Wrapping up...

It's been a little over a month since I last posted, and for that I apologize.

This past month has been pretty busy for me. We had spring break, then I had class in Kentucky, then trying to get back into the groove here at Pitt, plus get a research paper done, and now this is the last week of classes at Pitt. I know, they end super early.

Last week I preached at Turtle Creek, the church that's letting me use their parsonage. With it being the week after Easter, and it's still a part of the 40 days Jesus was alive I decided to use some work from a class I had called Resurrection Narratives and preached on the majority of John 20. What was interesting was I called the elder at the church, asking what the preacher spoke on the week before as to not cover the same thing, and he told me that he used John 20.1-18. I intended to preach on John 20.19-29. That definitely was a God thing. But during that time I noticed that there were some running themes in the texts I was using. There was the Emotion, fear from the apostles and anger from Thomas. Then there was an Encounter between Jesus and the apostles, and later between Jesus and Thomas. Finally there was the Effect of the Encounter. The Effect was always the same; go and tell people about Jesus being risen from the dead.

Three days before that I led CSF, the last one with a Bible study. We looked at Ephesians 4.11-16 which are the verses we were hoping to focus on during spring break, but that didn't happen. So I went through the passage and pulled out different points from each verse. I'll just list them really quick.

11-What God gave

12- Why

13- For the purpose of

14- So that we will not be

15- But we should be

16- Relation to the Church

I made a chart for the students, then showed them how that chart can be applied to different passages, particularly those about the Resurrection. For the example I went through Luke 24 and the Acts to show how these six points fit into the story. Then I paired them up to go through John 20 and do the same thing. The first team done won a Starbucks gift card with the purpose of them going together and getting to know each other. It was a really good and fun exercise. 

A few weeks before that (sorry I'm jumping all over the place) we went to Greg's house for a Seder meal, abridged. Heavily. Like 10 minutes. But it was a good time of fellowship with the students, having them out our way for food and fun. 

The week before that our director came out from State College for evaluations. I guess I did pretty well on mine because I actually got offered a campus with our organization. We're losing two campus ministers this year, one at our Lockhaven campus north of State College and another at our Altoona campus about two hours east of here. I was offered both, but the more pressing campus is the one at Altoona. So now I'm stuck between attempting to plant a campus ministry at Marshall in Huntington, WV or going into Altoona and fixing a ministry. This is a tough decision for me and is one I've been praying through for weeks now. I'd appreciate your prayers on helping me make this decision as well. 

Last Tuesday I actually went to Altoona for the day to meet with the leadership there and see the campus. I was unsure if I was going to be able to make it because the weekend before I girlfriend came up and had some car troubles, so I had to help with that which took a big bite out of my funds. But God blessed that trip. The day before I left I got a care package from my home church, Buckeye Christian, and in it was a $25 gas card! Then on my way there I got superb mileage, not even having to fill up there or back. I could tell all about the visit to the campus, but that'll take a while so I'll just say this: It was a good visit and there is a lot of potential with that ministry. 

Last week there was a carnival at CMU which opened Thursday with food, rides, games, and displays made by different organizations with the school that we went to as a group. We had a pretty good turnout for it. 

This past weekend we were supposed to go paintballing, but that fell through. And this week is finals so we're spending time on campus just to be there for the students. 

Thursday is our last meeting, not entirely sure what the plan is, but my internship is coming to a close now. It's been a fast paced school year that I greatly enjoyed. I'll keep updating this blog as I continue on my journey.

And here's where my beard has gotten thus far!

And I can even chew on it!

This thing has a mind of it's own. I even found food in it a couple nights ago! My uncle Butch would be proud!

#SpringBreak2015 #CSFPGHmeetsCSFKNX #nomakeup #hashtag

So this week I'm in Kentucky for class. 

Last week I was in Tennessee for our Spring Break mission trip.

I need a vacation.

At the bottom of this particular blog I have a few pictures chronicling our trip. We left Saturday at 2:Freaking Early AM and got to Knoxville, TN about 4ish. It was a heck of a long drive there, but luckily I got to ride shotgun the entire way. It's because I'm such a good copilot because my dad taught me well.

During the week we focused on Ephesians 4.11-16, though time and distance between the guys and girls housing made it a bit hard for us to get together for a Bible study/devo every day. But the goal was to teach the students about being equipped and equipping others for ministry.

While there we did a lot of work, met a lot of cool people, and had some great times. Here's a quick bit about what we did.

Saturday: Drove down, stopped in Ashland, KY for lunch and gas. Met up with my girlfriend Rachael who was in Grayson, all of 20 minutes away. Got down to Knoxville, TN and the CSF at the University of Tennessee. We hung out a bit, met the campus minister there, Glenn, and had dinner. They have a campus house, a house owned by the ministry right there on campus by apartments and some frats.

Sunday: Church in the morning at the campus house. We had lunch afterwards, but for the life of me I can't remember where. Maybe I'm getting old. Or need some time off. Anyways, after that we went to a garden type place, or national park, called Ijam's (Iyam's is how it's pronounced). There we went for a hike, about a mile or so. On the walk we  got to walk along a river, or lake, or something, and got to see a geological fold. It was mind blowing! Then that night starting about 8, since the weather was about a million degrees warmer than it has been in Pittsburgh, we (both CSFs) cooked and handed out pancakes to anyone who wanted to come by. We ended up serving about 40 students and had some really good conversations with them, it was a great way to do some out reach!

Monday: Monday we went down to Newport, KY to help out a new ministry that's popping up there. It there to help the community, full of poverty and drug abuse, and trying to equip the community to break free of their sin with different classes and giving the youth a place to go and stay out of trouble. They acquired an old hardware store and our task was to help with some demo. With two hammers, a crowbar, and some pry bars three of us and two of our girls took out an entire room, including the walls. We also got to load up a big dump truck twice and trashed lumber. We got to the point where we were throwing a lot of the trash out of the windows from the top floor. There may have been a couple vehicles that got hit...

That night the CSF we were with had their weekly meeting. We had a time of worship and after that looked at 2 John and talked a bit about it. Afterwards we had time to hang out with a lot of the students, and I got to throw down on some Super Smash Bros. Ike's my bro. (Get it? Mike n' Ike?) But it was great getting to hang out, talk, and bond with students from our own group and a group in a completely different state. It's amazing to me how God brings us together and makes it so easy to have a relationship with these people.

Tuesday: We worked at the same place as Monday, though that day we tore down the ceiling tiles. I only took down a few, but I was running errands with another volunteer that day so apparently I'm a girl scout now and don't work, as I was constantly reminded. But I worked hard all day too!

That night we went to an alum's house from Pitt for dinner. We hung out there with her family (husband, son, daughter, father and mother). What was cool was in talking with the father I found out he lived in Grove City at one time (that's GC Ohio, not PA). So we got to talk a bit about the town we both lived in, though at different times. After that we made our way back to Knoxville to finally sleep.

Here's the link for the group that we worked with Monday and Tuesday. http://empowercockecounty.com/

Wednesday: Wednesday we went to a town right around Knoxville. To best describe this place it's more hood. Gang activity, drug abuse, cycles and cycles of sin as one of the workers described to us. The point of this program is to work with children of this town or neighborhood. It was a Christian program and their main focus was helping the poverty of those around them. We were taught there were four areas of poverty: Physical, Academic, Emotional, and Spiritual. Many churches work on the physical and academic poverty of people, which is needed, but many don't work for enriching those in their community with programs for the emotional and spiritual poverty, so this was their main focus. That afternoon we had students come, and we got to work with them. The program was very rigid, and the teachers were very strict and held to the rules, which I think the students needed in their lives. During this time they started with worship, went over the rules, worked on homework, spent time reading together, and eventually did a Bible study. It was great seeing this program focus on the spiritual poverty of the kids, making that their highest priority. 

That night we went out to eat for $5 burgers at a really popular restaurant in town. The reason I mention this little fact is this: I hate Wednesdays. I'm sure you all know the Geico Hump Day/Camel commercial. Well I woke up Wednesday morning with texts from our four girls with my name and camel emojis. Well while we're waiting outside of the restaurant I feel my phone going off. "Eh, just must be a text" I think. Then it keeps vibrating. "Is someone calling me?" I pull out my phone and check it. Not getting a call. I'm getting 40 TEXT MESSAGES THAT ALL SAY "MIKE! GUESS WHAT DAY IT IS!" Needless to say, I am not a fan of Wednesday's now. But from there I felt that the students are finally seeing me as a Mike, not the intern.

Here's the link for the group with worked with Wednesday. http://thrivelonsdale.com/#about

Thursday: Thursday we got a bit touristy. That day we went to Gatlinburg, TN and also took a hike on a trail in the National Park. Other than that there wasn't much that went on during the day.

That night we cooked for the TN group. They do a dinner together and then separate Bible studies for men and women. I tried to help with the cooking, but I'm not too good in the kitchen, but we had perogies and Pittsburgh salad (a salad with fries on it n'at). Then during the men's Bible study Greg led it and I helped out a bit. But we went over the main text we were using for the week (Eph. 4.11-16) and had some good conversation about the text, calling for maturity of Christians, the purpose of those who claim to be in Christ, and more. I'm hoping to use this text for a lesson for our weekly Bible study this semester. We'll see though.

Friday: Friday was the day we left. Again not much went on other than driving back. On the way back to Pittsburgh we stopped in West Virginia and everyone tried Tudor's Biscuit World for the first time. While there we prayed for our meal, and there was a group of older ladies there. When they left they gave a note for us with a $50 bill in it (see picture below). After we finished eating we took a big group picture even with the people that worked there and then continued on our journey home.

Now: Well after Friday I crashed at my aunt's for the night. Saturday I woke up early, we had breakfast and a good time just talking then I made my way back to Columbus. Once there I hung out, got ready for class, and did a ton of laundry! Finally Sunday I made my way down to the Blue Grass State for class. This week we're talking ethics and I'm looking forward to later in the week so I can lovingly humble some people in ethical discussions. 

During my time in Kentucky I've been doing some work with some possibilities of future ministry. As I've written before I may be moving to Huntington to do campus ministry at Marshall. Well There happens to be a ministry that's wanting to expand there, and I had a conversation with them and we are planning to take it to the next step. It's a baby step, but it's a step towards that. But either way, if Marshall works out or if I stay in Pennsylvania I plan on sticking with campus ministry. I feel this is what God is calling me to do for a career, and I'm incredibly excited about that. Be looking for letters from me soon, if you would like a news letter let me know. If you would prefer it through snail mail I'll probably need your address, and email (which would be easier on my part) I'll need you email.

As always feel free to contact me any way at any time about anything!

Stopped in Ashland, KY for lunch. 
All the girls were begging for Waffle House.
Even got to see Rachael! She took the picture for us 

The day we got there we walked around campus, trying to uncramp our legs from being in the van for 8+ hours. Ended up finding this, what they call "The Hill."
All our students agreed, "That's no hill."

Sunday night we did free pancakes for campus!
This is Greg, he's special. 
This is a marshmallow filled pancake with whipped cream, a peep, and sprinkles.

Spent Sunday afternoon at Ijam's (Iam's).
A garden type place with some trails to walk. 
We gotta walk along some river and found caves.

Got down Right Indiana Jones!

Thursday we went to go be tourists!
Went to the Smoky Mountains and Gatlinburg.
Further down we took a hike and scaled a waterfall.

This is the beginning of our path to the waterfall.

Here we are at the top of it 
(or as high as we could get on it).
It was a heck of a climb. 
JEANS WERE A BAD CHOICE!

After we got down off the mountain.
Felt like a champ!

The note and bill that we got!

On our way back home!
Stopped in WV to treat these kids to some good ol' Tudor's!
(Only in WV except for one store in Grayson, KY)

Thawing Out

I hope this finds all of you warm and safe. Currently I'm trying to unfreeze myself from the subzero temperatures that have been all over Pittsburgh the past week and will continue into this next week. It's not often that I wish to live in Florida because I can't stand the heat, but this week has brought that out in me.

As for things going on in the Burgh, I've been keeping busy!

This semester thus far I've been trying to get a Men's Bible study going, but the big problem is that the guys I'm trying to work with all have different schedules so it's hard to find a time to get them all together. But the overall idea of the Bible study is to lead us to think critically about situations so that our actions in all areas of life will reflect that of the title "Christian" which we identify as. The first week we talked about our identity and what that has to do with our decision making process. Last week we talked about why we should think critically, and this week we were unable to meet. We'll see if it continues though. My full study is the topic of me devo blog (themandrews.blogspot.com) 

This semester we are focusing on "Witness." Last time I updated my blog I wrote that I was leading that weeks CSF meeting and that I wasn't entirely sure what I was going to talk about with it being so early in the week. Well since it's been two weeks, I think I know what I'm going to walk about. Or did talk about. Whatever. Anyways, we looked at Luke 1.1-4 and the purpose of Luke writing his gospel. Much of my schooling got me always looking for objectives or goals in writing and in these four verses we find Luke's entire purpose for writing this. That the recipient (be it a single person or many people) be certain of the things they were taught about Jesus. What Luke says here in these first four verses of his entire Gospel is that many people have written about Jesus, and the recipient has learned about Jesus. So Luke decided to do a detailed account, a witness, a testimony, about this Jesus person. So he researched, talked with eyewitnesses and those who served this message, and he wrote an orderly account. All this, so that the person(s) who received this could be certain about what they have been taught about Jesus. We then took this in our own lives, talking about how we are ambassadors of God here on earth, and we need to make sure people are certain about what they have been taught about Christ with our testimony. You heard he doesn't exist? Let me tell you what he's done in my life. You heard we're hypocrites? Let me tell you what that really means and our thoughts on it. You heard God is a bully with a magnifying glass? Let's see what he's really like. Overall the discussion went incredibly well and I feel the students feel like I'm actually useful now instead of just an intern. 

More about what's going on...

This week we were planning a ski trip to the Blue Knob resort on Friday, but looking at the weather the high is only supposed to be 12, and personally I'd rather not be in single digits most of the day. The reasons for going Friday are so that it'll be less crowded and a lot cheaper. There are closer resorts here, but they're a lot more expensive ($77 at 7 Springs for the day). So since the weather isn't going to be too good, we're pushing it back a week. Hopefully It'll be a lot better that day.

In other news, not to jump the gun at all, but I am beginning to enter into talks with a board of a Morehead State University campus ministry that's interested in doing a ministry plant on Marshall University's campus in Huntington, West Virginia. This is an opportunity that I'm incredibly excited for and feel like this is where God is leading me for the foreseeable future (Which I know with me is usually like a year at most, but this one would be considerably longer than that). More information on this will be given in the coming weeks or months, so keep an eye out and please keep this in prayer. 

More things in my life, I'm doing well! My cat's doing alright, he's a bundle of psychotic energy, but it's alright. I got to watch him chase his tail and go face first into a wall doing so, then continue to chase his tail. Overall I'm staying warm, house hasn't burned down and the pipes haven't froze, and my truck makes driving up hills in the snow loads of fun. Had an episode last night where I was trying to get up one hill and got stuck behind a line of cars because a charger was having problems going up. Once I made my turn onto another inclined road I too had problems, going up the hill at a 30 degree angle. It took a few to get up it, but I made it! School is going well for now. I took an exam for a class last week and got a 90/100 which was I was pleased with. Currently I'm trying to figure out where I'm going to get $650 for my thesis fee which I plan on starting in the summer.

Well I hope things are going well for you all, as always keep my in your prayers, and if you ever have prayer concerns, comments, or just want to let me know you're thinking about me or whatever feel free to comment on this blog, send me an email, or give me a call!

And so February begins!

Well January has flown by for me, and it was a good month! Hope it was great for you as well.
Recently I sent out support letters, and will begin starting to send them out monthly.

I don't know about you, but we've gotten a good bit of snow the past week, getting about five inches last Sunday and with more on the way. It's also starting to get a lot colder which makes walking across campus tons of fun. As you can see in the picture my beard for the year is coming in gloriously and I'm excited to see what it looks like in May. I'm debating if I want to shave it and shock the students at the end of the semester, but we'll see.

As for things that have been going on in the Burgh, we have been doing our usual meetings, Thursday's at 8:30 on campus. This semester we are looking at the idea of witness based on Acts 1.8 which reads, "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judah and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." The first week, we introduced the topic, the past two weeks we went through the first three chapters of Ecclesiastes. This week we'll be looking at the introduction of Luke and how the Gospel is something that we have examined, and have come away with the feeling that it is truth and how that plays in our witness. With me leading this one, I haven't quite figured out what I'm going to completely talk about, but I got a few days to get ready!

This is the 4th week of the semester, and only my 3rd week back thus far. I had class the first week of classes so I was down in good old Kentucky. My personal classes are keeping me busy, but I have been spending a lot of time on campus.

This past week I got have a really interesting conversation with a couple of students from China. It was great just sitting and talking with some students from different nations and cultures. We talked a bit about where we were from, what they were studying, what they do in their free time and what they do on breaks. It turns out that they only go home once a year, so my hope is that while I'm here I can meet them again and will be able to form a good relationship with them and show them come American culture. A recent study shows that ~80% of international students never set foot in an American home, and I don't want to be one of those that keeps them away. So please keep that in your prayers.

Something else that we have been doing in the ministry is meeting Friday afternoons with students just to talk about whatever may come up. So far we have talked about the issue of abortion, and that was the only time we've met so far (mainly because of scheduling issues). We are also trying to plan for the week of Easter a week we are calling "Witness Week" with the goal of witnessing to campus and showing that all are welcome to any group on campus. Our hope is to partner with other Christian groups on campus for worship, a Seder, and maybe a day of prayer.

In other news, while I was in Kentucky for my class a man that I know and respect came to me and told me about a big opportunity at Marshall University. He used to preach at a church in Huntington, WV and knows that many churches are wanting to partner with a campus ministry, but there isn't one there that they are willing to work with or that they know of (something along those lines, he keeps saying that there's nothing there). He told me of a church that is just a few blocks away from Marshall's stadium, and that they would be more than willing to work with a ministry. Recently I had to go to state college and was talking with our minister up at Lock Haven and he told me that the campus ministry at Morehead State, just 30 minutes west of KCU, was looking to plant onto Marshall's campus, and that one of the professors that I had and really respect was trying to help with that plant. Currently I'm praying through if this is what God has in store for me next, and I ask that you join me in that prayer. It definitely seems as if this is lining up perfectly, and I plan on making some contacts with churches in the Tri-State Area soon.

Well that's all that's been going on around here. I hope you all have had a wonderful week, and feel free to contact me at any time!

2015 has begun!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I hope everyone had a good Christmas and New Year, and I pray that 2015 brings joy and peace to you. So far 2015 for me has brought...school. I'm currently sitting in a chair at my friend Jon's house in Grayson, KY because I have a masters class this week (New Testament Research). This has been day 1 of 5 and it was a bit long, but great conversations have been had.

As for things going on with campus ministry, I have not been in Pittsburgh for going on 3 weeks now. I went back to Columbus the 19th for my dad's birthday, then traveled a bit for the holidays around Ohio. It was great being able to spend time with family and friends during my break.

Fall semester ended about 3 weeks ago and spring semester is starting now, but unfortunately I am unable to be there because of class. But the spring semester is bringing a lot of exciting opportunities.

Starting the 11th and the following Sunday nights we (CSF) will be starting a time on campus for anyone to join where we just discuss Jesus. It will be a time of discussion, teaching, and discipleship with the students we have and any other who come.

Also this semester I am starting our men's Bible study on how to be a man in Christ, which I am still working on putting together this week. My prayer is that God will use this as an opportunity to disciple the guys that we have in our group and those outside of it and that they learn what it means to be a man of Christ.

Another thing that the semester is going to bring is Holy Week, where we want to have a week which focuses solely on Jesus. This will be a great chance for growth for our group and the Church as a whole.

Something else I'm working on is a ski trip. Personally I love snowboarding, and there are many places around PA to go skiing and snowboarding and I think it would be a great time with possibly a weekend trip where we could meet up with another CSF in the state. This is a bit harder to put together though, so here's to hoping!

Overall that's all I got going on. If you want more info, have any questions, or just want to chat feel free to call, text, or send an email. Just to let you know, while staying with Jon I don't have service at his place and I'm also in class from 830-5 every day. So if you call leave a message and I'll get back to you when I can!

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!