April Newsletter

Fresh Bread:

1 Peter 3:3-4

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade.”

Happy Easter! Although not typical Easter verses I love this section in 1 Peter. Because of the resurrection we have access to an indestructible and unchangeable inheritance. As I walk through the ups and downs of life I take comfort knowing that we serve a living God who gives us a living hope. A living hope that never perishes, never spoils, and never fades. I can’t think of anything beneath that sun that fits that description. So this    Easter, I pray that we remember and thank God that this living hope was made possible by the death and    resurrection of Jesus Christ. As one of my favorite songs, “Jesus Paid it All,” says, “Oh praise the One who paid my debt and raised this life up from the dead.” What a joyous thing to be made alive by Christ.

From Campus:

A few weeks ago, 50 students from Missouri State Cru went to Panama City Beach, Florida for spring break. If you know anything about a typical college spring break you know PCB is party central. But our students spent their spring break a little differently than most. Each year Cru puts on a conference called Big Break. Students involved in Cru from all over the country travel to PCB to attend this conference. They spend their spring break worshipping God, listening to speakers, getting trained in evangelism, and sharing their faith on the beach with students who came to party. I’m so proud of our students for taking a step of faith to go on this trip. It’s a very scary thing to strike up a spiritual conversation with someone on the beach, but they did a great job sharing the gospel. Our 50 students saw 33 spring breakers surrender their life to Christ. Praise the Lord that he pursues people in their brokenness and lets our students be a part of bringing them to himself.

I disciple Allie (right). Allie disciples Lauren (left). Lauren was the girl I told you about at the beginning of the year who thought on a scale from 1 to 10 God would only wanted to know her at a 1. With Allie’s guidance Lauren has grown in her understanding of God’s love and character. She learned to share her faith this year at Big Break and made a ton of new friends including Michelle (center).

Jeremiah and Ashley are:  athletes at MSU, involved in our athlete Bible study, an adorable couple, and gifted in evangelism. These two were so bold the whole week and each of them led someone to  Christ. They’re excited to take the training and practice they got at Big Break and use that to impact the athletic department at MSU.

Ways you can pray:

• I’m helping lead a 6 week mission trip (called a summer project) to Cote d’Ivoire. We leave May 18th. Right now I am raising the funds to go on this trip AND continue   being an intern at MSU next year. Will you please pray the Lord provides $7,000 by May 15th? All my funds for the trip and for next year must be in hand before I have the green light to go. I know it’s a big request, but I also know God is more than capable.
• Pray for the 33 students that gave their lives to Christ in PCB over spring break. Pray that they continue to grow and get involved in Christian community.