Wow!  Drew and I have only been on campus for a month and we have already seen so much happen! We are on a team with another married couple, Jeremiah and Lori, who have been serving for six years here at NAU.

Drew and I started the semester gathering almost 60 new students who had zero Christian community or who were not yet followers of Jesus.  I did not know when we set out to do this just how many women I would get to meet and get into conversation with, nor had no idea that three of them would accept Christ with me in the first month!

Drew and I started new Bible studies with these contacts and one of the things we do in addition to that is a follow-up appointment with each student.  I set up coffee dates with about a dozen women who showed interest. As I met with each one, their stories came to life and I learned so much about how differently each woman experienced church and Jesus growing up.

For those of you that don’t know, we finished our initial support!  We cannot thank you enough for your prayers over so much time!  It was a hard but rewarding journey to see God move and provide through different people and in His timing!  We can’t believe how many of you make up our support and prayer team.

You are having an immeasurable impact on students’ lives here at NAU.  You are so greatly appreciated!  Thank you!  

-Leah

Share and Enjoy

Share and Enjoy

To all of you who pray for us and give financially, a Merry Christmas to you! 

Share and Enjoy

Fall is here, and with it, came the first snowfall of the year on our local mountains.  The seasons often bring different memories for most of us, and autumn usually conjures up the idea of falling leaves, pumpkins, Thanksgiving, and cooler temperatures.  One of the local meadows is renowned for the changing of the leaves of all the aspen trees.  Photographers flock to the meadow to shoot photos of the leaves changing from bright greens, to yellows, then finally to pumpkin-orange just before they fall off the branch.

On campus, there is a different change happening. With the shorter days and chillier temperatures, students begin to stay inside much more often, exchanging Ultimate Frisbee for hot chocolate and studying.  If they’re socially adept, they’re probably locked into their group of friends that they will remain connected to and be in community with for most of their college career.  If they’re less likely to make many friends, they might find solace in their dorm room or apartment.  Regardless, many students still find their ultimate solace in partying, sex, or friendships, often holding these to be an idol in their lives.

For Cru though, it’s a tremendous opportunity to share Jesus with students who don’t yet know Him, bringing the Gospel to them through His Word and through community.  Now that the semester is in full swing, our prayer is that the students of Flag Cru, as they grow in their relationship with the Lord, will begin to share their faith with students and staff at NAU, reflecting the love of Jesus.  Please be praying for boldness and Spirit-filled living for our students as they start learning how to reach the world around them.  It is always our hope and prayer that students will learn how to share their faith with their friends now, so that they can reach out to their co-workers, neighbors, and friends for the rest of their lives.

Share and Enjoy

The Fall Semester has started!!  Just in the last week, our team at NAU has interacted with 300-400 new students, most of whom are freshmen.  We had the chance to grab lunch quickly with Jeremiah, our Team Leader, this week and heard stories of what was going on on-campus over the last two weeks so far.  We heard about community members getting involved in bible studies, students taking on leadership roles, and we were both encouraged about what was happening already and hopeful that the Lord will continue to bring in our support in His timing, so we can be on-campus helping to share the Gospel with each one of these students!  Please be praying for our team, our student-leaders, and the community volunteers as they continue to reach each of the 16,000 NAU students here in Flagstaff.

As we have continued to make calls and work on our financial support, and after we heard about what is happening on-campus, we are starting to pray that God would bring in our support by October 1, just before NAU’s Fall Retreat in Utah.  Please join with us in praying that God, in His grace, will bring in our support by then!

Finally, please continue to be praying for our health.  It seems as though we have both been trading the flu or a cold back and forth between each other for the last month or so.

Share and Enjoy

Day 4 of being sick.  It’s given me a ton of time to sit, think and pray about life as it’s happening now.  This afternoon, watching one of my favorite trilogies (the Bourne trilogy), my thoughts went to the American church and its current culture.  Since I’ve been a Christian and in the church for more than 20 years (I got saved when I was really little), I can remember what was either a  trend in the church or God’s Spirit moving in different ways.  As an example, when I was in college, Dallas Willard was hugely popular:  Renovation of the Heart, The Divine Conspiracy, and The Spirit of the Disciplines were all books that you HAD to read. Then came Rick Warren.  Now, the names are Driscoll, Keller, Chandler, and Stanley.  All are Godly men who seek the advancement of Jesus’ name and His Kingdom, but with the Information Age opening up all these avenues to read books, listen to sermons, and watch conferences online, it can give even the most focused person a case of ADD trying to figure out who they should listen to. 

The answer, in my mind, is and always will be: Jesus.  I don’t know any of the guys I listed above, but I’m certain that they would all say the only person you should really listen to is Jesus.  Duh, right?  I’m not so sure.  In the midst of all these great teachers and the resources they provide, I think we need to fight harder to focus more on Jesus, especially if all these available resources turn into a distraction.  I really like listening to those guys online and reading their books, but they should always be seen as a supplement.  Who should you be listening to?  Jesus.  Do what He says.  Obey Him, learn, and grow each day to be a follower of Him.

Thoughts? Comments? Concerns?

Share and Enjoy

After a three-month hiatus, I’m back to posting.  In the last several months, we’ve been through a lot.  Since I’ve already written about it on a guest post for my church’s blog, click here to check out the expanded version.

In all of that trial, I think I’ve so far learned three crucial things for persevering through God-ordained trials and discipline.

1.  If God brought you to it, He has something to teach you. 

This is huge.  Just as the Spirit led Jesus to the desert to be tempted, so we can be led by the Spirit into a desert-like time for similar reasons.  If the trial is something that God has brought you to, the only answer for us is obedience.  Why?  Because there are some hard-learned but much needed lessons God needs to teach us.  I’ve figured out that it may be as simple as bringing us closer to Christlikeness, and/or a particular calling/ministry that God has ordained for us.

2. Hang in there.  Even when it doesn’t make sense to.

No, I don’t necessarily mean you should stay in a miserable relationship when you’re being abused or the other person is a drunk.  I’m talking to the people who are going through an experience that would make Job cringe because God brought it.  You may not understand it, but it pays to hang in there because…

3.  There are future and eternal rewards to obedience.

The ultimate example of this is Jesus’ obedience.  While He knew dying for my sins was going to be miserably painful and stressful, He knew it was the ministry the Father had called Him to and obeyed.  Presumably, Jesus could have said “Not a chance, I’m out. Find someone else.”  The result of that decision?  Billions of people don’t get to know the living God and aren’t saved from an eternity separated from Him.  I praise God that Jesus hung in there, to the point of sweating blood and death by crucifixion.  I don’t know necessarily what God is bringing you through nor do I know why, but I can tell you that hanging in there matters.

Reading Hebrews 12:3-11 has been of particular encouragement to me in the last few months as we’ve battled trials.  I pray it’s equally encouraging for you!

Share and Enjoy

As the semester wraps up, we wanted to highlight one of our students who is leaving Flagstaff, NAU, and her community to serve God in the marketplace.

Sara Raxter, on the far right, has been involved with NAU Cru (and Lifelines) for more than five years.  In that time, she has served on multiple missions trips to the Dominican Republic, was involved in several small groups, co-leading one of them,  and was a part of our student leadership team that served the entire ministry here in Flagstaff.  While finishing her degree in Elementary Education, she has also served her country in the Arizona National Guard and in the United States Army as a ROTC student.  Now commissioned as an officer, she will be leaving us to serve in the Army as a 2^nd Lieutenant in South Korea for the next 1-3 years at minimum.

Sara has also been a good friend of Leah’s in the last several years, after being roommates and a part of Bible studies together.  While we are sad to see Sara go, we are more excited and encouraged by the impact that Sara can make overseas serving her country and the Kingdom.

For Leah and I, this is one of our favorite parts of our ministry:  the opportunity to involve students in Cru, encourage and build them up in their walks with God, and then send them out to continue to help fulfill the Great Commission wherever the Lord may lead them.  Sara has been a crucial part of our ministry in her five years here but more than that, she is a friend who will be missed.

Please join with us by praying for Sara as she wraps up her time in Flagstaff and prepares for her deployment.

Share and Enjoy

I was sitting at home this weekend, after spending some time working in Phoenix, and my mind wandered to the Fall.  Why?  Because I realized that in the next 4-6 weeks, high school seniors are going to be filling out financial aid packets, receiving college acceptance letters, and deciding where to spend the next 4-5 years of their life.  So many of our students come from down in Phoenix:  at least 50% in fact, so my thoughts drifted to high school kids in Scottsdale, Mesa, Gilbert, and Avondale and wondered, “Who are they?  How many of them know Jesus? Who of them will I meet in Flagstaff in the Fall?”

I started praying for them all: that God would draw all the NAU-bound students closer to Himself.  Because so many Christian students in particular turn away from God in college, I prayed as well that every Christian student would get connected somewhere, either with Cru or another ministry.  Please join Leah and I in praying for all of these students who will be freshmen in the Fall of 2012.

Share and Enjoy

Today, we wanted to start highlighting some of the students who are involved in NAU Cru, giving you an opportunity to see a snapshot of how Jesus is changing lives on-campus.  We can’t share about every student in our monthly prayer letters, so we hope to make these highlights a regular part of this site.  Here’s a quick Q&A session that Eric and I had just last week about his story:

1.  Talk a little about yourself.

I’m 19, sophomore majoring in mechanical engineering and am from Victorville, CA.  I met Jesus and was saved on October 16, 2011 here in Flagstaff. 

2.  How did you get involved with Cru?

I joined Cru in the Fall of 2011, but my friend Star (also involved in Cru) and I met a little over a year ago through one of the clubs we’re apart of.  She invited me to come to a Bible study and I ended up meeting with Drew in the beginning of the Fall 2011 semester. 

3.  You recently became a Christian.  Explain what life was like before you met Jesus and how your life was changed because of Him.

Before:  I remember life being complicated, full of stress,  and I was really angry.   Not only that, but I was pretty lost in my life’s direction.  

After:  I’m a lot more peaceful and more understanding about why God put me here on Earth.  I also got involved in a community of believers who helped me through my new life as a Christian. 

4.  A lot of people give financially and pray so that NAU Cru can be here to introduce NAU students to Jesus.  Tell those who pray for us and the campus why their investment is worth it.

Because their gifts and prayers help support amazing people who help college students through a difficult transitional time in their lives.  Staff help nonbelievers see authentic Christians living out life by exposing people to Jesus through ways that connect with their hearts and minds.  They also show how the Bible speaks to the everyday problems that college students deal with on a regular basis.   

I’m really thankful for Eric.  He’s been a constant encouragement as someone who has given Jesus control of his life.  He realizes he’s not perfect and has been working faithfully to become more and more like Jesus each day.

Do you have an Eric in your life?  Who are you sharing the Gospel with?  

Share and Enjoy