BSU Truman State University Catching up --Fall 2012 to Present!

Hi everyone!! I am writing to you with such gratitude to the body of Christ, to the loving people that continue to bless the lives of students through this ministry of helping others not miss Jesus. Thank you for your gracious acts of faith in praying and loving and cooking and for so many things you have done and for such cheerful sacrificial hearts that have poured into the lives here thru your love. It is so exciting to be in the spot where we get to help connect students to those who continue to run the race for HIM. This year has been exciting, heart wrenching, full of sleepless nights, and yet there are causes for celebration! And before I jump into it all, please forgive me for getting behind in updating you on the lives here and where His Spirit is moving...because He IS! In our journey this past year, we continue to move in the direction of being more for Jesus in the things we do. This continues to lead us to the biggest occurrence for us each semester, the Missionary Commissioning Service. We set aside one FUEL per semester for this special service. What do we do? We commission students who are saying they are for Jesus and want to be intentional in being for Him on this campus. We are sending them off as missionaries in the people groups they are a part of, from their lab group, dorm room, and even to their fraternities. This last time, we had a special guest come to speak, an alumni of the BSU, Mr. Don Noble, who was so gracious to be here on our late night schedule! Below are a few pictures, and some comments from students who participated. It helped me renew my focus to my commitments to Christ and just focus on purpose and realize its all about Christ love

Its a great reminder for me to invest from my own Spiritual experience into other people, and made me much more aware of the spiritual needs in some of the people around me. I saw a few ways in which I was on the right track in my walk with God and living Him to others, and a lot of ways in which I need improvement.

It reminded me that we are THE LIGHTS to this campus, and that if we, meaning me, didnt tell my classmates about Christ, they may never ever even know His love. It reminded me that living for Christ is serious business, and I cant do it just half-heartedly sometimes. I cant let my guard down when Im tired and had to stay up half the night. I cant be irritable to the people Im around because I might have the chance at some point to talk to them about being a Christian, and if my life is no better than theirs, then I have nothing to say. It made me realize how inadequate I am and how unfaithful Ive been in following up on the leads that I have. Fear of failure is no excuse for not sharing what Christ has done and can do in a life if I really love Him like I say I do.

Commissioning service was truly amazing and eye opening. Don Noble spoke to my heart about how big of a deal discipleship is as Christians and how pertinent it is to our own growth in Christ. When everyone had their candles

lit and the room was dark, you could sense the community. If you think about it, discipleship is the key to growing a church community. If you have a body of believers constantly pouring into each other, you are going to foster a community of communication, and build a stronger foundation on Christ. Overall the night refocused and encouraged me to continue pouring into people with Christs love.

This year commissioning service went slightly differently than in years past, and this was probably for the best. The night started off late and the whole thing ran long. There was stress, moments of uncomfortable silence, and some unclear direction; however, I cannot deny seeing the effects of Gods work throughout the night. The words spoken through Mr. Noble were inspiring and God breathed, and when they were coupled with Kevin. Ms words about his on campus experience with Greek life (also very much God breathed), the whole purpose seemed to be brought into focus and given clarity. The actions of discipling, which initially seemed like far off ideas, became very real and concrete. They became not so much lofty goals for campus, but instead were simple actions that could be taken with any peer on campus. The last thing done during the service was to light a candle and to place it on a map of campus. This served as an indication of where people were reaching out on campus. The effect of this brought the individual missionaries together in a community that could support the members of the group. It helped us realize we arent out there alone, that there are other students on the same mission, that there is a movement that is bigger than myself, and I am a part of it.

Weve had so many wonderful activities and events so far this year. One of our first for the year is our Annual Perkins Farm Hayride. We are so thankful for the super awesome Perkins family for continuing to open their farm and hay and wagons and tractors and bonfires and their hearts to all of us! It always comes at just the right time to help us refresh and refocus on the bigger picture. We get to see so many stars and just remember how great Jesus is and how loving He is. Thank you Perkins family!! And the events keep comingsome young men from several different campus ministries hosted an on-campus Mens Conference this fall, and brought with some encouraging and meaningful teaching and discussions to mens lives here. Our coffee house that had occurred weekly on Fridays found a new mission in being deeper and more extravagant meaning we are sharing the extravagant heart of God and His radical grace with each evening. Since this has moved to a 2-3 times a semester event, it has been exciting to see how this change has impacted and encouraged not only our own students, but to those students just checking out Jesus. Small groups continue functioning all year, with coed groups, a guys group, and a girls group. We also have a Chinese student bible study that meets a few times each semester. An outreach of giving out koolaid or hot cocoa on Wednesday each week was wonderful this fall semester, but has stopped with some changes in our students and their schedules. Winter retreat saw 10+ attending to hear the gospel for their

hearts and how to help others hear about Jesus in the college setting. The Super Bowl Party was full of food and fun, and visiting with friends and just loving on students. FUEL continues to meet on Tuesday nights, with an increase in the number of students involved with music, drama, and testimoniesand snacks of course. The girls had a night to themselves and invited special guest speaker, Kelley Huff(wife of Green City Baptist Church pastor, Russell Huff) to share her life and faith. Food for Finals continues to grow. We fed over 120 students and help meet a very real need -- of meal plans being depleted -- and hearts being loved on with actions and with words. We had some wonderful conversations and had several opportunities to share the gospel. This is one event we cannot do alone. It is made possible by the support of our friends at Hamilton Street, the generous donations from alumni like Kevin and Jessica Martin, and the superior cooking talents of John and Margie Kues. We have a lot of fun and exciting stories from our service projects as well! We helped Macon First Baptist Church with childcare one weekend as they hosted a large conference at their church. There were nursing home visits with cards delivered. We had students who participated in The Big Event, and other activities to help serve local Kirksville residents. We had several volunteer to help with Hamilton Streets Annual Easter Egg Hunt, from helping scatter the eggs, and even with the puppet show! The students also organized a meal to raise support for our Compassion International child, Angel. And, of course, the largest endeavor each year is the annual Spring Break Mission Trip. This year we landed in Kansas City with some very humble and wonderful BSU alumni (Mark and Mary Carver, Melissa and Dave Dixon, Chrissy Eatherton such super loving friends they are!!), and of Lakeland Church in Lees Summit, a huge thank you to Jason and Twila and the whole gang there they connected us with. All of you alumni are still such a huge blessing to the BSU! Huge!! The mission trip was filled with restoring a home in a high risk neighborhood, helping kids and youth, packing meals for natural disasters with Youth Front and Moree, our super wonderful lady who shared her life with us, andlots of cat naps and food! We took 23 students on our trip, 13 of these being international students. We had such a great time together, and our enjoying that we can continue on with these relationships even though the trip has ended.

And I think that brings us to the best part of the summary of this year. We have been on a journey this year as hear and grow in who we are and what we are about. And what we dont want anyone to miss is that we are about Jesus! Hes who were about. We love Him. We adore Him. We owe our very lives to Him, and thats why we love Him. And this has meant we are taking the road of being Disciple makers. We dont do it right all the time, but we are definitely headed in the right direction. and it is a one of not only discipling others, but of making them disciple makers. And what is only God and His power at work and His grace and His Spirit moving, is that students are replicating. They who were being disicpled are now making disciplesit is happeningand it is beautifuland His story that they are inviting others along to be a part of and to follow Jesus is awesome! Several students from the mission trip are continuing to love and be intentional in sharing their lives with the international students. There are God conversations, and fun moments. Our new friends are still asking questions and still having conversations. Some are going to church not just one church, but different ones to different churches, not as a big mob, but on their own with these disciple making students. We are counting the conversations, and praying and praying for hearts to be changed for Him. We have students asking to go buy a bible, wanting to talk about God, wanting to getting together to read the Bible weekly, wanting to hear the Easter story, and wanting to come to another night of fun and worship and devotional. It is God moving, and we are just trying to not fall down and mess up But what is even more exciting, this is not just happening with our new spring break friends, but we are seeing it with so many others students as well! One student has been sharing with a friend on-line this yearand his friend just accept Christ this past weekend!! Wow double yeah God!!! And as we tell our students, it is ok to share the hard stuff too This year we have had to lovingly address and hold to some boundaries that have left us with 3 less students. And though we are praying for them, there is always a plan of restoration, and so we pray and we continue to love with grace and truth together. We would ask for and appreciate your prayers, and would also like to thank all of the pastors (near and far) who have listened, encouraged, and guided us through our more challenging moments. I just dont know how to share in words just how incredible it is to be blessed so immeasurably by God and by those who have allowed us to be here, the MBC and Collegiate Ministry Team. And to have such support from the local churches and their pastors, the director of missions, so many people in this community, and alumni from all over! To be able to sit and read the bible with someone who never heard the Easter story; to be in a truck with my brother and a student and get to share about His grace while moving a couch (and a super huge TV); to have meals in our home and to see students loved on by our kids, and our kids loved on by college age students; to hear the excitement of a student who did something today for Jesus with a friend that they would have not done 6 months ago, and that it was motivated out of the love they know they have from God, and not guilt or any misplaced attempt to earn His love; to have a student who wants to go get a bible; one who wants to have conversations about why our lives are so fun; to seeing a student who was in a trajectory of moving into his field of study from college, to hearing God guiding him in the direction for this time of being a youth minister; to a student discipling with guys in his fraternity; to an international student sharing scripture and letting his friends know His heart is for them to know the God he knows. It is extraordinary! That is to say Jesus is extraordinarily great! And He is. And He is so Big, and He is alive and well. But even though Jesus is great, He is not too big to be completely aware of everyone of usof you. And He is able to meet us where we are and give us life and hope and power and grace and forgiveness and lives alive for Him. and so Jesus does what no one else can doand that is the beauty of the gospel! And thats why I love Jesus. The BSU Tribe