2:8 Update

2:8 Update

November-December, 2009

Several friends joined us for the deed presentation recently, including: Dr. Dave McKellips, Northeast Oklahoma district superintendent; Dr. Stan Toler, general superintendent; Dr. Talmadge Johnson, retired general superintendent and Southwest Oklahoma district superintendent; Dr. Melvin McCullough, Nazarene Foundation president; Dave and Rhonda Kyncl, 2:8 House directors; and Gary Hartke, Nazarene Youth International director.

Dear Friends,

Merry Christmas from the 2:8 House and the OU Nazarene Student Center. We thought you would enjoy learning how God has been at work at OU the past couple of months..

You will see that the Nazarene Foundation presented us with the deed to the house in October. The local ministry now owns the house, debt-free, thanks to the Nazarene Foundation and a foundation that is part of Hobby Lobby.

Between 200 and 250 students joined us each week for lunch on Tuesdays. As we continued to serve lunch each week, we felt that God was leading the ministry into other, new initiatives beginning in January. We will serve lunch periodically in the spring semester, and we will focus our efforts in other areas. This decision was made after much prayer and fasting. Thank you for each of you who have been praying for us about this decision.

Finally, we continue to experience God's provision for this ministry. We have identified a few specific needs for possible year-end giving opportunities, and one of these has already been provided. The Board of Directors has been working with us as we have been working through our new budget year. We always want to be good stewards of the resources that God has entrusted to us.

Thank you for your continued partnership with us. Please continue to pray for us as we seek to make Christ-like disciples at the University of Oklahoma.

LOVE WINS.

Dave & Rhonda Kyncl
Craig and Anita Shepperd

Nazarene Foundation
donates house

NCN News--The Church of the Nazarene Foundation presented the deed to a large historic home to a local ministry at the University of Oklahoma Saturday, Oct. 10.

Dr. Melvin McCullough, president of the foundation, presented the deed during a special ceremony at the house to David and Rhonda Kyncl, directors of the Nazarene Student Center for the University of Oklahoma, Inc.

"Though the generosity of the David Green family and Hobby Lobby, we are here today to present the deed to this house to the local ministry." McCullough said. "A recent market analysis valued the property at about $395,000."

The house is a large, historic, two-story building which includes the living area for the director's family on the main floor and two, two-bedroom apartments on the second floor. The Kyncls are serving in the 12^th year as the ministry's directors. David also serves as the director of Nazarene Secular Campus Mission, which is a network of Nazarene ministries on secular campuses throughout the United States. Craig and Anita Shepperd, who live in one of the second-floor apartments, coordinate the ministry efforts for international students and are in their second year and the ministry's associate directors.

The local ministry is known as the 2:8 House, based on 1 Thessalonians 2:8, "We loved you so much that we gave you not only God's Good News but our own lives as well." The ministry initiatives include small group Bible studies, International food and game nights, and a free lunch for students every Tuesday. Students from more than 34 countries and 28 states have participated in some type of ministry event in the past few years.

"I first want to say thank you to all the people here because the people behind the scenes help make this possible," Erin Kesselhuth, a Chemical Engineering senior at OU and president of the 2:8 House student organization, said. "I think I can sum up my comments by repeating what I heard a student say at lunch, 'You could just serve mush, and we all would come because of the love we feel here. Good food is just a bonus.'"

McCullough also mentioned the strategic ministry to international students.

"In the most recent Board of General Superintendents meeting, we noted that there are missionaries on several university campuses in the United States," McCullough said. "The world is sending their top students to the United States every year. They are educated here and then return to their home countries to be the next leaders."

In addition to Dr. McCullough, special guests attending the deed presentation, included: Dr. Stan Toler, general superintendent; Gary Hartke, director of Nazarene Youth International; Dr. W. Talmadge Johnson, retired general superintendent and current Southwest Oklahoma district superintendent; Dr. David McKellips, Northeast Oklahoma district superintendent: Rev. Brent Hardesty, pastor of Norman Community Church of the Nazarene; and several members of the ministry's Board of Directors.

For more information about the Church of the Nazarene Foundation go to www.nazarenefoundation.org. For more information about the ministry of the 2:8 House visit their website www.28house.org.

Weekly Fat Tuesday lunches conclude

The final Fat Tuesday lunch was held Tuesday, Dec. 15, during finals week for the fall semester. The lunch also marked the end of the weekly outreach event after more than 11 years.

"Fat Tuesday has been a great way to meet new students," Dave Kyncl said. "However, it just grew too big. We were so busy serving lunch, we no longer had time to talk with the students."

Various small group activities, including International Nights and Bible studies, will be planned for the Spring semester. Lunch may still be served periodically.

"For the past few weeks, we have been enouraging students to join our group on Facebook," Craig Shepperd added. "We will be promoting our ministry activities through Facebook.

Students expressed their gratitude and understanding as the weekly event concluded.

Financial update

As we near the end of another calendar year, we continue to experience God's provision for this ministry.

A few specific financial updates include:

1) Regular Budget--As of Dec. 22, the 2:8 House has received donations totalling $81,100 this year. Expenses for the year total $89,000. A year-end $10,000 received in December, 2008, provides for the difference. Our account balance is about $2,000.

2) Indebtedness--The total debt owed by the ministry is $3,100 ($2,500 to Sam's Club and $600 to Lowes).

3) Year-end giving--Year-end donations would enable us to pay off the two credit accounts. We also need an additional $1,000 for a few home maintenance projects.

Ways to join the 2:8 House ministry team

We are often asked by individuals, adult Sunday School classes or pastors about ways to become more involved in the 2:8 House. Here are a few of the possibilities:

Pray for our students and ministry--Every week we meet new students. As our friendship grows and we share each other's personal stories, we believe that God will be glorfied. We also believe He will continue to draw students to Himself.
Organize a 2:8 Support Group in your local church--We are beginning the process of recruiting individuals and/or couples who would be willing to organize a support group within their local church. These leaders would help us identify others in their local congregations who would be interested in learning more about our ministry at OU. This might begin by developing a list of e-mail addresses of people who might be interested in receiving this newsletter. We also would be willing to host a dinner for memers of a particular church who are interested in learning more about our current ministry and our vision for the future.
Introduce us to a student-- If you know an OU student, bring them by so we can meet them.
Join our Century Club--We believe that God will provide for the needs of this ministry through the faithful giving of 100 individuals, churches and districts. Our current monthly donations range from $50 to $620 while our periodic donations have ranged from $5 to $10,000.