Our Blog

Spare Change July 2019

This is an update written by Alexa Minor. Our church member who we are sponsoring in the mission field in Australia through Campus Outreach.

Easter in the Bush!

Easter this year was definitely one to remember! One of the girls who is on staff with me is from out west and we were able to go camping in he hometown.  Her dad who is a pastor came out to the camp and talked to us about the meaning of Easter and we were able to go to their church on Sunday. On the way back home from our fun weekend of camping the tire on the car popped and we were stuck out in the boondocks without reception. I panicked for a few seconds realizing that at any moment some Australian animal could attack me.  Thankfully I realized quickly that I was being dramatic. We put the spare on the care and then realized that the spare was also popped. We were stuck in the outback for days without food or water and I started hallucinating. I’m just kidding. We waved down the next person we saw driving . A very kind lady let us use her phone to call up our friend Michelle and her dad to help us. About 2 hours later we were on the road again with a 6 hour drive back home. I am not sure why, but for some reason I am always in the middle of car trouble. Maybe I shouldn’t be driving? Anyway the weekend was lots of fun! Thanking the Lord I am still alive!

A couple of weeks ago we moved to our new house. Thankfully all we had to do was move our stuff up the street. It was an answer to prayer! Here is  our new address: 251 Hawken Drive St. Lucia QLD 4067 Australia.

The last couple of weeks we started two new discussion groups in one of the colleges called Cromwell on two different floors. We were able to share the gospel with them and next week we will talk more about who Jesus is historically. Most of the girls in the group had never heard of gospel before. If you all could be praying that we would be able to build friendships with these girls and that they would be interested in investigating more of who Jesus really is. Thank you for your prayers! Psalm 89:1 “I will sing of the steadfast love of the Lord, forever; with my mouth I will make known your faithfulness to all generations.”

Prayer Request:
I have been having a Bible study with a girl named Sienna and she has been investigating more about Christianity. If you could be praying for her to understand Gods love for her and that she would desire eternity.

We have our Mid-Year Getaway coming up in July. If you could be praying for students who are investigating Jesus to come to this event.

Students have finals in a few weeks so if you could be praying for them.

Thursday Nights we go to a college called Grace and make pancakes. Pray for  friendships to form from our time there.

Pray for me as I am reminded of where my true home is. Pray that I would be rooted in Christ and that I would finish the semester out strong with boldness in sharing the gospel.

Student Ministry July 2019

Dear Church Family,

Parents, what do you think is the number one most important influence in your child’s life? Would you say social media? What about video games? Maybe some would say their child’s friends? Steve Wright and Chris Graves site several sources in their book Apparent Privilege to show that for the vast majority of students, the number one most important influence in their lives are their parents. Not their peers, not their phones, not their games… their parents. Does that information come as a shock to you? It did to me when I first learned of it. I honestly couldn’t believe that about 70% of kids are actually more shaped by their parents than they are by the world around them. But then I asked the question: what kind of shaping is going on here?

I’m willing to wager that many of you did not know this reality either. But that’s kind of the point. Most parents don’t realize just how important their role in the life of their child really is. That being the case, many parents miss opportunities to lean into the positive influence they have in the spiritual formation of their student. Think about it like trying to play a video game but not knowing which button on the controller does what. You might know what you want to happen, you just don’t realize you have the ability to make it happen. If we forget the potential power that our role as parents has in the development of our children, then all the goals we have for their lives will be nothing more than dreams. If you are a parent, then God gave you that influence for a reason, and He wants you to use it… don’t forget about the influence you can have on your teenager’s spiritual development.

That said, what are your goals for your child? Seriously… what are they? Are they that your student would know Jesus and grow up into His maturity so they can enjoy Him and glorify Him forever? (Ephesians 4:14-16) There are certainly more hopes and dreams we have for our children. But are there any goals you have that may interfere with what the     primary goal ought to be? Every parent must honestly answer, yes. At least sometimes. Maybe all the time.

What do we do if our goals for our children are wrong and ungodly? We do the hardest thing for any parent to do… we let go. Let go of ungodly, unhelpful goals. They aren’t goals so much as speedbumps to all the exciting things God wants to do our students’ lives. When we let go of ungodly goals and remember the real and powerful influence God has given us over their lives, we will begin to see the Lord work in them in a renewed and impressive way. Don’t be like parents of the world who want to let go of their influence and hold on to their idolized dreams. God has called us to something greater. With Him guiding us daily, we can do it.