New Life given at Mark Camp

 Two weeks ago, we took 9 SRJC students to join Chico and UNR InterVarsity to the Santa Cruz Area for an in depth manuscript Study of the Gospel of Mark.   We spent about 8 hours a day in the word, observing, asking questions, discussing the impact, and applying it to our lives.  As always, students were first overwhelmed by our request to look at the text a certain way (only can cross reference the old testament, observe before you interpret etc), but by day three, students were connecting to each other and enjoying the study greatly.  Jesus had much to say to us through the book of Mark. I was filled with joy to see a beautiful transformation happen in the students that week. Hope was restored, healing began to happen, and new life appeared as several students put their faith in Jesus for the first time, including one from SRJC.

Here are some student Testimonies from the week: 

" It's refreshing to constantly be surrounded by believers. I've never experienced that type of fellowship beforehand. I've been frustrated with my age group for a long time but this trip reminded me that other people care about Christ and His kingdom too. I read through the first part of Mark and saw the heart of Christ in a way that I've never experienced before, and reading so many pages in a row, I was able to place each separate parable, narrative and teaching of Christ in its context. I want to keep annotating those pages and know more, and cherish Jesus not only as Lord, but to also apply Him to myself personally as Healer, because I have neglected that for so long. I'll miss the people I met, the food, and the fellowship. I'm glad I came" Blake Deal

"Camp was really great experience for me. I had little experience studying the Bible before so it was really great to have that opportunity at Mark camp to learn to study the Bible looking carefully at each line in the first chapters of Mark. I also enjoyed the fellowship with other believers, being able to meet new people was really a blessing for me. Finally, the Worship time just filled me with God's presence, and the quiet times with God were irreplaceable. All in All Mark camp really helped me draw closer to God and increase my faith in Christ as I studied His Word. I'm really glad I was able to go" Diane Downie  

What's next?

Athletes InterVarsity is having and is showing a screening of Linsanity April 16th. Please pray for us as we continue to outreach to the athletic community on campus. We are praying for at least 20 Athletes to come.

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Athletes and Alumni Bringing Joy

Kevin and his wife Hannah (SRJC InterVarsity Alumni)

Praise God for Alumni

On Monday, we had Kevin Escher (one of the first students apart of SRJC InterVarsity 6 years ago) speak at our Large Group Gathering. We are going through the life of Moses this semester, and Kevin spoke to Moses’ early beginnings and the ways God was developing him into a world changer. He asked students to consider how God might want to use their gifting’s, passions, education, and circumstance to be used as a World Changer for God. Many students responded by standing to receive prayer that God would equip and shape them in to the men and women he desires them to be. I am very excited to see how Kevin has continued to grow in his faith and leadership. He will be volunteering some of his time this semester to serve students. 

Students decorate room with frames asking questions like
"What's God's Purpose for me?" 

Athletes pursing God

We have been praying for athletes, and we keep meeting new athletes! Every Wednesday night, student Athletes get together for a meal and to study Jesus’ parables.  We are starting to see more relationships develop between teammates as they look at the bible together. Please continue to pray for these Athletes!  

What’s on the Horizon?

This upcoming weekend we are sending students and staff to Ethnic Identity Conferences. This is an opportunity for students and staff to engage with each other on the topic of Ethnicity, Culture, and Faith. This topic is new and sensitive for some. Please pray that God would speak to us as individuals and communities as we learn about the integral parts of how we were created with purpose. 

Stopping for Dinner on the way..

Thanks for praying for us as we went to Journey at the end of October. Thank you for giving student scholarships. Here are some student stories!

“I feel that Journey really worked in my heart to give Jesus full ownership of "my house" (my life) in every single aspect. Journey also convicted me to be a witness for Jesus in my daily life!”-Hakeem

 “It made me feel like a firework! Journey brought me closer to Jesus and ignited the flame in my soul! "He loves loving us". Alleluia!”-Victor

“Journey, for me, just made me SO much more excited & anxious to share the gospel with everyone I come in contact with.”-Andrea

"wow.. through journey i was able to know who God really is! He is so in love with me! I know that no matter what may happen in this life i have a man who will never leave my side. One that is perfect and holy, one who saves, one who calls us worthy even in the midst of unworthiness. He is amazing, he heals our broken hearts and makes them new and whole! i learned through Philippians to appreciate the gospel more and that when jesus speaks to us to not just ignore it but to take those words like gold! I can't wait to show and tell others about this amazing savior.”-Sarah 

Enjoying some fellowship 

 “I learned how and why we suffer for the gospel. I also met a lot of people that I’m keeping in contact with to share how we are applying the things we learned at Journey to our campuses”- Malissa

Since coming back to campus, students have been sharing their faith with the friends and classmates. We did a prayer outreach offering up prayer for students walking by. We had 41 students attend our Large Group last week.

Please pray for us as we are in the last stretch of the semester. Our last Large Group is December 9th. Pray that God would bring even more students!

What Do you thirst for?

This semester we have been studying John in Bible Discussions. 

A theme that kept jumping out to us was hunger and thirst...

 and so we launched the Red Cup Campaign a few weeks ago. 

students  giving their thirsts to Jesus

We asked the students walking by, "What do you put in a red cup?" Intrigued, many of them stayed around for a conversation about thirst, purpose, and the Gospel. For many of the students in the fellowship, it was the first time participating in an outreach. Many of them went in nervous and left excited about how God had been showing up. 

All week we invited students to our monthly Large Group Gathering. We continued our theme of thirst. I spoke about how Jesus meets the woman at the well in John 4. 31 students came! It was an awesome time of fellowship, praise, and responding to the invitation Jesus had for each of us about our own deeper thirsts. One student that I invited last minute came up to me afterward and said he would like to start coming to a bible study! 

Students have been excited since Large Group, realizing that they aren't the only christian on campus.  Please pray for students as they desire to meet Jesus at the well, just as the Samaritan woman. 

Students acting out John 4

UPCOMING EVENTS

Journey! October 25th-27th

Pray for sign ups! We have one more week of registration.  I'm hoping to recruit 35 students to go. 

Pray for me as I lead a seminar on worth and identity.
Pray for students who decide to go to Journey, pray they would encounter Jesus in a deeper way. 

Evangelistic Opportunity

SRJC is considering an outreach opportunity for the spring. Please pray for wisdom and that God would lead as we pursue this potential option. 

Seeing Jesus with new eyes at chapter camp!

Last week, 10 Students from SRJC participated in Chapter Camp with SFSU, USF, CAL, St. Mary's, and SJSU. It was a great time of fellowship and learning more about God through scripture study, seminars, large group talks, prayer, and worship.

The first day we studied Acts 9, when Paul was blinded on the way to Damascus. We were invited to see Jesus with new eyes. I am excited to say that at the end of the week the Holy Spirit did a work and many of our students were able to do just that. 

I led a seminar "The Lord sayeth what?" on prayer and hearing God's voice. I was amazed to see about 50 plus students attend my seminar to learn more about connecting with God in prayer. It was a very joyful time to teach and train students on prayer and see them have positive experiences with prayer as they started implementing tools from the training.

Here is a student testimonies from the week.....

"I had an awesome time at chapter camp! There were many opportunities to grow in my own spiritual life, to challenge myself in taking risks, to learn more about God's character and justice as well as learn more about myself through quiet reflection and prayer. Through the seminars and talks with others I realized there is so much I still need to learn and grow in; and so much that I want to improve in myself. I also found new hope and optimism in where I'm going and how God is moving in my life.

It was great getting to know people from our group so much better and building stronger friendships while at the same time meeting new people from other campuses and sharing fun moments as well as good conversations. There was an atmosphere of genuine fellowship that encompassed the entire camp and I saw God working in the hearts of many students around me. I'm glad I had the opportunity to go to chapter camp and I look forward to seeing God work in all of us as we move forward from that experience."

-Carlos

God is doing a new thing in SRJC students as we enter in to summer!

Prayer

-During the optional morning prayer time, all of SRJC students attended most mornings! They are eager to learn about prayer and interceding for our campus. 

Creative Disciples and the Arts
More than half of our students attending the creative disciples seminar. This new group of students is full of artistic talent from poetry, dance, music, drawing, painting, and spoken word. I am excited for what God will do in this area.

Athletes
Majority of students coming to Christ the past three years have been athletes. This year at chapter camp, a student athlete with great leadership potential expressed how he wants to reach athletes on campus! This has been a continual prayer for me, it's exciting to see that God is bringing more athlete leaders to the fellowship!

Students leading Outreaches all over the North Bay

I am excited to share with you that we have new InterVarsity Chapter in the North Bay; CSU Cal Maritime.  I first met these young men at our fall camp last October. The started out as four guys that wanted to start a bible study on campus. A christian professor on campus suggested that they get in touch with InterVarsity, and so they did.

Over a meal last October, I was able to hear about the dreams they had for their campus along with their many fears and hesitations. They told me that a lot of the stereotypes about sailor boys are true. Despite the obstacles they would face (campus access issues being one of them) they followed through with starting the bible club on campus.

My Supervisor has met with them every month providing training and support to help them reach their peers on campus. Last week, the NorthCoast Area team (SRJC and SSU staff) partnered with 
Cal Maritime students in an outreach on thirst called The Red Cup Campaign. It is this years national outreach spreading across InterVarsity Chapters and students are interested.

Students walk through a display answering questions about what the campus thirsts for and what they personally thirst for. We shared the story of Jesus and the women at the well.  The numbers were overwhelming. Almost every student put down that the campus thirsts for success, but on a personal note the theme was often friendship, happiness, and family.

We were training these students on the spot. They had never done an outreach like this on campus, and acknowledged that they had became a "holy huddle" but desired to see that change.
I was extremely overjoyed and impressed with these students as they took risks, asked EVERYONE who walked by (even walked across the quad to invite people over) to participate. To our great surprise all but a small number said yes to participating in the display. That day we talked to 136 students at a campus of 1,000 and 31 students signed up for bible discussion! If the students didn't know there was a bible club before, they certainly do now. The word is getting out.

During our debrief time with the students, one student said that the campus culture was changed that day.  He had never witnessed that many students participate in something on campus or just hang out in the quad. In a campus that thirsts for success, there is a great need for community, love, and authentic friendships and these young men are committed to starting that change on campus with the power of Christ's love. Please pray for these students as they follow up with the 31 sign ups. Tonight is the first Bible Discussion since the outreach. Pray for new students to come and leaders to be encouraged. 

Upcoming Events at SRJC and SSU

Pray for SRJC outreach next week. We are doing the "money proxe"
We are in the middle of a bible series on the theme of God's justice and mercy .
Please pray for more student ownership as they lead their peers through our display.

SSU is currently in the middle of a week long outreach called Step of Hope. Each day they are having a different event talking about human trafficking and God's perspective on caring and loving the oppressed.
They already had 2 students become Christians at an even last night! Praise God!

If you would like to give financially to support the work on InterVarsity in Sonoma County. go to https://donate.intervarsity.org/donate