Gathering to Training

So as some of you may know, both Barron and I made a 3 to 5 year plan for the SFU Campus.

Year 1        Gather
Year 2        Train
Year 3        Empower

We thought that once one of these things were done, we didn't have to go back to it.  So for example, once Year 1 finished we wouldn't have to gather anymore.  However, God revealed to us right away that this is going to be a constant thing where these all overlap each other.  So instead of this Year 1, Year 2, and Year 3, it will actually look more like this:

Year 1         Gather
Year 2         Gather           Train
Year 3         Gather           Train           Empower
Year 4         Gather           Train           Empower

Heading into Year 2, we have seen how gathering has been such an integral part in the training process in our students.  This year is a really good reflection of our students doing the gathering (or invitation) process.  If you remember the post about Community Dinners, that is one of the results of our students leaning into invitations.

I want to illustrate this gathering to training process with Don's story.

I remember Don when I first met him.  He came up to the IVCF table and shared about his desire to be more involved on the SFU campus.  He saw that there was more to school than getting his degree, he wanted to something more.  So he started getting involved in IVCF and was then invited to go to China.  This brought up a lot of underlying things for Don especially in his family but in the end, he chose to follow Jesus by saying "Yes" to China.  Him saying "Yes" to following Jesus completely changed his life.  He was no longer the little timid boy who was going to school, but a Man of God set out to make disciples of all nations.  His whole attitude has changed, even to the point where because of China, he had to miss school the next semester.  However, the way he looked at it wasn't, "Oh no!!  I shouldn't have gone to China!" but "Ok, so now I get a chance to be a witness in my workplace and get involved in my church more.  I am wondering though, how else can I be involved on campus at this time?"

Over this past year, Barron and I have seen such a huge change and shift in Don.  Here are a few things that he has been doing over this past year.

• He has invited his brother Daniel to follow Jesus in a much more significant way.  Daniel is actually going to be doing the Vancouver Urban Partnership (VUP) with us this summer!
• They have see how their family have also been impacted by their growth and their family situation has gotten better.
• The impact on their church is that they are completely changing the culture and the students in that church.  They are training the future leaders of their college group.
• Don has been leading scripture studies on the campus and inviting students to lead with him.
• He is constantly being a witness to his co-workers.

As this is the training process of his life in University, we are now moving to the Empowering process which will come next year for Don.

And there were 4

This year, we have had the privilege of having six student leaders:  Don, Dan, Lida, Anika, Tyler, and Carrie.  Each week we met up to do a Leaders Small Group where we studied scripture and continued to build community together.  However, their involvement did not start and end with the Leaders Small Group.  They were also doing a lot of other things to bring God's Kingdom to the Campus of SFU.



Tyler - Was one of the leaders heading up the Community Dinners and also started a study group.
Anika - Was another leader heading up the Community Dinners and starting to build connections with the Nigerian Community on campus.
Lida - Overseeing the Community dinners with Tyler & Anika and leading a small group with me.  Lida is coming on VUP.
Don - Co-lead a small group with Carrie & Barron and was very heavily involved in his church community discipling and mentoring students to be leaders.
Dan - Attended mine and Lida's small group and was very heavily involved in his church community discipling and mentoring students to be leaders.  Dan is coming on VUP.
Carrie - Co-lead a small group with Don & Barron and had a really good peer to peer mentorship relationship with each other.

All of our student were actively involved and constantly seeking for opportunities to witness to their peers.

Towards the end of the year, we as a team sat down and discussed numbers in our fellowship.  When we went through the list of those involved in our fellowship we were completely shocked and surprised.  Last year, we had a total of 13 students in our fellowship.  This year, we found out that 40 students were now involved!!  What makes it even better is that 2/3 of that number were not Christians!  It is amazing to see how God added to our numbers when were faithful in our invitations and our responsibilities, but most of all, faithful in our own personal relationship with Him.

One of the realities of this type of work though is that we have to see some incredible student go.  Whether they are transferring Campuses or simply just graduating, it is really sad to see these students leave us.  Please pray for the following students who will be leaving us.

Tyler will be going to UBC to pursue a degree in nursing.  Please pray that his transition into this field will go smoothly and that he will find a place in the community on the UBC Campus.

Carrie is now graduating so she will be looking for work and continuing to serve in her church community.  Please pray that God will continue to guide her in her career choices.

So now, we have four students:  Lida, Don, Dan, and Anika.  Barron and I are really excited to be heading into this next year with 4 student executives.

Coming Up and Prayer Requests

Over this summer there will be a number of things that are coming up.

Mark West Pacific (April 26 - May 2)
I will be leading alongside with U Vic Staff worker Christa Smith in 35 hours of inductive bible study.

• Please pray for the teachers:  Myself & Christa (Mark 2); Matthew & Jacqueline (Mark 1); Leslie & Mike (Mark 1)
• Please pray for the planning team:  Barron, Kim, Susie, and Brian
• Please pray for Transportation details and execution:  Justin (Me)
• Please pray for Prayer Ministry (Susan)
• Pray for the students that they will receive a hundredfold as they study the gospel of Mark.

Vancouver Urban Partnership (May 2 - June 2)

• Praise God for providing us with a location to stay during this month.
• Praise God for providing us with a meeting space for dinners.
• Praise God that we have internships (with other organizations) in place for this month.
• Praise God that we have a debrief location with a cook

• Please pray for a meeting space to study Scripture
• Please pray for booking speakers (people not the technology)
• Please pray for the staff team: Christa (director), Steve (co-director), Barron & Myself

Vacation - Toronto (June 9 - 23) & Regina (June 23 - July 2)

April and I will be taking vacation together to get to know each other's home communities.  If you would like to meet up and chat please let me know and we will try and schedule you in.

• Please pray for mine and April's relationship as we continue to learn more about each others communication styles.
• Please pray for our ability to listen to each other with an open heart and to resolve conflict well.
• Please pray for our own personal walks with God and that we may constantly be reminded that He is the source of our relationship.
• Please pray for open minds and hearts as we engage in each others communities this summer.