Hey everybody! April 2017
The school year is over and we are heading swiftly into the summer. The students are taking off every which way and it is starting to get a lot quieter around here, which is kind of nice because the last month was busy, busy, busy. April was a great month for the campus ministry.
We finished out this school year strong. We had several individual Bible studies going, our weekly big group Bible study was bringing in more people than we had all year, and we finally started our weekly praise time on the campus green. I am so proud of our students.
Our ministry here is decidedly on the evangelistic end of the spectrum. We usually have a few strongly committed Christians, a lot of seekers, and some who are just here for the food (which I still love having in our group). So in the 4.5 years I've been here, we have never had enough Christians in our Christian Student Center to really have any good praise and worship.
We have tried a couple of times. I don't know how many solo numbers I have sang over the years that have crashed into giggles when we realized I was the only one singing. I grew up with a deep love for worship through song, so I've always wanted that for my students and have never been able to get it.
Singing On The Campus Green
Until now. This last month or two, the students organized their own “Singing On The Campus Green” on Wednesday nights after our Wednesday night services. They made their own songbooks, they set the time and place, and they made the whole thing happen. Here are two pictures of our students getting together for their devotional time. The bottom picture is of them on the campus and the top picture is them drinking hot coco and coffee afterwards. And I am thrilled about the whole thing!
“Sing praise to the Lord, you His godly ones,
And give thanks to His holy name.”
- Psalm 30:4
In other news, we started repainting our Christian Student Center and doing some general repairs. Over the last couple of years, we have had loads of activity in here and it is starting to take its toll. The whole place is in need of a good sprucing. So the last half of this semester we started painting all the rooms with a bunch of nice light grays and blues. The idea is to make the space feel as large as possible, due to us having a bigger group lately. Over the summer we plan to keep working on it, both inside and out, until this place shines this Fall.
As far as outreach in April, we participated in the new “Sting In The Spring” event. It was a week of fun activities for the students right before the end of the school year as a “one last big party” sort of idea. We helped out by running a “Frisbee Toss” booth on “Carnival Day.” It was silly, but it was also just another way to get our club out in front of people. We also had around half a dozen of our students help run the booth, which is a great sign that our crew is getting more involved lately.
Along those same lines, the Sundance Church of Christ hosted an area-wide church singing event and we had a huge showing. Usually we only have a student or two show up, but this time we had five of our student representing us. It was a beautiful thing!
Our group is coming together in a big way this semester. There have been a lot of good friendships built and, as we hit the end of the semester, there were a lot of tears and hugs. Here is a picture of our students from our last Bible study of the school year:
Bible Study Spring 2017
We are all simultaneously excited about next year and a little nervous. Our sweet Bailey is moving back home to Hawley, Minnesota this Fall. Our sweet Rachel just graduated and will probably be back here in the Fall, but jobs could lead her anywhere. And our sweet Chanel is also moving away this summer to look for better career opportunities.
These three girls have been here longer than just about anyone else and have been the heart and soul of our group. We are sad to see them go, but we look forward to seeing how God uses them next. We are also excited about the Fall because we have a lot of new faces in our group and we look forward to whatever great adventures God has in mind for us next. So we are all just a jumble of emotions these days.
Thanks for reading! You have a great day!
-Silas