The Prayer Tent

Here are some more pictures of our prayer tent from last week! The week of unbroken prayer was a shot in the arm for our students and an unexpected gateway for outreach, evangelism, reconciliation, and community building. Small groups enjoyed praying through the night together, our online blog helped students feel connected to each other in new ways, God orchestrated many random encounters (like Robert- see last post), and the campus had an overwhelmingly positive response to the tent. Prayer was such a natural common ground for students of different experiences and worldviews. Our students were amazed at how God used their desire to pray not just for their personal benefit, but for the whole campus! Students are pumped and are fervently asking God, "what's next?" Our fellowship prayer blog will continue, students are practicing prayer walking on campus, and they are praying that God would help create a permanent 24-7 prayer space on campus that could be available for all students. What a great way to end the quarter!

24-7 Prayer on Campus

At the end of winter conference (Jesus the Revolution), InterVarsity students from campuses all over the Northwest began a campaign of unbroken prayer until Easter. University of Washington took the baton on March 6th and we will complete our portion on the 13th. It was hard to find a place to pray 24 hours a day for 7 days, but we settled on having a tent on the student union (HUB) lawn so it could be open to anyone during the daylight hours and dorm small groups are taking responsibility for the evening hours each night. Students are also keeping each other up to date on a prayer blog. It has been so fun to read students' stories and see how students are experiencing the marriage prayer and evangelism.

Here's Jessica's [long] story...

POST #1

...This morning marked the first time the prayer tent was on the HUB lawn…and wow God works so quickly! A lot of people noticed it (well clearly, seeing as there was a white thing in the middle of the lawn ) which was cool to observe. I had just started the first shift when a man came into the tent, a bit awkwardly and quite timidly. I was sort of in my own world journaling and writing in the guest book so I didn’t really notice him beyond his entrance. As I am praying for God to show up during this week of prayer and move the campus the man approaches me. I look up from where I am sitting and he point-blank asks me how he can know more about God. Now I have never “witnessed” to anyone I didn’t already know and I have definitely never been asked so straight up about faith. I sort of felt like a deer caught in headlights but I stumbled out an answer to his very, very huge question. Surprisingly he kept asking me more and more so we decided to step outside the tent as to not disrupt the others praying.

His name is Robert. He already has an undergrad degree but is looking to coming back to the UW to further his education. He very much expressed how he felt there was something missing in his life, like a hole in his heart that he just could not fill. We talked about how it seems that everyone feels this way at some point or another and tries various things, like alcohol, drugs, school, etc., to attempt to fill this longing, but it never works in the long run. He told me that he thought that after he completed undergrad and got his degree he would feel fulfilled but here he was wandering around, searching for something more. Then I had the amazing opportunity to share with him that I felt that same exact way before I entered into a real relationship with Jesus. He then asked to know more about who Jesus is and what he did here on Earth. I told him about how Jesus came to fulfill the Old Testament prophesies and teach us how to be humane and love one another. I explained how Jesus died because Robert had never heard; it was cool telling him the real reason we celebrate Easter. I shared the parable of the lost sheep with him. He was just so astounded by all of this. He kept saying “wow” and I could see his face brightening as smiles began to form. He really seemed to be soaking in what I was saying, like someone wandering the desert that finally finds the tiniest source of water. He told me that for some reason, everything I said was exactly what he needed to hear. (By the way, this was DEFINITELY all God speaking and not me. There is no way I could have done this on my own.) He isn’t sure if he believes in God or Heaven or anything so we talked about the beauty of this world and where it might have come from. We even talked a little about the Big Bang Theory which was awesome. I think one of the best parts for me was when he told me he was surprised I was not like “other Christians” that are, in his words, judgmental. It was so amazing that God used me to break down a terrible stereotype of Jesus and the church He intended. After telling Robert all this stuff about God and Jesus and life, he just looked at me, smiled and said “I want to love Jesus too.” Then he asked me if we could pray together. I prayed for him, thanking God for bringing him to our tent, thanking God for Robert’s boldness in approaching me (he was seriously shy so I could tell that he must have been desperate for answers because he did not seem the type to normally ask strangers about life and faith), and asking that Jesus just fill him. My GOD my GOD it was so powerful. Robert began shaking and as I finished praying for him, right there in the middle of the HUB lawn, he tearfully looked up at me and thanked me.

I have never, ever experienced something like that, especially not on campus in the middle of a bunch of people. IVers, God really is working. And working NOW. I had literally been in there for less than 10 minutes before all this happened. This is just the beginning. God is calling us to come along on the awesome, crazy, and crazy-awesome ride. To reiterate what Ellen said at conference, let’s not just roll over and hit the snooze button. I am so insanely excited to see what more God is going to do and to experience this movement with Him. Let’s wake up and wake up this campus!!! :) :) :) :)

I love you all,

Jess C.

P.s. Robert is going to continue seeking after Jesus and wrestling with these questions. He might come back to the tent sometime. Please pray with me for him, and pray that he finds true happiness and fulfillment in Jesus. Thank you so much!

POST #2

During my second 8:30 shift Robert came back to the tent! He was just as surprised as I was that we were both there. It was seriously God that placed us together again. This time we prayed together for over an hour; Robert prayed to Jesus for the first time ever! He asked me to teach him how to pray and he was amazed that he could pray ANYTHING. I really believe he let go of so many of the things that were burdening him and hurting his heart. He was very pulled toward one of the verses on the wall, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest”- Matt. 11:28, and kept praying it again and again. He was especially excited when I told him that Jesus Himself said those words and that Jesus wants us to give our troubles to Him. After praying this over and over, Robert looked up at me, positively radiant and beaming, and began saying “I need Jesus!” He was SO excited and happy to be proclaiming these powerful words and just kept saying them. It was indescribable. The Holy Spirit was so alive in that place. So many other things were said and prayed but I’m trying to keep this post shorter than my other one Robert said he felt so close to accepting Jesus and I really think he is on his way to a personal relationship with our Savior. I’m so excited for him; please keep him in your prayers! GOD IS SO GOOD!!!!!!!

Love you all,

Jess C.

Jesus the Revolution

Check out the website...

for Jesus the Revolution, our regional winter conference.

Celebrating Love!

With all of our efforts to engage the campus and work hard to serve and love others, many of us needed a good kick in the pants, I mean, reminder about how much God loves us. Steve Luten, a former UW staff worker, came and spoke at our Large Group last week and his message of love felt REVOLUTIONARY!

"See what love the Father has lavished upon us, that we
should be called children of God! And that is what we are!"

-1 John 3:1a

Steve charged us to remember our first love and stop entering prayer like it's a business meeting with the CEO. It was like water to our parched souls to meditate of God's love and look forward to prayer as a time, first and foremost, to enjoy the love of our Creator.

So...On this loverly-doverly day (which has been thoroughly co-opted by the candy and flower industries), I am grateful for the timely reminder of God's deep love for all of us (and the trees)- just the way we are. If I were God, I wouldn't be able to separate my love from my intense disappointment with our collective disobedience. But praise God for having a heart that overflows for creation!

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY.

Soul Food Update

I just wanted to let you know that our bible student for black students is still going strong. I got some great ideas for next quarter for how to restructure how we're doing things to bring in more students. But for now, one more young woman has joined us this quarter. With all of our advertising efforts, she didn't know we existed!

My time with other black student groups on campus has actually been more fruitful. I was asked to teach on health and sexuality a couple weeks ago to the black women's group (which was fun) and I am spending a lot of time one-on-one mentoring students that don't come to bible study. It's really fun!

This week was also a momentous occasion as the Black Student Union invited the African Student Union to come together and talk about the deep divide between the two communities. It was the first time they have ever had a joint meeting in the history of the groups! And it just scratched the surface of a long overdue conversation about prejudices on either side. Beautiful!

Hear No Evil

Our third listening event of the year focused on a current event that stirred questions around community and safety on campus. The short version is: On the morning of Tuesday, January 8th 2008, a UW student was brutally beaten after parking her car near Greek Row. There were several witnesses. But no one responded to her cries for help. Many students didn't even know this happened, but it was a perfect opportunity to talk about whether we really see and take responsibility for each other on campus. It was also the first time that I invited my friends from the black community and other places to join with InterVarsity students in the discussion. Students spoke freely of their prejudices and it was a helpful discussion! No one else created a space to talk about these issues, so InterVarsity met that need on campus. For most of us, we were reminded that the most invisible people on campus that need our hospitality and care are in the international student community. Many students committed to very practical ways to support international students on a weekly basis through our partner org, International Friends.

The girl that was beaten was a Rwandan orphan refugee sponsored to come to the US a few years ago. She is still in the hospital after undergoing facial reconstructive surgery. We were able to send her a big fat card and a picture of us giving her a big fat hug. We're eager to show her more love and support when she returns to campus.

UW Mixed

My senior year of college, I took a few friends from the Univ. of Oregon to one of the first MAVIN conferences in Seattle. It was a groundbreaking conference for multiracial, multiethnic, multicultural, and transracially adopted people...or parents/partners of them. Anyway, it was great. And while I was there, I met students the mixed group at the University of Washington. We didn't have anything like that at U of O! I thought it was so cool and I dreamed that I'd be able to connect with them again.

5 years later, our mixed InterVarsity students have joined forces with UW Mixed. We combined our groups and enjoyed a potluck a couple weeks ago. I have become friends with April, the leader of UW Mixed, and she shared with me that things were hard. She needed help keeping the group going and maintaining a sense of community and momentum. I felt that God was forging a relationship for both our sakes.

UW Mixed has focused primarily on identity formation in the broader community, attending local speaking events and reaching out to other mixed students on campus. So far, our small and new InterVarsity group has focused on our friendships with each other and not ventured too deeply into the broader mixed community.

Our time together was a gift to both sides. For UW Mixed, they were blessed by an opportunity to enjoy community, share a meal, and hear each other' stories instead of always trying to plan outreach events. For InterVarsity students, they had the opportunity to find common ground with other students that may not share the same worldview, but have a lot to offer in terms of their awareness of identity.

My dream is coming true! And while both sides have to sacrifice something to be together...we are stronger together than apart and April and I are very excited for the future.

Students Leading the Way...

Among the things that I've had to say 'no' to is my dream to be a part of reconciliation between the Church and the gay community. For a number of reasons, I feel really passionate and burdened by the state of this particular relationship. While I was fishing up ways to squeeze it into my schedule, God inspired Dale, a senior at UW who is part of our "Justice League", to make bridges of love and listening within the gay community on campus. Yeah!!! You don't understand how excited this makes me feel...and sad because I don't really have time to help much. But...it warms my heart and gives me hope.

Fund Development

Since the end of Fall Quarter, I have received enough pledges of support to be fully funded on campus! This is the first time in my entire career on staff and is such an encouragement. For the first time, I have been able to run hard on campus and not have to worry about my funding. In fact I've run so hard that I definitely reached my limit...realizing that there is only so much that I can physically do on campus. While it's frustrating to have to say no to amazing ministry opportunities, it's fun to know that it's the limits of time not fund raising that pulls me back.

THANK YOU TO ALL OF MY FAITHFUL AND GENEROUS SUPPORTERS!

My Christmas Break

Well, here are some snapshots from the holidays with my family. It was a long Christmas break of traveling. It seemed like it started with Milwaukee, though that was before Thanksgiving. We spent Thanksgiving with my parents in Portland. Then at the end of the quarter it was off to Spokane for Regional staff meetings. We studied Isaiah 60-62 together and had great times of prayer. Then I was immediately off to Los Angeles to rehearse theatre with friends who would later join me in St. Louis. I came back just in time to have surgery on my sinuses (planned) and spent the days before Christmas recovering (with movies). Christmas was with the Andresens (and the picture is of Dave's parents' tree). After Christmas I don't remember much about what I did, except that I went to a Korean spa with a friend. That was incredible (and affordable!). My parents came up for New Year's weekend and we had a blast in Vancouver, Canada. The pictures are of me and my cousins, the Iron Chef team captains with our New Year's Eve creations (2 teams, 2 entrees, 2 appetizers, 2 side dishes, 90 minutes, 1 kitchen), and my parents with Dave and me on New Year's Day. It was one of the most festive New Year's celebrations in history! On Jan. 2 I was off to St. Louis for our National Staff Conference (which comes every 3 years) and I worked hard with all the theatre and dance in the program. When I returned home, I got the flu and I haven't fully recovered yet. It was a busy break- not restful- busy. It's really good to be home.

Meet Bess

Bess is a sophomore at University of Washington and I have had the pleasure of discipling her this year. Bess is detail-oriented, a natural leader, and was crucial to the success of our New Student Outreach last Fall. Whenever we needed a student to reserve a room or go to an orientation, Bess was there. Bess gets things done. I knew that Bess would be a strong leader in our fellowship so I have focused on her development.

Over the past couple months, Bess has been reading "Being White" by Doug Schaupp and Paula Harris. This is a rare and helpful book about white identity and the place white individuals have in the racial reconciliation movement. Bess is reading it slowly and thoughtfully. I am so amazed by how new the concepts in the book are for her and proud of vulnerability.

Last week, Bess asked about displacement. Displacement, in this context, is the act of moving from your home or place of comfort into a foreign and uncomfortable environment where you are the ethnic minority. For ethnic minorities, they are displaced in predominantly white environments. And for white individuals to willingly displace themselves is to put themselves in an ethnic minority's shoes. Bess didn't think that she could do this until after she graduated and was choosing a new job or place to live. But I was pleased to tell her that there are all sorts of ways she can displace herself now! Joining ethnic-specific student groups (many that welcome white students), attending ethnic-specific events on campus, visiting other types of churches, new friendships, and even expanding the books she reads- the possibilities are endless.

I am so excited for what God has in store for Bess as she embarks on this journey of ethnic identity development and, perhaps, as a leader in the racial reconciliation movement. I've seen God do amazing things with young white women from small towns...Watch out world!

Jena 6 Live!

A number of events in Jena, LA caused a storm of racial tension over the last year. The UW community did very little to address students questions and missed a great opportunity for dialogue around issues of race. So, in November 2007, Soul Food co-sponsored a forum (for the first time) with the UW Black Student Union. We asked students: are these events blown out of proportion or symptoms of systemic injustice?

A little over thirty students gathered in the Ethnic Cultural Theatre to experience various artistic responses to the events. Students expressed their questions, pain, anger, and activist desires through poetry, rap, and song. We offered a short overview of the reported facts around Jena, Louisiana in the last year in case students didn't know the whole story. And then proceeded to break everyone up into small groups for discussion. Students love small groups! They didn't have nearly as much time as they wanted to talk together. Students are hungry for these discussions and I'm so glad we made space for it. Soul Food is in dialogue with many of the ethnic specific small groups about hosting more events like this in the months to come.

For more information and one perspective on the incidences, visit: www.colorofchange.org/jena/message/html