January 2012 Prayer Update: The New Year

This is our second week of school for the Winter Quarter at the University of California, San Diego.  We have hit the ground running and are excited by the passion of our students coming back to classes.  Two nights ago, we had two students over to our house, Jenn and Maria who were very excited to be trained and encouraged in sharing their faith on and beyond the campus.  When we presented the opportunity for joining our Joshua Team this year, our quarter length team and class built for training students in evangelism and discipleship, they both signed up immediately!  At our staff team meeting this past Monday, we invited a few of our upperclassmen to come and speak to the staff about their ideas for building deeper community in our ministry.  It is so exciting to see our older students begin to see needs in our ministry and taking initiative to help meet them.  
"

The Word of God is like a lion. You don't have to defend a lion. All you have to do is let the lion loose, and the lion will defend itself." -- Charles Spurgeon

As we are in full swing with a lot of our students and the ministry as a whole, it is always exciting to be able to start up new relationships and minister in new dorms.  Last night I, Stephen, went on campus with our director Tim to help lead a men’s study earlier in the night and help cultivate new relationships with non believers later in the night.  We spent time with Vince, a popular freshman in the Muir dorms who does not yet know Jesus, reading the Bible with him and his roommate, Zane,  and building relationships in the lives of those in his suite.  Ministry can be draining at times, but every time I open up the scriptures with someone who has never read the Bible before, it energizes me in mighty ways.  There is such power in the Word of God!

Tess has the privilege to help organize and attend the Sunland region's bi-annual women’s conference next weekend, where she will spend the weekend in Orange County with the other women in the region.  This will hopefully be a time of mutual encouragement, worship, fun, and edification.  It is wonderful to see all of the opportunities Tess has to use a lot of her gifting in administration.  
As the Lord brings us to mind, would you please pray for these requests:

• God would continue the work He is doing in the lives of many of our students (Phil. 1:6)
• Vince would come to a true understanding of who Jesus is and that life comes through Him (John 1:12-13)
• For Tess and all the women attending the conference next weekend, that it would be a time of blessing
• For our parents on both sides, as they continue to deal with health issues
• For our funding, as we are coming up against some unexpected car and travel expenses

Thank you again for your incredible prayer support.  We cannot do this without you!  
       For the True King,
                       Stephen and Tess