Archive for September, 2009
Praises from NSO 2009
The past 2 weeks, over 6,000 new students have come to Cal, and the ministry of IV-CCF has been able to meet and interact with at least 300 of those students. Through it all, the Lord has been doing some really crazy and exciting things at Cal these first 2 weeks of school! I hope these stories encourage you and build your faith!
Providing in abundance
Throughout the past 2 weeks, we have seen God provide abundantly in miraculous and exciting ways. Here are a few examples:
-During Welcome Week, a few of the Unit 1 dorm leaders were going out into the dorms to give out care packages to the 75 students who had signed up at the table. Before going out, the leaders were worried because they didn’t have enough care packages for all the people on their list. However, as they were going around, they felt led to give not only to those on the list, but also to other floormates and roommates. By the end of the evening, the 2 leaders realized that they had given out way more care packages than they had brought- not only to all the people on their list but additional people as well- but there were still leftover bags. Praise God for how He provided for the leaders as they stepped out in faith.
-For the first week of meetings, we had over 130 freshmen attend small group Bible studies! Many groups were surprised, including the Foothill leaders. They had received about 10 confirmations for people who were going to attend the first meeting. But when printing out manuscripts, the leaders for some reason felt compelled to print out 25 copies, not just 10. That night, 24 new students attended the first small group meeting, way more than just the 10 whom the leaders expected, and there were enough manuscripts for everyone!
-During our first official large group meeting, the speaker Dennis Cole spoke about the faith of the servants from John 2:1-11, and afterwards called people to take a step of faith in receiving prayer ministry. While normally, not many students ask for prayer, so many students came up for prayer that night that there were lines of people just waiting to receive prayer! Many of these students received prophetic words and encouragement, and the Lord clearly spoke during the time. Praise God!
Divine Encounters
We have also seen God arrange many divine encounters with students, arranging relationships in surprising ways. Here are a few examples:
-Two small group leaders from Foothill dorm were just hanging out in the courtyard, praying, when God led them to meet two freshmen students who approached them to ask for directions. After giving them directions, the leaders stirred up conversation with them and found out that the freshmen were Christians, and ended up inviting them to come out to small group. Not only did they come, but the leaders were even able to visit their dorm room and build relationships with their non-Christian roommates!
-One of the Unit 3 dorm leaders was sad that somebody who signed up at our table failed to write down both their email address and phone number. Later that day, he was praying in the Unit 3 courtyard one day, a random student ended up asking them for quarters (to do laundry). The leaders quickly found out that he was the same exact person who had signed up at the table but forgot to write down his contact information. They have since seen him become one of the most excited and committed members of their small group.
-During the Clark Kerr dorm bible study last week, a student named Devon who had never heard of InterVarsity randomly came into the floor lounge . Although he wasn’t a Christian, he ended up staying for Bible study and actively participated. Later, we realized that Devon is in the same Chemistry lab as two of our Bible study leaders, and they hope to continue building a relationship with Him.
Drawing People to Himself
The Lord has even been drawing many non-Christians and seekers into our ministry already! Please be praying for the Lord to continue drawing these students to Himself:
- Kurt is a junior transfer who is friends with somebody in CCF. Before he came to college, he prayed that if God was real, that He would reveal “signs” to Kurt and in his life. In the first 2 weeks of school, Kurt not only won 3 straight raffles at InterVarsity events, but also received prayer for a 3rd degree burn on his finger and saw his burns be healed. Kurt is realizing these things are more than just “coincidence” and is now joining a GiG (Group Investigating God) to learn more about Jesus.
- Bhavna is the floormate of a freshmen in Unit 3 named Christina. During the first week of Bible study, Christina brought Bhavna with her, and found out her family has a Hindu background, but is open to exploring in college. She enjoyed the small group meeting and recently committed to join a GiG as well, as she is trying to learn more about religions and is interested in Christianity!
-Brian is a freshmen in Unit 1 who visited the Unit 1 Bible study last week with some of his friends. At the end of the meeting, one of the leaders was talking to him and realized that Brian wasn’t a Christian, but was interested in Christianity. Brian asked, “How can I learn more about Jesus?” and has committed himself to reading the Bible. He is even interested in reading through Mere Christianity!
Praise God for all He is doing! Please continue to pray for us and for His ongoing work at Cal!