64659

Better_Stories

The past week has been spent with three of our core campus groups (Northeastern, UMASS-Boston, and Boston University), as they wrap up their semesters. What an incredible group of students we have! Diverse and eclectic in every way (personality, culture, background, etc) they have come together to tell great Jesus stories in Boston. Here's a shot of each group and the story they are telling:

Northeastern...

I think NEU is telling an "integration" story. They have a unique model where students spend at least two semesters on "co-op"...an opportunity where they get to work and learn in their field while they are undergrads. Co-ops are super important, students stress out over them, and some even find their first "real" jobs through these internships. The idea flows out of the culture of the school: learning happens been in practice. I see these students really working to integrate their studies, their work experience, and their faith in Jesus. It is a beautiful story.

UMB...

I have watched our UMB students tell a "multi-cultural" story. Multi-cultural because we quite literally have students from all over the world in our community: Brazil, Honduras, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and even India! We also have multi-cultural "native" students (Mexican-Americans, African-Americans, etc). That's pretty amazing all by itself, but I actually think the true multi-cultural story comes from the ways these students seamlessly flow in and out of various communities and centers on campus. We never have to encourage UMB students to get outside the Sojourn "box". They just do it. They cross all kind of boundaries and build all sorts of bridges and they do it effortlessly. This is also a beautiful story.

BU

No other campus lives my favorite Donald Miller quote quite the way that BU does. (The quote, just in case, is We live in a world where bad stories are told, stories that teach us that life doesn't mean anything and that humanity has no great purpose. It's a good calling, then, to speak a better story). BU is about as hedonistic, individualistic, and nihilistic as you can get. It takes great courage as a student to insist that life means something, that community is possible, that there are better ways to live. They are telling a story of "meaning" and it too is a beautiful thing to watch.

Well done!

39759 Day 204

part_two


following up from yesterday's story...turns out our BU group meets at the same time and in the same room as the universalist/unitarian group.  they just hadn't been around the other two weeks we've met.


jon and i (mostly jon) struck up a conversation with two of the girls from the UU group and since none of their other members showed we invited them to join us.  and they did.  and they loved talking about character and story.


when it was over they said they would like to come back next week!  this is exactly what these campus expressions exist for.  these girls would likely never come to a church, or a Bible study, but they would love to talk to someone about whether they are living a good story with their lives.  another huge affirmation from last night.

39659 Day 203

quote_of_the_day

we continue to use some of the story language from a million miles to help explain the Ask.Pursue.Live. sojourn lingo for our on campus gathering at BU.  tonight we talked about character: a character is what he or she does...who are our favorite characters...what is it that they do that is so compelling (or repulsive)...and ultimately do our actual lives/character match up with the kind of story we want to tell.

billy, as an expression of his frustration over the fact that the life he wants to lead doesn't always match reality said this: "i want my life to be an action-adventure but it feel more like a social satire."

hilarious.

on a completely different note: please pray for our neighborhood...it is pretty clear that there has been some dealing going on in the park next to our house and that our street and the park are being watched closely.  when i left for BU tonight there was an unmarked police car in the street with all the doors open and the engine running and three detectives questioning and searching a dude right at the edge of the park.  been a crazy week.

37559 Day 182

first_day_on_campus
what a day! i'm a bit spent, so i don't have a ton of words...pictures will have to suffice.  nonetheless, what a fun, fun day on campus.  we passed out several books, had many wonderful conversations with students, and slowly are building the identity of sojourn at BU.  it was also a blast to see jon waldo, our graduate intern, do his thing and as he grows in to his position as a campus minister.

29459 Day 102

missional_mapping

here are some of our BU leaders working on their missional maps. pretty cool to see how well and how deeply some of our leaders are connected on campus. also, i am extremely encouraged and excited about what lies ahead for us in the spring semester.

last, but not least, i played poker today for the first time since moving to boston...and it was good!

27459 Day 82

BU_hockey

went to the game tonight. great game. great seats. great dudes. BU came back to tie but could not close out the win. 3-3 tie. also, a little fighting and a shouting match between the coaches. hockey is fun.

25159 Day 59

dreaming pt 2...

campus ministry expressions at BU...possibilities, ideas, soon to be realities...

22059 Day 28

where's_waldo?

jon graduated from Boston University last year. he thought about joining the peace corps. he thought about going to africa. these are noble thoughts. but tim and bobby talked him in to sticking around and interning with sojourn. what a big win for us! jon has been a big supremely helpful in getting sojourn registered as a student organization. he knows the university well. he understands the culture of the school. and he is crafting a cool vision for what the expression of sojourn on the BU campus could look like. i appreciate jon very much...keep up the good work, bud!

21559 Day 23

BU_student_organization

sorry for using a repeat picture, but today was a huge day for sojourn. we attained student organization status today at Boston University! this is big for a couple of reasons...one, there is some history at BU with evangelical groups (too long of a back story for this post so ask me about it if you want), so to be approved (and to be approved this smoothly) is significant...two, this means that we as an organization will have more access on campus and i, individually, will have some fun doors open up once i complete the "campus minister" paperwork. this is really exciting stuff and a major answer to prayer!

21359 Day 21

BU_and_the_glorious_fall

we continue to have incredible, wonderful fall weather. most of my time at BU today was spent outdoors. in this first picture we have a shot of the "BU beach" where students flock when the weather is nice. in the second shot we see the charles river in all its afternoon glory. in a few months it will be nice to look back on these pics and reminisce about 78 degree afternoons and shorts and flip flops. yeah, i think i'm just going to enjoy this and not worry about the winter yet.

20059 Day 8 (project_365)

BU_community_groups

amy and i are going to be leading/facilitating a BU specific community group starting this semester. this is cool for several reasons. one, this has been amy's campus for the past 2+ years and i am excited for her to be invested in there in this way. two, i am trying to integrate myself into the life of the BU campus and this will be the first group "exclusive" (loosely defined) to BU, so that is a cool opportunity for me. third, i am really excited to do anything with Amy and i know that we are both super stoked to have a group of college kids to love on. so please be praying that students, many of whom are wandering the gigantic buildings of this downtown campus, feeling a little lost and lonely, will be drawn to our community in the next weeks and months.

19459 Day 2 (project_365)

boston university

- i spent a little time at BU today. a couple of significant things:

1) today is the first day of Amy's last academic semester on campus!

2) this is the one of the campuses i will be focused on this year...in particular, one of our big goals for this semester is to get registered as a student group on campus.

3) we also got engaged here =)

lot's of energy on campus today with classes starting...it was fun to see some freshman (so little!), all cute and nervous on their first day. it all got me excited to see what happens this semester.