Serving you and the students in the midsouth at a conference in Greensboro, NC over new years. Our theme this year is "Encounter Christ the Truth". This year you are able to get a glimpse of what the conference is all about and listen in on our meetings. To go to a blog and live stream go to: www.midsouthcru.com/parents.
You can also check out our twitter site: http://twitter.com/crutru09. http://twubs.com/crutru09 is a great place to see what everyone is saying about the conference, it real-time.
Can't wait to share the stories of what God is doing!
"These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth..." ~ Hebrews 11:13
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Monday, November 30, 2009
The last few months have been full of a flurry of activity. Thank you so much for your prayers. God has used them. Attached is my recent letter. Enjoy! :)
Here are some of the things that I have been doing since you last heard from me:
October:
National Day of Prayer with Campus Crusade staff from across KY in Louisville, KY
CRU Stampede - A giant square dance for students held in a barn off campus.
Visited my sister at college in Indiana
Ministry at Kentucky State University in Frankfurt, KY
Campus Wide Halloween Outreach
November
New Staff Field Training in Lexington. New CCC staff in our region came to train for ministry at University of
Kentucky and other campuses in the area. I organized 13 Hall/Sorority Meetings on 4 college campuses. New
staff came with us on campus for a few days.
Cross '09 - Staff from across the country left our normal routine and worked to reach students in a new culture
and to develop our cross-cultural ministry skills. Our team went to an HBC (Historically Black College) for a
day and I led a talk in a dorm for 25 girls called "How not to lose a guy in 10 Days". We also put on a program
for Chinese women at UK
IMPACT Retreat - IMPACT is a partner ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ geared towards reaching men and
women of African Descent. We at 30 students come from 4 campuses to Cincinnati for 3 days. Partnered with
local ministries to do service projects and spent time talking about the significance of the gospel in our lives
Michigan for my grandfather's funeral
The Traveling Team came to share about God's heart for the world women throughout scripture.
Midsouth Staff Conference in NC
Thanksgiving - saw my sister in Raleigh and family in Knoxville, TN
All this plus meeting with students one-on-one, leading Bible study, helping the girls I disciple with their Bible studies, leading the outreach team, and much more. Thank you for your prayers. They have helped give me the stamina and insight to point people to Christ.
Blessings,
Abigail
Campus Crusade for Christ
University of Kentucky
Prayer Requests:
Finishing the semester well - with Bible study, disciples and people I have been sharing the gospel with
Outreach During dead week - using photos to talk to students about their view of Christmas and true purpose
behind Christ's birth.
For the Lord to help me find other people to partner financially in ministry. I have a significant financial need
that must be met so I can remain on campus
For refreshing time with the Lord
For students to register to come to our winter conference December 28-Jan1
Praises
There has been significant spiritual growth in girls I meet with.
Ministry at Kentucky State has some potential new student leaders!
Student Government gave our ministry $2000 to scholarship students to winter conference in a month!
My health problems have subsided.
Here are some of the things that I have been doing since you last heard from me:
October:
National Day of Prayer with Campus Crusade staff from across KY in Louisville, KY
CRU Stampede - A giant square dance for students held in a barn off campus.
Visited my sister at college in Indiana
Ministry at Kentucky State University in Frankfurt, KY
Campus Wide Halloween Outreach
November
New Staff Field Training in Lexington. New CCC staff in our region came to train for ministry at University of
Kentucky and other campuses in the area. I organized 13 Hall/Sorority Meetings on 4 college campuses. New
staff came with us on campus for a few days.
Cross '09 - Staff from across the country left our normal routine and worked to reach students in a new culture
and to develop our cross-cultural ministry skills. Our team went to an HBC (Historically Black College) for a
day and I led a talk in a dorm for 25 girls called "How not to lose a guy in 10 Days". We also put on a program
for Chinese women at UK
IMPACT Retreat - IMPACT is a partner ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ geared towards reaching men and
women of African Descent. We at 30 students come from 4 campuses to Cincinnati for 3 days. Partnered with
local ministries to do service projects and spent time talking about the significance of the gospel in our lives
Michigan for my grandfather's funeral
The Traveling Team came to share about God's heart for the world women throughout scripture.
Midsouth Staff Conference in NC
Thanksgiving - saw my sister in Raleigh and family in Knoxville, TN
All this plus meeting with students one-on-one, leading Bible study, helping the girls I disciple with their Bible studies, leading the outreach team, and much more. Thank you for your prayers. They have helped give me the stamina and insight to point people to Christ.
Blessings,
Abigail
Campus Crusade for Christ
University of Kentucky
Prayer Requests:
Finishing the semester well - with Bible study, disciples and people I have been sharing the gospel with
Outreach During dead week - using photos to talk to students about their view of Christmas and true purpose
behind Christ's birth.
For the Lord to help me find other people to partner financially in ministry. I have a significant financial need
that must be met so I can remain on campus
For refreshing time with the Lord
For students to register to come to our winter conference December 28-Jan1
Praises
There has been significant spiritual growth in girls I meet with.
Ministry at Kentucky State has some potential new student leaders!
Student Government gave our ministry $2000 to scholarship students to winter conference in a month!
My health problems have subsided.
Monday, November 2, 2009
Now that we are officially in November it is time to let you know how October was for me on campus. I hope you enjoy it.
I have had some exciting things going on in ministry lately:
40 freshmen students came to our involvement dessert to learn more about CRU and different things we do.
16 students have prayed to receive Christ since the beginning of the semester and I am following 2 of them up.
I have been having 7 girls consistently at bible study most of the semester.
I have been getting coffee with an EKU student who was in my Bible study during out summer in NYC. She came and spoke at our meeting last week!
I helped my girls go "trick-or-treating" in their dorm last week (we actually brought people candy) and met 40 girls interested in talking more about spiritual things and Bible studies.
25 New staff and CCC interns are in Lexington for a week to grow in their ministry skills. Monday November 2 they helped us host 13 programs in dorm and sororities on 4 campuses.
Please pray for somethings going on in my life and ministry:
Please pray for UK students because they are feeling the stress of being in leadership positions with our ministry and also having to do their homework.
Pray that they are learning good time management skills.
We now have a new international partnership. We will now be committing to send to and pray for Central Asia and a campus. We are excited to see how God will work there through us.
Please pray for me and the rest of our staff team. This point in the semester is sometimes difficult with trying to find students to meet with and I am having lots of anxiety about "filling" my schedule with the right things. Please pray that I would move past anxiety to action and really see God change my perspective.
On Nov. 9-11th Campus Crusade for Christ nationwide is committing to reach out to new cultures. Please pray that as we reach out and do ministry that we see God do great things!
I am helping plan and lead a retreat to Cincinatti on November 13-15. We will be taking about 40 African American students from Morehead State University, University of Kentucky, Kentucky State University, and Marshal to encourage them to reach their community. Pray for me as I organize a service project element to the retreat.
Please pray that I wil be able to develop friends that live in Lexington and are in a similar life-stage as I am . Please pray that I are not afraid or too tired to initiate with people.
Thank you for all your prayers and support!
Abigail Bennett
I have had some exciting things going on in ministry lately:
40 freshmen students came to our involvement dessert to learn more about CRU and different things we do.
16 students have prayed to receive Christ since the beginning of the semester and I am following 2 of them up.
I have been having 7 girls consistently at bible study most of the semester.
I have been getting coffee with an EKU student who was in my Bible study during out summer in NYC. She came and spoke at our meeting last week!
I helped my girls go "trick-or-treating" in their dorm last week (we actually brought people candy) and met 40 girls interested in talking more about spiritual things and Bible studies.
25 New staff and CCC interns are in Lexington for a week to grow in their ministry skills. Monday November 2 they helped us host 13 programs in dorm and sororities on 4 campuses.
Please pray for somethings going on in my life and ministry:
Please pray for UK students because they are feeling the stress of being in leadership positions with our ministry and also having to do their homework.
Pray that they are learning good time management skills.
We now have a new international partnership. We will now be committing to send to and pray for Central Asia and a campus. We are excited to see how God will work there through us.
Please pray for me and the rest of our staff team. This point in the semester is sometimes difficult with trying to find students to meet with and I am having lots of anxiety about "filling" my schedule with the right things. Please pray that I would move past anxiety to action and really see God change my perspective.
On Nov. 9-11th Campus Crusade for Christ nationwide is committing to reach out to new cultures. Please pray that as we reach out and do ministry that we see God do great things!
I am helping plan and lead a retreat to Cincinatti on November 13-15. We will be taking about 40 African American students from Morehead State University, University of Kentucky, Kentucky State University, and Marshal to encourage them to reach their community. Pray for me as I organize a service project element to the retreat.
Please pray that I wil be able to develop friends that live in Lexington and are in a similar life-stage as I am . Please pray that I are not afraid or too tired to initiate with people.
Thank you for all your prayers and support!
Abigail Bennett
Beauty redefined.....
This week our region of CCC (universities in TN, KY, NC, and SC) is holding a training for all new staff and interns at UK, EKU and other schools in central Kentucky. The directors of the conference asked me to help them organize programs on all the campuses for the new staff to participate in. Tonight we held 13 programs on 4 different campuses! I brought 2 women with me to UK to host a program on Beauty in Jewell Hall, a predominately freshmen dorm. We did it as an opportunity to serve the residence life staff and to meet girls in a dorm we have had a hard time getting into. Twelve girls and 2 guys came!!! :) It was encouraging to see the Lord answer our prayers as the room filled with people.
During the program we had make overs, time to share what we find beautiful in each other, small group discussion on beauty, and an opportunity for me to share my testimony. The University of Kentucky requires that you not express religious beliefs in a public setting unless you give people an opportunity to leave the room. We were excited to see EVERY person remain in the room while I shared the gospel. Thank you Lord! At the end of the program people filled out evaluations and 5 of them said that they would like to meet again and hear about Bible studies.
The heat in the room was unbearable during the program, so at the end I jokingly invited people to get milkshakes with us at a restaurant nearby. A girl names Jessica took us up on it and spent an hour and a half talking about her life and spiritual beliefs.
Please pray for her to recognize her need for Jesus alone to be her Lord and savior. Jessica currently believes that the most important thing is that you believe in God. She sees truth in budhism, judeism, Christianity, Islam, and other religions. It was sad to hear her say, "I have commited all 7 of the deadly sins, so I guess I could be in trouble." She is really drawn into the 7 layers of hell idea from Dante's Inferno and reincarnation because it gives an opportunity to have a second chance.
After Jessica and I meet I will be spending time with a new staff girl named Kimi. She became a believer while studying as an exchange student from Japan at an American University and now serves with Bridges international in Greensboro, NC. We will be talking through her work experience and then giving her an opportunity to watch me meet with new students and share the gospel with them. Please pray that our time in encouraging and helpful to her. Pray that God uses it to advance his kingdom.
Pray also for all the students that we had an opportunity to meet through the programs in dorms and sororities. It is our desire that they have an opportunity to come to know Christ, to be grow in their relationship with him, and to go out to the world around them equipped with the passion and skills to tell them about Jesus.
Thank you for being present with me through your prayers and support. I have more stories then I can share of how God is using your ministry.
Blessings,
Abigail
During the program we had make overs, time to share what we find beautiful in each other, small group discussion on beauty, and an opportunity for me to share my testimony. The University of Kentucky requires that you not express religious beliefs in a public setting unless you give people an opportunity to leave the room. We were excited to see EVERY person remain in the room while I shared the gospel. Thank you Lord! At the end of the program people filled out evaluations and 5 of them said that they would like to meet again and hear about Bible studies.
The heat in the room was unbearable during the program, so at the end I jokingly invited people to get milkshakes with us at a restaurant nearby. A girl names Jessica took us up on it and spent an hour and a half talking about her life and spiritual beliefs.
Please pray for her to recognize her need for Jesus alone to be her Lord and savior. Jessica currently believes that the most important thing is that you believe in God. She sees truth in budhism, judeism, Christianity, Islam, and other religions. It was sad to hear her say, "I have commited all 7 of the deadly sins, so I guess I could be in trouble." She is really drawn into the 7 layers of hell idea from Dante's Inferno and reincarnation because it gives an opportunity to have a second chance.
After Jessica and I meet I will be spending time with a new staff girl named Kimi. She became a believer while studying as an exchange student from Japan at an American University and now serves with Bridges international in Greensboro, NC. We will be talking through her work experience and then giving her an opportunity to watch me meet with new students and share the gospel with them. Please pray that our time in encouraging and helpful to her. Pray that God uses it to advance his kingdom.
Pray also for all the students that we had an opportunity to meet through the programs in dorms and sororities. It is our desire that they have an opportunity to come to know Christ, to be grow in their relationship with him, and to go out to the world around them equipped with the passion and skills to tell them about Jesus.
Thank you for being present with me through your prayers and support. I have more stories then I can share of how God is using your ministry.
Blessings,
Abigail
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Emily Believes
Last Monday I wrote about a conversation I had with 2 girls that my staff friend Laura and I met. The Lord was reminding me to step out in faith trusting that He is at work and leave the results to Him. Although Emily did not make a decision to surrender her life to God while we were together, it was obvious that she was thinking about it and knew that she had a decision to make. Today, Emily and I met to discuss our previous conversation and what she was thinking after having time to process on her own. She said that later Monday night she spent a long time talking and being honest with God. She shared that in the past she felt that she was beyond being able to renew her relationship with God, but now she has hope because she knows her relationship is real. We were able to talk through a lesson in 1 John about what this decision means in her life while we were together.
Thank you so much for praying for her! Please continue to pray that she shares this decision with someone she knows and that we are able to meet again.
"And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life." ~ 1 John 5:11-13
Thank you so much for praying for her! Please continue to pray that she shares this decision with someone she knows and that we are able to meet again.
"And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life." ~ 1 John 5:11-13
Monday, October 5, 2009
Expectancy, a word that I can define, but know very little about. This afternoon I lead my team in prayer for our campus. During that time we prayed through scripture, and 5 areas that we have felt God lay on our hearts to emphasise in the ministry. The value that stood out the most is "Expectancy", and our definition is attitudes and actions that reflect God bringing about results. The passage to pray through was Matthew 9:35-38 where Jesus paints a mental picture of those who are ready to receive Him being a field ripe for the harvest. It, and consequently "they", is ready to be picked and is waiting for someone to come and gather it.
As we prayed I realized that my actions often appear as though I am expecting God to bring about results, but my attitude does not. My heart reflects that I am walking through a field in drought. I think people will not be open to hearing about Christ, or that because they don't know this "harvester" they won't respond.
After prayer, my teammate, Laura, and I headed to Blanding tower to call girls who had expressed interest in Bible study during an outreach earlier in the semester. After setting coffee dates with about 6 of them for later this week we headed to North campus in order to spend some time sharing the gospel together. Since we work on opposite sides of campus we often have students come with us, or go alone. We prayed as we went, asking the Lord to go before us and provide people to talk to.
It was a beautiful day and we found 2 girls sitting at a table outside Jewell Hall enjoying the weather. We asked them to participate in an image survey where we learn what students at UK are experiencing as they connect their thoughts about life and spirititual things to images. Both of them agreed and we spent the next hour getting to know them. It turns out that although we had never met in person until today, I had prayed for one of the girls a few weeks ago when I went to her room to meet her roommate. I had been facinated by her name then and hoped that at some point we would have a chance to meet. Emily chose a picture of someone in darkness holding a lantern and said that she wished she had some light to illuminate her spiritual path. Alexis chose photos of paths wishing that she new the destination of her path and had people to support her along the way. I was able to share the gospel with the two of them through photos of my own spiritual experience. God was moving and Emily shared through tears about her past and her desire to make a decision to follow God. Neither of them prayed with us, but Laura and I prayed for them. They are probably coming to Bible study tonight and we set an appointment at Starbucks for later in the week.
I walked away amazed by our conversation. Emily and Alexis are part of the harvest. They are ready and needed to have someone come gather them in. As we parted they expressed several times how they usually push thoughts of spiritual things and uncertainty asside and they were really glad that we chose to stop and talk with them. Please pray that God continues to work in their hearts. Pray that they make a decision to follow Christ and that they come to Bible study and to meet with me Thursday at 5:30. Thank you for harvesting the fields with me as we labor and pray.
Blessings,
Abigail
"And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest." Matthew 9:35-38
As we prayed I realized that my actions often appear as though I am expecting God to bring about results, but my attitude does not. My heart reflects that I am walking through a field in drought. I think people will not be open to hearing about Christ, or that because they don't know this "harvester" they won't respond.
After prayer, my teammate, Laura, and I headed to Blanding tower to call girls who had expressed interest in Bible study during an outreach earlier in the semester. After setting coffee dates with about 6 of them for later this week we headed to North campus in order to spend some time sharing the gospel together. Since we work on opposite sides of campus we often have students come with us, or go alone. We prayed as we went, asking the Lord to go before us and provide people to talk to.
It was a beautiful day and we found 2 girls sitting at a table outside Jewell Hall enjoying the weather. We asked them to participate in an image survey where we learn what students at UK are experiencing as they connect their thoughts about life and spirititual things to images. Both of them agreed and we spent the next hour getting to know them. It turns out that although we had never met in person until today, I had prayed for one of the girls a few weeks ago when I went to her room to meet her roommate. I had been facinated by her name then and hoped that at some point we would have a chance to meet. Emily chose a picture of someone in darkness holding a lantern and said that she wished she had some light to illuminate her spiritual path. Alexis chose photos of paths wishing that she new the destination of her path and had people to support her along the way. I was able to share the gospel with the two of them through photos of my own spiritual experience. God was moving and Emily shared through tears about her past and her desire to make a decision to follow God. Neither of them prayed with us, but Laura and I prayed for them. They are probably coming to Bible study tonight and we set an appointment at Starbucks for later in the week.
I walked away amazed by our conversation. Emily and Alexis are part of the harvest. They are ready and needed to have someone come gather them in. As we parted they expressed several times how they usually push thoughts of spiritual things and uncertainty asside and they were really glad that we chose to stop and talk with them. Please pray that God continues to work in their hearts. Pray that they make a decision to follow Christ and that they come to Bible study and to meet with me Thursday at 5:30. Thank you for harvesting the fields with me as we labor and pray.
Blessings,
Abigail
"And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest." Matthew 9:35-38
Monday, September 28, 2009
Eternity in our Hearts
"Since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love which you have for all the saints; because of the hope laid up for you in heaven, of which you previously heard in the word of truth, the gospel.”
~Colossians 1:4-5
“I’ve always known this isn’t home…” This phrase has been echoing in my head since I heard is last week. It is from a Bethany Dillon song and it struck a chord deep within my heart. I realized that although Jesus purchased eternity with Him, I still live as though satisfaction can be found on earth. I live as though there is something more that can be found around the next corner and the reason I haven’t reached it yet is because I have more to do or God is holding out on me.
In a sense it is true, there is something more, but it is HIM, Christ Jesus our Lord. I will not experience it until I am in His presence. John 17:3 tells us that eternal live is not just a heavenly destination. It is being reunited in a relationship with Christ.
Our culture tells us otherwise though. This summer I spent 2 months ministering in community. Since returning, I have found myself lonely in Lexington. One of my good friends moved away to grad school and life had changed while I was gone. My roommate is growing in relationship with a wonderful man, and I have found myself discouraged by what life could be and what it really is….I believe the lie that I am living it alone. The combination of a crazy schedule and sudden health problems have left me discouraged and tired.
Last week the Lord reminded me that I am not in search of anyone, but of Him and He is pursuing me in return. I read the above verse in Colossians and was convicted that the reason the Colossian church experienced strong faith and love for others was steeped in their understanding that life here is not what we are living for.
It is ironic that these feelings of longing are much like those of the freshmen I have been trying to reach. Only many of them still believe they can find perfection because they have yet to hear of the perfect one. As I relearn this pray for them to meet HIM.
~Colossians 1:4-5
“I’ve always known this isn’t home…” This phrase has been echoing in my head since I heard is last week. It is from a Bethany Dillon song and it struck a chord deep within my heart. I realized that although Jesus purchased eternity with Him, I still live as though satisfaction can be found on earth. I live as though there is something more that can be found around the next corner and the reason I haven’t reached it yet is because I have more to do or God is holding out on me.
In a sense it is true, there is something more, but it is HIM, Christ Jesus our Lord. I will not experience it until I am in His presence. John 17:3 tells us that eternal live is not just a heavenly destination. It is being reunited in a relationship with Christ.
Our culture tells us otherwise though. This summer I spent 2 months ministering in community. Since returning, I have found myself lonely in Lexington. One of my good friends moved away to grad school and life had changed while I was gone. My roommate is growing in relationship with a wonderful man, and I have found myself discouraged by what life could be and what it really is….I believe the lie that I am living it alone. The combination of a crazy schedule and sudden health problems have left me discouraged and tired.
Last week the Lord reminded me that I am not in search of anyone, but of Him and He is pursuing me in return. I read the above verse in Colossians and was convicted that the reason the Colossian church experienced strong faith and love for others was steeped in their understanding that life here is not what we are living for.
It is ironic that these feelings of longing are much like those of the freshmen I have been trying to reach. Only many of them still believe they can find perfection because they have yet to hear of the perfect one. As I relearn this pray for them to meet HIM.
Calling to Himself a new family
What would it look like for the culture of the campus to change? This is a question my team asks often. Fall 2009 at UK launched with a new team of nearly 50 student lead Bible studies and servant teams in CRU (the name we use for our ministry on campus). God laid it on our hearts to trust Him to have 1000 gospel conversations during fall semester. That means that our team of students and staff would commit to share the gospel giving people a chance to respond at least twice a week through finals in December.
Since unveiling this goal, we have had 9 people, nearly 10% of the people we share with make a decision to accept Christ into their life. Starting with 7 freshmen in the first week and a half of school! Students and staff are now meeting with these new believers for follow up and helping them get involved in Bible studies. Praise the Lord!
Since unveiling this goal, we have had 9 people, nearly 10% of the people we share with make a decision to accept Christ into their life. Starting with 7 freshmen in the first week and a half of school! Students and staff are now meeting with these new believers for follow up and helping them get involved in Bible studies. Praise the Lord!
Monday, September 7, 2009
Video of Summer Project in New York
A friend made a video of our ministry in New York this summer. To watch it check out YouTube "Tribeca Summer Project 2009" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYbrD52_9yI). Enjoy! I will be posting an update and more videos soon.
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Flying out for Colorado this morning. I have a National CCC conference there in a few days. I will share more with you about the end of our time in New York once I arrive in CO.
Thought you might like to see an email correspondance between a student on my ministry team this summer and an East Asian student that we met and were able to poor into. Part of it talks about an art show that some students on a different track of our team created in order to spark more spiritual dialogue:
"-----Original Message-----
To: Kuell, Tom
Subject: Re: Ron
It is my pleasure to meet you, you are great person, so are your
friends, hope you have a safe fly.
Keep in touch, and best wishes for you and your family.
Ron
On Jul 14, 2009, at 10:56 AM, "Kuell, Tom"
> wrote:
> That's a really good interpretation! I'm so glad that you enjoyed
> it! It's been so amazing getting to know you and be your friend for
> these past 5 weeks. I am going to miss you very much, because I
> leave tomorrow morning.
>
> I think you are a really great person. Please keep in touch.
>
> In His grip-
>> Tom
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Kelphenwang [mailto:kelphenwang@gmail.com]
> Sent: Tuesday, July 14, 2009 2:35 AM
> To: Kuell, Tom
> Subject: Re: Ron
> Hi, Tom, I saw the show yesterday. Though I did understand so much
> about it, it is a great show, I think we all live in the reality, but
> we still live in our own dream, which like Alex's, a perfect world
> with less color. Anyway, we still should satisfaid about our life, and
> enjoy it everyday.
> This is what I thought about the show, maybe it is not right, but it
> is still a wonderful show, thanks for invit me!
>
> By the way, when will u guys leave the NYC?
>
> Best
>
> Ron>
> Sent from my iPod
>
> On Jul 12, 2009, at 12:26 AM, "Kuell, Tom"
>> wrote:
>
>> I will pray for you for your driver test. I know you will pass it
>> this time!
>>
>> The address is 44 West 28th Street in Manhattan on the 7th floor.
>> You can take the subway to 28th street, and walk down the street and
>> find the door of the building that has 44 on it! It is called the
>> NYCAMS studio.
>>
>> Hope you guys like it!
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Kelphenwang [mailto:kelphenwang@gmail.com]
>> Sent: Saturday, July 11, 2009 11:31 PM
>> To: Kuell, Tom
>> Subject: Re: Ron
>>
>> Woo! It is awsome, I so want to go, but I get a driving class
>> tomorrow
>> afternoon, I will have the drive test next week. This is the second
>> time for me, I failed at the first time because I was too nervous.
>> Anyway, the show should be great, if u want, u can tell me the
>> address, then maybe my roommates they will go.
>> On Jul 11, 2009, at 11:23 PM, kuellt@kenan-flagler.unc.edu wrote:
>>
>>> I was just seeing if you wanted to go to my girlfriend's art show.
>>> It is open tomorrow from 2-8 if you wanted to go, although I
>>> cannot. Its free and I can give you directions if you wanted to go!
>>> ------Original Message------
>>> From: Kelphenwang
>>> To: Kuell, Tom
>>> Subject: Ron
>>> Sent: Jul 11, 2009 11:18 PM
>>>
>>> Hi, Tom, how's going this week? I am sorry I didn't hear what u said
>>> yesterday, there was too much noise. If it is ok, could u tell me
>>> again, thanks!
>>>
>>> Best
>>>
>>> Ron"
Also, I found out that CNBC will be having a TV spot on the effects of the p*rn industry. It will have footage from an outreach we had for students at the University of Kentucky this past March. Michael Laehy came to share at that event and they are airing an interview with him. He said to let people know that some content in the TV broadcast might be explicit due to the content he deals with, but wanted to let you know if you would like to watch it.
The Broadcast should be on tonight, Wednesday July 15, if you would like to look it up.
Can't wait to share more with you soon.
Blessings!
Abigail
Thought you might like to see an email correspondance between a student on my ministry team this summer and an East Asian student that we met and were able to poor into. Part of it talks about an art show that some students on a different track of our team created in order to spark more spiritual dialogue:
"-----Original Message-----
To: Kuell, Tom
Subject: Re: Ron
It is my pleasure to meet you, you are great person, so are your
friends, hope you have a safe fly.
Keep in touch, and best wishes for you and your family.
Ron
On Jul 14, 2009, at 10:56 AM, "Kuell, Tom"
> wrote:
> That's a really good interpretation! I'm so glad that you enjoyed
> it! It's been so amazing getting to know you and be your friend for
> these past 5 weeks. I am going to miss you very much, because I
> leave tomorrow morning.
>
> I think you are a really great person. Please keep in touch.
>
> In His grip-
>> Tom
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Kelphenwang [mailto:kelphenwang@gmail.com]
> Sent: Tuesday, July 14, 2009 2:35 AM
> To: Kuell, Tom
> Subject: Re: Ron
> Hi, Tom, I saw the show yesterday. Though I did understand so much
> about it, it is a great show, I think we all live in the reality, but
> we still live in our own dream, which like Alex's, a perfect world
> with less color. Anyway, we still should satisfaid about our life, and
> enjoy it everyday.
> This is what I thought about the show, maybe it is not right, but it
> is still a wonderful show, thanks for invit me!
>
> By the way, when will u guys leave the NYC?
>
> Best
>
> Ron>
> Sent from my iPod
>
> On Jul 12, 2009, at 12:26 AM, "Kuell, Tom"
>> wrote:
>
>> I will pray for you for your driver test. I know you will pass it
>> this time!
>>
>> The address is 44 West 28th Street in Manhattan on the 7th floor.
>> You can take the subway to 28th street, and walk down the street and
>> find the door of the building that has 44 on it! It is called the
>> NYCAMS studio.
>>
>> Hope you guys like it!
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Kelphenwang [mailto:kelphenwang@gmail.com]
>> Sent: Saturday, July 11, 2009 11:31 PM
>> To: Kuell, Tom
>> Subject: Re: Ron
>>
>> Woo! It is awsome, I so want to go, but I get a driving class
>> tomorrow
>> afternoon, I will have the drive test next week. This is the second
>> time for me, I failed at the first time because I was too nervous.
>> Anyway, the show should be great, if u want, u can tell me the
>> address, then maybe my roommates they will go.
>> On Jul 11, 2009, at 11:23 PM, kuellt@kenan-flagler.unc.edu wrote:
>>
>>> I was just seeing if you wanted to go to my girlfriend's art show.
>>> It is open tomorrow from 2-8 if you wanted to go, although I
>>> cannot. Its free and I can give you directions if you wanted to go!
>>> ------Original Message------
>>> From: Kelphenwang
>>> To: Kuell, Tom
>>> Subject: Ron
>>> Sent: Jul 11, 2009 11:18 PM
>>>
>>> Hi, Tom, how's going this week? I am sorry I didn't hear what u said
>>> yesterday, there was too much noise. If it is ok, could u tell me
>>> again, thanks!
>>>
>>> Best
>>>
>>> Ron"
Also, I found out that CNBC will be having a TV spot on the effects of the p*rn industry. It will have footage from an outreach we had for students at the University of Kentucky this past March. Michael Laehy came to share at that event and they are airing an interview with him. He said to let people know that some content in the TV broadcast might be explicit due to the content he deals with, but wanted to let you know if you would like to watch it.
The Broadcast should be on tonight, Wednesday July 15, if you would like to look it up.
Can't wait to share more with you soon.
Blessings!
Abigail
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Finishing Strong
God has been answering prayers and doing amazing things. I have much to share. Unfortunately it is late, and I can only give some highlights. The rest is yet to come. Today 3 more students at a couple different campuses accepted Christ. God is continuing to surface leaders up to our last minutes on campus, and we are excited to see how God will continue to work through them this fall. A student named Megan (one of the girls I knew while at East Carolina University during my first year on staff) wrote an update on her blog about the day. It is really good. She was with a girl I have been discipling when a student decided to follow Christ. Her blog is: http://mynewyorkminutes.blogspot.com/ She has a lot of great things to say about what God is teaching her and how He is using her.
Thanks for helping me be a part of each of these students lives.
More to come later.
Abigail
Thanks for helping me be a part of each of these students lives.
More to come later.
Abigail
Sunday, July 5, 2009
It has been a while since I last posted, and the week has flown by. Last weekend I spent out of town as the maid of honor in a friend's wedding. When I returned it was back to a full week discipling students, leading Bible study, and taking our students on campus. This week several more students saw someone they met with trust Christ as their Lord and Savior. I think the total is now around 9, with a student from East Asia at Polytech (during Monday's ministry time) and a young women from Jamaica on Wednesday at Hunter college.
Not only have we seen students become believers this summer, but our team is actually having multiple opportunities to follow-up with these new brothers and sisters in Christ. Students are reading the Bibles we have given them, they are texting and calling us, and they are posting updates to their status on facebook about their new relationship with Christ.
On Tuesday I brought my Bible study to the dance studio for Ballroom lessons together after Bible study. Students from a summer project in Boston's regional office joined us on Wednesday for our day on campus. All 110 of us attended the broadway show of West Side Story on Wednesday night. Our team ate delicious Hatian food in Brooklyn for cultural night. Late night games of Mafia, discipleship at the park, cupcakes from "Crumbs" and cheesecake from Carnegie Deli, a bridal shower for a member of our team, baseball on Coney Island with international friends, painting pottery at a baby shower for another member of our team, Brooklyn Tabernacle for church, fireworks on the Hudson River for the 4th, and much more took place all in the last 7 days. Whew! No wonder I am tired!
Please pray for us as we enter this week. There are 9 days left before we all leave New York and 5 of those days are finishing on campus. Please pray for endurance and obediance to the Lord as He continues to reveal areas for ministry. Tomorrow we have a large basketball outreach at Polytech and our international friends and other students we have met there are scheduled to come. Pray for Tom (a student at Chapel Hill) as he shares his testimony afterwards. Our last Bible study is Tuesday and final discipleship appointments are throughout this week. Pray that we are able to help our students finish well and to be effective at connecting students we met at various universities to connect with the long-term team in New York. We are so thrilled about what God is doing here and will continue to do as we all work together.
On a lighter note, please pray I win tickets to the "Wicked" lottery. Wicked is a broadway show, the only show I really wanted to see upon coming to New York, and my family gave me money for my birthday so I can go but I have done the lottery twice and still not won. To enter the lottery you go to the theater 3 hours before the show and enter your name. If it is drawn you pay $26 for front row seats to the show rather then $80 or so dollar tickets to sit in the far balcony. We don't have many days left for me to go, but I am going to try. :)
Love you and praying for you all.
Abigail
Not only have we seen students become believers this summer, but our team is actually having multiple opportunities to follow-up with these new brothers and sisters in Christ. Students are reading the Bibles we have given them, they are texting and calling us, and they are posting updates to their status on facebook about their new relationship with Christ.
On Tuesday I brought my Bible study to the dance studio for Ballroom lessons together after Bible study. Students from a summer project in Boston's regional office joined us on Wednesday for our day on campus. All 110 of us attended the broadway show of West Side Story on Wednesday night. Our team ate delicious Hatian food in Brooklyn for cultural night. Late night games of Mafia, discipleship at the park, cupcakes from "Crumbs" and cheesecake from Carnegie Deli, a bridal shower for a member of our team, baseball on Coney Island with international friends, painting pottery at a baby shower for another member of our team, Brooklyn Tabernacle for church, fireworks on the Hudson River for the 4th, and much more took place all in the last 7 days. Whew! No wonder I am tired!
Please pray for us as we enter this week. There are 9 days left before we all leave New York and 5 of those days are finishing on campus. Please pray for endurance and obediance to the Lord as He continues to reveal areas for ministry. Tomorrow we have a large basketball outreach at Polytech and our international friends and other students we have met there are scheduled to come. Pray for Tom (a student at Chapel Hill) as he shares his testimony afterwards. Our last Bible study is Tuesday and final discipleship appointments are throughout this week. Pray that we are able to help our students finish well and to be effective at connecting students we met at various universities to connect with the long-term team in New York. We are so thrilled about what God is doing here and will continue to do as we all work together.
On a lighter note, please pray I win tickets to the "Wicked" lottery. Wicked is a broadway show, the only show I really wanted to see upon coming to New York, and my family gave me money for my birthday so I can go but I have done the lottery twice and still not won. To enter the lottery you go to the theater 3 hours before the show and enter your name. If it is drawn you pay $26 for front row seats to the show rather then $80 or so dollar tickets to sit in the far balcony. We don't have many days left for me to go, but I am going to try. :)
Love you and praying for you all.
Abigail
Monday, June 22, 2009
Under His Wings
Ministry has gone well. Our ministry team (5 students and 2 staff) evaluated today and realized that we had over 30 spiritual conversations in our first 2 days on campus and we were able to share the gospel with over half of those people. Last week 2 students accepted Christ. One of them at NYU Poly and the other at Brooklyn college. Today, 2 more students gave their lives to the Lord as other ministry teams spread out across Brooklyn and hit the campus.
Some of us came across the first believers we have met on campuses here New York during our time today. Many people ascribe to atheism, agnosticism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism and others. We have even stumbled across religious beliefs that we have never heard of before such as Jainism, and Sikhism (religions connected to Eastern Beliefs). One day in our first couple weeks here I passed a man who was lying prostrate on a cardboard box as he took a break from working his hotdog stand and bowed repeatedly toward Mecca. It has been a learning experience for us all. Many of our students are developing a deep love for Asian students as we have the priveledge of having conversations about spiritual things, which many of them have never heard or considered. This afternoon a student and I shared the gospel with a women from East Asia. It was the first time anyone had clearly explained it to her. It is an amazing thing to see Christ through new eyes. I have heard it my whole life. I loved sharing with her and hearing her thought and questions as she finally understood. Please pray that she recognizes a need for God in her life.
Our students are hitting their first wall since arriving. Moral was low on campus as we encountered many obsticles with talking to people, getting into the buildings on campus, rain and long subway rides. It was a wonderful time to pray together and remember how God works through our weakness. I was so proud to see our students persevere without complaint. One of the girls even comented on how she sees no excuse to not share when she goes back to her campus because she has 9 months of opportunities and freedom to come and go on campus. Pray for spiritual, emotional, and physical renewal. I am also feeling under the weather and had to leave our weekly meeting early because of dizzyness and other flu like symptoms. There is much ahead this week included celebrating a friends wedding in another city this weekend. As the maid of honor I can't afford to get sick. :)
Thank you for your continued prayers. I can sense God moving through them.
Abigail
Some of us came across the first believers we have met on campuses here New York during our time today. Many people ascribe to atheism, agnosticism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism and others. We have even stumbled across religious beliefs that we have never heard of before such as Jainism, and Sikhism (religions connected to Eastern Beliefs). One day in our first couple weeks here I passed a man who was lying prostrate on a cardboard box as he took a break from working his hotdog stand and bowed repeatedly toward Mecca. It has been a learning experience for us all. Many of our students are developing a deep love for Asian students as we have the priveledge of having conversations about spiritual things, which many of them have never heard or considered. This afternoon a student and I shared the gospel with a women from East Asia. It was the first time anyone had clearly explained it to her. It is an amazing thing to see Christ through new eyes. I have heard it my whole life. I loved sharing with her and hearing her thought and questions as she finally understood. Please pray that she recognizes a need for God in her life.
Our students are hitting their first wall since arriving. Moral was low on campus as we encountered many obsticles with talking to people, getting into the buildings on campus, rain and long subway rides. It was a wonderful time to pray together and remember how God works through our weakness. I was so proud to see our students persevere without complaint. One of the girls even comented on how she sees no excuse to not share when she goes back to her campus because she has 9 months of opportunities and freedom to come and go on campus. Pray for spiritual, emotional, and physical renewal. I am also feeling under the weather and had to leave our weekly meeting early because of dizzyness and other flu like symptoms. There is much ahead this week included celebrating a friends wedding in another city this weekend. As the maid of honor I can't afford to get sick. :)
Thank you for your continued prayers. I can sense God moving through them.
Abigail
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Steps of Faith
Thank you for your prayers! God is moving in the hearts of students on our team and in New York. The following is an update that one of the girls I am discipling during the project wrote and posted for her friend on facebook about her first week here. She did such a great job explaining, I thought you would enjoy it as well.
"Greetings from the Big Apple!
The past week has been a whirlwind! Our team of 19 students and 9 staff has been doing so much since we arrived in NYC last Tuesday. The first several days, we focused on training for campus evangelism, getting acclimated to city life (especially learning to navigate the subway system!), building community with the other students on project, and PRAYING! Last weekend, we got to explore the city and do some sight-seeing, including the Statue of Liberty, the Museum of Modern Art, the Rockefeller Center, Coney Island, and Time Square. This place is bigger and busier than I ever imagined possible! The people in the city are unbelievably diverse and I’m just beginning to realize what its like to be so far from the Bible belt!
On Sunday afternoon, we hosted a party for international students from nearby colleges, and had about 30 students show up. We had a great time helping them practice their English, and we were paired up with an “International Buddy” who we will be meeting and hanging out with every Friday for rest of project. They love to have American friends who can help them learn more about our national culture, and they also love that for once they know more about this city than someone else and can show US around! Some of these students are Christians, others are not. I’m not sure what my “Buddy” believes, but I am excited to spend quality time with her and build a relationship with her this summer!
On Monday, we visited campuses for the first time. We had been trained on how to “decode” a campus: find key people, places, and resources on campus that would help us get to know the subculture and spiritual atmosphere of a campus so that we can know what kind of approach to ministry will be most effective. My Ministry Team of four other students and 2 staff went to Brooklyn College, where we will be spending every Monday and Wednesday. It was an adventurous day! We actually had to sneak through the front gates of campus, since we didn’t have student ID cards to show the security guard…but he didn’t stop us (all looking occupied on cell phones!), so getting in was the first answer to prayer!
We spent the first hour that morning Prayer Walking: getting to know the layout of the campus, visiting buildings that were open, and praying for specific requests for the campus as we went. I was prayer-walking with my friend, Katie, and we prayed for 3 specific things: that the Lord would send us a faculty member who could tell us more about campus life and be a good resource for us in the future; that we could get our hands on media materials like a map of campus, brochures on academic programs, a list of student organizations, a student newspaper, or anything else that would be an authentic way to get to know Brooklyn College; and finally, that God would connect us with at least one Christian student there who could come alongside us to reach his/her campus for Christ. God answered all of these!!! We got connected with the advisor of all of the school’s student leadership programs and clubs, who gave us an enormous stack of all the media materials we could want—after he gave us a personal tour of the student center and talked with us for over an hour about what life is like at Brooklyn. Finally, two guys on my team met a girl wearing a “Got God?” t-shirt who was a sincere follower of Christ and gave them her contact information so that she could re-connect with us in the future! Wow, God!
On Tuesday, my ministry team went to St. Francis College in Brooklyn. We didn’t have any luck getting past the security at the front desk of the main building, so we walked around the block several times, praying for future opportunities to get in, and praying for ways to reach students from the outside. We ended up having some really great conversations with students sitting right outside on benches during their breaks between classes. We even got to share the gospel through conversation with one lady, but then she had to leave quickly. We learned a lot about the school just through talking to people, and we also got contact information for someone who may be able to give us a tour when we return next week.
On Wednesday, we went back to Brooklyn College and spent the day sharing one of Campus Crusade’s best evangelistic resources, the Quest Survey. This 6-question survey asks students questions about what their religious background was like and how they felt about it, how they now describe themselves spiritually, and finally asks them to rate on a scale of 1-10 their desire to know God more. My partner, Becca, and I talked to one girl, who is an atheist and was not terribly open to even an idea of a Creator God, but she shared a lot with us and we went through a booklet on the Four Spiritual Laws of the gospel with her. We left it with her “as a future resource on what the Bible says is true about God.” We are praying that the scripture and message of Christ in that booklet may be something she will look through again and continue to think about. A male student from Turkey then sat down on the bench beside us and struck up a conversation, so we ended up going through the survey with him. He comes from a strict Muslim background, but is completely open to new perspectives on religion. He says he is currently seeking Truth and knows that there is a God who must care something about us. We went through the booklet with him, too, and he was pretty open to the Gospel message. He didn’t agree that Jesus was the Son of God, but he did enjoy discussing with us what we believe and why. Last, we talked to a student who told us her husband is a practicing Jew, but she currently does not believe in a god. As we asked her questions about her claims on evolution, she said in bewildered laughter that she “can’t explain where the algae came from!” We share the gospel booklet with her too, and as she was leaving, she thanked us for our questions—she realized that she gets angry when people believe things without being about to explain why, but she does the very same thing! She said she really wants to explore evolution more and the concept of a Creator. We were blown away.
Please be praying for all of these people we have met and talked to, for the ones who have now heard the gospel and may be ready to believe it, or may just be considering the possibility of a God for the first time—that’s huge too! The other 18 students here on project have many similar stories; one group even led a Taiwanese student at Polytech to accept Christ today!
While God is renewing our hearts “day by day” ( 2 Corinthians 4:16), our bodies are getting quite tired…we do a lot of walking and not much sleeping. I have been feeling a little bit sick today, so please pray that we all will be able to stay healthy and physically energized for the busyness of each day! Pray also for the continued peace among the community of Christians here. It has been an indescribable blessing. I am learning so much about life and ministry from the staff and students here. And also, please pray for God to go ahead of us to prepare the hearts of students to be receptive to hearing about His love and grace!
I so appreciate your prayers! I have been praying for you all too, update me on YOUR lives!!!
I love each of you with the love of Christ,
Sammi Quave"
P.S. The student that prayed to receive Christ was at my ministry teams "home" campus. During our subway ride to the campus I asked our team what it looked like to take a step of faith in evangelism today. The two students who shared with our new Taiwanese brother were acting out of their commitment to take their steps of faith and God honored it through bringing a new child to Him. Friday Alex, one of the students who shared with him will be meeting for the first follow up. Please pray for protection from spiritual attack now that he has accepted Christ. Pray that we will be able to reconnect with him and connect him with believing students at his school.
"Greetings from the Big Apple!
The past week has been a whirlwind! Our team of 19 students and 9 staff has been doing so much since we arrived in NYC last Tuesday. The first several days, we focused on training for campus evangelism, getting acclimated to city life (especially learning to navigate the subway system!), building community with the other students on project, and PRAYING! Last weekend, we got to explore the city and do some sight-seeing, including the Statue of Liberty, the Museum of Modern Art, the Rockefeller Center, Coney Island, and Time Square. This place is bigger and busier than I ever imagined possible! The people in the city are unbelievably diverse and I’m just beginning to realize what its like to be so far from the Bible belt!
On Sunday afternoon, we hosted a party for international students from nearby colleges, and had about 30 students show up. We had a great time helping them practice their English, and we were paired up with an “International Buddy” who we will be meeting and hanging out with every Friday for rest of project. They love to have American friends who can help them learn more about our national culture, and they also love that for once they know more about this city than someone else and can show US around! Some of these students are Christians, others are not. I’m not sure what my “Buddy” believes, but I am excited to spend quality time with her and build a relationship with her this summer!
On Monday, we visited campuses for the first time. We had been trained on how to “decode” a campus: find key people, places, and resources on campus that would help us get to know the subculture and spiritual atmosphere of a campus so that we can know what kind of approach to ministry will be most effective. My Ministry Team of four other students and 2 staff went to Brooklyn College, where we will be spending every Monday and Wednesday. It was an adventurous day! We actually had to sneak through the front gates of campus, since we didn’t have student ID cards to show the security guard…but he didn’t stop us (all looking occupied on cell phones!), so getting in was the first answer to prayer!
We spent the first hour that morning Prayer Walking: getting to know the layout of the campus, visiting buildings that were open, and praying for specific requests for the campus as we went. I was prayer-walking with my friend, Katie, and we prayed for 3 specific things: that the Lord would send us a faculty member who could tell us more about campus life and be a good resource for us in the future; that we could get our hands on media materials like a map of campus, brochures on academic programs, a list of student organizations, a student newspaper, or anything else that would be an authentic way to get to know Brooklyn College; and finally, that God would connect us with at least one Christian student there who could come alongside us to reach his/her campus for Christ. God answered all of these!!! We got connected with the advisor of all of the school’s student leadership programs and clubs, who gave us an enormous stack of all the media materials we could want—after he gave us a personal tour of the student center and talked with us for over an hour about what life is like at Brooklyn. Finally, two guys on my team met a girl wearing a “Got God?” t-shirt who was a sincere follower of Christ and gave them her contact information so that she could re-connect with us in the future! Wow, God!
On Tuesday, my ministry team went to St. Francis College in Brooklyn. We didn’t have any luck getting past the security at the front desk of the main building, so we walked around the block several times, praying for future opportunities to get in, and praying for ways to reach students from the outside. We ended up having some really great conversations with students sitting right outside on benches during their breaks between classes. We even got to share the gospel through conversation with one lady, but then she had to leave quickly. We learned a lot about the school just through talking to people, and we also got contact information for someone who may be able to give us a tour when we return next week.
On Wednesday, we went back to Brooklyn College and spent the day sharing one of Campus Crusade’s best evangelistic resources, the Quest Survey. This 6-question survey asks students questions about what their religious background was like and how they felt about it, how they now describe themselves spiritually, and finally asks them to rate on a scale of 1-10 their desire to know God more. My partner, Becca, and I talked to one girl, who is an atheist and was not terribly open to even an idea of a Creator God, but she shared a lot with us and we went through a booklet on the Four Spiritual Laws of the gospel with her. We left it with her “as a future resource on what the Bible says is true about God.” We are praying that the scripture and message of Christ in that booklet may be something she will look through again and continue to think about. A male student from Turkey then sat down on the bench beside us and struck up a conversation, so we ended up going through the survey with him. He comes from a strict Muslim background, but is completely open to new perspectives on religion. He says he is currently seeking Truth and knows that there is a God who must care something about us. We went through the booklet with him, too, and he was pretty open to the Gospel message. He didn’t agree that Jesus was the Son of God, but he did enjoy discussing with us what we believe and why. Last, we talked to a student who told us her husband is a practicing Jew, but she currently does not believe in a god. As we asked her questions about her claims on evolution, she said in bewildered laughter that she “can’t explain where the algae came from!” We share the gospel booklet with her too, and as she was leaving, she thanked us for our questions—she realized that she gets angry when people believe things without being about to explain why, but she does the very same thing! She said she really wants to explore evolution more and the concept of a Creator. We were blown away.
Please be praying for all of these people we have met and talked to, for the ones who have now heard the gospel and may be ready to believe it, or may just be considering the possibility of a God for the first time—that’s huge too! The other 18 students here on project have many similar stories; one group even led a Taiwanese student at Polytech to accept Christ today!
While God is renewing our hearts “day by day” ( 2 Corinthians 4:16), our bodies are getting quite tired…we do a lot of walking and not much sleeping. I have been feeling a little bit sick today, so please pray that we all will be able to stay healthy and physically energized for the busyness of each day! Pray also for the continued peace among the community of Christians here. It has been an indescribable blessing. I am learning so much about life and ministry from the staff and students here. And also, please pray for God to go ahead of us to prepare the hearts of students to be receptive to hearing about His love and grace!
I so appreciate your prayers! I have been praying for you all too, update me on YOUR lives!!!
I love each of you with the love of Christ,
Sammi Quave"
P.S. The student that prayed to receive Christ was at my ministry teams "home" campus. During our subway ride to the campus I asked our team what it looked like to take a step of faith in evangelism today. The two students who shared with our new Taiwanese brother were acting out of their commitment to take their steps of faith and God honored it through bringing a new child to Him. Friday Alex, one of the students who shared with him will be meeting for the first follow up. Please pray for protection from spiritual attack now that he has accepted Christ. Pray that we will be able to reconnect with him and connect him with believing students at his school.
Monday, June 15, 2009
Shopping trips, international friends, and other adventures
I forgot to mention yesterday how different it is to get groceries in the city. My teammate Rebekah and I left Coney Island and ventured to "Trader Joes" to pick up food for a party we hosted this afternoon. Our apartments are only close to a small market that has a limited food selection and costs a lot. As a result we rode the subway to Trader Joes and brave the croweds of a couple hundres people crammed into a tiny space. Once we picked out our items we then stood in a line of 50 or so people before we could go through the check out line. It actually moved quickly despite the crowds and we picked up our duel layer brown bags and walked to the subway and then from the subway to our apartments and up the elevator to the 12th floor. It was quite an endeavor.
This afternoon we came back after church and picked up the bags again to walk 20 minutes through the Puerto Rican parade (it is one of the largest parades in New York City every year) to the Campus Crusade office where the party was located.
The Lord truly blessed our efforts. We had 15 to 20 students studying at PolyTech University come to hang out with us for 2 1/2 hours. During that time we posted stickers on a map to demonstrate where each of us are from and so they could show us their hometown. We played several games and taught them the electric and Cha Cha Slide. Students her for our project then lead discussion groups where we shared about ourselves. It was a lot of fun. Everyone who came signed up to participate in activities we will have every Friday.
I was most excted to meet up with "Jenny". She came 2 hours on the train to be there and then road 2 hours back tonight to be at her summer job. Before she came I prayed that the Lord would build connections with other Polytech students there so that she might return to activities in the fall. To my surprise and delight, Jenny told me when she arrived that she asked friends to come with her to the party and they had already been invited. God is already building those bridges! :)She seemed to really enjoy our time together and got phone numbers of other students at Polytech so that she can meet up with them again.
It was encouraging to see our students dive into taking steps of faith. I am excited to see how they will grow this summer and how God will use them in the process.
Tomorrow we go to Brooklyn for our first full day on campus. Pray that the Lord goes before us and that we make good connections with the people we meet. In the past they have had some trouble getting on campus. Pray that we find people to allow us to come on campus freely. In the evening we will be leading the first weekly meeting for all the students here to do ministry this summer. The theme our students chose is "Worship". Please pray that we have a refreshing time of meeting with the Lord.
Thank you so much. I can see how God is going before you as you lift us up to Him.
Blessings,
Abigail
This afternoon we came back after church and picked up the bags again to walk 20 minutes through the Puerto Rican parade (it is one of the largest parades in New York City every year) to the Campus Crusade office where the party was located.
The Lord truly blessed our efforts. We had 15 to 20 students studying at PolyTech University come to hang out with us for 2 1/2 hours. During that time we posted stickers on a map to demonstrate where each of us are from and so they could show us their hometown. We played several games and taught them the electric and Cha Cha Slide. Students her for our project then lead discussion groups where we shared about ourselves. It was a lot of fun. Everyone who came signed up to participate in activities we will have every Friday.
I was most excted to meet up with "Jenny". She came 2 hours on the train to be there and then road 2 hours back tonight to be at her summer job. Before she came I prayed that the Lord would build connections with other Polytech students there so that she might return to activities in the fall. To my surprise and delight, Jenny told me when she arrived that she asked friends to come with her to the party and they had already been invited. God is already building those bridges! :)She seemed to really enjoy our time together and got phone numbers of other students at Polytech so that she can meet up with them again.
It was encouraging to see our students dive into taking steps of faith. I am excited to see how they will grow this summer and how God will use them in the process.
Tomorrow we go to Brooklyn for our first full day on campus. Pray that the Lord goes before us and that we make good connections with the people we meet. In the past they have had some trouble getting on campus. Pray that we find people to allow us to come on campus freely. In the evening we will be leading the first weekly meeting for all the students here to do ministry this summer. The theme our students chose is "Worship". Please pray that we have a refreshing time of meeting with the Lord.
Thank you so much. I can see how God is going before you as you lift us up to Him.
Blessings,
Abigail
Saturday, June 13, 2009
The talk I gave went well. Thank you so much for your prayers. I was able to be calm and speak clearly. People seemed encouraged and several of the staff asked for my notes to use for the future. I enjoyed being able to share how God is working in the lives of people and how God can use the students to bring people to Him.
Our team has been doing a lot to get to know the culture of the city. Tomorrow we get to engage with some of the students on a campus in Brooklyn for the first time. International students studying at Polytech University will be joining us for a party. I was able to get in touch with "Jenny", the student I mentioned before who transfored to Polytech. She asked her supervisor to have the day off and will be coming to meet us and bringing her friends! Some of these students will be meeting their "international" buddy that they get to hang out with for the rest of the summer. Please pray that we will connect with them well.
All of the staff hit a wall yesterday and today. We are feeling tired after trying to keep up with the pace of NYC and the energy that come with project students arrival. Pray that we are able to spend time connecting with the Lord and being recharged by Him.
I know many things are going on in your families as well. Please let me know how I can be praying for you.
Blessings,
Abigail
Our team has been doing a lot to get to know the culture of the city. Tomorrow we get to engage with some of the students on a campus in Brooklyn for the first time. International students studying at Polytech University will be joining us for a party. I was able to get in touch with "Jenny", the student I mentioned before who transfored to Polytech. She asked her supervisor to have the day off and will be coming to meet us and bringing her friends! Some of these students will be meeting their "international" buddy that they get to hang out with for the rest of the summer. Please pray that we will connect with them well.
All of the staff hit a wall yesterday and today. We are feeling tired after trying to keep up with the pace of NYC and the energy that come with project students arrival. Pray that we are able to spend time connecting with the Lord and being recharged by Him.
I know many things are going on in your families as well. Please let me know how I can be praying for you.
Blessings,
Abigail
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
We had a lovely day today, cool outside but good. I might share more later. I was asked today to give a talk tomorrow morning. Please be praying as I lead the 120 or so students and staff. I get to encourage them in why and how we can share our faith with others. Pray that our time ignites a fire in them to share the gospel with those they meet. Please pray that it is effective and that the students leave feeling more equipped. Pray that I am sensitive to the Spirit as I teach, and that my nerves are minimum.
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
The picture above is of me with the two girls I will be discipling this summer. Sammi (Samantha) is the one on the right. She is a student at Lenoir-Rhyne, a Lutherine school outside of Charlotte, North Carolina. Taylor is on the left and she is studying Chemistry at the University of North Carolina Wilmington.
My friend asked for address today. If any of you want to send something in the mail you can post it to this address:
Abigail Bennett
c/o Campus Crusade for Christ
Tribeca Summer Project
144 E. 44th Street, #710
New York, NY 10017
I leave New York on July 15, so please send whatever mail by July 7 so that it makes it in time for me to get it.
Today was a wonderful day with the students. They all arrived safely, although many of them are a bit exhausted from numerous flight delays and overwhelmed by the city. It is fun though because they are so eager to get started in their relationships with each other and ministry. I can't wait to get to know them more.
My phone couldn't be revived when I took it to the store. I was able to get a new one so I am able to communicate again. Unfortunately all the numbers I had are lost, so if you try to call please let me know who it is so I can resave it. I realized during the 24 hours without my phone how much I depend on it. Here in the city, my biggest thought is safety. It has been safe here. I realized though that I feel much of my freedom to branch out because I can always get a hold of someone if I am in trouble. Fear I hadn't experienced before came up when I didn't have it. The Lord is good and His protection doesn't change even if I am without a phone. It is funny how much the culture changes. 20 years ago a cell phone wouldn't have even been an option. :)
Tomorrow we get to introduce the students to the city! They will have a bit of orientation and a lesson on using the subway. Then we get to set them loose to explore some of the sights and cuisines around us. We will get back together at the Rockefeller Center to overlook New York. Then they will gather in groups from all the tracks (arts, campus, Epic, and inner-city) to have dinner and go shopping for things they still need.
Talk to you soon.
Abigail
Students arrive today!
Woke up to a stormy New York morning. Students arrive throughout the day. Please pray for them as they travel. There are delays in all the airports and a hour and a half ground delay at LaGuardia.
Also, pray for my cell phone. :) I carry a water bottle in my bag or purse because we walk everywhere all day. Last night it poured out and flooded my purse. I had hope my cell phone would dry out and work, but as of right now it is really dead. I have to find a store today and see if I can get a new phone. Please pray I can recover the numbers I had stored in it.
One of the things I do to relax and rejuvinate me during the year is to take ballroom dancing lessons. I found out just before I left that my studio has studios in New York that will allow me to participate in classes while here. Last night I went to a studio that is only a mile away and took my first class. It was great! Many of the instructors here are professional dancers. It was a little intimidating, but just what I needed before the students arrive. Sometimes you just need to get away.
Thank you for your continued prayers. We had a student who needed a significant amount of money on Sunday in order to be able to come. We prayed as a team and the Lord raised $1600 overnight with more on the way! Another of my girls saw over $600 come in last minute. We believe they are to be here with us and are so excited to see the Lord provide for them. Please continue to pray for them and others as they seek the last amount of their support to come in.
Also, pray for my cell phone. :) I carry a water bottle in my bag or purse because we walk everywhere all day. Last night it poured out and flooded my purse. I had hope my cell phone would dry out and work, but as of right now it is really dead. I have to find a store today and see if I can get a new phone. Please pray I can recover the numbers I had stored in it.
One of the things I do to relax and rejuvinate me during the year is to take ballroom dancing lessons. I found out just before I left that my studio has studios in New York that will allow me to participate in classes while here. Last night I went to a studio that is only a mile away and took my first class. It was great! Many of the instructors here are professional dancers. It was a little intimidating, but just what I needed before the students arrive. Sometimes you just need to get away.
Thank you for your continued prayers. We had a student who needed a significant amount of money on Sunday in order to be able to come. We prayed as a team and the Lord raised $1600 overnight with more on the way! Another of my girls saw over $600 come in last minute. We believe they are to be here with us and are so excited to see the Lord provide for them. Please continue to pray for them and others as they seek the last amount of their support to come in.
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Day 4: Morning with the Lord and Praying for students
Today was so encouraging! We were given the morning to spend with the Lord. I went to a little park nearby (Bryant Park for those of you who know the city) for two hours. It was less then a five minute walk and a perfect place to meet with Jesus. It was fun to watch the city wake up. Being there helped make me feel more at home in this busy place, rather then just a visitor.
Our team came together in the afternoon to share "Life-Maps" or, the story of how God has been working in our lives. We each had 15 minutes to talk about our heritage, heros, hard times, high times, and hand of God experiences. The members of our team work on many different campuses during the year so it was fun to get to know one another on a deeper level. After this we were given the names of the students we will be discipling. I have 2 girls. One is a freshman from UNC Wilmington, and the other is a Junior from Lenoir-Rhyn (a school in the Charlotte, NC area). I was able to get to know them through their applications, pray for them, and plan our time together. Then I gave each of them a call. One of the girls has had her bags packed for a week and a half! She was bubbling over with excitement about joining us for project. It is evident that God has his fingerprints on this summer and I am eager to see how each of these girls will grow and be used of Him as we are together.
After the phone calls, we began planning Bible studies. I will be co-leading a study with another staff women and the girls we each disciple will all be in the group together (4 in all). Very soon (on Tuesday!) 19 students from all over the country will be flying in for project. Please pray for them as they continue to raise support and pray for their safety as they travel here.
Brandon and Ansley are our team leaders. They have been living and doing ministry in Brooklyn all year so they invited us for dinner at their home. It was fun to see the neighborhood side of the city. It was a really fun area. We ended it with Italian ice and a 45 minute Subway ride back to Manhattan. It was a wonderful day.
Tomorrow we will be heading to Redeemer (a Presbyterian church in Manhattan pastored by Tim Keller). He is the one I quoted in my letter about New York and I am excited to hear from him in person. We also have more work in store for tomorrow and then are going to try to go the red carpet at the Tony awards. If you are watching them at home look for us! :)
Blessings,
Abigail
Our team came together in the afternoon to share "Life-Maps" or, the story of how God has been working in our lives. We each had 15 minutes to talk about our heritage, heros, hard times, high times, and hand of God experiences. The members of our team work on many different campuses during the year so it was fun to get to know one another on a deeper level. After this we were given the names of the students we will be discipling. I have 2 girls. One is a freshman from UNC Wilmington, and the other is a Junior from Lenoir-Rhyn (a school in the Charlotte, NC area). I was able to get to know them through their applications, pray for them, and plan our time together. Then I gave each of them a call. One of the girls has had her bags packed for a week and a half! She was bubbling over with excitement about joining us for project. It is evident that God has his fingerprints on this summer and I am eager to see how each of these girls will grow and be used of Him as we are together.
After the phone calls, we began planning Bible studies. I will be co-leading a study with another staff women and the girls we each disciple will all be in the group together (4 in all). Very soon (on Tuesday!) 19 students from all over the country will be flying in for project. Please pray for them as they continue to raise support and pray for their safety as they travel here.
Brandon and Ansley are our team leaders. They have been living and doing ministry in Brooklyn all year so they invited us for dinner at their home. It was fun to see the neighborhood side of the city. It was a really fun area. We ended it with Italian ice and a 45 minute Subway ride back to Manhattan. It was a wonderful day.
Tomorrow we will be heading to Redeemer (a Presbyterian church in Manhattan pastored by Tim Keller). He is the one I quoted in my letter about New York and I am excited to hear from him in person. We also have more work in store for tomorrow and then are going to try to go the red carpet at the Tony awards. If you are watching them at home look for us! :)
Blessings,
Abigail
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Day 2: Building connections with the city and my fellow staff
I spent much of today trying to let it sink in that I will be living in New York for the next 6 weeks. The staff here are so passionate about the people knowing Christ. This morning the staff for each team met in a Campus Crusade office in Manhattan. Many ministries are located here and share a floor in the same building. It was exciting to be surrounded by Christian Embassy (an organization working with diplomats, Models for Christ (works with the modeling industry), Student Venture (works with high school kids), Priority Associates (a ministry for busyness professionals), The campus ministry, and a Neighborhood ministry that trains churches for ministry and shows the Jesus films outside in ethnic neighborhoods around the 5 boroughs. While we were there an English class was being held for diplomats wives in the next room.
The staff for the project are diverse too. There are 4 tracks that students could choose from this summer: Campus, Arts, Inner City, Epic (a contextualized ministry to reach Asian Americans). Next Tuesday around 115 students will be arriving to join us in each of these ministries. Our God is a God of color and creativity, in New York you can see a lot of the expression of this characteristic! We were reminded this morning that each person we see is an image barer of Christ. He loves each individual and died so that they might know Him.
As we heard the history of the city and it's development, explored some of the neighborhoods this afternoon, spent time getting to know the other staff, and went shopping to get things for our apartment at Kmart off Time's Square, I was increasingly impressed that the Lord has something special in store for this summer. There are many reasons I ended up here, but the real reason is still untapped. I believe that God is going to show me a broader view of Him then I have ever seen and I am beginning to feel like Moses at the burning bush. I pray that when I leave my apartment that my face glows in a way that brings light and a reflection of Christ to all we meet.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
First Day in NYC!
I left for New York today! My flight left Louisville at 6:15am and I arrived at LaGuardia at 11am. From there I met a couple girls from my summer team and we tooke a taxi to our apartments in Manhattan. Staff will train and prepare this week, and students will join us at the start of the weekend.
God has so evidently gone before me! Last Thursday I had lunch with a Chinese student that I have been hosting through a university program during the last 2 years. She told me that one of her friends recently transferred to Polytech University in Brooklyn. Polytech is one of the universities that I will be going to each week in order to meet students. There is a big international student community there and my teammates have seen students show a lot of interest in God and some of them have even accepted Christ in their first year of bringing Campus Crusade to campus.
The student who transferred (I will call her Jenny), hung out with me in February when several of my international friends and I had dinner and I taught the girls to ice-skate. I was able to get her phone number and look forward to getting in touch with her when I arrive in New York. My team leaders said that we will have several socials for international students throughout the summer including a 4th of July party. Please pray that Jenny and I are able to connect and that our time together this summer helps her plug into the ministry on Polytechs campus this fall.
Thank you so much for all of your prayers. Here are some ways that you can continue to pray as ministry in New York begins.
- Pray for my vision. My eyes freeked out a little before I left, so I now have eye drops and have to wear my glasses for a week or so.
- Pray for safety as all of the staff and students arrive
- Pray for the Lord to continue to provide for the financial needs of our staff and students. I still need $1500 for the summer and our students are still ontinuing to raise support until the day they get here.
- Pray for Unity and Fellowship among our team and the other tracks here for the summer
- Pray that I am able to connect with Jenny and help her meet other staff who will be ministering here year round.
- Pray we will be able to get on the campuses to do ministry. Last year the campus team had to be creative in order to even walk on campuses and meet students. Pray the the Lord will open doors for us here.
Thank you so much! I am so excited to be your ambassador here. As I write I am in my apartment. We are 2 blocks from the Empire State Building and Macy's. Time's Square is just around the corner. And our apartment has access to the roof where you can see everything lit up! I am so blessed to be so near to the people God has brought us here to minister to. I cannot wait to share all the stories of how the Lord is at work.
Blessings,
Abigail
God has so evidently gone before me! Last Thursday I had lunch with a Chinese student that I have been hosting through a university program during the last 2 years. She told me that one of her friends recently transferred to Polytech University in Brooklyn. Polytech is one of the universities that I will be going to each week in order to meet students. There is a big international student community there and my teammates have seen students show a lot of interest in God and some of them have even accepted Christ in their first year of bringing Campus Crusade to campus.
The student who transferred (I will call her Jenny), hung out with me in February when several of my international friends and I had dinner and I taught the girls to ice-skate. I was able to get her phone number and look forward to getting in touch with her when I arrive in New York. My team leaders said that we will have several socials for international students throughout the summer including a 4th of July party. Please pray that Jenny and I are able to connect and that our time together this summer helps her plug into the ministry on Polytechs campus this fall.
Thank you so much for all of your prayers. Here are some ways that you can continue to pray as ministry in New York begins.
- Pray for my vision. My eyes freeked out a little before I left, so I now have eye drops and have to wear my glasses for a week or so.
- Pray for safety as all of the staff and students arrive
- Pray for the Lord to continue to provide for the financial needs of our staff and students. I still need $1500 for the summer and our students are still ontinuing to raise support until the day they get here.
- Pray for Unity and Fellowship among our team and the other tracks here for the summer
- Pray that I am able to connect with Jenny and help her meet other staff who will be ministering here year round.
- Pray we will be able to get on the campuses to do ministry. Last year the campus team had to be creative in order to even walk on campuses and meet students. Pray the the Lord will open doors for us here.
Thank you so much! I am so excited to be your ambassador here. As I write I am in my apartment. We are 2 blocks from the Empire State Building and Macy's. Time's Square is just around the corner. And our apartment has access to the roof where you can see everything lit up! I am so blessed to be so near to the people God has brought us here to minister to. I cannot wait to share all the stories of how the Lord is at work.
Blessings,
Abigail
Thursday, May 28, 2009
WHY NEW YORK CITY?:
Over 1 million College students — 140 Campuses (10% of all college students in America)
Over 170 Languages
One HUGE City
One even GREATER God
Over 170 Languages
One HUGE City
One even GREATER God
God of the City - 6 Weeks in New York
"Whatever captures the city, captures the country, society, and the culture.”
I recently listened to a talk by Tim Keller sharing lessons from Acts for the 21’st century church. He shared that the early church was almost completely Urban Centric. The reason the Roman Empire went Christian is because by the year 30AD 50% of the cities was Christian, but the countryside was pagan. In America today, it is the opposite. The cities are pagan and the countryside is Christian. Our culture is being shaped without those who truly follow Christ.
Imagine if the students graduating from some of America’s top universities were leaving with a desire to follow the Lord and serve Him wherever they are. Barrack Obama, Jerry Seinfeld, Colan Powell, Calvin Klein, Ruth Bater Ginsberg are a few of the influential people who have entered New York as Students and left as world changers.
This summer I am heading to New York with a Team of 35 Campus Crusade staff and college students from around the country. We will be working together to share Christ on campuses throughout the city and in the community. I will personally be discipling several students on our team to help them grow in their faith, and their ability to share Christ with others. I will be there from June 3-July 15. From New York I will go to Fort Collins, Colorado for a National Staff conference where I will be joined by thousands of other CCC staff seeking to bring about God’s kingdom. Together we will be equipped and encouraged in continuing to share Christ.
You can be a part of transforming our Culture. With this exciting opportunity comes the challenge of resources to make it possible. God is faithful, and He continues to use the prayers and finances of his people to be the missing link in reaching those who need most to hear of Him. I need to raise $4500 in order to cover my expenses. Many have stepped up to provide $3000 of this expense. Please consider joining with me, and sending me as an ambassador for you and for Christ. We are trusting God trust God to shift our culture through reaching the students of New York City with the love of Jesus.
If you would like to join this partnership financailly, go online to: go to http://give.ccci.org and type in Abigail Bennett. You can set up an account and give there.
Welcome to my blog! I am excited to join the world of online updates. In January of 2006 I joined staff with the campus ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ. Life has never had a dull moment since. I hope this will be a place where you can celebrate with me what God is doing as we trust Him.
Thank you for joining with me in sharing the message of Christ with young people on the university campus. Now at the end of my second year at the University of Kentucky, we are sending out 26 students to Florida, Colorado, California, Hawaii, Mexico, New Zealand, Central Asia, and Russia. Each of these students have committed 6-11 weeks to growing in their relationship with God, exploring other cultures, and sharing Christ's love with those God has place in their path. Amazing! We have an opportunity to touch numerous corners of the world without stepping foot outside our home.
Thank you for joining with me in sharing the message of Christ with young people on the university campus. Now at the end of my second year at the University of Kentucky, we are sending out 26 students to Florida, Colorado, California, Hawaii, Mexico, New Zealand, Central Asia, and Russia. Each of these students have committed 6-11 weeks to growing in their relationship with God, exploring other cultures, and sharing Christ's love with those God has place in their path. Amazing! We have an opportunity to touch numerous corners of the world without stepping foot outside our home.
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