progress
If all the news you have of my life is culled from my recent twitter and facebook updates than you might think that the Giants are the only thing going on right now. As fun as it has been to watch them make this run, there is actually a lot of really great stuff happening in ministry!
Our northeastern group is growing numerically and deeply. This last week we had a bit of breakthrough with them: the first girl joined our weekly meeting and we had one of the best “honesty” moments of the year as they wrestled with the story of Joseph in Genesis. It was awesome to see them move beyond easy answers and sit in the tension of messy stories.
We have our first Read.Retreat.Serve. event coming up next weekend. The response so far has been great...it looks like we could have 20-25 people attend this event which would be a new record. I really love RRS because of the way it demonstrates our values so clearly to students and it raises the question of how to engage culture for students in a fresh way.
I am probably most encouraged by our progress at UMASS-Boston. A month ago we nearly lost our RSO (registered student organization) status, but now, for the first time, it feels like we are really starting to gain momentum. We’ve seen new people join our weekly meeting and it seems like this is a time that students are seeing as really valuable to them.
We are (finally) launching our SAT tutoring program next week at UMASS, and I am excited to see students take ownership of this and get involved. I love seeing students get passionate about an idea that helps promote kingdom values (The “hope” bracelet you see pictured is something I bought from a girl in our group who is raising money for a students without borders project.)
UMASS-Boston is still a work in progress as we try to figure out effective ways to minister to students at that campus. Our experiment of the week involved setting up “baggo” in a central location and inviting people to play with us (picture is of the game but not on campus). This went remarkably well and we played for over two ours and met about 15 new students. Slowly but surely we are establishing a presence and becoming part of the fabric of the campus.
A month ago I was in a bit of a funk trying to see the “win” but right now I am feeling super encouraged about Sojourn’s progress on campus this semester!
Also, go Giants.
4 comments:
What do you read at RRS?
all kinds of different things: scripture, various authors from different perspectives and disciplines, sometimes an article from a newspaper or magazine that pertains to our subject.
the theme or arch of this years RRS has to do with the church's/christian's relationship to culture. looking forward to it!
is it like personal study time or do you read aloud together? i want to come!
most of the reading time is individual...but there is group discussion/process time afterwards. you are more than welcome to come!
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