Update: Website Launch Beta

Hello everyone! We've launched Unite's website and would love to have your feedback (click this post's title to be taken to the Unite webpage). Please use the 'contact us' link on our website to let us know what you think and/or if you find any problems. This is the first edition of the website, so it may later go through some substantial changes as time and programs allow.

Thanks again for your prayers and support! Please keep the small groups (this is their first week) and the game nights (with the upcoming [alt] event) in your prayers!

Prayer Requests September 22

Please keep us in your prayers as our small groups are preparing to launch. Please pray that God help us listen and walk with Him as we make decisions about the groups.

Also, on October 1st, Encounter, a college ministry we work with, is hosting an event called [alt]. This event will occur after Oktoberfest activities are officially over for the day and individuals begin heading to bars and house parties. The event will include a concert from 4:00 p.m. until midnight with a variety of local and regional Christian bands in attendance. Afterwards, Unite will host an after-party at the United Methodist Student Center during our remaining game night hours. The after-party will run from midnight until 5 a.m. Christian organizations in attendance will be working with Safe Ride to provide rides for anyone who needs one in the area all evening and morning, as well.

Please keep this event in your prayers. I am very excited that we will be able to help serve the community this way and provide an alternative to the bars for anyone who wants to come by. The additional connections with our game nights may serve to further increase connection opportunities in future, which is also exciting.

Thank you for your prayers and support!

Prayer Requests September 14

Please pray that God help all involved listen to His voice and hear... and that He help us move in His timing.

Please pray that the small groups go as He will--we are currently coordinating all schedules and hope to start them up next week. Also, the leadership team will begin meeting soon--please pray that all involved hear God's voice.

Please keep [alt], the alternative event to Oktoberfest in your prayers. It will be a viable alternative for those who don't want to drink AND we will be the safe-ride designated drivers for Oktoberfest (if all goes as it seems it will). Both are great opportunities to love others.

Finally, please pray for the upcoming trainings for the congregations members and that God lead all involved with the game nights and international themed game nights. May the right students and international students attend and may the right connections form.

Thank you so much for your prayers!

Update September 14

The past couple of weeks have been excellent.  We have had several unique opportunities to make connections with new groups.  We now have about seven or eight congregation members waiting for training to join small groups or attend the international themed game nights.  We also made new connections with some people interested in spreading the word about fair trade and, especially, better-than-fair-trade coffees and products; we will also be helping with some alternatives to Oktoberfest and have about eight new students signed up as interested in small groups.  (Oh, and our second international themed game night had about ten international students in attendance).

I have made several awesome personal connections with students and individuals, as well.  I am very excited to see what God has in future.  One more note—I see a strong potential in the later future to open up a full-service coffeehouse with semi-regular hours to act as an interaction hub.  It would possibly go by the name ‘Common Grounds’.  It’s on the location we use for international themed game nights and game-nights (the non-international themed game night is themed as alternative to drinking).  While this has been part of the vision for awhile, I am really starting to see some of the full potentials it could have and am excited to see what God has planned with it.  I also see opportunities for the third year our small groups are in effect to reach out and touch the community powerfully.  It is all distant and uncertain as of yet, but very exciting.

In other news I have invited three individuals to prayerfully consider eventually joining a board of directors (that would pray to make sure we are moving in the direction of the Spirit) and have about seven students who are considering leadership (several have already committed).  Whew!  What an update, huh?  I’ll try to update things more regularly so I don’t have to include so much information… 

Photos from Get Plugged In August 2010

Extensive Update

So many updates!  Thank all of you who have been praying so much!  Our first week in action went very well.  During Picnic in the Quad on Monday August 23 we were able to have a booth that provided free ice-water from an igloo to anyone who was thirsty.  Since it was very hot and muggy many of the students and other ministries were able to take advantage of it at the low cost of hauling the Igloo back and forth to be refilled with ice and water.  We also had several students sign up as interested in small group Bible studies and were able to take several to other campus ministry tables at the picnic.

Thursday was our ‘Get Plugged In’ event.  We had about five students who took time to hit almost every table on their way through in earnest search of a place to connect to.  We also had a dozen or so who picked up information from various tables and more who just picked up a brochure from just one table or two in passing.  I know that it was quite a bit smaller turnout than many had expected, but to me it was a rousing success.  It is apparent to me that God loves each person more than we can comprehend, and so if even just one student made one connection into the body who wouldn’t have otherwise, four hours of event plus quite a bit more planning and contacting everyone is a VERY small price…  I was greatly pleased.  It was also cool to see so many of the churches in town respond—we had over 2/3 in attendance, which was over our goal.

Friday and Saturday August 27 and 28^th were our training with Doug Schaible of New Tribes.  We had very few attend, so Doug opted to have discussion instead of a lecture for both sessions.  Doug and I also had an opportunity to pray with a young lady who was deeply stressed by a lot of difficult things in life at the time, so that was really cool.

Our game night went extremely well—we had around 18 in attendance and several games going (Friday night is standard game night—geared more as an alternative to going out and drinking/partying).  We have at least a couple congregation members trained up for our International themed game nights on Saturday (geared to be an interaction opportunity between members of the body of believers and International students over games once a week in the same time and place next to campus).  We’ve had several chances to interact with international students to invite them, including a welcome back picnic put on by Community Connections tonight.  Afterwards we walked about ten of them by the United Methodist Student Center so they knew where to come and so they can bring their friends if they want to.  Please keep both game nights in your prayers as they recur weekly.

Our small groups are still assembling—I have several congregation members who are interested in trying them out but who are not yet committed.  I also have quite a few students who haven’t gotten back to me about their schedules yet.  Please pray that God help all who should be involved come together in the right place at the right time—I hope to launch a couple of small groups by the week after next and to continually launch new ones throughout the semester as we get enough interested new congregation members and students.

Prayer requests: 

First:  Please pray first that the Holy Spirit help all involved listen to His voice and hear exactly what He has to say.  I have invited three men to prayerfully consider being on Unite’s board, and we have five students who have committed to be on the student leadership team with several others praying about it.  There are also a large number of congregation members who are prayerfully deciding if they’d like to be involved in our small groups or international themed game night.  The Spirit must lead all and make all the connections between us.  Please pray that we all listen and hear.

Second:  Please pray that the Spirit help all involved see things through His perspective.  One could see the ‘Get Plugged In’ event as unfruitful based on numbers, but I explained earlier how I found it to be a rousing success.  It’s all about perspective, and it is INCREDIBLY important that we ask God to help us see everything through His perspective.

Third:  Please pray that more prayer warriors begin praying for us.  Thank those of you who have been praying SINCERELY!