We just had a great night at NU InterVarsity – 2 out of 3 of our series on DESIRE, wrestling with what “success” looks like to the Christian.  We had a fabulous panel of professionals – diverse in terms race, gender, of area of profession (from scientist to psychologist to lawyer to educator to recruiter for a fortune100), personality (ranging from a hilarious story-teller to a mellow, down-to-earth “this is what it is, friends!” woman who spoke real truth..).  What was striking as they all shared was that none of them were defined by their profession, but by their faith & identity as children of God – a drastic difference to the rest of the world, where performance & status speak deeply (but falsely!) into your value.

a rockin' panel on success though the eyes of a Christian

We had a big group tonight, 60+ students out to hear what the panelists talk about success & faith.  Many new faces & non-believers were present, with lots of good, real conversation after we ended the night.  Some came for the first time & thought it was “an interesting panel,” while others are seeking, asking good questions & thirsting for more.  Pray for fruitful conversations, for curiosity to be stirred, for students to wrestle with what they heard tonight!

We kick-started the spring semester with a 24hr leadership retreat in InterVarsity’s beloved Toah Nipi Retreat Center in NH.  Thanks for your prayers – we had a great time of reflection, worship, a rich retreat of silence, an exciting time of receiving vision from the Lord & planning for the first month of school!  We focused on identifying fears that keep us from walking in faith & blessed each other to receive gifts of courage, tenacity of faith, hope & joy from the Lord as we seek to love each other & our campus.  Pray that we would walk in faith, that we would be a team that can identify our fears & quickly run to our Mighty God!

Something seemingly trite but incredibly important & an answer to prayer was the FUN that we had playing games, hanging out, eating endless snacks…it was good to hear laughter ring throughout the retreat, for leaders to have deeper friendships form in both “intense” small group settings & over a game of banana-grams, taboo, Monopoly Deal…although sometimes Monopoly Deal seemed to threaten the relationships more than improve them, haha.  Pray that we continue to enjoy each other as friends, as brothers & sisters in the Lord!  Pray that the relationships we have would strengthen over the semester, that we would love each other sacrificially!

our leaders, minus a few! pray for friendships & trust to deepen, for faith to rise!

“Ministry is a very confronting service.  It does not allow people to live with illusions of immortality and wholeness.  It keeps reminding others that they are mortal and broken, but also that with the recognition of this condition, liberation begins…a Christian community is therefore a healing community not because wounds are cured and pains are alleviated, but because wounds and pains become openings or occasions for a new vision.  Mutual confession then becomes a mutual deepening of hope and sharing weakness becomes a reminder to one and all of coming strength…community arises where the sharing of pain takes place, not as a stifling form of self-complaint, but as a recognition of God’s saving promises.”  (Henri Nouwen, The Wounded Healer)

I’m learning how to live this, how to be real with my brokenness, how to “share pain,” how to point to Christ and not myself.  I long for this kind of community at InterVarsity – deep, real community that it would not be for the sake of community itself, but community that stirs up deep longing within us for the healing that only God brings.  Community that brings us to our knees in humble worship, calling us – together – to cling to the promises of a faithful God!  Pray that the Spirit would lead me to lead transparently and with much wisdom, that we would see breakthroughs or vulnerability and rising faith in our fellowship!

Because I value the real partnership of brothers & sisters who pray for, give towards & encourage God’s work on campus, good communication is of great importance to me because it rallies us before God in prayer & lifts our hearts in faith as we see him move!  (for more on why supporter communication is so important to me, read this).  As I get ready for a new year & another semester, I’m evaluating the best ways to keep you in the loop.  Please take a minute to take this 4 question survey to help me better serve you!  http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/8LDTZ2C

C’MON KIDS, IT’S NOT THAT BAD.  The sleepless nights at the library, the stress of catching up on work from the past 3 months, the constant internal fight to concentrate! focus! study! (and report all of your progress via facebook status and twitter, of course) – this is the life of a college student during finals.  Tunnel vision – winter break!! – becomes the reality in which students live.  In light of what I’ve been reflecting on in Isaiah during this beautiful Advent season – deep longing for the consolation of Israel, for the long-awaited Messiah who would break through the gloomy clouds of night with the light of day! (for more of my advent thoughts, go to “reflections”) – it can be easy to roll my eyes at students at this time, to lack compassion for their seemingly “trite” struggles.

advent comparisons from InterVarsity's twentyonehundred productions :)

COMPASSION VIA PRAYER – As InterVarsity staff, praying for students is encouraged – in fact, my work on campus is quite lifeless without it.  It is beautiful to see how God continues to change my heart through prayer!  As I’ve been praying for students to draw near to God and allow him to be Lord over all areas of their lives, it’s impossible to ignore the great importance of their call to be faithful to God via their studies.  It is one thing for me to care about their spiritual growth; it’s another, much deeper thing to care about their spiritual growth in light of their development as students.  How students relate to God (or don’t) and understand the gospel intensely impacts their perspective on their call as students.

REJOICE, REJOICE! EMMANUEL SHALL COME TO THEE! Hallelujah that we have a God that is with us no matter what – in the tunnel vision of school stress, in the crazies of holiday family time, in the monotony of co-op jobs that don’t seem to end!  Let’s pray that students know the good news of our Emmanuel, God with us!  Pray that his presence is near – even in the somewhat dismal, white-lit study-cubbies of the library…that their hearts would be warmed and strengthened by the nearness of our God!

Here are pictures from our study-break celebration of our Emmanuel!

happy faces after the gift exchange :)

festive ladies :)

“He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength.  Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint” (Isaiah 40:29-31).  This beautiful reason for all Christmas joy – his coming, “his taking flesh gives flesh itself a strength and life it did not have before…the Holy One has seen fit to adopt our frailty, so that we might partake in his strength” (Scott Cairns).  Hallelujah!

staff and vision team - partners at NU!

We had our third annual NU InterVarsity Thanksgiving party this week – what a warm night of food & friends!  Thank God for a momentum-building, invitational night of fellowship!  Here are some highlights from the evening, as well as some pictures to help you see what went downnn.

• Leaders brought their friends!  I was so proud of my students who stepped out in faith & intentionally/prayerfully asked their friends to come to IV with them.  We saw scoooores of new people, the majority of them connected to an IV member, as opposed to randoms off the street – also great, but harder to do follow-up invitations because of the lack of natural connections.
• Tasty investment – It was great to see many students – both leaders as well as non-Christian students involved in GIGs – come & bring home-made dishes!  The investment of time & effort speaks to a sense of belonging to this community, which warms my heart.
• Hospitality – With 100+ students, we needed “all hands on deck” to help extend hospitality to the many new faces in the room.  We wanted to extend the same grace & warmth that God has shown us so that no one felt unseen, awkward or unwelcome.  Some of our students were incredibly intentional to meet new people & help make them feel comfortable, seen & heard; many students stayed much longer than it took them to eat so they could hang out & talk!  Leaders are taking steps towards being warmer people who really see others as God does.
• ENOUGH FOOD for scores of students. HALLELUJAH!  This is always something that tempts me to distrust God & be overcome by anxiety…but I’ve decided that it is better to trust God, the same one who fed the 5000 with 5 loaves and 2 fish!  The generosity & help of Boston supporters – some who cooked, some who bought, some who funded, some who delivered…an answer to prayer!  We are thankful for you – thanks for letting God use you to feed us!
• A “random passerby” – Q, a student who has Monday evening class in the building where IV has LG, came by as we were setting up & asked what was going on; I explained & told him to come by after class.  I forgot about him in the midst of the evening but he came in at 9:30p, after his class!  We had a good conversation about faith (over pumpkin pie, of course!) & he shared: “My grandmother is a Christian & it has held the family together in many ways, maybe I want to see who this God is now?  Is there a way for me to find that out?” – to which I almost choked on my pie. He wants to join a GIG & get involved in the community.  Wow – who knows what can happen!  Let’s hope in God on Q’s behalf!

our tags say "ask me about INTERVARSITY at northeastern!"

starting to dig into the feast

huuuge line for food

so many students chowing down :)

Pray for students to have safe, restful Thanksgiving holidays.  Pray for the momentum from this Thanksgiving party to bear fruit – faith in our student leaders, new interest & curiosity in IV/God amongst friends who feasted with us!  Pray for our follow-up GIGs on “what is Christmas all about?” – that seekers (like Q!) & believers would come, that the wonder of the incarnation would capture our hearts.

What did I do in DR in the middle of November, besides escape the cold of Boston?  I went with 3 other IV global project staff to investigate partnership opportunities for our summer Hispaniola 2012 trip to walk alongside the Haitian poor.  I loved staffing the pilot Hispaniola trip last year & this short vision trip fired god-fueled anticipation for what is to come!

UNITED IN MISSION|unidos en misión – We  met at the office of la ADEE – la asociación dominicana de estudiantes evangelicos – the IFES movement in the Dominican Republic.  Both InterVarsity & la ADEE are a part of the IFES, the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students, so it was deeply encouraging to meet people who do the same work in a completely different cultural context.  We shared about what we do & a deep joy rose in my heart as I felt the unity of this ministry – shared hearts to reach campuses for Christ, to see deep transformation in students as they study Scripture & engage in real, life-giving & godly community!

this was in the ADEE office..a unified purpose to see students encounter Christ!

HOPE RISING AS WE WAIT|esperando con la esperanza – We had long meetings with the ADEE staff every night as we worked on crystalizing the vision for this summer’s trip.  This partnership – Dominican & American students working together with the poor as well as on Dominican campuses – is new & exciting, yet fraught with challenges & hurdles in leaping from one culture to another.  Yet we are daring to hope that God has purposed this trip to exalt his name; we felt a deep sense of the Holy Spirit stirring our hearts with HOPE for this venture, particularly for how it will impact the deep Haitian/Dominican divide on campuses & in the hearts of most people on the island of Hispaniola.

ADEE & IV staff - God is doing something in our midst!

IV & ADEE staff after a 3hour long meeting...late dinner at good old mcd's!

GATHERING MOMENTUM|momentum ganando – While 3-hour staff meetings are great, campus staff LOVE to be on campus with actual students, seeing where God is on the move.  We got a tour of la UASD – la universidad autónomo de santo domingo, the biggest university in the capital -from Marina, a student leader/staff at la UASD’s ADEE, getting a taste of the culture of Dominican university life.  We had an opportunity to attend a ADEE meeting at la UASD to share the vision of the trip with their students & hear their thoughts.  It was great to see to hear their thoughtful questions & see them rally around the vision of partnership & seeing God at work in their country!

brendan sharing the vision with students from la UASD

after an encouraging meeting together at la UASD

A fun fact – in DR university culture, presentation matters!  We weren’t allowed to enter the library because the guys were in shorts, my arms were bare & my flip-flops wayyy too casual.  A slightly embarassing “WE ARE AMERICAN” moment where we learned that education is so highly valued in Dominican culture that pursuing it demands a certain decorum & respect, even in one’s dress!

marina & the colossal biblioteca that we're weren't allowed to enter jajaja :)

Pray for this new partnership that is growing by the grace of God!  Pray for good communication between American & Dominican leaders, for faith & the Holy Spirit to continue to lead us!  May God provide the right students for this trip – students who thirst for the presence of God on their campuses, who have a heart for the poor & a desire to follow God wherever he leads!

a call to BE PATIENT WITH YOURSELF
The theme for our fall retreat was “CHILDREN OF GOD,” with engaging talks on the warm, self-sacrificing & gracious welcome of the Triune God.  A powerful point for many was the invitation to trust the life-giving, deeply transformative work of the Holy Spirit once we are adopted as the Father’s children.  The speaker spoke to the Christians in the room, telling us that we are actually very young in the faith, even if we’ve known Christ for what seems like a lifetime.  In that wonderful balance of firm truth-telling & gentle fatherly care, he said: “you’re actually only really a young teenager in the faith..” & urged us to be patient with ourselves.  As he said that, it was if a weight was lifted, as if a deep inner sigh was released from the pent-up places of pressure, disappointment & guilt for not “measuring up,” not being holy enough, not being as mature as we should be.  The invitation to be patient with ourselves – as the Father is patient with us – was powerfully freeing for our Christian students!

Some students shared about how this simple truth rocked their world & humbled them: “dang, I really AM only a teenager in the faith! I think I know everything – just like I did when I was actually a teenage, when I didn’t…actually..know..anything..”  They were freed from unhealthy expectations of bulletproof Christian maturity & a whole different perspective on relationship with the Father was introduced – one that is initiated, kept, completed through the grace of a good, patient, powerful Father.

DT expressed a desire to learn how to “sit on the lap of the Father” but honestly admitting that this is completely new territory for me, I don’t know how to do that.  TC shared: “I honestly used to think that when I’d enter heaven, I could give him a resume of all my good Christian accomplishments…now I know that this is not what it’s all about.  So it feels weird & new – but GOOD!  yet I don’t quite know where to go with this.”

Hallelujah, that students caught vision for the deep grace that God has for them, his children who are so prone to wander, so easily distracted..yet are beloved, cherished, adored!  Pray for us as we work with students & introduce spiritual disciplines to help them know the delight of the Father, that they would make space to engage with their Father & would experience JOY, true life, hope!

OPEN DOORS: entering the house
As we learned about what it means to be “children of God,” one of the recurring themes that our seekers resonated with was the image of God inviting them into his house—inviting them to be part of his family—S, C, E & A all described feeling like they could see the door to God’s house & knew that God was inviting them to enter, but they were at various places in response:

S said:“I know that if I enter the house, that it would hypocrisy to leave again—once I come in, I want to stay.  But for the first time in my life, I feel secure in where I am in my faith, and I know where I want to be, and what [issue] I need to press in to.”

C, a student who has been a seeker in the fellowship for the last 2 years said: “I’m outside [the house], and it’s raining and cold, and I can see inside the house, and it’s warm and well-lit, and I want to go inside, but I’m still standing outside.”  (later in the week C told his friend, he has decided to go inside God’s house—and he wants to make that decision in community “soon!”) Pray that soon we will rejoice with C as he says yes to Jesus and enters into God’s family!

Pray for these students as they continue to respond to God’s invitations!

the beautiful northeastern group at fall retreat!

More to come soon – thank God for a beautiful, restful time of community & communion with the Father!  Here are some pictures from our weekend together – 175 of us from 5 different Boston campuses, 45 of us from NU!

a fine fall day at toah nipi!

the forecast said rain all weekend - LIES! thankful for the sun :)

puzzle time!

NERTS!

free time!

sisters - freshmen, grad, alumni/volunteer, staff :)

freshmen love! this picture makes me so happy.

the small group i was a part of. amazing women!

small group's got AIR! :)

I love when students take the lead & gather others to pray!  Here at NU’s InterVarsity, we just ended a 24-hour prayer initiative where we “passed the baton” so that at least one student was praying for the  whole 24-hour period.  We set ourselves up in the library with a table laden with helpful prayer materials to encourage students to creatively engage – devotionals, Bibles, index cards with Scripture on it, markers, guides on confession, tons of colorful paper, a prayer journal for the entire fellowship to use.  Time at the table was a mix of personal reflection & journaling/drawing, as well as corporate (out loud) prayer with each other – we were in the “talking allowed” section of the library, if you were wondering :]

colorful prayers in the IV prayer journal

written prayers, Scripture & drawings from students' time with God

It is a beautiful thing, to open up space – library space, of all things! – for students to encounter God, to commune with him in the very place where God is seemingly forgotten among the busy & frantic nature of academics.  It was great to see students after they spend an hour or two at the prayer table, seeing the peaceful looks of contentment on their faces after setting aside time to be with God.  My hope is that encounters like this will feed their desire for the presence of God so we cry out: “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God.  My soul thirsts for God, for the living God..when can I go & meet with God?” (Psalm 42).

halfway through 24hrs of prayer - 11:30p. an alumni, a middler, a freshmen!

“A BOTTOMLESS BAG OF M&Ms” – One of our students was at the table, reflecting on a devotional for quite some time.  He tells me, “Kaitlin, I really like this one!”  I asked him  what it said & he responded: “I was always confused about God having to choose between person A & person B…like if he has one M&M, who will he give it to?  I used to think he didn’t have enough to go around.  But what this [devotional] says is that God isn’t finite – like us – but is infinite..so he has a bottomless bag of M&Ms..for all!”  I was SO happy to hear this, surprised & in awe of God for revealing profound truths about himself to this student..

Remembering this students’ story (he joined us 2 years ago, is an atheist seeking truth!), I asked him: “Do you want an M&M?”  To which he responded: “I think so..I’m not sure yet though.”  I then asked, “What’s holding you back from taking it?”  I appreciated his thoughtful response: “I used to be held back because I was waiting until I knew enough, but now I’m realizing that we can never know enough, which is why it’s called faith…I think now, I’m waiting for an experience where I realize that I need God – where me & my friends are not enough.”  So wonderfully articulate, so exciting to hear how he’s changing as he seeks the face of God!  Those of us at the table prayed for him right then, asking God to reveal himself more fully to him.  Hallelujah, that God would use our little prayer table to have conversations that bring us closer to Jesus!  Pray that this student would experience this INFINITE GOD of ours & would humbly receive the “M&M” – the gift of salvation, new identity, everlasting life!