June Update - A Full Summer of Ministry

Even though it’s hard to believe, Spring Semester 2006 is officially finished. The Year-End BBQ and the Finals Dinners that we hosted (to help students come up for air during finals week) are over and done with. Overnight, the campus has gone from chaos to quiet, with the majority of students leaving for all variety of summer adventures.

After the busyness of recent weeks, the calm feels a bit surprising. Yet, it is a good kind of calm, a change of season when I look forward to the quieter summer ahead. Summers always bring good surprises of their own with the occasional new student joining in and the rewarding opportunity to spend larger amounts of time with fewer amounts of students.

Working in campus ministry, I’m sometimes asked if I get my summers off. Not even close! There are all kinds of things to keep me busy this summer -- our Summer Bible Study; the Freshman Orientation Fairs (where I meet incoming new students); planning and grant writing for fall events; and a third Katrina Relief Trip I’m leading in August.

I’m also excited to tell you that we will have CSF students on mission’s trips to both Romania & Ukraine this summer. Not only will we have students going to these countries, but one of the most touching moments of the semester involved the all of our students supporting those who are going.

During our last Together Group meetings of the semester, our students rallied around our Romania team by taking group trips to Target and buying a combined total of $600 worth of supplies for the team to use in their camps for orphaned and impoverished children. What a blessing and encouragement that gift was and will continue to be – to the students going on the trip, to the students who gave, to the kids in Romania, and to myself personally!

Overall, I can truly say that our ministry is going very well. Thanks so much to every one of you praying for and supporting CSF. I can tell you, without a doubt, that young people are being encouraged, challenged, and loved through this ministry!