August Prayer Letter

The First Six Weeks

6,000 freshman students walked onto campuses in Southwest MO the past two weeks. They were presented with opportunities to go whatever direction they desired, to attend a host of functions, clubs, or parties. 330 of those freshman and upperclassmen walked into our first Thursday night weekly meeting(pictured above). They heard the gospel of Jesus Christ in their first week at college. 

What these students will encounter in the coming weeks can rattle even the strongest foundations. Many professors will shake their faith with postmodern teaching. Studies show that in the first six weeks of their freshman year, students will align themselves with what will shape their entire college experiences, which in turn will set the trajectory for their entire life. Please pray for this critical window.

"Exactly what I needed"

Spencer was burned by the church. Condemned and cast out, he was resistant to Christians. However, he encountered a Cru staff member at MO State and heard the gospel during our initial outreach. He found the community and grace Jesus offers in the midst of our sin. Spencer was so thankful our team invited him with open arms to attend the meeting. Our hope for him is to restore a right outlook on the church. Pray with us.

Small Groups

Cru small groups started this week. The goal of these groups is for students to get involved in a smaller community where they can grow in their faith and reach out to their friends. We have small groups in all areas of campus: fraternity and sororities, athletic teams, international students, residence halls, off campus, and faculty. Here are a few stories from this past week. 

Are you familiar with the lifestyles of college athletes? Often busy, tired, and the source of the party life on campus--- ministry in this arena is tough. Which is why we are so excited 60 of MSU’s athletes showed up for our kick-off BBQ last week! The entire men’s and women’s basketball teams attended and several of the guys even said, “we’ll come back next week for the preaching too.” Imagine if these campus social leaders (as athletes often are) began pointing their peers to Christ. The whole culture would change! 

Residence hall Bible studies are often a place where students, especially freshman, make lasting friendships and experience life change. This past week one of the halls "Freddy" had 50 students attend (pictured above). Another hall "Hammons" had almost 30. This is the most we've seen in the years we've been involved at Missouri State. Jordan, the small group leader in Freddy said."My heart was so happy tonight to find over 50 kids in Freddy come to our CRU 'small' group. I am so stoked to get to be a part of leading so such eager students. Watch out, God is doing big things at Mo State!"

This is Brandon. Last spring Brandon led Sebastian to the Lord. Sebastian went on a summer mission trip, is now an RA in one of the dorms, brought 10 of his students to the weekly meeting, and is beginning to disciple a freshman guy- Tucker. Praise God for students coming to the Lord and taking it to the world. 

Most international students will never step foot in an American home. This is our first group meeting of the year and the students had a ton of fun making friends and playing games!

What's Next?

Fall Getaway is coming up September 26-28. This retreat is a great time for students to develop friendships, get away from the demands of school, and really focus on the Lord. Pray many students sign up and bring their friends.

Prayer Requests

• We are at 45% of our monthly financial support goal. Join in praying we reach 100% in 100 days. 

• Pray God would raise up student leaders among the athletic teams to lead Bible studies and be a light to their teammates; especially for Christian freshman.

• Pray for our staff team. They are tired from a busy start of the year and meeting many new students.

• We just celebrated three months of marriage! We have slept in 13 beds since being married. It’s been great and a lot of fun, but continue to pray we love each other well in the transitions.

HOW CAN WE PRAY FOR YOU? CLICK THE EMAIL ICON TO THE RIGHT UNDER "CONNECT WITH US" AND LET US KNOW HOW. 

Please pray with us

Here is a calendar with some ways that you can be praying for the staff and students of Cru in Southwest Missouri. We would be honored if you would pray with us this next month or so. We realize that nothing good happens on campus unless the Spirit moves which is why prayer is so important. We are excited to see how God moves these next few weeks on campus. 

This calendar is by no means an exhaustive list of things to be praying for, but it does serve as a guide. And we know that we even when we fail to pray for what we should Romans 8:26 is true: "In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express."

THANK YOU FOR PRAYING FOR US

If you'd like to download the calendar so you can print it out please click the email icon under the "connect with us" section to the right and request a PDF. I'd love to hear from you.

for the display of His splendor

For those of you who frequent this blog, you'll notice things look a little different. If you're new here, welcome! I figured since this blog isn't just about me now it could use an update. New life stage, new look. But really things haven't changed too much. I'll still post life updates, pictures, and ministry updates. Hopefully you are encouraged and blessed by God's grace in our lives and the lives of others.

As I was changing this blog around I stared at that old banner at the top of the blog. An artist's rendition of a crooked tree and the title of this blog: "for the display of His splendor." A few of you may have read the post explaining why I named this blog that way back in July of 2012 (I re-posted it below if you care to take a look). Many of you have not. I look back to that post and realize how God has fleshed out this idea of being a display of His splendor the past 2 years. The concept is based on Isaiah 61:1-3 which says:

The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God,to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion—to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor.

In the beginning what resonated with me was the idea that the Lord had called me. I was sent. I was anointed. That thought was exciting to me. And of course that is still true today. But what I've realized these past two years is that I was also the poor, the brokenhearted, the captive, the prisoner, the mourner, the despairing. I know Christ, but I am still a sinner and I am just as broken as the people I have been sent to. I as a Christian need Jesus just as much as a lost person. That is what makes this so beautiful. I often picture those oaks of righteousness in verse 3 as the tree in my former header and the tree in my new header: falling down, crooked, and a messy. It's easy to believe that when we come to Christ, we should get it all together. We shouldn't be needy or messy. We should grow straight and tall, no bumps or ugly places. But we know better than that,don't we? My life certainly doesn't look like a mighty, tall, and straight oak tree and I'd guess yours doesn't either. We may not look like mighty oaks, but we are beautiful. We may not look strong and powerful, but our God is. To the world we may look broken, but to those who see as God sees we are displays of His splendor. We are all beautiful messes. The reason those broken falling down oak trees display the Lord's splendor is because they are a picture of the Gospel. We are messed up, broken people and in the midst of that Jesus loves us more than we could ever imagine.

I'm thankful for these past few years. I have learned to see beauty in the brokenness. It gives God all the more glory. Davy and I are broken, needy people leading other broken, needy people to the feet of Jesus. It's that simple. While the look of the blog has changed, the title remains the same because we, together, are all about the display of God's splendor. Until the whole world knows.

Isaiah 61:1-3

"The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion - to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor."

Some of you are realizing now that this is where the name of my blog has come from! This is a passage I have fallen in love with. God has been teaching me this one very important thing lately: my life and my actions should be to glorify him. That is all that matters! My hope is that at the end of my life when I stand face to face with my savior he will say to me: "Well done good and faithful servant! You were an oak of righteousness, a planting for me that displayed my splendor." 

I think Psalm 115:1 sums it up nicely: "Not to us O Lord, not to us, but to your name be the glory because of your love and faithfulness."

May God get ALL the glory as I embark on this adventure in ministry. Much, much more to come in the near future.

With love,
Melissa