Leaders Developing at the SRJC

When I asked Melana, who will be transferring this Spring, if she would speak at Large Group, she smiled and said,

 "Yes, I feel like I have to say yes. If your inviting me to do something, than it's an opportunity to grow"

Last Monday night was our last Large Group gathering for the semester. It has been a tradition as the SRJC to have students who are transferring speak at our Large Group.  I was particularly excited to hear Melana speak, because I have helped mentor her for the last year and half. She is a student that always encourages me and reminds me why I love partnering with college students in the Gospel.

Christiana, Rosie, Melana, and Desiree

She spoke on the Great Banquet in Luke 14, relating the scripture to everyday excuses her peers might be making that keeps them from accepting Jesus' invitation. When she invited her peers to "get real" with God and write down their excuses on and index card and throw them into a trash can, they were all eager to respond. It was an exciting moment for our fellowship as Melana's peers where moved by her story with Jesus and her  invitation to respond to God using the scripture and her testimony. 

  "Speaking for Intervarsity really moved me. Sharing in the gospel with other colleagues has really brought about the purpose God has for me. I feel like I'm where I'm suppose to be and I just want to continue taking steps with the Lord in the path he is directing! I encourage more people to check out the journey God has for them; it's awesome!" Melana 

I reflect back on last week with great joy. Staffing a Junior College comes with many joys and many challenges. The commuting nature of the college can often make it difficult to establish a consistent thriving witnessing community. It sometimes seems like it takes more time to see a strong community develop, let alone having students speak at a large group, (Historically, "a staff workers job"). Despite, the challenges we may face, we are seeing God do an amazing work in the lives of students; that they do in fact care about following Jesus and making the college a place of ministry for them. 

Despite the challenges, God is moving here!

Praise God: As a staff we are asking 13 students to be Bible Study Community Leaders. This is the most potential student leaders we have had since the InterVarsity planted five years ago.

What's Next?

InterVarsity hosts the Largest Missions Conference in the World every three years. We are expecting 20,000 college students from around the world to be there to hear more about God's calling on their lives. We are taking two SRJC students this year! Please pray for us as get ready to go.

Please Pray
For students as the wrap up semester and get ready for finals
Our conversations with students about leadership
Our upcoming conference Urbana, December 27th-December 31st

"I met the real Jesus at Journey"

This past weekend SRJC students went up to Camp Woodleaf in Challenge, to learn more about what it means to follow Jesus as a college student. There were multiple tracks, all but two of our students attended DOC. We had two returning students that attended ROC, (Revealed on campus) Rock students spent time in bible study as they learned more about putting important spiritual disciplines into practice.
In the DOC track this year we had five small groups from the SRJC! In the middle of one of the talks on Witnessing as our Identity, we saw five students make decisions to follow Jesus for the first time! Two students from our campus were apart of that group! One of our students, Malissa, accepted Jesus invitation at our second large group this year. She was honest with her doubts and questions after that night, but after this weekend she exclaimed with a smile stretching across her face, " after this weekend, I am sure this is for me!" She immediately went home to her family to tell them about Jesus! And to her surprise her 17 year old sister is very interested!
Danielle, was invited by a friend Sarah and that weekend she made a decision to follow Jesus. When I asked her what was going for her, she smiled and said, "his weekend I met the real Jesus and I want to follow him" In the car ride home, Sarah beaming with Joy turned to her friend Danielle, " I am so glad you know Jesus" and Danielle replied back in her thankfulness expressing she was happy too.

   

As a staff worker, I have attended the DOC track (Disciples on campus) six times. Even though, I am thoroughly familiar with the content, I am still amazed and challenged to grow closer to Jesus every time. The Gospel is so good, it doesn't matter if I am my 18 year old self, or in my 3rd  year on Staff with InterVarsity, this conference inspires and encourages me every time to go out into deeper water with Jesus.

We focused on the Luke 5 as Jesus calls Simon Peter into deeper water to let down his nets. We focused on  issues of Lordship. What does it mean that Jesus is the hub of our wheel? (an image we used illustrate Lordship). We talked about authentic community. We talked about our Identity as witness, that It is not just something we do, but it becomes apart of who we are as followers of Jesus.

Here are something students are saying about the conference.

Danielle, Desiree, Christiana, Eseta

"I'm so glad I decided to attend Journey! As cliché and corny as it may sound, it really did change my spiritual life. Before, I was more concerned with myself and my own walk with God. But after Journey, I've become so eager and compelled to share my faith with others, and share the healing and peace God has brought to my life. I want people to know the God I serve, and just how amazing He is. And even though evangelizing seems terrifying, it's not about us; it's about God. Journey has also made me reconsider my life goals. I'm not sure yet what God wants for me, but I know I want a future that glorifies Him. Nonetheless, I'm extremely thankful for a memorable, blessed weekend, and I'm so grateful I was able to share this experience with a wonderful group of people." Eseta Matasau

Christiana and Desiree

Christiana, a SRJC alumna  came back to lead a small group for DOC. She has since transferred on to San Jose State, where she is thriving in the InterVarsity Chapter. 

It was exciting to have her for the weekend, seeing her invest in the lives of new SRJC students. It makes me thankful to see students move on, but desire to continue to serve Jesus.

"It pushed me to really dig deep about my own sin and what I need to confess and it was amazing to see in just three days how God moved in my group members lives" Christiana Cobb

"This weekend at Woodleaf was an incredible experience-formative and impacting. Dealing with my personal Lordship issues and gaining tools for witnessing reignited my passion for both Christ and the lost. I am so grateful" Alex Downie

"This weekend was a life changing one. I discovered things about myself that I didn't necessarily know and that i need to work on. It was such a good thing to discover though and to let go of." Greg Robinson


"After this weekend at journey I felt like my relationship with Jesus was restored. I have found what I have placed as the hub of my life, which wasn't Jesus. And because he wasn't the hub of my life for so long, I got to see how my life choices have had negative consequences. I have also learned a lot about evangelizing and how to be more effective and not so afraid"  Rosie Martinez

Rosie 

Ivett

"This journey was a tough one for me. I found myself wanting to run at times because of my fear to confront the pains & scars invading my life. Since day 1, Jesus's invitation to go out into deeper water with Him hung on tight to my heart & I realized when God said He would continue His good work in me until completion, He was not messing around! . It was an experience where I was able to see Jesus's healing & comfort not only in my life, but also in my new family in Christ.. I started off on this journey hurting, I was healed & now I have a bigger desire to help those who are still hurting & introduce them to Jesus." Ivett Ponce 

"At Journey I was able to leave behind emotional baggage I had been carrying for a long time. I was also surprised that I was able to get close to people" Jake Kooken

It is only Tuesday  and students are already taking back with them what they have learned about making Jesus LORD over all their life and stepping in a witnesses as an identity in Christ.

Greg, an athlete, has already invited his wrestling team our large group next week. He told me at bible study that he knows he needs to keep sharing Jesus with his teammates.

Melana has invited friends from her music class. We had three new students at Bible Study on Monday who are not Christians  By the end of it they were praying together and wanting to come back. Praise God.

We have an outreach next Monday  and as a fellowship coming back Journey, we wrote down the names of everyone we knew on campus and committed to pray for them together and invite them to our large group next Monday night.

Every day we are gathering in the Bear's Den to pray for the people on their lists. It is these moments that remind me how good our God is and how much I love being on staff with InterVarsity.

Upcoming Events
Pray for students coming back from conference
Pray for us this week as we invite people to events and share our stories of our good God
Pray for the new Christians as they step into new life
Pray for our Large Group next week and our guest speaker, Kevin Finkbiner.



Blessings to you all! Thank you for partnering with us on this incredible Journey!
If you are interested in giving to the ministry click here. https://donate.intervarsity.org/donor

New Student says YES!

We are almost half way through the semester already and I am excited to update you on the exciting transformation we have witnessed in students lives so far. At our second large group this semester, my Staff Partner,  James Alderson, gave a an invitation to follow Jesus at the end of his talk, and one student said yes to giving her life to Jesus!

Malissa, is extremely excited about her new life with God. Ever since that night, she has been faithful to come to bible discussion and stay connected with friends she is making in the fellowship. She was invited to come by one of our core student Melana, who is a teammate in the athletics department.

We are so excited to see Malissa take her faith in Jesus so seriously. She is challenged by God’s word each week, and is quick to take the applications from scripture to heart. She has been a wonderful encouragement to all of us as we see God moving powerfully in her life.

James meeting with Malissa and explaining Gospel

We have a whole new group of students this semester, but God is bringing students her are willing to see this place as a ministry. I just met a new student yesterday who started sharing her story with me.

 She said she always wanted to be a missionary and knew God was calling her to that.  She was even trying to decide if she should even come to school. But then she heard God saying to her that she could be a missionary to this campus to tell people about Jesus!

Upcoming Events

We are having our monthly outreach next week! Pray as we engage the campus in conversation about God.  Since we have a new group of students in our fellowship, most of them have not participated in an outreach on campus! It will be the first time for a lot of them. Pray that they would have courage and receive God joy, while taking risks on campus.

Our annual Fall Conference Journey is October  26^th-28^th. Please pray for students as they go to learn more about following Jesus on a college campus.

Seek and you will find

"I've always wanted to read the bible" an answer that my staff partners and I heard repeatedly last week as we asked the question "Do you read the Bible?" for our first outreach on campus. Many students put their red sticker on the board answering "No" but to our great joy that didn't mean students weren't interested. We found that many students wanted to read the bible for the first time.

We spent all last week interacting with students at our proxe station or "question of the month." Many of the students who are already a part of InterVarsity participated with us as they stopped their peers walking by to ask important questions about faith in college.One of our students Melana said, "I love tabling with InterVarsity because I get the chance to invite other colleagues to a place on campus where they can thrive, unite, and be connected with the Lord!"

Rosie and Melana, students who participated in outreach with us

We kicked of the week with our Back to School Large Group, where saw 48 students come! All except a few faces, were new students. This is especially exciting to me since we have transferred on many of our

core students, but I am quickly seeing how God is bringing new people.  

We've had about 40 Students come to bible discussions this week excited to learn more about Jesus and meet friends on campus. Brand new students are already passing out info fliers in class and inviting peers to come with them. I am most excited to see a new group of seekers who have never read the bible, but are expressing great interest in learning about the bible, faith, and Christianity. We have had several non Christians in each bible study that are holding an open perspective that the bible could in fact be truthful and means something for their lives!

Prayer Requests

• Please pray for our continual follow up with students
• Pray for the non christian students seeking truth
• Prayer for me as I am in the process of raising support to be on campus full time
• Continue to pray for our new Area Director, Jenny Klouse as her family settles in to their new home in California. 

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.

As most of you know, I spent seven weeks this summer in Oakland serving with Covenant House an organization that assists young adult ages 18-24 years old who are risk of homelessness. The Bay Area Urban Project (BayUP) team consisted of about 20 students and staff, 3 from the SRJC! It was the first all JC team we have sent to BayUP! Praise God. Some of you have been following our blog specific to BayUp this summer and have been able to read students writings. Please fill free to keep reading their blogs at http://bayareaurbanprojectnews.wordpress.com/

Mike Vance, Christiana Cobb, Michael Aaronson,
Me, and Micah Mackintosh

This summer had the privilege of walking along side students as they wrestled with questions like "what does it mean to serve a just God?" "How does this change my life?" "What does living simply mean?" and "Why is living in community so important?" I saw students hearts change for the city of Oakland and those whom they were serving and learning from at the different work sites. I also saw students become passionate about prayer, as we interceded for the city of Oakland and those who we were serving.

Each week, together our team would identify the lies that kept unjust systems going. We woul write them down and nail them to a cross as we cried out in confession and desire to see transformation from the Holy Spirit. Jesus spoke many truths to us this summer in those powerful prayer times. It amazes me every time to see college students most of whom were 19 and 20 on this trip, reevaluate there lives, think about their futures differently, and take the invitation to bring back their stories to the campuses. This makes me excited as we are seeing world changers developed!


The whole BayUp team! Campuses represented: Mills College, UC Santa Cruz, SRJC, CSM, Standford, California State Eastbay



Santa Rosa Junior College is starting on Monday. We are kicking of our semester with the questions "Do you read the bible?" We are hoping this outreach will allow good conversation and help us reach Christians and seekers who are interested in getting plugged into InterVarsity this year. We have transferred on many of our core members and are excited to meet new students next week.

North Coast Staff team and spouses

Prayer Requests
Please pray for myself and students arriving back from BayUP
pray we'd continue to think and be challenged by what we learned and experienced this summer.
Pray for our outreach next week.
Pray for helpful and effective follow up with students.
Pray for our North Coast Area Team (SSU and SRJC staff). We have a new area director Jenny Klouse (my supervisor). She along with her husband and three children have moved from IL, to serve Sonoma County! Pray for their transition.

Blessings and Love,
Sarah Musumeci
Campus Staff Worker

Students Diving into the truth of who Jesus is

Journeying with Jesus with the book of Mark

Last week, SRJC students along with three other campuses went to alliance redwoods for the week to participate in an in depth study on the book of Mark. It was an exciting week as Jesus revealed himself to students through scripture, prayer, worship, and fellowship. Mark camp consisted of three different tracks, Mark 1, which included the first eight chapters of the Gospel, Mark 2 which focused on the last eight chapters of the book, and the Beyonders track which read several Old Testament books including Isaiah, Daniel, and Malachi to look at the big picture of God's story with his people.

I co taught Mark 2 track with one a staff worker from Sacramento state. In this track, we wrestled with tough questions about suffering and giving up everything to follow Jesus. We focused in on The Kingdom of God being more like an "upside down kingdom" compared to the way the world wants us to live. Many students met Jesus in a different way, and realized that following Jesus also means to be servant to all people, and choosing to be uncomfortable or perhaps even suffer.

One student, from Sacramento State, is not a Christian, but has been hanging around the fellowship for three years. At the end of the week, he opened up about his process with Jesus and his desire to put his trust in Jesus. Please pray for him as his staff continues the dialogue with him about his hesitation to accept Christ. Pray for Jesus to continue to soften his heart.

DID JESUS LIE ABOUT HIMSELF?

Last week, we had a proxy where we asked students if Jesus lied about himself. Students engaged with their peers in a dialogue about the truth of Jesus' divinity and the good news he has for people. We had several students participated in this outreach for the first time. As a staff, it was exciting to see students who were nervous to start taking risks for the Gospel. They went from a place of hesitation to true joy as the talked to their peers about Jesus.

Please pray for...

Silent Protest against sex trafficking-April 23rd

Continue growth in Bible discussions

Friends/students in the Atheists and Skeptics Club