Hello friends!

A quick update on this past semester, as I mentioned previously, I have started my schooling at Talbot School of Theology. This meant that for the last semester of Epic ministry, I have switched into a part time role as opposed to my full time commitment in my prior two years of serving.

This transition as well as the addition of my two new fellow staff members made for a very new and transformative semester! Michael and Nicolas were two of my past roommates who began as part time staff alongside Jamie and I this past fall. Being able to serve alongside them has been so encouraging and refreshing for me. Having more capacity as a team has opened the door for us to begin new and exciting things as a ministry! With a total team of 4 staff members now, my specific focus has been on leading our weekly outreach events as well as helping facilitate the freshmen men’s bible studies.

Campus Outreach!

Having more leaders and staff members has opened doors and opportunities for us to be creative and bold in how we carry out our mission of proclaiming Jesus to our community. Almost every Wednesday one of the student leaders and I would gather a handful of our students to evangelize on campus. We decided to focus on two main objectives. One was to emphasize and prioritize prayer as something of an engine for any and all activities we did. Even though we were pushing for students to be present and participate, we also wanted to be clear about how and why we were doing these weekly events. Secondly, we sought to find the balance of pushing Epic students out of their comfort zones, while also trying to accommodate and understand the fears or discomfort they may experience while evangelizing. This was a learning process as certain events were met with excitement while others were not. Taking time to really understand the reasoning behind these feelings in our students helped us to not only lovingly challenge them, but to also equip them and encourage them where they most felt discouraged!

Despite the ups and downs and even my failures like half melted ice cream, I was so blessed and encouraged both by our students and the people we met. So many steps of faith, big and small were taken, and I couldn’t be more proud of how our students shine the love of Jesus to the campus.

Bible Study

The second large focus I was given for this semester was helping to lead and facilitate men’s bible studies. Initially, my role was to co-lead a freshmen men’s bible study with a student leader. This time was easily one of the highlights of my week! To see young men so eager and hungry for the word with genuine questions and curiosity reminded me of why campus ministries can be so impactful. I personally came to Christ through a bible study just like these as a freshmen so having the opportunity to be a part of one was extra special for me. Partway through the semester, we as leadership made the decision to combine all of men’s bible study into one larger group. This provided great opportunities for the freshmen to familiarize themselves with the rest of the ministry while studying the word and getting a chance to hear from others. For the upperclassmen, I witnessed a compassion and care for the newer faces and saw elements of sacrificial leadership emerge. These brothers who have been cared for and loved by the ministry were eager to pay it forward in a sense.

It was in these bible studies I got a chance to meet with one of our students who is not a believer but has been actively participating and has become a part of the community. I was shocked to hear that he did not believe and had never been to church because of how curious he was and how intently he studied the word during these times. Witnessing how we as a community are able to show him Christ-like love, and seeing how shocking and impactful these small acts of kindness are to our brother have reminded me in my own personal doubts and insecurities that God is moving through me and this ministry, and that His plan is great.

Prayer Requests

• Prayer for the ministries student leaders and us staff members
  • That we would continually be reminded of our need for the Gospel
  • For soft hearts that do not become jaded in the midst of serving
  • For boldness to stand firm for Christ in every situation
• Prayer for the campus
  • That God would prepare the hearts of those we will interact with
  • For our students to be courageous in spreading the gospel