| Stories From Fall: Freshmen Dinner | |
During the second week of school we hosted our annual Freshmen Dinner to welcome all of the newcomers to the fellowship. We had 17 freshmen in attendance, with nearly as many upperclassmen there to prepare and serve the meal. Throughout the course of the meal, there were a couple of things that stood out to us:
First, the comfort with and care towards one another that the upperclassmen feel was evident and encouraging, especially when compared with the slightly nervous, self-conscious interactions of the freshmen:-). It is amazing what God can do in a group of total strangers when He is the common bond.
Second, one of the female upperclassmen was asked the question, "What has been the most significant part of your time at Stanford so far?" She went on to share with tears of joy about her coming to know Christ this summer through the Cardinal Life community, and the ways in which He has set her free from darkness and brought her into His kingdom of light. She testified to the ways in which this community has loved her into God's kingdom, and how grateful she is to know Christ.
It was humbling to watch as the freshmen listened to what God has done in her life. It reminded us of what a great privilege it is to be here on campus, co-laboring with Christ who has saved us all from a death and darkness that we can hardly fathom.
Our prayer is that in the years to come, we will witness similar fruit in the lives of the freshmen that were around the table, as we journey with them during their time here at Stanford.
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Stories From Fall: 2nd Mile Worship Night
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In mid October we partnered with 2nd mile for the first ever 2nd Mile worship night! Trent's brother, Cody, who leads worship for Cardinal Life got a band together for it, and they were absolutely amazing. While the music was incredible (might as well have been at a Hillsong concert:-), it was clear that this group was anointed to lead people into a time of authentic worship. They faded away and God was magnified and glorified! The night included the testimony of an incredible man of faith that God has redeemed from the most horrific of beginnings. The message conveyed was that God has created each of us uniquely for a ministry that only we can do. Whether it be leading our families well, or leading thousands to Christ, the best life we can live is lived in faithful obedience to His specific call in our lives. And that call becomes evident as we pursue intimacy with Him!
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| WANT TO GET INVOLVED? |
As members of Christ's body, we trust that God is calling each of us to invest our time, talent and treasure towards seeing His Kingdom come. Whether it be with KFM or not, we encourage you to seek God for where he might have you invest, and challenge you to do so faithfully, trusting that there is no better place to be than in the center of His will!If you feel led to partner in what God is doing here at Stanford, please visit our website by clicking HERE, or contact Trent at trentwiesen@gmail.com. We hope and pray that God blesses you and yours during this Fall season!
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Greetings!
Greetings from Stanford! We hope and pray that this letter finds you well!
Fall quarter is now well under way here on the "Farm", and we are excited to share with you the ways in which we have seen God working on campus during this season. Here are a couple of the highlights so far...
New Students and a Greater Hunger for Christ
While the addition of many new freshmen and upperclassmen to our weekly meetings and bible studies has been a tremendous encouragement, a general increase in hunger for Christ among new, old, and not yet believers has been the greatest distinctive of this fall! Please continue to pray that that would be the case!!
There have been an above average number of conversations this fall with non-believers who are seeking God and feeling a heightened awareness of their desire for something more than what the world offers. The follwoing from Natalie is one example:
"I have been meeting weekly with a girl who is not yet a believer but who is really seeking. In our initial conversations, she shared that she believes in God and feels that she was made for a unique purpose in life, but doesn't know what she thinks about the person of Jesus. She has also always felt a deep longing for more meaning in her life. She shared the other day that people often ask her, "Why are you not content and satisfied with the things that you have in life? You are a pretty girl, come from a good background, have always had everything you needed and wanted, and are now at Stanford with every opportunity ahead of you." Her response has always been, "How can you be satisfied with the things you have?" She is clearly very aware of the emptiness of life apart from Christ.
As we've discussed the supreme significance of Jesus as the center of the Christian faith, I asked her about her hesitations in giving her life to Christ. She responded (nearly a verbatim quote of Romans 7), "Well, I am sort of scared of myself. I feel like I so badly want to be a good person, but I see in myself the capacity to do things that I do not want to do, and I don't know why I do them. I am scared that I would not be able to live up to what God would want." We had a great conversation after that, and she was on the edge of her seat as we read parts of Romans 6-8. God is clearly doing a lot, and the soil of her heart seems very soft and receptive to the gospel!"
Prayer:
Please pray that God would continue to reveal himself to her, and the many others like her that we interact with daily.
Encouraging Freshmen Small Groups
Another highlight has been the addition of Men's and Women's freshmen small groups. There are consistently 6-10 guys, and 12-15 girls that attend the studies, all of whom appear to be hungry for God and excited to learn more about walking with Him.
Natalie met recently with one of the girls in the group who told her that she'd gotten together with a few of the other girls in the group to pray that God would do whatever it took to capture their hearts completely, to break them, and to let them more fully know His love and grace. What a tremendous encouragement to hear about what God has already done in them during their short time at Stanford. We were reminded of what an incredibly formative time college is for people! While this girl comes from a family of faith, and has been blessed with parents that love Jesus, she claims that she has grown more in the past two months than ever before.
Prayer:
There is something about the college environment that seems to either accelerate growth towards God or away from Him. Pray for us that by His grace we might continue to cultivate the times and spaces for students to grow towards Him!
Increased Student Leadership
After four years of ministry on campus, it has been especially exciting for us to watch as those who have been around for longer have assumed increased ownership and leadership over the movement. We meet each week with a group of seniors and recent grads who are committed to praying for the campus, loving one another, and leading by example within the larger Cardinal Life community. Watching the way they care for the group, and the impact that they have on people who come to visit has been powerful for us to witness. It is a joy to pour heavily into this group of students, knowing the impact that they are having, both within this community, and in their individual spheres of influence on campus.
Prayer:
Overall, it has been a great start to the school year, and we are excited about what God is doing. We covet your prayers for us, for the students within our ministry, and for the Stanford campus as a whole. We continue to feel great love and burden for the people at Stanford, and want to be faithful to pour into each student that God brings to us. We want to trust Christ for greater things with this group, so please join us in that!
We love and appreciate all of you and pray that God has blessed you and those you love with a greater sense of His presence as this Fall season has begun.
Sincerely,
The Kingdom First Ministries Team
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