Blowing doubt away.

http://threetrees-art.blogspot.com/2009/11/focus-focus-focus-and-then-focus.html

At the end of every fiscal year, there is always a time of panic... will God provide what we need this year? Even after nine years in ministry, depending on God, and watching Him provide for our budget without fail, my faith still wavers.

This year, because we have been disappointed and greiving, it has been that much harder to trust that God will come through for us in this area. It has also been a hard year for fundraising in general, with the recession catching up to us and our support base. BJ and I have struggled in prayer and in our minds, weary and frustrated.

Earlier in the year, I was praying and got an image of what we had left to raise, at that time $25,000, and God's breath blowing that number away. At first, I was excited and wanted to hold onto that picture, but also hold onto the ease at which our lack was blown away. As with many images or words from God, doubt crept in. Was that just my own imagination? Was that really a promise from God? And as we marched towards the end of our fiscal year and I wasn't seeing God blowing away our deficit, I really began to doubt.

Where was God's miraculous provision? We would hear stories of other staff receiving thousands of dollars in anonymous gifts, or people giving large gifts of $5,000 or $10,000. Why wasn't God doing that for us? Isn't that what the image was? Fundraising weighed heavy on us, and I wrestled with understanding if I heard the voice of God or not.

This June, and particularly the last few weeks of June, some sort of light has been breaking through clouds of anxiety and doubt. Everyday, we check to see if support has come in. Everyday, we see gifts appear. Friends, family, strangers... offering what they will to the ministry and our need. Everyday, chipping away the amount that is left to raise, and chipping away the fear that God will not come through for us.

We are very close now. With two days left, it really seems like all we need will come in. I was thinking about that image again, and wondering... did that actually happen? It doesn't feel like God blew it all away with one mighty breath. But then another thought quickly followed... many, many people have been blowing it away, slowly, surely, with the breath of God that is within them of generosity, caring, and sacrifice.


"But it is the spirit in a person, the breath of the Almighty, that gives them understanding." Job 32:8

Stories of Student lives transformed (this year!)

Meet Sean. I met Sean when he attended our spring break camp, having only prayed once before in his life. He went in looking to see if God was real. By the end of the week, God became real to Sean when he saw his friend encounter God at camp. After that, Sean dedicated his life to God and just weeks later, he shared his testimony in front of dozens of fraternity and sorority students at a Greek IV event.

Meet Marshall. As an SDSU freshman, Marshall was high on drugs when the Holy Spirit put on his heart to repent and come back to Jesus. Marshall was raised a Christian but fell away from his faith. His mom continued to pray for him daily and Marshall had a drastic turnaround when he repented. He stopped drugs, sex and alcohol and began ministering to students through prayer and is now looking to enroll in Bible school. 

Meet Lisa. Previously a hardcore skeptic, Lisa was invited by her roommates (two SDSU InterVarsity leaders) to our annual Fall Retreat at Catalina Island (where I was the keynote speaker). At Catalina, she had an amazing encounter with Jesus but afterwards attempted to ignore God’s call. God did not take no for an answer and continued to press deeper into her life through her roommates. Towards the end of the Spring semester, Lisa came to faith in Jesus!

Meet Tyler, Joanna, and Marcus! Watch a video about three new Christians at UCSD!

This year 53 students became Christians at UCSD! And 149 students began their relationships with Jesus across the 9 campuses in San Diego InterVarsity! Praise God!!

Summer Prayer Letter! Fresh off the press!

Click on the image below to download our latest prayer letter!

And... special insert!
5 ways to spiritually preparing your kids for college!
Click on the image below to download... and pass it along to any parents of college-bound students you know! (Read more on our blog.)

Good Reads for tough questions college students face

Here is a short list of good reads for college students, high-schoolers going away to college, or parents!


True Story by James Choung is a sure winner! James is our former San Diego Divisional Director with InterVarsity and wrote this book in response to a lot of the specific questions InterVarsity staff in San Diego were getting from college students while doing evangelism on campus. Make sure to add this one to your reading list! Out of all the books listed here, this might be the one your child makes it all the way through!

Mere Christianity by CS Lewis  This is a classic and will help your student deal with atheist professors (Lewis was a staunch atheist into his 50s). It is also a great intellectual apologetic for our faith in Jesus. Out of all these books, these first two would be great summer reading for a pre-college student!

A New kind of Christian by Brian McClaren 
Some people don’t like McClaren, but I do. This book is going to meet your child in a way that few others can. Let’s face it, your kid lives in a post-modern world and thinks and interacts with the world in a completely new way than CS Lewis did. McClaren knows how to write about it and ask hard questions about faith from this context.

Finding God in the questions by Dr. Timothy Johnson is another great book, in 2004 it was #8 on the NY Times Bestsellers list, and its from InterVarsity Press!! (can you feel the pride?) Here’s a quote, "Doubt doesn't have to tear down belief, however; it can purify it. When it does, the beliefs on the other side become more certain. This is why I would like to affirm that it is possible to find God even while you are still asking the big questions."

Is Belief in God Good, Bad or Irrelevant?: A Professor and a Punk Rocker Discuss Science, Religion, Naturalism & Christianity This is a fun one, I read it a couple years ago. It’s a compilation of emails between a pastor and the atheist lead singer of a very popular punk band called Bad Religion. If your kids are into music try this one, it’s a good book because this guy is a very, very smart atheist, and yet his arguments can’t discredit the pastors answers to his questions. Also by IVP!

Mind Your Faith: A Student's Guide to Thinking and Living Well by David Horner. This is a great handbook for your student! For young Christians about to embark on the collegiate experience, Horner provides a guide to thinking as a Christian. Carefully exploring how ideas work, he gives students essential tools for thinking critically, contextually and coherently, unpacking worldviews and discerning truth.

Is Believing in God Irrational? by Amy Orr-Ewing. I haven’t read this one, but if you or your child is struggling with this, it’s a good one. The author addresses key questions and objections that many people today have about God. She probes whether the Christian claim to a unique personal relationship with God is plausible in light of other world religions, and how anyone can continue to believe in God in a world of pain and suffering.

God on Campus: Sacred Causes & Global Effects By Trent Sheppard. This one is about the prayer movement of young people on campus and the impact that they are having on the world. If you are in doubt about sending your kid to college, read this to be inspired with what God wants to do to change the world and what He can do with young passionate hearts.

Finding God at Harvard by Kelly Kullberg. 
Another great IVP and Boston Globe Bestseller. In it she finds and records the testimonies of 42 Harvard professors. Encouraging that God is still moving at some of our most prestigious institutions and explodes the myth that Christian faith cannot survive a rigorous intellectual atmosphere!

Shaping the Spiritual Life of Student: A Guide for Youth Workers, Pastors, Teachers & Campus Ministers By Richard Dunn. In this book, Dunn shows you how to set the pace with sensitivity to the unique spiritual issues that occur during each stage of adolescent development: junior high, senior high and college. It seems like a good spiritual development book for parents of kids of all ages.

Spring Break Round Two! (community colleges)

Community College students raising money for their spring break camp

Last week, I (Sarah) traveled back to Catalina Island for Spring Break, round two! This time the community colleges were on spring break, and I didn't teach anything,but got to simply hang out with my staff and students.

The three community colleges that I supervise are Mesa, San Diego City, and Southwestern colleges. These colleges are taking more and more of the students in San Diego that can't afford a four-year university, need to get GEs out of the way, or are working on a more technical degree, like heating and air conditioning for example.

Many of these students will go on to be the nurses, firefighters, technicians, and teachers in San Diego. They could be what you call the "backbone" of our cities.

These community colleges are also becoming more and more crowded as students turn to a more affordable and accessible higher education.

We took about 20 of these students to Catalina Island, to study the gospel of Mark for the week. There were ups and downs throughout the week. It's an intense schedule, and can be a challenging way to look at scripture... especially on Spring Break. Many of these students are dealing with tremendous brokenness in their homes and families. More than your average 4-year college student.

I spent a lot of my time praying with students, listening to their insight into Mark, and being impressed with my staff as they taught and pastored their students. Even though it's hard to be away from home for another week, whenever I spend time with community college students, I am more and more convinced that InterVarsity needs to be reaching these campuses.

These students need God's love, healing, and power because they often face overwhelming circumstances in their life. They are a forgotten people, often on the margins. They are exactly who Jesus would be seeking out, calling into wholeness, hanging out with.

So as I spent the week before Easter with these students, I was reminded over and over why Jesus went to the cross for us, a broken people. It was because of His great love for us, especially those who feel forgotten and overlooked.

Breakthrough on the last night!

What sounds better for Spring Break than being on a desert island with 40 SDSU college students looking intensly at the life of Jesus? I say nothing! We had a fantastic Spring Break camp, with over 30 students in the seminar I led. This was one of the biggest Mark seminars I've ever taught!

It was a little hard for the students to get vulnerable with such a large group, but God was relentless about pursuing each student... all the way to the very last night! We had a large group sharing about what God had done. Slowly, students began to share deeper and deeper things that God had been doing in their life that week. 


One woman shared about a broken and unhealthy relationship that she had been in with her ex-boyfriend, and tearfully asked the room to help her stay out of it and follow God into freedom.


One guy in our group was so emotional during the sharing, that he started to cry before it was even his turn to share anything. He walked out of the room, and then when he came back in, he shared about his struggle to want people to like him and admire him, and his hatred for seeming weak in front of people. God had been opening him up to trusting in Him for his strength and value.


Another young woman talked about how her life as a Christian had turned into just following the rules, much like the Pharisees in the gospel of Mark. She explained how it had been easier to rely on being a "good" Christian than actually engage in a relationship with Jesus. But that week, she had come to the realization that that kind of religion wasn't working for her, and she was turning away from being a Pharisee, repenting, and turning towards an intimate relationship with Jesus. 


The sharing went on and on! Afterwards, I prayed with students for healing and the continued work of the Holy Spirit until late in the night! I crawled into bed after 1am, exhausted but exhilarated at how the Word of God, particularly the life of Jesus can radically transform students' lives... in just one week!


Thank you for your prayers! I go back to Catalina next week to be with the community colleges as they go through Mark as well. Pray for even more healing and breakthrough with these students! 

Credited to Your Account

Sarah and I wish we could share more stories of God's work on campus, but we've been spending much of our time this past windter and spring working on our fundraising. The sustained recession affecting all of us has made it more challenging to meet the fundraising goals we have for our ministry with InterVarsity.

We have been studying Philippians 4 lately, where Paul is writing to the believers in Phillipi, who are also givers to his ministry. We feel a lot like Paul when he says: "I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances...Not that i desire your gifts; what I desire is that more be credited to your account."

Paul, like us, was in "need". He was in jail, and needed the daily support of others to be sustained. But he learned how to trust God, and be content with whatever the circumstances were. We haven't quite reached Paul's contentment in life...but we have been learning how to trust God with the needs of our family and our ministry.

We also, like Paul, strongly believe that one day, you will be credited for the amazing things that are happening on the college campuses we work on. God will look at you and say, "Well done, good and faithful servant" because of the gifts you have given to the ministry. Like Paul, we are praying these words over each of you as you invest with us. "They [your gifts] are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God. And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of His glory in Christ Jesus." May this be true for you today!