The Meaning of Christmas!

As I (Joe) write this, we are two days away from celebrating the birth of Jesus! Something that I need to be reminded to celebrate everyday! On Saturday, I had the opportunity to ask the basketball team if they wanted to go through the 3rd Athletes in Action Principle today...or tackle the meaning of Christmas. They chose the second.

So...in a few hours I will be digging through the Christmas Story in Luke with them. We will be looking at how Jesus came in humility...his claim of being the way, the truth and the life...and what it means for the world (and them as athletes). Please pray for them as I will be communicating the Gospel. Pray for open hearts and that many would meet Jesus.

I have had such a great time with this team. I have had the opportunity to lead chapel as well as cheer them on during their games. I sit behind the bench and pray for them throughout the games. A few times, a few women looked at me during a rough spot in the game and asked me to pray for them. What an opportunity God has given Jen and I to be involved with this team.

We hope you have a great Christmas! We are so thankful to have you as a part of our team. This will be our last blog entry for 2009! AND...we are less than 3 weeks from the due date of our first child! Jen is feeling well and we are excited!

Merry Christmas!

Audience of One

Audience of One...that was our theme for last weeks women's basketball chapel at UAlbany. We had our first chapel with them last Saturday right before they took on Wagner at their afternoon home game. As we shared earlier, Jen and I are leading chapel times for the UAlbany Women's Basketball Team before every home game. Over the next 5 home games, I will be diving into the first 5 principles of Athletes in Action. Audience of One talked about turning sports from an idol to worshiping God. Keeping in mind that this time is optional for the team, 8 women and 3 coaches decided to show up for the time. I had the opportunity to share a little bit of how I started to live for an Audience of One and then we dove into the Scripture for a while. It was a great time!

We will meet two more times before the women head home for Christmas for their five day break (not much time when you're an NCAA athlete in a winter sport). They have another home game tomorrow afternoon...and on December 23. We meet together a few hours before the start of the game. Please keep these times with them in your prayers.

As for the rest of the ministry, finals are finishing, Christmas parties are done and students are heading home for the break. Please pray for them as they take a much needed rest. Pray that they will keep walking with the Lord and won't let laziness get the best of them.

Boston- One month away!

We're back! We hope you all had a good, short Thanksgiving break. We got to spend the holiday with both families and really enjoyed our time with them.

We are also gearing up for our last few weeks on campus for the semester. Now is the time when we finish up with students for the semester and prepare them to continue walking with the Lord over the break. One way we encourage them is to attend the Boston Winter Conference from January 2-6, 2010. By now, many of you know of this conference. Check out the video promo on youtube! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXFRwp1G5mE

Last year, we had five students attend from the Capital Region. We are praying (and invite you to pray with us) for so many more this year! The BWC is a great place where significant, eternal decisions are made on how students are going to live their lives for the Lord. Please pray for us and students over the next few weeks as we continue to encourage them to make this decision to go that could impact the rest of their lives! Please also pray for them as they head into finals- that their focus on the Lord would remain strong and He would be their strength!

Cross '09 Pictures

We've added some pictures from Cross '09! Please continue to pray for these students and their communities. We hope this gives you a greater vision for what took place (and continues to take place) in NYC during that week, as a result of crossing cultures...just as Jesus did.

http://picasaweb.google.com/cccnehq/Cross09NYC?feat=content_notification#

Happy Thanksgiving!

As I write this entry, we are 2 days away from our annual staff conference at Camp of the Woods in Speculator, NY. Jen and I are looking forward to this relaxing time with fellow staff members and friends. It will be a good time of rest and encouragement with others who are laboring for Christ on college campuses. We had an amazing experience in New York City for Cross 09. NYC is such a diverse place and a great place to learn about today's culture. On many campuses in NYC, white students are a minority. That's a huge difference from campuses in the Capital Region. Jen and I spent a day at St. John's University in Queens with a staff member from KCCC (Korean Campus Crusade for Christ). We were so encouraged to find out that there are 43 students helping to build up other stduents in their relationship with God. This means that there are many more who are sharing their faith with the rest of the campus. What an awesome work that God is doing there! It was very encouraging for both Jen and I. As we head off to staff conference and then Thanksgiving, we get ready for the few weeks of the semester. These last weeks in December are packed. God is moving and it is exciting! Happy Thanksgiving!

International Students

Did you know that there are 130 million college students in the world? Together they equal the population of the 10th largest country.

750,000 of the 18 million college students in America are from other countries.

As I think about this statistic more and more, it makes me so thankful that Jen has had the opportunity to invest in the lives of international student women. There is such a large international student population at UAlbany. Internationals come to the U.S. for school and to have a "new experience." They are so open to hearing the Gospel. We find that as they trust Christ and grow in their relationship with Him, they have a burning desire for people in their own country to know Jesus. Many take the Gospel back to their own country. We an opportunity for the Gospel to go to the ends of the earth! Please continue to pray for the international student ministry going on in the Capital Region.

Don't forget! Next week, Jen and I (and other staff members throughout the U.S.) will head to NYC to engage with different cultures for Cross 09. We will leave Sunday and return on Wednesday. Please pray for us and this event!

Cross 09

Two weeks until Cross 09! What is Cross 09? The U.S. Campus Ministry has set aside 3 days for everyone on staff to cross cultures in order to be more effective in reaching every tribe, tongue and nation! The Capital Region Team will be heading to New York City from November 8-11 to spend time talking with students from different cultures on campuses. Check out the website below to learn more about these few days.

http://sites.google.com/site/movementlaunchingcom/cross-09

Some prayer requests:
-That students would trust Jesus with their life
-That leaders would be raised up for ethnic movements all over the U.S.
-That we would walk in humility and love...learning about different cultures
-That we would serve in the power of the Holy Spirit
-For Jen, as the days will be long and she continues in the pregnancy. That God will grant us wisdom as to when she should rest...and when she should press on.
-That we would have FUN! New York City is a great place!

Thank you for your prayers. Of course, we will update you once we get back!

International Small Group!

My apologies friends! I realized its been a month since we've updated this thing. I'll get right to it! Jen has had the privilege of leading an international small group this semester of 5 women. 3 from China, 1 from Africa and 1 from Korea. What a great picture! Nations coming together! Some are believers...and some aren't. Together, they did a study together investigating the life of Jesus. Included in this group were Mary and her roommate. Most of you remember Mary's story from last year. She was on fire for Jesus when she got back to campus this year. She invited her roomate to this study and her roommate decided to come. During the time throughout the study, Mary continued to pray for her, invite her to church and spend time with her. She always said no to church, because she wanted to sleep. Mary continued to love her. Recently, at the last study investigating Jesus, Jen invited the women to trust Jesus with their lives. It was so encouraging to hear at the end of the study that Mary's roommate trusted Jesus with her life! Mary now has a roommate to help grow in her faith and build into. Together, they will worship Jesus with their lives and continue to impact their community of friends from East Asia. Amazing! Please keep praying for Mary, her roommate and the rest of the women in the international small group.

Seneca Lake in the Fall

Two days ago, we returned from an amazing weekend at Long Point Retreat Center on Seneca Lake. 220 students from across the Upstate New York Region (Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Albany and Ithaca) gathered for a weekend of connecting with God and people. It was a very encouraging weekend for all. 38 students from the Capital Region attended the weekend (last year there was 20, the year before...2). God is building a movement in this region!

The speaker for the weekend (Dr. Gary Parrett from Gordon Conwell Seminary) took us through the book of Ephesians emphazing One Body in Christ. He stressed to students and staff how important it is to be part of the body of Christ and not isolate ourselves in our walk with God. He shared how the cross is vertical and horizontal- reconciling us to God and others as well. He also made it very clear that God calls us to serve the world with others (as students got ready to take the Gospel back to their campuses).

The weekend finished with 220 students singing "Glory to God Forever." A great focus as they got in their cars and drove back to a campus in desperate need of Jesus.

And...for those of us in Syracuse and Albany, we won the East vs. West (west being Rochester, Buffalo and Ithaca) rivalry football game!

Welcome back Siena students!

As of now, all schools are back in session. Siena students began their first day of classes on Tuesday. Tomorrow, our three leaders will have a table with water bottles and the quick questionnaire (see last blog entry for more info) for students to fill out. Please pray that many Siena students will agree to have a conversation on how knowing God personally and our purpose in life go together.

We've had some good conversations with students at UAlbany. One student, named Prince, wants to be involved in a small group. So, he'll be joining a freshman leader (named Dan) and a few other freshman every week to enjoy community and look at the Word together. Please pray for Dan as he continues to trust God to build up a small group.

Tonight, we have our first city-wide meeting of the semester. Students from schools throughout the Capital Region will join together to celebrate all that God has done during the beginning of the semester and this past summer. There will be a time of worship as well as a charge to reach their campus for Jesus! Mary (most of you remember her story from last year) will be sharing how Jesus changed her life. She has such a passion for the Lord. It is so exciting to watch it continue to grow. Please pray for us tonight!

How Water Bottles and Freeze Pops Lead to Conversation

We are 3 days into the semester! On Sunday at UAlbany, the university put on a Freshman Block Party for new students with a bunch of different organizations lined up around the Indian Quad (freshman dorms). We (Real Life at UAlbany) had one of those tables. 5 of our students passed out water bottles and freeze pops and asked students to take a really quick questionnaire. The three questions were:

1. Have you come to understand and know your purpose in life?
2. Do you think its possible to have a relationship with God?
3. Would you like to know how these two go together?

They provided their contact information at the bottom. If they answered yes (54% of the surveys filled out) to the third question, we contacted them to set up a time to meet with them and have a spiritual discussion.

The past two nights, a new freshman (named Dan) and I (Joe) have been visiting students at their room. So far, no one has had the time to sit down with us. However, many are interested. Dan and I are scheduled two meet up with two guys on Tuesday night at the student center. Would you please pray for this conversation? Pray that both guys would show up, that their hearts would be open and that we would communicate clearly and listen well.

It has been a great start to the semester throughout the region!

A New School Year Begins...

...and with a new school year, we have a new blog. We found it a lot easier to keep you updated with a blog during Wildwood, so we figured we would continue blogging! This year holds a whole lot in store. For those of you who don't know yet, Jen is pregnant! We continue to watch the baby grow (through watching Jen's stomach grow) and we are so excited for the arrival of our little one in January. Please keep praying for Jen and the baby.

We have been busy over the past few weeks getting ready for the upcoming school year. Students are arriving back on their campuses and many schools start again next week. Both University at Albany and Hudson Valley start on Monday. Siena starts on August 8th. These are the three schools that Jen and I will be personally involved with this semester. We have a lot of ideas for the semester that we will continue to share with you as the semester rolls along.

This Saturday, we will gather our student leaders in the region together for a mini-conference. This will be an opportunity for reconnecting with us and their peers after a long summer apart. We will also debrief them on the activities that will be going on during the first week of school, as well as train them in following up with students.

Please pray for our fall launch at UAlbany on August 31st and September 1st. In order to connect with as many students as possible, we will be passing out ice pops to them on their way to class, get books or wherever they are heading. We will also ask them to take a short questionnaire about themself with an opportunity for us to follow up with them in person if they provide their contact information. Please pray that students will provide their contact information so that we can follow-up with them. Pray that all the details will come together.

We praise God for such an awesome summer and look forward to what we're sure will be an amazing school year!