Having around 35 leaders there, we went from 10am - 3pm. First, John lead a teaching and discussion time following the question Why do we do what we do? In light of all the Christian resources out there and the nine other evangelical ministries on campus and several churches in Columbia, why does The Rock do what it does?
Some great answers I heard and some John shared include:
- Because less than 5% of undergrads at Mizzou enjoy a relationship with Christ
- Because people do not just need information and explanation about God's love. They need a demonstration of God's love.
- Because we don't know how many lives we affect by simply sharing our faith with friends. We may be the only Christians they encounter who love genuinely.
It was a great time to energize us and get us thinking about the purpose and urgency of the gospel on this campus.
Secondly, Ed, our second pastor, shared with the group about some changes coming to our Canvas Groups that will allow equippers to spend more time evangelizing to their friends, spending time in the dorms and growing in their faith together. There will be a team that is forming that will soon help plan some content for our Thursday night meetings to help relieve this burden from the students.
After lunch, John shared with us about the Number One Responsibility of a Minister - to be filled with the Lord. He encouraged us to keep our "pipeline" from God to us clear so that we, in turn, can pour out God's love, grace and truth to the people around us.
Ed and staff member, Peggy, shared some tools for evangelizing after that. The purpose here was for us to "equip" these leaders with some practical ways of sharing Christ with their friends. It's not always easy to clearly lay out the gospel in conversation so hopefully this method will help.
Finally, we were lead in discussion over setting goals for the new year. John and student leader, Austin, led this talk and gave us a sheet for looking at goals, purpose and plans for this year. As John said, "If you aim for nothing, you'll hit it every time."
This time of leadership development I believe will be a good thing for our church, especially by having it on the very eve of a new semester and year. I'm praying for my equippers, as I get ready for a meeting with them tonight, that they are encouraged and passionate about growing in their faith and reaching out to their friends on Christ's behalf. We are bringing the kingdom to Mizzou!
Please be praying for us:
- Two of our leaders are going to be elsewhere this semester. Brooke, who will be studying abroad in Costa Rica and Cruz, who will be back at Missouri Western until the Fall.
- With a new semester, that we would become more focused on reaching out to other students in our area on campus.
- That our Canvas Group would become even tighter and that friendships within the group would be uplifting and God-honoring.
**By the way, Aimee has a blog as well that you might be interested in following. I've added a link on the right. She also shares a bit more about Brooke and Cruz leaving in her latest post. Also, she is really good at updating it!
