Time...what is this...time?

First I want to apologize for waiting so long to give an update. I began this blog with the intention of sitting down every Monday and giving an update from the week. I don't think I ever achieved that goal haha. And as you can see I am writing this on a Friday, not Monday...and so goes on the inconsistency, but I am going to make it a point to get back on track and give you, my devoted readers, a more frequent update. :-)

So much has been happening this summer, and I am now to the point where it all just blurs together and feels like a lifetime ago. My more recent venture was to ONS (orientation of New Staff) in Madison, WI. which took place a few weeks ago.

This conference was 10 days of helping brand new, and a few years new, staff in getting oriented with what staff life will be like, training, and meeting people from all over the nation. It was a great 10 days and good preparation and inspiration for summer work in Fund Development, and prepping for the coming semester. One of the training seminars was in evangelism through Proxe stations and Conversational evangelism. York Moore and Dave Biskie came and led us in the training. Afterwards we were split off in our family groups to go to different areas of the city to do evangelism. Our group went to the college of the University of Wisconsin. We were supposed to do a proxe station there, which I was unsure of. I have done proxe stations several times, especially with the one that we were going to be doing. Since we were in training and in a safe environment of a massive amount supportive people, I wanted to take a chance at something I detested and felt unskilled in...conversational evangelism. This type is more of a pastoral way of talking to people, getting a look on their lives their thoughts and beliefs, and help them see a clear picture of the gospel and the need for Jesus. I never felt I did this well, and it was the one thing I wanted to better myself in at ONS.

So we went to the college and began to set up our proxe. It was a little windy, but we thought the proxe would be able to stand. After a while the wind picked up and blew the proxe across the lawn. It was after this thrilling chase down that we decided it'd be best to abandon our station and just head out in pairs and talk to people. I must confess that was was really glad this happened, but very scared at the same time.

So Colleen (one of my sisters in the family group) and I set off to the student union. We walked around nervously looking for our first person to talk to. I spotted a girl by the window not really doing anything, and so with a deep breath and a silent prayer I approached her, introduced myself and Colleen, and asked if we could ask some questions. She was ok with that, and so we sat and began talking. Turned out her name is Meg and just graduated from the college and would be leaving the state soon. She had about 2 years of Catholic school, but that was the extent of her spiritual journey. I asked her if I could draw her a picture and tell her a story, to which she agreed. We talked about God's original intent for the world and humanity, the problem today, the cost Christ paid and why, and how she could be renewed through Jesus. She was very attentive, asked questions, and acknoledged everything I said. She said she believed in God, but didn't feel she was knolwedgable enough to make a decision for Jesus right then. We talked some more and she thanked me for explaining God and Jesus to her in a clear way, but she wasn't ready to take that jump yet.

Even though Meg did not make a decision to follow Jesus then, I know she is just one or two more conversations away from making that choice. She has such a sweet spirit about her, and seemed very interested in what God had for her. I would like to invite you, as members of the IV team, to be in prayer for Meg and rejoice in what I feel will be her soon to be decision to follow God.

After Meg, we talked to a few more people, and then met back up with our other 95 staff back at the hotel. Overall, our two hours out in the city resulted in 3 new decisions to follow Jesus, and a few other recommitments.

In coming to WI I never thought that we would gain 3 new people in the Kingdom. If this is a sign of the coming year....I can not wait to get on campus!