Many of you know for the past almost 3 years now I have been volunteering with the college ministry with my church here in DC. I work with students at American University and truly it has been one of the best and most stretching times in my faith! American University was cited by US News and World Report as the most politically active campus in the US. I am usually on complete opposite sides of the political spectrum from my students and I love it! I used to meet with one student after she finished protesting in front of my former place of employment! God is so good on bringing His people together!
Anyway this ministry started 3 years ago with 3 students. We have now grown to a ministry with a solid attendance in the 60s each Tuesday night topping out over a hundred on a few special nights. Remember this campus is small too with only about 4000 students. It is such a blessing watching so many students come to know the Lord and make their faith their own! I love it! It is something I did not get to see much of in Texas… I mean lets be honest friends you say Jesus in Texas and you can have a few hundred show up no problem. You say Jesus here and many turn or start to tell you how He is so politically incorrect. Like I said it has been a stretching ministry!
So this semester John has challenged the students to “Take Action” to find an issue they know the Lord is concerned with and “Take Action” with it, and involve the campus. It has been great way to minister to this campus as they see our students reach out to the causes they care about with Jesus as their point man. The past two months our students wanted to “Take Action” on the child sex trade and children stuck in sexual slavery. They worked last month to gather as many signatures as they could to petition congress to “Take Action” of their own. Then while we were sitting in our monthly leaders meeting they came up with a brilliant idea for this month. A 24 Hour program to raise money to help FAAST an organization that works to rehabilitate and educate children taken out of the sex trade. They organized See-Saws Against Slavery! With minimal help from us leaders these students organized hosting a 24 hour see-saw event on their campus to raise money for these kids. It was awesome and we were all hoping to see maybe a $1000 come out of it. But our students would have none of our small thoughts they reached for it and worked with our other campus George Mason so they would hold a 24 hour See-Saw fest after ours. And in the end what did they raise… over $3000! To do so by raising money on a college campus with poor college students is huge! They did so great they are working with organizations to take this thing further and maybe travel the country next year!
I am constantly inspired by the students God blesses me to lead here and often feel I am learning more from them than they are from me. These are students who know Gods heart for the poor and oppressed and they don’t just want to sit around and pray about it they want to do something about these problems. They should challenge all of us to “Take Action” in our own way. If you want to learn more about the shocking statics and facts on the child sex trade you can check out the organization FAAST they are the group we partnered with along with World Hope. If anything pray for these children and their families who actually sell them in.
Anyway this ministry started 3 years ago with 3 students. We have now grown to a ministry with a solid attendance in the 60s each Tuesday night topping out over a hundred on a few special nights. Remember this campus is small too with only about 4000 students. It is such a blessing watching so many students come to know the Lord and make their faith their own! I love it! It is something I did not get to see much of in Texas… I mean lets be honest friends you say Jesus in Texas and you can have a few hundred show up no problem. You say Jesus here and many turn or start to tell you how He is so politically incorrect. Like I said it has been a stretching ministry!
So this semester John has challenged the students to “Take Action” to find an issue they know the Lord is concerned with and “Take Action” with it, and involve the campus. It has been great way to minister to this campus as they see our students reach out to the causes they care about with Jesus as their point man. The past two months our students wanted to “Take Action” on the child sex trade and children stuck in sexual slavery. They worked last month to gather as many signatures as they could to petition congress to “Take Action” of their own. Then while we were sitting in our monthly leaders meeting they came up with a brilliant idea for this month. A 24 Hour program to raise money to help FAAST an organization that works to rehabilitate and educate children taken out of the sex trade. They organized See-Saws Against Slavery! With minimal help from us leaders these students organized hosting a 24 hour see-saw event on their campus to raise money for these kids. It was awesome and we were all hoping to see maybe a $1000 come out of it. But our students would have none of our small thoughts they reached for it and worked with our other campus George Mason so they would hold a 24 hour See-Saw fest after ours. And in the end what did they raise… over $3000! To do so by raising money on a college campus with poor college students is huge! They did so great they are working with organizations to take this thing further and maybe travel the country next year!
I am constantly inspired by the students God blesses me to lead here and often feel I am learning more from them than they are from me. These are students who know Gods heart for the poor and oppressed and they don’t just want to sit around and pray about it they want to do something about these problems. They should challenge all of us to “Take Action” in our own way. If you want to learn more about the shocking statics and facts on the child sex trade you can check out the organization FAAST they are the group we partnered with along with World Hope. If anything pray for these children and their families who actually sell them in.
Here are some pics from the event... these are just the ones from my camera (still waiting others) so they only show the activities while I was there which was after work...
American U See-Saw Against Slavery! 
The Gathering Gang!
Jodi and I showing off our great See-Sawing Skills!
Miriam Rockin
Jodi and I doin our happy dance at the amount we had raised to that point!
Jeff See-Sawing Secret Service Style 
1 comment:
Congrats to your students! That's so awesome! I love it that you used to meet with a girl right after she was done protesting outside your office. God is good.
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