Aaaaaaand We're back.

Sorry for such a long time between posts, been incredibly busy these past few weeks.

Most of what has been going on the past few weekends has been personal things such as working for people, helping my girlfriend's family move, school work, etc. And during the weeks it's been on campus meeting with students, doing school work, and working.

As you've noticed, I've mentioned working, I've been doing work around a PSU alums house lately to generate some more funds. Things go well until I have to pay for gas, then it turns into, "Well there went that money." But luckily gas prices are going down (I even saw them for $2.95 today).

The big news is that this past weekend we (5 from Penn State's campus ministry and me) went to Columbus for the International Conference on Missions (ICOM). Many of you who may be reading this probably ran into me at some point there. Unfortunately no one from our campus wanted to go, or couldn't, but one student from Penn State did and it was nice having someone my own age to periodically wonder around with. Even better than that was KCU students came including my girlfriend who I hardly get to see, and I also got to see my old room mate from college which was great since I haven't seen him in over a year.

While at ICOM I got to learn a lot about fundraising, going deeper with God, fasting, prayer, campus ministry, myself, and God's plan for me. I went there with the intention of finding out what God wants me to do after my year of the beard is up, but God didn't let me in on that secret. But he did let me know what he wanted me to focus on: International students.

Pitt has roughly 35,000, over 28,000 of which go to main campus with 8% of those being international students. That's about 2,200 students. And God has laid it on my heart this past weekend to care for them. Take the gospel? Yes. But more than that. I want them to know that as an American, I am happy that they are here. That they are valued. That they actually matter and are not just another number. It's easy to get lost in a crowd of 28,000. It's easy to get lost in a crowd of 1,000. I don't want these students to get lost, and neither does God.

The University of Iowa put out an article about international students, stating that 80% never set foot in an American home. I'm sure many of you are far from campuses, or never have contact with one, or maybe "It's just not my calling." Fine, that's for you to decide. As for me, God has laid it on my heart to care for these students. My goal for this one week before I leave to go back for Thanksgiving is to befriend one student who has no place to go for the holiday, and bring them with me. I would have a higher goal, but then it would be a really cramped 3 hour drive in my truck.

During my time leading up to deciding if I was going to be heading into campus ministry or not I sat down and prayed about it, talking to God, listening to God, and reading his word. One thing that stuck with me was the great commission, to make disciples of all nations. In those verses so many want to focus on the word "Go," but through research for classes and by fellow classmates I've learned that "go" is not the primary verb in the Great Commission. It's make. I went from family and home to a new city, and I'm here to make disciples of all nations. I have a great opportunity to do this, with the nations coming to me. That was the deciding factor to bring me to where I'm at today.

During the summer I went to a campus ministers retreat and put together some goals for the year. One of those goals: Increase CSF by 50%. Well we're at about 10 right now, maybe 15. So that's 5-8 students. I wanted to drop that percentage down but then looking over my writing I saw that I absentmindedly wrote from someones lesson "Don't limit God." That's one of those look up and go "Fiiiiiiiiiine" moments.

And here I am, 5 months here and haven't had any growth. God has kicked me into gear this past weekend, and I'm ready to go.

So I ask that you keep my in your prayers as I embark in this next journey within a journey.

As always I'm thankful for your support, prayers, or even thoughts. I'll be putting together a news letter in the coming days, if you would be interested in receiving a copy, drop a line to me some how, leave a comment, email me, facebook, whatever, and give me your address.

October is one crazy month...

At least I'm posting with in a month this time!

I hope that if you're reading this you have had a good October thus far and are enjoying the Fall, I know I am.

Obviously I have probably been pretty busy since I haven't posted in a while, either that or I've been lazy, but I promise you it is not the latter. There have been things going on every weekend this past month and more still to come.

So the first weekend I was behind on homework, so I spent the weekend doing that, and basically nothing else. But that's boring.

The weekend of the 11th and 12th we had a state wide CSFPA Fall Retreat put on by one of our ministries up in northern PA which was great. Our ministry didn't have any students come because it was scheduled on our Fall Break, so all of our students went home, but Greg and I went and it was just a good weekend to get away and meet with students from other ministries. There were a lot of good conversations that I had with students, not just about Christianity, but just their lives, their fears, goals, favorite books or tv shows, and just whatever came up in conversation. It was just all around a good weekend. Saturday in particular was a great time, playing ultimate Frisbee, gagaball, and a couple other games. Being out of shape this all almost killed me, but it was a blast.

This past weekend I got to see my family for the first time since August and my brother and his family for the first time since like May. We met in Cambridge, Ohio and went camping and my wonderful girlfriend spent her Fall Break from KCU to go with me. It was a nice relaxing weekend with getting away from everything and doing nothing for a day that had to do with ministry. Breaks are good. But like all breaks it had to come to an end, and this one ended on Sunday morning. I had to head to the church I used to work at in Beallsville, Ohio to fill in for the preacher and try to raise some support for my ministry. Well the first part went well, and the second not so much. While I was disappointed in the lack of help from the congregation and church itself, I really wasn't all that surprised. But it was great seeing many of the members again and hearing about what they're doing at the church for the youth.

As for weekly happenings, they're much of the same. Every Thursday we've been meeting for Bible study, though the Thursday before their Fall Break (the 9th) we had a game night and rocked some Nintendo 64 for a few hours while eating pizza. The other weeks we've been continuing through Philippians with this past week being about faith.

A few weeks ago the director of our organization came to Pittsburgh to speak with some church members on Wednesday about taking CSF as a mission to their church, and Thursday we met with a number of ministers in the city to do the same. The Thursday meeting was a usual monthly thing, and was my first one, but it was awesome getting to meet different ministers from all over Pittsburgh and being able to hear what they're doing and telling them what we're doing.

This past month I've also been working harder at growing our group number by sending out emails to students, which has not gotten any responses yet, but it's something I keep praying for.

This coming weekend we'll be heading to another church somewhere around here, either to speak or just visit, not entirely sure which, but it is a part of this ministry.

I ask that you keep us in prayer, me especially as I continue to try and minister to the campuses we are on. I thank all of you for your prayers, and if any of you support me I thank you for that as well.

Until next time!

Busy busy busy

So I realize I haven't posted on this blog in about 2 months. I apologize for that, but things got a bit crazy.

To kind of let you know what's been going on real quick

• Class
• Overlapping semesters
• Two very intensive online classes
• Pittsburgh classes started
• Welcome/orientation events
• Preping for our study for the semester
• Game nights
• Trying to find a groove (so far impossible)
• Doctrinal differences arising
• Travelling
• To Columbus, to Kentucky, back to Columbus, then back to Pittsburgh
• Had a wedding to go to Labor day weekend for which I traveled across 3 states
• Personal work
• Personal time with God
• Dealing with a new pet (will explain later)
• Moving things (from Columbus to Pittsburgh)
• Looking for a part time job to help finance the ministry
• Looking for another place to live, preferably an apartment near campus

And I think that's about it.

Obviously things have been a bit hectic here the past few weeks. But let's start with the good news!

Many of you probably know I got a cat. His name is Altair from the video game Assassins Creed because he loves to climb stuff and fight with me. I have the cuts to prove it. He's a good cat, 15 weeks old, and incredibly playful. 

Some other good things that have happened recently is that I got to spend some good time with one of our students while working out. We're planning on starting a Bible study together on being a man of God and really looking at coming to the end of yourself and losing yourself, taking on the identity of Christ. Our plan is to set it up this semester and then meet weekly with other guys next semester.

Every Thursday we (CSF) meet on campus for our weekly meeting. This semester we're going through the book of Philippians with our main verse being Jude 3, looking at the idea of contending for the faith. We've met 5 weeks so far, with the first week just being a get together, then the second week an introduction, then the past 3 weeks we've been getting into the text. So far the study has been really good, with some good discussion and observations from students and ministers alike.

There has also been some strife in our ministry as well with "doctrinal" issues arising which has put stress on people and ministries. It's nothing truly major, but it has had some interesting effects and discussions lately. The main thing for me is that while not everyone will agree with each others theologies, we still have a love for Christ and proclaim the Gospel. 

In the beginning of August we had some welcome/orientation events on the campuses of U of Pitt and Carnegie Melon (CMU). At CMU there was a "Faith Fair" where all the religious organizations at CMU were able to have a table and a time to talk with students. Then at U of Pitt there was an activities fair where we had our own table and had about two hours to interact with students.

As for other things that have gone on this semester so far, every Tuesday we've been having a game night on campus where we get together and play pool, or ping pong, and one night we went to Greg's to play Halo with his 9 year old son until 1:30 AM. Good times. We also had a movie night where we watched the classic Monty Python and the Holy Grail. This past weekend we were planning on going camping, but had to cancel because of busy student schedules. 

What's even better is that the month of October I will be busy every weekend. The first weekend is a leadership retreat for the church that we partner with, and I also preach at the church that is letting me use their parsonage. The second weekend is Fall Retreat for CSFPA, where all the CSFs will be meeting for a weekend of games, worship, and just getting away. The weekend after that I head back to the church I used to work at to preach and hopefully gain some support, then hopefully the last weekend in October Greg and I will be heading to the west side of the city to a church to present CSF and hopefully gain even more support for the ministry.

As stated above, I am looking for a part time job somewhere. My hope is to get a job that is near or on campus where I can still interact with college students, and where I can make enough money for a monthly rent. My goal is to find an apartment close to campus so that we have a "base of operations" close to where we're working. I've found a few apartments which look promising, but as of right now the funds just aren't there. So please keep me in your prayers as I search for a job which will benefit both the ministry and me.

All in all that's really all the important things that are going on in my life. I'm currently taking Old Testament Theology where all I have to do is read books that are mainly about OT Criticism. I'm also taking Sermon on the Mount. Not much to say about that one. 

As always keep the ministry in your prayers, keep me in your prayers and feel free to contact me anytime! I'd love to hear from people sometime.

mandrews909@gmail.com

Random update!

So I haven't posted on this blog in a while... I've been busy with homework and not much has gone on foundation wise just yet. But things have happened!

So it's currently August 6th. I'm in Kentucky for the week because of class, and a good friend of mine is letting me crash with him. But in the past month a few things have gone on with the foundation, so I'm posting an update. Also, notice the beard. It's awesome.

So Pittsburgh is a fantastic city. I love the people, I love the cultures, I love the city itself. This is definitely a place I could see myself settling down in, but since I said that God will want to throw me a curve ball and send me somewhere else. Fingers crossed he won't though.

Like I've been saying for a while, nothing has really been going on foundation wise. There's just nothing to do right now. But Greg has come up with some things that we will be focusing on for the semester and year.

First Greg wants to really base things off of Jude 3

Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.

with the focus being on "contending for the faith." How we're going to do this then takes up to the second thing for the semester, which is going through the book of Philippians. To prepare for this I've been challenged to read through Philippians every day. I started using different translations to see how they day different things about the same concepts and ideas, and it's really brought some good thoughts up. 

We're also talking about doing an event once a month for our ministry, just doing different things like retreats or going on a short trip to build community. That and we're also looking to raise funds by doing cook outs and events like that at churches in the area. We'll see how all that pans out in the coming months.

Some things that have gone on in the past month is that we met with the campus minister from West Virginia University about doing things with him and his ministry. We also had a statewide CSF campus minister retreat day where we all met at the directors house and went to a cabin out in the middle of no where. We took care of some business things, shot a .22, and just had a great day of relaxation and fellowship. 

Other than that I've been working on school work. We've spent some time with students when they're available, which isn't often, but we grab the time we can. I've visited a couple different churches which support CSF which was fun, meeting the people who support us and getting to know them a little bit. Over all I'm enjoying my time in the city, and I'm even more excited for the time to come when we really get to be with students during the school year.

Once things start picking up I'll be posting more, but until then, remember us in your prayers. 

As always I'm praying for whoever may be reading this and that some way you will be blessed by it. 

Peace out! 

One Month Down!

Well I'm calling this year of the beard, and I haven't really shown the beard progress. Maybe I'll start updating once a week, maybe just keep it at once a month. Who knows!

Anyways.

So I've been here a month already and things are great. With it still being the summer, time with students is limited, but the few times I've been able to be with them has been good.

Of course we had camp for an entire week, but I already talked about that.
A little over a week later we did something Greg calls "The Experiment" where we meet on a Sunday night for food, fellowship, worship and a message, then the city puts on a movie in the park. Two weeks ago it was E.T. and this past week was Space Jam, but since it was the 4th we didn't do it.
Last week I went over to some guys' house for a fire, and we sat around the fire telling different stories.
This past weekend we had the 4th of July, and I had a crazy busy weekend. Friday I cleaned a bit, and my parents came out to bring me a bead and some other supplies like a can opener, that way I didn't have to open cans with a knife and hammer anymore. They also brought me a microwave that doesn't sound like it's going to blow up when I use it, which is awesome, and my griddle which I'm pretty sure I stole from my Uncle Donnie at Christmas a few years ago during a White Elephant exchange. So now I can somewhat cook.

Thanks mom and dad for coming out even though it was short!

This past weekend I also got a fridge! $40 on Craig's list (I love that sight). It's a bit...ghetto... but it runs and keeps things cold. At least I think it will, I don't have anything in it yet because I'm conserving money. And I got a good bit of food stocked up at the moment anyways that doesn't need refrigerated. The reason I call my fridge ghetto though is because it was sitting out on a back porch for 2 years unplugged. They took it apart and were hosing it down when I came to get it, and we lost a piece that I didn't realize was missing until I got back here. I spent 2 days cleaning it, it had mold all over everything. But once it was mostly clean (good enough) I was putting it together, and noticed that the thing between the two doors that's a part of the hing was missing. So I tore up a pen and shoved that in there. It works, but it's ghetto/redneck (Thanks Kentucky).

Yesterday we got to meet with the campus minister of WVU about possibly teaming up and having him join our CSF group. We then found out that he is a part of another CSF group in West Virginia, but he would like to come up for retreats and whatever else we may get into.

After that meeting, Greg and I talked with Buzz, and I think I'm going to be planning an ICOM trip for the entire CSF organization seeing as how it's in Columbus this year, meaning I have to find places for us to stay and shower and everything else. This will be interesting, but it'll be good and cool to show people where I'm from.

Other than that stuff not much has gone on. As stated earlier there isn't much to do yet. I'm putting together idea's for things I'd like to do, but I don't know if they'll work or not or whether I'll be able to do them at all. But I do have some Bible studies rolling around in my head that I'm starting to look into such as The Art of Losing Yourself based on Matthew 16.25 and also working in Biblical illiteracy. I may have talked about this already, I'm not sure, but those are what I would like to do, but we'll see what happens.

Well it's back to homework for me now.

Stay the course, worship God, and keep me and CSF in your prayers.

God bless, and peace out!

The Power of God is Amazing

I just now realized I haven't posted in a while. My bad.

Well it's Tuesday July 1st, and I'm currently living in a house all by myself like a big boy!

The past few weeks I was staying at my aunt's house on the west side, but Saturday I moved across town to a parsonage that a church had which isn't being used. Big thanks to First Christian Church of Turtle Creek! I even got some furniture now too, all for free thanks to Craig's list. I got a super nice couch with a pull out mattress under it, and an alright chair, but they serve their purposes. Some things that are lacking though are a fridge and stove, but I'm making due.

Enough about that though, let's get real.

It's still summer time, meaning that students aren't in class yet, so there isn't a lot to do out here but plan right now. Greg and I have been talking a lot about idea's for Bible Studies for the students when they get back, and we got some good idea's going.

One thing that I'm thinking about is two Bible studies for the campus ministry, one big generic one, getting into the word, but something for people in all different stages of their faith. Then I would really like to do another study for those who are committed, the leaders in the group, to help them grow so that they can help others. The Bible study that I would really like to do for that would be Words of the Bible which would focus on figuring out the meaning of the big words we find in scripture with the harder definitions. For example, explain righteousness. What is it? What does it do? What does it mean in the context of Matthew 6.33? 2 Corinthians 5.21?

Not that easy, and a dictionary won't really help all that much. You'll get what the world think the word means, but what about what God intends for the word to mean?

Anyway, I think that would be highly beneficial for the students we'll have.

Another Bible study that I'm interested in doing for the students we'll have is The Art of Losing Yourself based off of Matthew 16.25, and also I would take a good bit out of the end of Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis for that as well.

The title of this post is used because it is by the grace of God that I am able to be here to do these things, to make these plans, to live where I am and to have what I do. I'm thankful for what he has done in my life, and am thankful for all those who support me in this adventure God has set me on.

As always, keep me in your prayers, and though I have no idea who reads this, I will keep you in mine.

Peace out yo.

Week 2 Done Gone Got...Done?

Well I have officially been in Pennsylvania for 2 weeks now and this past week has been interesting.

Last Friday I went to a camp called Camp Christian. Those of you that are from my home church, or just those that I know from camp, it's not Round Lake, but it is a great camp, and the director of the camp is a great guy. This was a great first work-filled week for me to start off the summer with.

I always get asked "What'd you do at camp?" and I can never give an answer that's short, or remember, but I think I can somewhat shortly tell of what went on.

Friday through Sunday morning we had a college retreat, where we had about 12 students from different universities. During that time we had worship, some messages, and a lot of fellowship time. I got to meet some of the students that went through CSF in the Pittsburgh area, and I saw how campus ministry really effected their lives, which was awesome.

Both Friday and Saturday night I spoke at camp fire, both of which surrounded the theme of "Uncommon Life." The first night I talked about how living the Christian lifestyle is hard in the world, and talked a lot about Paul and his life's journey. The the second night I talked about how rewarding it is to persevere through the hardships. I shared my testimony for that one, and talked about how even though things got rough for me through family issues and problems I put myself in, and even though things still are hard for me, there is nothing else that brings me peace like being in Christ.

Fast forward to Sunday afternoon and Sr. High week begins with a rush of high school students flooding the camp ground like a wave of unbalanced hormones, body spray, and need for attention. (And I will even acknowledge that yes, I know I was like that too.)

The first night was slow going, with me still not coming out of my shell or knowing anyone around me. But for those of you who have been faculty with me at camp before, you know how camp brings something different out of me.

In case you didn't know, I'm an introvert, so I like my quiet alone time. But camp always gets me out of my shell for the campers.

For the week I was a family leader, more or less. We met only a few times a day, mainly to do devos, pray, and help them with memory verses. I didn't really do the last part, but instead furthered their devos for the day by helping them understand the memory verse in the context it's in and help them apply it to their lives. Another family leader in our group and I did this a lot, and we also tried to help them understand how to do devos, such as actually reading the text and pulling meaning out of it, not just looking at it. Some of the things that we talked about with the students afterwards were great, and quite a few of our family actually got some good stuff out of their devos.

Throughout the week we had times of worship and a message, and class times, none of which I spoke for but observed, and most of the students seemed to receive the messages well. Some weren't really listening because their focus was on things other than Jesus, so there were some problems with them throughout the week, but you'll have that. I do want to applaud the main speaker Billy (Scott), the boys teacher Greg though, , and also the girls teachers, all of the women faculty, for doing a great job teaching throughout the week.

Of course every evening we had to have camp fire, and congratulations to the campers, they made me lose my voice the first night, which has never happened before. To my credit though, I haven't had to get loud for about 6 months with no real preaching obligations. I spoke on Tuesday night about finding out what you struggle with and a basic overview of sin. Afterwards I was talking with the guy who spoke Monday night and he said that there was a kid who was struggling with how God can allow bad things to happen in our lives. The first night the camp fire speaker spoke about the love God has for us. The second night the guy I was talking to was talking about the importance of God in our lives/ why God matters. Then the third night I talked about the problem of sin and why bad things happen. God really worked through us this past week.

Finally there were meals (weird people eating at camp for a week right?). But I have a thing at camp, where every meal I'll sit at a different table until I sit with everyone. I'll get to know the kids, where they're from, what's going on in their lives, maybe teach them a lil something. The very first night there was a group of people I was sitting with who were going through a list of "ugly people" that they know. That's not going to fly with me. I pull out my Bible, flip to Ephesians 2.10, have someone read it, then flip to Genesis 1.26-27 and have someone else read that. Then I talked to them about those verses, tying them together, and got them to understand that what they were doing was wrong.

Throughout the week I was asking all the people I sat with two questions: Why are you at camp this week? What do you expect to get out of it? Most of the answers to the first question were the same, "I've been going here for ____ years." But the second question rose interesting conversations and some good time to educate. One of the notable answers was:

"I want to find God." 

So I ask, "Do you believe God exists?" 

"Yes."

"So how can you find him if you already found him?"

"...I guess I want to know him better?"

"Alright. Now how?"

"Nature and stuff?"

I again opened up my Bible and talked about how God has a lot of different aspects, and there are a lot of different ways to know God. We looked at Romans 1.20, Hebrews 1.1 and Titus 2.11 both of which speak about how God has shown himself in different ways to all people. We also got into who God is and some of my theology on God, which began to blow some people's minds, so I had to back off a bit. But it was still great conversation. But just table hopping throughout the week was fun, getting to know the campers, letting them get to know me,  and just talking and sharing with them. 

Over all it was a good week, with a lot of moments to teach students in non-traditional ways, which I think really prepared me for what's to come in the next year.

As always, please keep me in your prayers, and if you could donate moneys so I can live, that'd be awesome. And we can show people who doubt that God can do amazing things.

Until next time friends.

My First Big Day!

Yes, I'm acting like a little school girl with this post. No shame.

Well I've been in Pittsburgh for three days now, and so far it's been a fun city to be in. I've been staying at my aunts house, not really doing much other than playing with her grandson. But I've been doing more than that, no worries!

Monday I met with the man I'm going to be working with, Greg. We got together for coffee, talked a bit about what's going to be going on, and some of the things that are coming up. I said in my last post that I'm going to be posting about once a week, but it may be more, but this week is now because 1) a good bit has gone on and 2) I'm leaving for a week. While talking with Greg we decided that I should go to camp with him, so Friday I'm leaving for parts unknown (to me) for a campus retreat which will go through Sunday, and then Sunday through Friday we'll be working a week of Senior High camp, which I'm excited for. What will my official job be? I have no idea, but I'll do what God has called me to do and make what positive impact I can on some kids lives.

Last night was the first time I went to a function for this internship, where I met with Greg and talked for a bit before a Bible study, composed mostly of college students. I saw some good discussion and good, deeper thoughts on the scripture that we were looking at (Matthew 22.1-14). Afterwards we went out to eat for a time of fellowship and for me to get to know some of the people. Just from some of the conversations I had I think that this is where God is calling me. I can't say why just yet, but when I figure it out I'll let you know.

Today I had an interesting time, driving to State College for a class put on by CSF, a 3 hour drive. That's a long drive by yourself through the hills of PA. But during the class we talked a bit about some of the policies and procedures here with this foundation, and went through some tax things which hopefully I will be able to remember when it comes to be that time. But then we talked about campus ministry, some of the history behind it and the college movement.

Looking at the history of campus ministry and some of the stats we can see that campus is where God really likes to start stuff. There have been revivals at multiple campuses and lasting for days or even years. God does amazing things at campuses.

A lot of the history that we talked about really encouraged me with what's going to be going on here at this ministry, and I'm interested to see what God does in this next year.

Please remember me, U of Pitt, the city, and CSF in your prayers, and lets see what God does in this city.

First and Last Post

Well this is my first post on this blog, but it is also my last post. Last from home that is.

Tomorrow I move to Pittsburgh to start a year long internship at the University of Pittsburgh, working with students and discipling them. (For those of you who go to a church or have not been taught about discipleship, it is basically pouring yourself into others, just as Christ pours himself into us, building them up and training them to do the same. So whenever I talk about discipleship or similar uses of the word, this is what it means.)

My hope is that those who are reading this are supporting me, but there may be some of you who are not and have no idea what I'm talking about. So allow me to clarify!

Campus ministry is not like church, where you have a steady income of money from those you have in your congregation. We have a complete rotation of students every four years. College students that is. And we're poor as all get out. So in order for this ministry to function, and in order for me to not be living on the street when I get to Pittsburgh, I have to raise funds.

[Shameless Plug] If you would like to donate, which would be phenomenal, just write a check and send it to

Christian Student Foundation

P.O. Box 221

State College, PA 16804

and put my name on the memo line. If you're interested in donating monthly ($20, $50, $100 whatever) a month, send a voided check with a note with contact info and who you want to support. 

If you're interested in helping and have any questions, you can contact me through email, mandrews909@gmail.com or the foundation itself at donerservices@csfpa.com.

[End Shameless Plug]

Over all, I'm really excited for this opportunity that God is putting in my life. I've been trying to get into different ministries, an internship at Southeast, a job in Dayton, keeping my job in southeast Ohio, and all of them fell through. This is the only ministry opportunity that never had a door close on me. I've had people I highly respect encourage me and tell me that campus ministry is something that would be absolutely perfect for my ministry style. I know that through this chance, I will actually be able to do my part for the Kingdom. I can actually make disciples and numbers wont matter. I'll have chances to work with students from all over the world, training and building them up, so that they can go and do the same. This will be us making disciples of all nations, just as Jesus has commanded us to do. How great of an opportunity is that? 

Note about the naming of this blog which I think I just changed to "The Year of the Beard" and the description which basically says "my adventures at U of Pitt doing campus ministry." The reason I have named the blog itself thus is because I want to grow out my beard the entire year, so I will be shaving tomorrow and making myself look like I'm 16 again. And I call this an adventure because I see it as one. I'm going to a city I don't know, with no idea what kind of funds I'll have, and even my living situation isn't fully nailed down yet. But I fully believe this is what God wants me to do so I'm not stressing about it. I know He's going to do amazing things in my life this next year, and throughout the rest of my life, but this next year will be a huge test of faith not only for me, but definitely my family (my parents are freaking more than I am). But this year will be a launching platform for the rest of my life if this is the ministry that God is calling me to do. 

As for the content of the blog, I'll be updating it about once a week probably, maybe more, maybe less. I'll be telling of things going on, encouraging things going on, wins, loses, students (though no names will be used). I'm incredibly excited for this chance that God has given me, and I hope that if you're reading this you are too.

God Bless and see you on the other side.