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I’m excited to report that the new academic year has begun. All our staff and students are brimming with expectation as we begin freshman campaign. We’re off to a great start as we even had a few freshmen attend our pre-retreat. Our pre-retreat was highly successful. We had a great mix of older and younger students and it was evident that the students in attendance grew deeper in community, had fun, and were spiritually nourished. On our last night, we had a time for students to share their heart. The level of vulnerability was simply astounding. It was as if these students had known each other for years, but in fact many were just getting to know each other. It was clear that God met us during our retreat; we left energized and ready to engage the incoming freshman class.
The summertime is in full swing here at Columbia and our ministry staff is already hard at work preparing for the fall semester. Please join us in prayer for the following:
We are planning for our annual pre-retreat in August. The pre-retreat is a great opportunity for students to spiritually recalibrate after a long summer and build greater community with each other right before the hustle of the semester begins. Please pray that we can recruit many of our students to attend.
Another semester at Columbia is coming to a close. As we reflect on all that has happened this semester, we are in awe of God’s goodness toward us. We thank God for an enthusiastic freshman class, fruitful times of ministry and a new ministry center that will serve our community well. Although we are sad to see our seniors go, we are confident that we have prepared them for Christian leadership in whatever vocation they find themselves in.
Christian Union at Columbia continues to see God’s goodness to our ministry. As you may already know, Christian Union was working tirelessly to acquire a ministry center for Columbia. As of February 13, that purchase was completed, and we will be using the center next semester. We could not be more thankful to each of you for your prayers and sacrificial giving. Our desire is to use this space as a hub for gospel engagement with Columbia University. Please pray that many students would be encouraged in their faith and come to know Jesus through the work that will be done there.
Greetings,
We’ve seen God work wondrously here at Columbia; we have so much to be thankful for. Both the staff and the students are excited about the acquisition of a new ministry center one block away from campus. Our biggest need as a ministry at Columbia is space, and God has made provision for that need in a significant way. A heartfelt thanks to everyone who supported the effort through prayer and financial giving. An incalculable number of lives will be blessed through this ministry center because of your support.
Greetings,
Christian Union at Columbia continues to experience God’s grace as we minister to the students on campus. We recently wrapped up a successful Freshman Campaign, in which we attained all our goals for the new freshman class. These students are enthusiastic new members of our family here at Columbia. We also had an impactful Fall Conference. For the conference, the staff chose to focus on the topic of wisdom, giving a series of talks from the book of Proverbs. Feedback from those in attendance was that it was one of our best Fall conferences yet. The students loved the talks we gave, and we were privileged to see one Freshman give her life to Christ during student prayer after one of the main sessions. We were also told that the conference was successful at causing friendships to form among students who usually don’t have much interaction with each other.
Greetings,
By God’s grace, we have just completed another semester here at Columbia. While it was a difficult year in some ways, it was still a fruitful time of ministry. A few days before the writing of this newsletter, Columbia had its graduation ceremony. We were able to greet and celebrate with many of our graduating seniors’ parents, and prayerfully sendoff seniors out into the brave new world of adulthood.
Dear friends,
All praise is due to our faithful God who continues to bestow grace and favor on us as we do his work at Columbia University. Our staff continues the work of discipleship even amid various challenges, and we are seeing students grow in their commitment to follow Christ as we remain committed to them.
Greetings,
We continue to see God’s grace in our ministry as we disciple students. One example of this is our winter conference which took place Jan. 20-22 at Spruce Lake. We were privileged to see students make strides in their walk with God. During one of our small group prayer times at the retreat, one young lady, who suffers from social anxiety and had never prayed before was taught by another student to pray. After she prayed for the first time, she was overwhelmed with joy and expressed interest to continue meeting with students to practice seeking God together.
