The Foundation

Hello friends,

The University is a clear-cut fulcrum with which to move the world. The problem here is for the church to realize that no greater service can it render both itself and the cause of the gospel than to try to recapture the universities for Christ, on whom they were all originally founded. More potently than by any other means, change the university and you change the world.  –Former president of the United Nations General Assembly Charles Habib Malik

NSO – The Foundation. I am writing to you very happy to report that I have survived our first month on campus – New Student Outreach (NSO).  NSO is the foundation of our year because during it we work like crazy to recruit underclassmen and put on events that set the tone for the months to come.

Recruitment was a success!  Through various efforts we have added over 200 new names to our list of students interested in getting involved in Christian community on campus.  By the numbers:

• Over 80 freshmen at first freshmen specific event.
• Over 130 students at our first worship gathering.
• 23 students Central students at Fall Conference (picture above).
• Over 20 students at our CORE leadership retreat.
• Over 15 GIGS, bible studies, and cell groups already up and running
• Increased attendance at 3 out of 4 of our first VC gatherings.

Two highlights for me so far are Freshmen Midnight Mile and teaching at Fall Conference.

Freshmen midnight mile. Over 80 freshmen came for free pizza and a midnight walking tour of Pella.  Each freshmen was paired with an upperclassmen InterVarsity student who gave them advice on where to eat and got to know them.  I know of at least 2 GIGs that came from this event, including one I am doing with a freshmen baseball player.

Fall Conference. At Fall Conference I had the privileged of teaching one of the seminars.  It was entitled “Worthy of a Calling” and was geared towards students new to the faith.  I taught about how in the Old Testament God manifest his presence in the Ark of the Covenant within the Holy of Holies behind the curtain that only the high priest could enter – and only once a year at that.  After Christ was crucified that dividing curtain was torn which means not only that we are now free to approach him but that he no longer dwells within the Holy of Holies, but in each of us.  What IS the calling? Or, What is my purpose?  To be a the temple of God. Many of us, including myself, tend to want to compartmentalize our lives into places God has access and places he doesn’t.  But if I am his temple, he goes where I go and there is no ‘spiritual’ or ‘un-spiritual.’  Everything is spiritual.

I am really excited about the foundation that has been laid so far for this year on campus.  There are already many many stories of God at work in students lives.  As always, THANK YOU for making it all possible with partnership in this ministry!

^{Ephesians 2: 19}Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household, ²⁰built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. ²¹In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. ²²And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.

Sincerely,

Jordan