GIG

This past week has been a pretty good week. Saturday we had GIG (groups investigating God) training for the students. This group is not a bible study. These groups will be formed specifically for non-christians. It is a place for them to come and ask questions. There are elements of Bible study in it, but not in the "Christian" sense of how we would normally study it. Make sense? Anyway, we had about 12 people come to learn how to lead one of these groups for next year. It was a good day of training, which encouraged all the students in their efforts to reach out to their non-christian friends.

On sunday afternoon-monday afternoon the 4 of us staff in Pittsburgh went away on a prayer retreat to the Providence Villa. This time was specifically set aside for us to leave all our distractions behind and refocus on God. We spent about 8 and a half hours of retreats of silences. During this time we would find places inside the huge house (or outside...which was waaaaay too cold for me) to pray and meditate. We would not talk to each other, but live together in silence and prayer. One of the themes we were able to study was solitude. I didn't realize it then, but I can now see that God was teaching me to live a life of solitude. I can definately tell a difference in my countanance throughout the days. This retreat was a beautiful way to spend time with the Lord, as well as with friends.

Tuesday was also a great day. We had a joint Large group with the CMU students. We had a great time worshipping together and hearing Marc Papai speak on our mission with Christ. There was a great sense of the spirit being present in the room. Afterwards we hung out eating a smorgishbord of desserts and celebrating Mikaela's birthday. It was especially encourage to the Pitt students to see what large group could be like. We are a very small group, which gets discouraging at time, but they are a faithful one. Last night they saw a glimpse of what God has in store for them. Please continue to pray, especially for our hard working students, that they will remember that even when it doesn't seem like it, God is at work here.