August!!

Hello friends and family! I know it has only been a short while since my last newsletter, but so many exciting things are happening that I couldn’t wait to share with you!

Before I start I want to update you about my church hunt. I have been blessed with finding a PCA church in the area. I am going to Faith Presbyterian, and it is such a WONDERFUL church to be a part of! They have been so kind and very welcoming.

Leadership Team Retreat

The weekend after I moved to Jacksonville, RUF went on a leadership team retreat. We spent a weekend near Fort Payne in a cabin fellowshipping with each other and getting ready for the new semester at JSU. This was the first time I met most of the students on the leadership team, so I was very nervous for the weekend. We spent Friday evening getting to the cabin and resting. Despite my worries, the students were very welcoming and kind. I instantly felt a part of the group and connected. Saturday morning we sang worship songs and Daniel led us through Matthew 9:35-38. We were reminded that Christ has called us to be laborers in His field and to have compassion for the helpless because Christ has compassion for us in our helplessness.

We then broke the students off into pairs so that they could practice doing one-on-ones with each other. This was great practice for them because one-on-one meetings can be hard and awkward. We helped them come up with questions to ask and responses to give. Later in the day, we had a mock Large Group. Daniel and I wanted to help show the students how important it is to reach out to new students when we are at large group. We went through different scenarios of how to approach new students, how to talk to them, and how we can show them love while in this new space. Our leaders had so many great questions and came up with fantastic responses. It was so cool to see them interested in learning how they can better minister to younger students.

While the purpose of this weekend was to learn how we can go into this semester ready to love freshmen, we also wanted to give our leaders a chance to rest with each other before throwing them into Welcome Week. During our free time on Saturday, we played board games, Mario Kart, did some hiking, and had a bonfire. This was great for me, personally, because it gave me the opportunity to learn more about these students individually.

Sunday morning, we all went to Grace Presbyterian Church in Fort Payne. We listened to an amazing sermon by Dave Latham, current pastor at Grace and former Campus Minister for RUF. Grace Presbyterian and the congregation were so kind to us that weekend. It was because of their generosity that we were able to feed our students.

Here is a link to a video I made on my Instagram of the weekend:

Week of Welcome

This past week was the beginning of JSU’s Week of Welcome. We had so many different events to reach out to new students and reconnect with old ones. The Hightowers hosted a game night, we gave out free popsicles on the first day of classes, had different tabling events, got together for lunch with students, and went hiking at Noccalula Falls. We had dozens of new students sign up at our tables.

First Full Week

Last Monday was the beginning of a full week of classes. Tuesday we had our first Large Group which was awesome! We gave out free Chick-fil-A sandwiches and played games afterward. There were so many new faces among the 50+ students who showed up for worship. This semester we are going through the book of Philippians, looking at what Paul has to say about unbreakable joy coming from Christ.

We also started our small group Bible studies last week. I am hosting a girl’s Bible study on Thursday nights. We are looking at the Lord’s Prayer each week, seeing exactly what Jesus meant and how this is a good place to start when you don’t have a clear understanding of prayer. I made dinner for the girls and made enough for about 10 girls (I thought maybe 3-6 would show up and I would have leftovers). Boy, was I wrong? I sat there in my apartment, moments before the first girl showed up, praying to God for Him to calm my nerves. I’ve led Bible studies in the past, but I still get nervous every time. All of a sudden, there were 12 girls in my apartment! I was so nervous!! I ran out of food quickly. Everyone got one serving, and when they started asking for seconds I told them I was all out, but I had some gummy snacks that I could give them. I will definitely be making more food this Thursday!
When we all sat down to begin the study, I opened us up in prayer. I asked God to help me guide these girls and for good conversation. We read Matthew 6:5-13, but focused on verses 5-9. My opening question for them was “When you hear the word ‘prayer’ or are asked to pray out loud, what comes to your mind?” We sat there for what felt like forever in silence until one of the girls said that when she thinks of prayer she is comforted. That is an awesome answer, however, it seemed that she said that because that was the “church” answer. I waited some more to see if any of the other girls would speak up. Finally, I decided to break the ice and said that when I think of prayer or am asked to pray out loud I get scared. I told them about how prayer is so weird to me, and it is honestly the spiritual discipline that I am worst at. Y’all, it was like a weight was lifted in the room. All 12 girls started nodding their heads and saying, “Oh my gosh, me too!” They started to talk about their own struggles in their prayer life and throughout the study were asking questions about how to pray, how long they should pray, whether it is bad if they get distracted, etc. The rest of the night we looked at what it meant for God to be our heavenly Father and how that can be so comforting for some but awkward and weird for those with a strained relationship with their earthly fathers. Last Thursday was the coolest experience I’ve ever had in RUF. You could actually feel the Holy Spirit working through the conversations that were being had during our small group. I am so excited to see how else He works at JSU and to be able to share that with you guys!

One-On-One’s

Since the first day of classes on the 17th, I have been meeting with freshmen and transfer girls at JSU one-on-one. This is one of the hardest parts of the job for me because I get super nervous about meeting with these girls that I have never met before or I’ve only met once. It can be really difficult trying to lead the conversation and knowing what questions to ask, but God has been working through these meetings. All of them have been wonderful, and it has been a pleasure to be able to get to know these girls on a personal level. I pray that God helps my relationship with them to grow and gives me the wisdom to be able to lead them closer to Him.

Fundraising Update

As of today, I am 88% funded for the year. Together we have raised $43,846. Only $6,000 away from being fully funded!! I thank God for each and every one of you and your generous hearts! None of this would be possible without you. Of course, I am still fundraising, so if you know of anyone who might be interested in joining this mission, or if you would like to give a special gift, please contact me! Your financial support helps me to be able to provide things like dinner for small group and pay for a student’s coffee or lunch when we meet.

Prayer Requests/Praises