24th Berfday!!

As many of you know, Sunday 26 November was my birthday. YAY!! I love birthdays. Thank you so much for all the cards, emails, phone calls, and gifts! I feel very loved. Scottish people are absolutely fabulous when it comes to celebrating their friends and family. They will give you a card for any and every reason! So, needless to say, I was showered with cards and presents on my birthday (and they keep coming!).

All my lovely cards

The seriously amazing and delicious birthday cake that my friends made me

An upclose shot of the cake. The guy on the right is my very good friend David Gwynne. He is the Children's pastor at our church and one of our leaders in Radiate. We share the same exact birthday! So we had a joint party on Saturday night. FUN!!

Aww! It's Davey-boy with our Bday cake!

Gush

I would just like to take a minute to gush on our Radiate students.

I am so proud of them, and so thankful to God for the work He is doing in their lives. We have quite a range of students in our group, all on different places in their walk with God. Some are completely sold out for Christ, ready to take the Nations for His glory. Others are seeking, asking questions, and not ready to commit their lives to Christ just yet. Quite a lot of them are somewhere in the middle, not yet fully understanding what it means to live a Christian life.

Each stage is exciting to see and be a part of. I’m blessed and encouraged by the commitment of those who are fully given to Christ. They are like partners in ministry and have an irreplaceable role in helping us develop and execute our vision for Radiate. I’m stretched and challenged by those that are seeking. Their questions keep me sharp, forcing me to not only know what to think, but to know how to think. This is a very good thing. And for those that are in the middle…..I cannot explain the joy that comes from watching Christ bring about newness and restoration in their lives. We are seeing many of our students make monumentally mature decisions about their actions and attitudes right now, many times at the sake of their own reputation. It shows that they are giving themselves fully to Christ, and it is beautiful to behold. It makes me stop and sigh and say, "Wow....there is nothing God cannot do."

CHRISTMAS!! YAY!!

About a week before Halloween the Christmas decorations were put up in downtown Aberdeen. However, for some reason unknown on earth, they didn't light them until this week. Cruel and unusual, I know. But now I am happy to say that it is officially Christmas in Aberdeen. YES!!! Here's a few pics I took yesterday when I was downtown:

Oooo-la-la....look at all the pretty lights!

"Santa's coming!?!??! I KNOW HIM!!!" (name that movie...)

________________________________________________________

And here are some completely random beach pictures that have nothing to do with Christmas. I took these last week when I went for a walk.

Prettyness

Hi, this is me trying to use the self-timer so I could be in the picture.

Sunset.....(sigh)......

Restoration

I am astonished, on a regular basis, when I reflect on the ways of God…when I look at my life and what He has brought me through, and I realize that God wastes nothing. Not one mistake, not one hurt, not one tear, not one painful circumstance slips through His grasp. Every step on this journey called Life He guides along a path that leads us back to Him. If we choose to make Him our goal, and if we finally and wholly surrender to Him, He will make every part of our lives, and every season, an opportunity to bring Himself glory.

Why?

Because that’s the point. That’s the main thing. That’s the goal of life: the glory of God. It’s what matters and it’s what counts and it’s what brings peace, justice, redemption, love, joy, salvation.

Too often we get caught up in ourselves, when we should really be overwhelmed by the beauty of God. We become grossly self-focused, believing that the most important thing is our happiness and comfort. Then, when things don’t turn out the way we planned, when life takes a sharp turn to the left while all this time we’ve been banking on an easy turn to the right, we find ourselves unable to cope with the trials at hand.

But God wastes nothing. He makes everything count. He takes what is broken, the things that are real messed up, when it’s our fault and when it isn’t, and He molds them back together. As if that weren’t already enough, to top it off He gives us back more than we lost. He reveals more beauty and more joy and more love then we ever thought capable. It’s hard for me to understand sometimes because in God’s Kingdom, 1+1 doesn’t always equal 2. But somehow, He makes it all add up, brings everything in a full circle. And somehow we always come out with more than we could ever ask or imagine, and He always deserves the glory.

Romans 8:28 really is true. It’s more than just a memory verse that your Sunday School teacher made you recite in 4th grade. It is Truth, the living and powerful words of God. It’s a display of His grace. GRACE……God takes the punishment for our screw-ups and lavishes us with treasures we didn’t earn. I don’t think there is anything more breathtaking than the depth of beauty that our God can bring from the despair of ashes.

Fishing

Last week I had the privilege of accompanying one of my students to her work station at school. Naomi is a third year art student at Robert Gordon University. I LOVE ART. And because I never had the opportunity to study art during my undergrad, I’m now living vicariously through people like Naomi who get to be immersed in art studies for four years. As I’ve mentioned before, one of my responsibilities is to make videos for our outreaches at the Hog’s Head pub every two weeks. We choose a topic and a question of the week, then I wander about the University campuses, looking for unsuspecting students who are willing to answer the question on camera. Once I’ve gathered enough footage I edit down all the responses to make a nice little film to show as an introduction to the preach at Hog’s Head. Naomi suggested I come with her a few times because she thought a number of her classmates would be interested in sharing their opinions.

As we went from student to student, I was really impressed to see how many Naomi had already told about Radiate and invited to Hog’s Head. I complimented her afterward for being so open and bold with her friends because I know that’s very hard to do. “Yeah……but none of them ever come” she replied. Unfortunately, this is a theme I’ve seen over and over in the lives of our students. They try really hard to show Christ to their friends and classmates, and I know that sometimes it appears that their efforts are in vain.

Another student, who has been saved less than a year, was telling me over lunch last week how hurt she was that none of her friends came to see her get baptized a couple of Sundays ago. None of them had excuses and none of them asked how it went afterward because they just don’t care about that part of her life. She said it hurt not only because the baptism was a really important event in her life, but “most of all because I really want them to see what God has done in my life. I want them to see that I’m not the same person I was a year ago.”

I could give you many more examples similar to these that I have seen just in the past two months since I’ve been here. As soon as their friends get the slightest idea that the event they’re being invited to has any kind of religious undertones or connections, regardless of how subtle, they immediately put up walls and are uninterested. I’m so proud of our students for the way they keep reaching out over and over. And you know what I think is really amazing...…the majority of our students don’t know what it’s like to be in the majority as a Christian. That’s something they’ve never experienced. They cannot believe that I come from a church in the States that has over 6,000 people. I, personally, don’t think I have ever experienced not being in the majority as a Christian until I moved here. In America, we are so blessed! It's just so different here. And until you experience it, it's hard to understand because they speak English and they're westernized and they're not dying of starvation or AIDS. They seem a lot like us, but the spiritual temperature is dramatically different.

A few weeks ago Joe talked about personal evangelism at a Big Sunday. He told a story about a guy in Barbados who was a professional fisherman. He took his small boat and nets out into the Caribbean everyday. A friend of Joe’s talked to this guy every morning when he came back in from fishing. Some days he had a catch, some days he didn’t. “Don’t you ever get discouraged for not catching any fish? Don’t you ever wake up in the morning and think, ‘I’m not bothering today’?” The fisherman simply responded, “Every day is a fishing day; but not everyday is a catching day.”

Wow. That is such an important philosophy for us to embrace. Every day is a fishing day, every single day, without exception. When we throw out the line and come up empty, we don't need to be discouraged because every day isn't a catching day. It just means we need to keep being faithful. Because if you want to catch something, you have to be fishing.

Please pray for us. Especially for our students, who are out on the frontlines everyday. Pray that they will keep fishing and that they will not lose heart and give up.

Weekend Away

The Radiate Weekend Breakaway was AH-Mazing! We all had a fabulous time hanging out, getting to know each other better, and spending time in God's presence. I'll write more later, but here's a few pics from the weekend's festivities.

The whole group

KC, Rachel, and I. These are the two girls that lead a home group with me.

This is Ross. He's probably the nicest person I've ever met in my life. Poor guy "crumpled" his arm during one of the group games. Not a break, not a fracture, a crumple.....not so sure what that is.....but he seems to still be in good spirits.

Ryan, Bryan, and Gary chillin' out.

Yay! We love breakfast!!!

Jessica, Jo, Deborah, Grace, Rachel, and Julie

This was right after we arrived. Michael is being scary with some toys he bought at a mini mart on the way up.

Dan and Rachel, playing a really intense game of cards.

Yay for relay races!

Beautifulness

More beautifulness

For some of the relays I made them eat stuff.

More scarffing

Rachel wasn't a big fan of the this particular game.

The Human Knot

During this game they all had to stand in a circle and put their hands in the middle, then grab the hands of two other people on opposite sides of the circle. THEN, they had to untangle themselves without letting go of each other's hands. Pretty high tech, I know...

Sarah's Wedding

Sarah, my fellow missionary and the campus pastor of Radiate, got married just over a month ago. I know this is kind of late, but I thought I'd post some of my favorite pics from the wedding :0) Sarah and Rob met six years ago when she lead a missions team across from the States. However, they didn't really get to know each other or start dating until she moved over here permanently to be a missionary. Rob used to teach at the university, but is now a high school geography teacher in one of the roughest areas of town. He's also on staff at our church, and he has a heart of gold. I'm so happy for them!

The beautiful bride.

Mr. & Mrs. Malcolm

Rob, as usual, is making Sarah laugh.

Windy Day = Big Hair. This is Martha, she is one of my favorite students. I'm probably not supposed to have favorites. Shhh...

Just a bunch of the lovely ladies from Radiate.

And some of the Radiate guys...

Sarah and Rob with her parents, brother, and sister-in-law.

The groom and I. Aww....he's wearing a kilt!

The reception was awesome! Tons of dancing and celebration. These two pictures are shots of the Ceilidh (pronounced kay-lee) dancing, which is traditional Scottish dancing. It's a cross between swing dancing, square dancing, and line dancing, and is loads of fun!

More Ceilidh.....Dancing the night away!!

Yum?

Alright, so we all know Scottish people love to eat potatos, right? Well, when I say they put everything on baked potatos here, I really do mean everything.....

Here's a few examples of not-so-appetizing toppings for baked potatoes: Baked beans, coleslaw, tuna....it gets worse, folks, I've seen it with my own eyes.

Warning: Do not try this at home.

Questions

These are all questions I’ve been asked by non-Christians since I’ve been here…

When God doesn't answer your prayers, are you ever tempted to try another religion or pray to a different god?

So, do you Christians just go on “missions” and help the poor so that you can get them to believe the way you do?

Don’t you feel bad about the “sins” you commit just because you’ve been taught to believe that it’s wrong all your life, and not because it actually is wrong?

If two people are committed to getting married, and they know for sure they’re going to get married, why does it matter whether or not they have sex before the actual wedding ceremony?

Why did God put the bad tree in the Garden of Eden?

Weren’t there two brothers in the Bible, one of which killed the other? Did God forgive even him?

But haven’t you ever met someone who is such a bad person, that you can’t imagine how God could actually love them?

How is it possible that God would forgive me for anything I’ve done?

After answering that last question, this was the response I got…

“So…..that’s why they call it amazing grace…..”

Beauty Shots

These were all taken from my kitchen window.

The sun is trying to come out.

Sunset

Sunrise

Betcha didn't know...

…that I have a secret talent of singing in choirs. Notice I said singing in choirs, not to be confused with

singing.

Having all the other voices to blend with (and by “blend” I mean “cover up my voice”) really helps :0)

Simon, the worship leader at Aberdeen AG, wanted to start a Radiate Choir to sing alongside the worship team during Sunday services. Only a handful of students have joined, but I think more will come along once we kind of get things going and they see us up there a couple times. To start out we’ll only be singing once a month during Sunday AM and PM services, but after the start of the year I think Simon’s plan is to have us sing at least a couple Sundays a month. Anyway, all that to say I felt the need to join, support, be a part, encourage, rep-re-sent, etc, etc. I’m not too keen on being in front of the whole church on stage, but I figure it’s a good way to spend some extra quality time with students and the involvement is a blessing to Simon, who has a heart of gold and works very, very hard.

So….yeah, just thought I’d update you all with an extra special glimpse into my life.

Scottish Vocab

Juice = Soda
Mum = Mom
Film = Movie
Bum = Butt
Cripsp = Chips
Chips = Fries
Ace = Awesome
Wee = Little
Tea = Dinner
Pudding = Dessert
Holiday = Vacation
To Let = To Rent
Jab = Shot (as in "flu shot")
Fancy = Want, like, want to, like to
Junction = Interaction
Sweets = Candy, cookies, pastries
Hard boiled sweets = Hard candy
Phone me, Ring me = Call me
Tosh = Rubbish, trash, junk (as in “that’s a load of tosh!)
Toilet Roll = Toilet Paper
Love = a term of endearment, much like “honey” or “sweetie”
Fresh = A cool, crisp, sunny day
Indicator = Blinker (on a car)
Well Done = Good Job
Bin Liners = Trash Bags
Trolley = Shopping Kart
Kitchen Roll = Paper Towels
Cinema = Movie Theater
Posh = Fancy, high class, sophisticated
Quine = Girl (as in “Hey, girl!”)
Loo, Toilet = Bathroom
Queue = Line (as in “Stand in line”)
Football = Soccer
Reckon = Think, Believe
Fortnight = Two weeks
Creche = Nursery
Wifey = slang for Mrs.
Manny = slang for Mr.
Give way = Yeild
Flat = Apartment
Biscuits = Cookies

James 1:1-8

James 1:1-8
Suffering always has a purpose. Trials are never without a reason. Whether we choose to find that purpose or to just wallow about in our misery is almost entirely up to us. The way that we respond to trials and suffering is very important because what we learn from a trial is contingent upon how we respond to it. It’s very clear in this text what we are to do during trials:
First of all, we need to recognize that God is not allowing this suffering, frustration, and pain in our lives for no reason. This should not only bring about great hope but also great joy because we are guaranteed that Christ wants to perform some kind of redeeming work in our lives. If we trust in Christ, not only will be “okay” after these trials, but we’ll actually be better than we were before. God doesn’t want us to “barely make it” through suffering, He doesn’t want us to just survive. He wants us to come out triumphant and thriving, with more power and character than we had before we entered the trial. I think it’s really important that we grasp this right off the bat: We aren’t meant to merely survive, we’ve been given the power of Christ so that we can THRIVE in any circumstance. There is hope! Hope that we’re going to make it through trials? Yes….but also hope that we’re going to learn, grow, mature, be strengthened, be transformed, be made new. It’s more than just being okay, it’s being conformed to the image of Christ.

Secondly, we need to ask God for wisdom during times of suffering. Once we’ve checked our hearts and gotten rid of our badditude, realizing this trial was not meant to destroy us but to improve us, our focus should be on the One who gives wisdom freely. God promises to make us “perfect and complete” through these trials (vs. 4), but often times our dull minds need to be infused with the wisdom of God. The fantastic part is that all we have to do is ask. Ask with faith rooted in the promise that God has a purpose behind all this madness, and He promises to “give generously to all without reproach.” I’m going to ask for God’s perspective, because mine is very limited and self-focused. I’m going to ask God how I should respond, and what He’s trying to teach me, what He wants me to get rid of, what He wants to add to my life, and who I’m going to meet on this journey that I can learn from or that I can teach.

Prayer Requests

• That I will be a quick learner (learning the culture, my way around the city, the ins and outs of the ministry here, etc).
• That I will execute every task given to me with excellence.
• That I will be refreshing to people around me, especially my fellow missionaries.
• For my mind to be sharp and creative.
• Insight and discernment concerning how to reach Scottish people for Christ.
• For deep friendships (being a foriegner far away from home can be very lonely).
• Financial provision.
• Wisdom in leadership for my fellow missionaries and I.
• Anointing as I walk with students through dark places and out into the light.
• That a hunger and thirst for righteousness would be awakened amongst the Christians and nonChristians alike.

My Job Description

My second day here in Aberdeen, Joe, Sarah, and I went to Starbucks to discuss my portfolio. They shared with me their heart and vision for Radiate and the students in Aberdeen, then they also went over the different things I’ll be doing for the ministry. My plate is full; it’s very exciting!!! Everything from discipling students and leading a small group, to filming and editing videos for the outreaches, to planning and leading a missions trip to another country! This year so far has proven to be full of challenges and great joy.

Please pray that God will quicken my mind, that my creativity will be sharpened and I’ll be able to do every task given to me with excellence. Some of my responsibilities are things I’m familiar with or have experience in, but many are very new. It will be a deep growing experience for me, I’m sure of it. If I had a grip on all of these things, I’d probably rely on my own strength and not the Lord’s. He wants to show me just how much He can do with the fractional resources I have to offer Him.

Here is my ministry profile for the next 9 months

• Discipleship Home Group: Assistance in leading a group with another Radiate Leader. This will also include the mentoring of girls in the group.
• Writing and preparing the weekly curriculem for all Home Groups.
• Hog’s Head: Preparing, collecting, and finishing the videos used as the dialogue for these meetings. Also preparing a slide show of words to selected songs.
• Creativity: Input for website, promotion, Hog’s Head, etc. Input for creative worship experiences. Promotions for weekend away (a fall retreat for Radiate students).
• Administration: Right-hand help needed all year, but especially in the month of October while Sarah is away on honeymoon.
• Missions: Oragnizing and leading a mission team to a foriegn country.
• Social Outreach: Leading and organizing students to host monthly socials.
• Mentoring: One-on-one’s weekly with Sarah to discuss personal life, spiritual development, as well as ministry assignments.
• Staff: Attendence of weekly staff meetings with Joe, Jayne, and Sarah.

This is what we've gained in Christ

1 Peter

• New life: we are born again (1:3)
• Hope that is alive and unchanging (1:3)
• An inheritance in Heaven that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading (1:5)
• We are guarded by God’s power (1:6)
• Genuine faith that is more precious than gold because gold perishes, but our faith will never perish (1:7)
• Inexpressible, glorious joy (1:8)
• Salvation (1:9, 3:7)
• Grace through the revelation of Jesus Christ (1:13)
• Impartial judgment from the Father (1:17)
• We have been ransomed from futile ways that are a part of our human nature (1:18)
• We’ve been ransomed not by something perishable that will let us down, but by the precious blood of Jesus (1:19)
• Faith and hope in God (1:21)
• New life, and it’s life that won’t perish but will last forever (1:23)
• We have tasted the Lord’s goodness (2:3)
• Community and purpose (2:5)
• We are chosen and precious to God with divine purpose and high calling (2:9)
• We have been rescued from darkness and brought into the light (2:9)
• We belong to God (2:10)
• Mercy (2:10)
• Freedom (2:16)
• The example of Christ, so that we don’t have to figure this out on our own (2:21)
• A substitute on the cross (2:24)
• The ability to die to sin and live to righteousness (2:24)
• Healing, in every single way (2:24)
• No fear (3:13)
• Strength from God for service (4:11)
• Restoration, Confirmation, Strength, and Stability in the midst of suffering (5:10)

To-Do Lists

I find it frustrating sometimes that the kind of work I do here can’t be crossed off a To-Do list and put in a filing cabinet at the end of the day. There is something within my human nature that wants a list of tasks to accomplish, wants to see tangible progress, wants to be able to exert force and effort and creativity and see results produced. There is comfort in equations and formulas because when you put certain ingredients together, you get definite results, and that validates your work and makes you feel like you have purpose.

I do have a handful of “tasks.” Writing the curriculum for Home Groups, filming and editing videos for the outreaches, planning the details for a missions trip abroad, just to name a few. These are things I can make lists for, which I love because then I get to cross things off and I feel really good about myself. But in all actuality, my fulltime job here is PEOPLE. Loving them…Understanding them…Building relationships with them…Praying for them. All the things that aren’t tangible, things that don’t fit into filing cabinets, things that you can’t make To-Do lists for. It’s not like I can just wake up each morning and say,

“Alrighty, what do we have on the schedule today? Looks like we’re working on Stephanie and Marcus.
Okay, Stephanie needs

• more discernment in her relationships
• a deeper understanding of God’s love for her
• a desire to read the Bible.

Now, let’s see …..what do we have for Marcus? Oh yes, that’s right:

• Salvation
• Baptism of the Holy Spirit
• a burden for his unsaved flatmates.

Okay, great, I’ll just go take care of those today.”

Nope, it sure doesn’t work like that. The past week or so I’ve been reflecting on this. I was thinking about how many students on Aberdeen University campus that I have not only given an invitation to an outreach at the Hog’s Head Pub, but have actually stopped and had a conversation with. I’ve talked with them about their studies, where they’re from, how they’re getting on with university life. Yet none of them have shown up to Hog’s Head. It can become wearisome if you lose sight of the big picture.

But then last night happens. Twelve girls show up to my flat for Home Group, five of them there for the first time. And we totally connect, have an awesome time, and the last four to leave don’t head out the door until almost 11pm. After the Bible study, Claire, one of the first timers, informs me, “Actually, I’m not a Christian.” Claire studied for three months at a university in England, pursuing a degree in English, but dropped out because she felt like the degree she was seeking had no purpose. She wants to be a writer, but is now pursuing a degree in Religious Studies at Aberdeen University. When I asked her why she chose Religious Studies, she really couldn’t give me a straight answer. “I dunno…it just seemed like it had more meaning and purpose….” And I realize “Oh yeah….that’s why I’m here.” I’m here because Claire needs someone to walk with her as she searches for the Truth, as she “explores” Christianity, because she’s desperate for answers and God is pursing her .

Another student, *Kerin, has only been a Christian for a year and a half. She let down her guard at one point during the discussion and admitted, “I had no idea how hard it would be to resist partying when I came to University. Inside my nice Christian bubble at home with all my Christian friends, I never felt the desire to go back to my old life….” And I realize….I’m here because Kerin needs someone to hang out with on the weekends when the temptation to return to her old lifestyle is almost unbearable.

*Samantha has been saved less than a year. It’s only in the past few months that she has really taken her relationship with God seriously. This Sunday she’s getting baptized, and like any new Christian, she is full of questions. I’m here because Samantha needs answers and explanations and discipleship.

In this line of work it’s very easy to lose sight of the Big Picture and feel like you’re not really making a difference. When working with the human heart and soul, progress can be very slow and sometimes impossible to see. Just when I need it, God reminds me that one man plants the seed and another man waters, but it’s the Lord who brings the Harvest. Even when I can’t see where I’m at in that process and I don’t have hard core evidence or tangible results, I know that God is working.
“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” Galatians 6:9

Relational Discipleship

A couple of my friends from the States have asked me, “What does a typical day in the life of Anna Murch look like?” I thought about it and concluded that I don’t really have a typical day. Once construction on the church is completed, Radiate will have its own office. But until then we mainly just work from our homes (and local coffee shops, of course :0). Lacking an office for the time being, I don’t really have a set schedule that is the same everyday. I guess you could say we have a set schedule of events that repeat themselves (see journal “What Is Radiate?” for more info), and a portion of the time in between those events is spent doing whatever is needed to prepare and plan for them. But in addition to this, a significant amount of my time is spent mentoring, discipling, and spending time with students one on one. I would even venture to say that a huge (or the main?) way that I minister here is through relationships. It’s caused me to realize the deeply significant role that relationships play in our lives.

Scotty Gibbons, the youth director at my church in Missouri, always tells his youth staff that “ministry happens through relationships and relationships take time.” TIME. There’s no substitute for it. I’ve been here for just over a month now. The students took to me quickly and immediately made room for me in their hearts, which I am exceedingly grateful to God for. Scottish people are wonderful—friendly, hospitable, helpful, hard workers. But getting to know a Scot is quite different than getting to know an American. Americans are pretty open about personal things. Basically, we’ll talk to anybody about anything. It takes much longer to earn a Scottish person’s trust. Sarah described it to me like this:

There are two walls to get past when getting to know someone, an inner and an outer wall. Americans have a very low outer wall. It wouldn’t be uncommon to sit down with someone you don’t know very well and share your “testimony,” or all about your life, family, etc, etc. We talk about more personal things with strangers and such. But Americans have a very high inner wall. Because we are more nomadic and we don’t know who is going to hurt us, who’s not, who’s gonna stick around, and who’s gonna leave when things get hard, once people get past the outer wall we’re more guarded with who we really let in.

Scottish people have a very high outer wall and a very low inner wall. They’re very friendly and nice when you meet them and are getting to know them, but you really have to earn their trust before you tread on personal territory past the outer wall. However, once you’re in, you’re IN, for life. Scottish people expect their relationships to last forever, they expect you to be their friend for life. No matter what you do, no matter how you look, no matter how you act, if you’re in, then you’re in the family and they won’t get rid of you for any reason.

Keeping all this in mind, one of my main prayers while I’m here is that God would give me grace and favor in my relationships with these students. It has been challenging just because building any kind of significant relationship really takes time. God has been answering my prayers, though. He’s been giving me opportunities to spend time with the students, to share my life with them, to walk with them through theirs. Just this weekend during dinner at Sarah and Rob’s wedding, I got to have two really significant conversations with a couple of the girls from Radiate. Another one is coming over for dinner tonight.

So, this is what I do with my time. This is a typical day “in a nutshell.” I wake up and I get on my knees and I pray for these students. I ask God for Grace. I search His Word for answers to their questions. I take them out for coffee. I go shopping with them. I have 20 of them over to my flat for game night (see photos :0). I make them banana bread. I go on their University campuses and help them invite unsaved students to our outreaches. And when their unsaved friends come, I sit down and have conversations with them. I listen as they share their thoughts, questions, and hopes at the small group Bible study on Wednesday nights. I am transparent with them. I look for ways to encourage their hunger for God. I let them see my flaws so that they feel safe to show me theirs. I try my hardest to teach them in word and deed and to always point them to Jesus.