Core Group

Our pockets of community start with Canvas Groups, which consist of about 15-30 people, divided up roughly geographically on campus. We meet a couple times a month for discussion/ bible study/ teaching time and throughout each week we may have prayer nights, hang out times, or other things going on. Within Canvas Groups, we have what are called Core Groups. These are guys' and girls' small groups of about 3-5 students. We meet and talk about life, study Scripture, meeting the needs and challenging students in a more personal way than even Canvas Groups can touch on.

I love Core Groups. I've had great experiences with them in the past and have made deep friendships with some young men because of them. Three of my groomsmen were all in the first core group I led back in 2006. There is a reason we call them core groups - they are at the very crux of where canvas group relationships deepen. I would like to introduce to you all the three other guys in my Core Group this year.

Andrew Schulz is probably my closest guy friend here in Columbia and has been for a couple of years now. Andrew graduates in December and will be working full-time at a local bank until May when he plans to begin raising support to go on staff with The Rock. He leads our music ministry team and is one of the most encouraging and energetic guys I know. Our weddings were one week apart and we were groomsmen in each others'. He has a real passion for foreign missions, encouraging people and worshiping through music, as well as Starcraft, spreadsheets and The Office. We are co-leading core group and I am going to be challenging him hard this semester with this role.

Jon Chambers has been playing guitar in our music team for a couple of years, but hadn't been involved in community to any other extent until this semester. Realizing that we live in the same apartment complex (our buildings actually share a courtyard) I thought it only natural to invite him to Canvas Group. A very personal guy, Jon was eager to get involved and has since been coming regularly. It's been great beginning to get to know him and I'm even starting to see some issues creep up that I think have been dormant for a while. I'm looking forward to seeing what happens with him.

Ross Wood, the youngest of the group. He's a sophomore with a lot of energy, a love for video games and driving fast. He's a transfer student and is a very social guy. During our first get together, he told us that he has never been committed to a consistent group of guys who want to go deeper in their faith. He is definitely another guy who I am hoping to build into and see challenged to see himself as a man of God.

Please be praying for our group this semester. I am really hoping to get to know these guys and see them encouraged and challenged in their faith. In Core Group we will be studying Scripture, grabbing a meal, talking about past hurts, wrestle with challenging questions or just goofing around some days. In the midst of our spending time together, pray that God is at work in our hearts and among each other.

This is a video that I helped out with for a sermon about a month and a half ago. It is silly, but relevant to the message.





Here is the message, given by Pastor Ed Courtney. It is titled "The Drift" from October 17th.

Enjoy!

Guys' Night of Fellowship

"As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another."

proverb 27.17

Last Friday, about twenty of us guys from The Rock spent a night camping at a place north of town called Pinnacles Youth Park. It's a spectacular place to camp. Though typically they only allow youth groups to stay the night, since we were close enough to a youth group, they let us stay there.

One of my closest and oldest friends since living in Columbia, Randy, was the major organizer of the trip. The week prior to the night, he, Andrew, Jeff and I got together at Memorial Union on campus to plan a much-needed night of intentional guys' fellowship. We wanted to do something manly (camping), to involve guys across The Rock, to have it be spread word of mouth and to have intentional conversation about being men of God. And thus GNOF, or Guys' Night of Fellowship was conceived.

The night started off with roasting hot dogs, building a big fire and doing some night hiking (since it gets dark so early now). I got to know a few freshmen guys who I haven't met with. I also had some great conversation with some of my other friends about life, challenges, joys and how God was working through situations.

Later on, after hiking had ceased, marshmallows had been toasted, things were dying down and midnight was approaching, we had a time of worship around the fire. No kum-ba-yah but we did sing songs and had a time of prayer. Randy then led us in a conversation about what it means to be a man of God. It was great to see young men talking about their struggles, encourage one another in their faith and get their minds set on what is most important in life. I was truly encouraged.We all slept under the start since it was a clear, 50-degree night. I stayed up until 3:30am visiting with the guys around me about life.

When morning came, we packed up and headed back into town. I was deeply encouraged from the night and, like Randy himself said, hopefully this is just the event to get the ball rolling for more nights like GNOF and even bigger and better things.

Fall Retreat

This weekend, The Rock will be having one of it's biggest events of the year, our annual Fall Retreat. Hosted in Cedar Crest Camp in Mexico, Missouri, the Fall Retreat is a time for students to take a break from a hectic schedule. For freshmen, this is usually a time when the pressures are starting to take hold and homesickness can really start setting in. This provides students and opportunity to unwind, connect with others and refocus their gaze back on the Father.

Friday night, we'll have a huge Thanksgiving-style meal and an opening service before spending time in fellowship for the night. Between bon fires, dozens of board games, playing a little Ultimate Frisbee, etc, it's a great chance to bet to know students who have been coming around. Our guest speaker this year is Matt Rogers, a pastor at one of our partner churches at Virginia Tech and someone I really got to know a couple of summers ago. He's a great guy and I'm confident that he will challenge us, refresh us, and encourage us in our growth.

In the past I have had late-night conversations with students struggling with belief in God, played glow-in-the-dark Ultimate Frisbee till 1am, sat by fires with a guitar and singing praise songs (not kum-bay-ya), and have begun several friendships through Fall Retreats of the past. Please pray that lives are changed for the kingdom through this weekend. It's something we are all excited about!

Fall Semester Begins

I'm sorry for not having updated this in so long. It's time to change that around.

Marriage

First, some great news! I'm married! Of course, you probably know this by now but on June 13th I married my best friend, Aimee. She is my greatest supporter and truly makes me want to be a better man. Aimee is now serving as associate staff at The Rock, meaning that she puts in her time volunteering but her role carries more responsibilities than a student leader. She is going to be serving as an Equipper in Canvas Group, in women's discipleship, organizing mission trips and the programming team. Aimee works as a para-professional at Ashland Middle School just south of town. Basically, she works with special needs students throughout the day.

Move-In Week
The Fall Semester started here at MU just a couple of days ago. It is certainly an exciting time in our church. With 5,620 freshmen this year, there is huge opportunity to bring Christ to many new students. We took advantage of Move-In Week, the week before classes began. Here are some things we did:

• Serving. Students from our various Canvas Groups spent three days giving out bottled water and helping new students move in to their dorm rooms. It was a great way to bless students during what can be a hectic and tiring time.
• Survey Table. Outside of the Brady Student Commons area, we passed out Icee Pops and met a flood of students from Wednesday to Friday. This is something I was able to help out with. I got to meet so many people and we were able to share with them about our worship service and other happenings we do, including three people from my hometown of Springfield, MO! Here, we also have short surveys asking people if they are interested in finding a church or volunteering in the community.
• Follow-ups. Based on the contact information we get from those who told us on the surveys they were interested in finding a church, we met last Thursday night to follow-up with the students in their dorms. Andrew and I each met about 5 guys and even that night played cards with three other guys who we just happened to meet in one of the lobbies.
• Friday Night Hang Out. Last Friday it was root beer floats, washers, watermelon and even a brief game of freeze tag outside of one of the dorms we focus on. It was a great time to reconnect with many students and a few of the ones we just met came to hang out as well.

Concert On Campus
This is an event that was something I have been putting weeks of time into. A handful of us who are a part of The Rock's Music Ministry played 14 cover songs, using a free concert as an outreach tool last Sunday. Several others from the church passed out icee pops and surveys and had countless conversations with students who passed through. It was a strategic location because we put the concert on right after a freshmen ceremony, where most of the traffic would go through as they headed back to their dorms. We had a fantastic time and God really used it to begin many new friendships!
Story - The Rock's First Series
Last Saturday we kicked off a new seven-week series in The Rock. With a very Narnia-esque feel, we brought in a giant wardrobe that everyone walked through to get into the service. Pastor John Drage taught on the story of the Prodigal Son that Jesus talks about in the gospels. Two students shared about their own stories of falling away from the love of God and their return. It was a very moving service and we had around 215 students come! It was a great kick-off service to say the least. The picture here is our poster that we have for the series, hoping to be a draw for students to come and hear the Gospel.

Check out our website to see more about our "Story" series.

Canvas Groups
Tonight is our first week of Canvas Groups. Again, they are small groups of about 15-30 students that meet around campus on Thursday nights. We typically have a teaching and some other activity with the purpose of connecting with Christ as a community. Outside of Thursday nights, Canvas Groups Aimee and I will be a part of Plaza Canvas Group. We cleverly name our canvas groups after campus dining halls. We are excited to be a part of this community, though granted my involvement will be limited as I continue to build a team of ministry partners for GCM. I hope to be able to do what I can to love on these students and share with them the truth of God.

Please Pray for...
I'll end on this. During this time, there are certainly a lot of things our church needs prayer for and that I need prayer for. Thank you so much for your commitment to do so.

• finding new supporters. The only way I can get back to campus is to meet with people and share with them about GCM's ministry here at MU. I am really needing to find more people around the state to share with.
• trusting in God. Something the Father is really showing me lately is that my trust in Him needs to increase. Trust that he is bigger than my fears, that he loves me for who I am, that he is using me, and that he will see this through.
• reaching new students. It takes a huge effort from everyone in the church to reach out to new students. Pray that we are diligent in making new friendships, inviting people to church and following up with those who have interest.

Thank you so much for your prayers and support. It is great having you as a part of the team!

Blessings,
Chris

A little update on my personal life lately for you.

This past weekend, Aimee came into town for a bridal shower thrown by my side of the family. They had it here in Springfield at Dining By Design and it seemed to have gone over really well. They played a few games, headed up by my sisters, including "The Newlywed Game" for those of you who remember that. Well, make it the "Almost-Newlywed Game." Anna slapped on a mask of me in the 5th grade that Kayla put together and flipped over pre-written answers to questions that I had answered the night before. A lot of my family showed up along with Aimee's mom and a couple of her friends. It was a great time I hear. Plus, we got some amazing and much needed gifts.

Other than that, we spent our weekend going on a date, meeting up with some friends in town, eating with family and shopping. It may be the last time Aimee comes down to Springfield before the big move in May. Speaking of, I plan on going back to Columbia the weekend of the 15th of May. We get the new apartment May 1st, and Aimee will move into that almost immediately. Once I come up I will couch hop until the wedding June 13th.

This weekend, The Rock will have it's Spring Equippers' Retreat held at Cassie Clooten's parents' lake house at Lake of the Ozarks. Each year, the leaders of The Rock as well as upcoming equippers (student leaders within canvas groups) spend the weekend in fellowship, worship and discussion over what it means to be an equipper at The Rock and where we see our church going in the near future. It has always been a great time and it will be my first as a staff member. Being away from my church home is really difficult, especially having been gone for so long, so to have the weekend to be around upcoming leaders is something I am really looking forward to.

Other than that, I am in the final stretch of my time here in Springfield. Gifts have been coming in, though appointments for some reason have been difficult to schedule recently. I am encouraged in general, but this definitely wears on me. I've certainly come to a new understanding of what it looks like for me to carry my cross daily for the sake of Christ. Not everything goes according to plan even when you are taking the path you are certain of, but God is providing and I am doing my best to stay faithful through the good times and the difficult. I continue to look ahead and trust in him who is faithful. And I thank you for your support, your prayers and your encouragement. I thank you for taking this journey with me.

There are great things to come. I know that much.

Walking in Memphis

"Yeah I was walkin' in Memphis! Walkin' with my feet ten feet off the ground!"

I remember waking up to this song blaring through the PA system one morning a couple of years ago when I went to Memphis, Tennessee for a week with a group from The Rock on a mission trip. Although completely jarred from my slumber and despite the fact that I was in no way shape or form ready to get up at 7am, I was looking forward to the day.

The Rock has had a partnership with Service Over Self, a ministry which provides free major home repair in the projects area of Memphis, Tn for several years now. We send a team down there over a weekend in the fall and again in Spring Break for one of their urban camps. Just a couple of weeks ago, Pastor Ed Courtney led a team of 16 students, 9 of which had never been, to serve with SOS over this year's Spring Break.

Each group is lead by a construction manager (a staff member of SOS) and sort of adopts a home for the week. They spend about four full days working on whatever the project seems to be and if the owner is home part of the time, attention is definitely given to getting to know him/her and their family. Half of one of the days is spent doing something fun in Memphis. Each night there is an evening service at the SOS facility, where the team stays all week. One evening is spent with one of the SOS staff members, hearing their story and why they are passionate about serving in an urban ministry.

Ed's team served a 60-year-old man whose wife and son were in conditions that required constant care. They put in a new floor, new doors, repaired the porch and painted in the house and on the porch. They also met and talked with a man who had been living on the streets one day. Ed shared with me this:

"One day we got to talk with a guy who used to be homeless and a crack addict, but he said he had been clean for 5 months. He was off the streets, but it sounded like he was pretty much mooching off an elderly lady and living with her. He didn’t have a job and seemed quite content with the fact that he was off drugs and “only” drank 2 beers a day. Marlon (Big Dog) asked him how many days a week he drank, and he said 7. It was good because the students could see that this guy was basically settling for a life off the streets, but was unwilling to acknowledge or go to rehab for a drinking problem. He didn’t seem to mind not having a job or really providing for his daughter. It was good because people then made the connection that often they settle for less in their lives when God probably has more for them."

Shelley Arnsman, a great friend of mine, has been deeply impacted by this ministry as well. She has been to SOS a few times, spent last summer doing an internship with the program and recenlty went to Ethiopia this past January with the program. She shared with me last school year how serving in that way had really affected her and she talked about what it means for us as Christians to address social injustices such as poverty. I asked her what she thought she could do with this passion while at school. She told me how she just wanted to talk with people about it so that others would be aware and so they could bounce ideas and thoughts off of each other. She ended up leading a discussion group that met in one of the dining halls each week - it grew at one point to about twenty people. After she spent the summer working with SOS, she told me how she had really been challenged in her faith and believing the Bible as the inerrant word of God as well. But that story is for the next prayer letter...

The trips to Memphis can really get the ball rolling in waking people up to new ways to serve and be Christ to people using their hands in this sort of way. Sometimes all it takes is sacrificing a week, driving 500 miles and opening our eyes to a completely different world than we are used to to change our perspective forever. I know that dozens of students have had this happen through trips to Memphis, I know I have, and I know each trip is just another drop in the bucket and another opportunity for it to happen again.

The Honduras Effect

Pastor John Drage led 19 students from The Rock also to Choluteca, Honduras over Spring Break - most of whom had never been before. The team helped a family move into a new home at Casa Hogar Vida, the AIDS orphanage our partner church is building, installed a shower for a family, helped with the church expansion, and served in Limon at the Malnutrition Clinic. They also brought money down given from supporters for the church to use and buy a bus in Tegucigalpa, which they did. They bus will be used to transport HIV victims from Choluteca to Tegucigalpa for treatment, to transport mission trip groups and to transport families to Casa Hogar and to church each week.

Trips like these really can mess you up. In a good way.

Aimee visited Choluteca with a team a couple of years ago and her heart was broken. She had just been studying Spanish for a little while in school and after the trip, she fell in love with the Hispanic culture and the idea of serving in foreign missions. As many of you know, last Fall she spent three months serving with the GCLA (Great Commission Latin America) church as a full-time missionary. It was a life-changing experience that she will carry with her forever.

I went down last January with a team, never having been overseas in my whole life. I never laid my eyes on such physical poverty, never had dozens of children line up before me to receive a pair of shoes, never poured a concrete floor in a house whose family considered it a luxury, never stood under the gaping holes of a hut-like house while rain poured down and ruined what little a family had, never played soccer with bare-footed children while nearby broken glass and trash covered the ground, never sat in a prison having a broken conversation with a man who told me he shot and killed a man.

Trips like these flip your world upside down. Consider a recent excerpt from a journal post that Joey Soto, a young man who went on this most recent trip, writes:

"When I arrived in Honduras, it felt like a homecoming. My heart was finally at peace; I finally felt as though Christ was unveiling my lot in life for furthering His kingdom.

Whoever says the course of a week can’t change the course of a life has never met my God, the God of the Universe. The God that is always faithful. Always perfect. Always gracious.

Throughout the week, growing in community with fellow local Honduras believers and even those I went on the trip with, I felt as though God was giving me a taste of what he has in store for me.

While it would be irresponsible for me to speak for God and claim that my lot in life is as a missionary in Honduras, I feel as though God is leading me down the path of missions—something I may have never truly realized without a 10-day heart-renovating experience."

The guy has written three journal entries for his friends to see how much his perspective has changed. Also, please see this excerpt from a journal of Caley Palmer, another girl who writes about her conversation with a Christian couple who worked at the city dump for less than $3 a day:

"I had asked before if they went to church, and they said that they did. With Tyler, we asked, that if they were to die today, would they think they would go to Heaven. With utmost certainty, they replied, "Yes.". When we asked more questions, they had all the right answers, and I honestly believe they have a deep personal relationship with Christ. The one thing that they said, though, that I will never forget, was this statement: "it’s not good works or deeds that get us into Heaven. it’s our faith. Without faith in God, we have nothing." …WE. HAVE. NOTHING. This blew my mind! How could two people be so sure, so confident, passionate, sincere, and excited about their faith and hope in Christ and live and work at a city DUMP?!? It puts my faith to shame. Hearing their hearts and responses was so exciting and encouraging to hear, and immediately tears filled my eyes. I couldn’t stop crying. THAT moved my heart."

Trips like these change perspectives and lives.

So why go? Why do we send students to Honduras? There is definitely the need down there that we can make a small difference in each time we go down there for sure. People down there need love, need to know the generosity of their Christian brothers and sisters in America and that there are faces to match with generosity. Our trips no doubt have helped bless the area and the church in Choluteca.

But it's the experiences that we are most after. Seeing worlds collide, eyes open wide, young men and women put names, faces and stories to worldwide "injustices" they see and hear about on the news. The story does not end on the plane trip back to the States. No no. Dozens of students come back each year wondering what their experience means for their Christian walk. As John Drage put it, we ask the question, "What does responsibility look like?"

We read a Bible with about 2000 verses dedicated to social responsibility for the poor. Experiences like these charge students with a call to love, pray for and care for others who may not be as materially fortunate. It also charges them to see the spiritual poverty that we see all around us. The spiritual poverty among the complacent and apathetic, of which Mother Theresa called the worst kind of poverty.

Mission trips are meant to make a difference in the lives of those we serve, in our own lives and in turn, the lives of others in our community if we choose to make a difference where we work, study and live. These reasons and others are why we go to Honduras each year.

see how The Rock has been involved in sending trips to Honduras over the years.
Casa Hogar Vida
local news segment on our latest trip

Tyler

Last year, during my senior year of college, I was working in the dining hall when this guy walked up to the coffee dispenser and proceeded to fill up his own mug. My job in this dining hall was to maintain the beverage station and one of my duties was to prevent people from using "outside containers" - this was a big violation.

So I stroll over to this guy, as I had to countless other people. "Hey man, we're not supposed to let you use your own mugs when you come in here." "Oh", he said, looking at me and finishing off one more pump, "Sorry about that." Everybody finishes one more pump. "No problem," I said, "Just remember for next time, please."

The next day, he came in again and got some more coffee - this time using our mugs. He made a point to tell me, not sarcastically (I don't think) but just so I knew I guess. He usually sat at the bar which was close to my station. We ended up introducing ourselves. His name is Tyler. From then on, I would say hi to him when he came in and would occasionally talk with him a few minutes at a time whenever I got the chance.

One day, we were talking about our majors - his being psychology and mine religious studies. "I would really like to talk with you about that sometime." he told me.

Occasions like that are really quite rare. I was blown away.

We planned to get coffee over the weekend. As I waited for him, I was nervous because I didn't really know what he was looking for or what questions he would throw at me. Was I prepared to walk him through salvation if I needed to? Was I ready?

Despite these questions, I really was more excited than nervous. And we had a great conversation. Tyler is a very genuine guy. An introvert, he does a lot of internal processing, but he is one of the kindest guys I know. We hung out a few times over the past year and now, whenever I visit, we will hug each other and really want to know how the other is doing. He would not call himself Christian, but isn't entirely opposed to the idea. He is a very deep thinker and has an open mind about a lot of things.

The last time I visited Columbia, Tyler and I got together for lunch. After catching up, our conversation went, as it always does, to a deeper level. "What are you searching for in life, Tyler?" I asked him at one point. He told me that occasionally he will experience moments of peace where everything seems to fit together, everything seems to be in alignment. He told me that he wants more of these peaceful moments.

"I guess that you get a lot of these peaceful moments from your religion, right?" he asked. "Yes" I told him. I shared a bit about the idea of hope that we have in our faith for a better world to come. I mentioned that God is about the restoration of all things to their original and wonderful form and that I could definitely relate with moments where everything just seems to "fit".

Tyler told me that he thinks everyone has to have some level of spirituality in their lives or else they are missing out. I am very grateful to have his friendship. Friendships like his are at the core of what I desire about ministry. Each conversation goes a little deeper, a little further. I don't have an agenda with Tyler but I want him to experience the God I know on the deepest and most intimate levels and I want to share with him about it, and love him like a brother. I believe God is working in Tyler's heart and that our friendship was orchestrated from above.

There are hundreds of other students like Tyler seeking for something. Because of your prayers and giving in the future, I hope to have the opportunity to develop friendships with more and more students and to share the hope and salvation found in Christ to as many as I can.

Godly Men

Recently, our women at The Rock had a retreat, entitled “Enough”, which I wrote about briefly in my last prayer letter. About 65 young women showed up for the retreat, including some who no longer live in Columbia but were a part of The Rock in the past. I’ve heard a lot of good things that came from the weekend, including several people saying that it was something the church has needed to do for a long time.

Praise God for such a wonderful beginning to a women’s ministry! Now that we have some older women (two on staff, one support raising and the other being my wonderful fiancée) who are passionate about that sort of thing, the younger women of our church will be blessed in a whole new way.

Having the success of the women’s retreat on my mind along with reading Tender Warrior by Stu Weber, my mind is reeling. Many of you have heard me talk about my desire to come alongside the men in our church and help them develop integrity so that they may have a great impact in the lives around them for Jesus Christ. Here’s a thought:

“The calling of every man is to offer stability to a world full of chaos.”

Stu Weber, Tender Warrior

Our generation has a reputation of growing up in broken homes. I, myself, am lucky to have an amazing father who is both strong, compassionate and has a heart for knowing the Lord. He’s been an excellent, confident and humble leader my whole life. He has helped me learn what it means to become a man. Unfortunately, there are a lot of boys on the MU campus who should be young men by now. I, of course, am not looking to be a father figure (I’ll leave that up to our pastors – they have the gray hair!) but I desire very much to come alongside and help guide them to become men of God.

Weber talks about men having four different roles: king, warrior, mentor and friend. He fills his book with biblical examples like David, Caleb, Jesus and Job. Topics like following through with commitments, enduring hard times, provision for a family, being a faithful husband and father, and the importance of relationships between men fill his pages. I am convicted in many ways and stimulated in others because it speaks directly to one of my heart’s greatest callings.

I hope to have a men’s retreat in the future when I return to The Rock. I hope to lead a weekly small group with three or four other guys, where we talk about life’s struggles and where God is leading us. I hope to develop deep bonds with young men at The Rock and encourage them to become spiritual leaders in their classroom, their families, their communities and their churches. Our world needs stable men in a world of chaos.

Who do I serve?

Last night, while on the phone, I was convicted in the way I have been presenting my story to potential supporters. I am employed by Great Commission Ministries and my current job responsibilities are to build up a ministry team of people who give financially to and pray for GCM. All financial gifts that I raise go into a specific account that I am responsible for. Out of that money given my insurance is paid, some ministry expenses are taken care of and I am given a set salary. Once the account has a certain amount of money coming in each month, then I will be released to assignment at the University of Missouri where I will serve with The Rock Church.

I like GCM. I love the people who serve with GCM as campus, urban and foreign missionaries as well as those who serve in the headquarters and handle all things administrative for running a missionary organization. But though I am employed by GCM and I serve with GCM, they are not whom I serve. I serve the Lord first and foremost and it is his gospel, his kingdom and his message that I want to proclaim with my life and with my vocation - not GCM's.

Now, it is my calling from God that I serve vocationally as a missionary to the University of Missouri. In my four years as a student, I fell in love with my community at The Rock and developed a deep compassion for my friends and other students I didn't even know. I knew since eighth grade that God wanted me to serve in vocational ministry. It was during college that God spoke to my heart, telling me that these were the people he was preparing me to serve.

He brought me to The Rock for a reason. He opened the door of becoming employed with GCM as part of his plan for my life. It is not everyone's path to follow. GCM is not the best or only way to serve the kingdom of God - it is simply one way. So it is with a humble heart that I am thankful for those with GCM who desire to enable, equip and mobilize missionaries like myself to serve where God has called us. They are a blessing to me and I am, to a degree, a GCM representative, but they are not my king. My allegiance relies solely as an ambassador for Christ and my purpose is to be a vessel for him to change in the lives of those around me. The students of the University hold a special place in my heart and that is why he has lead me to serve in a college ministry like The Rock.

If that has not been clear to those of you I have met and shared with, then please accept my deepest apologies. I serve along side GCM with gladness but I answer only to God. He guides my path and this is the one he has chosen for me. I embrace his desire to bring those alongside me who will pray for me, The Rock and will give financially in order for me to serve the campus full-time as a missionary.

So thank you for giving, for praying or for prayerfully considering giving to GCM on my behalf. I am humbled and grateful that God desires to build up a team of supporters who I can minister to and who minister to me in my journey of serving as a college missionary. May God bless you in your faithfulness in responding to what he has put on your hearts. And thank you from the bottom of mine.