Our return to New York has been very gratifying. We have been challenged and stretched in all the right ways and see God using both our gifts and discomfort to grow his Kingdom. Sonja has been given more and more responsibility with Redeemer Presbyterian Church at the Center for Faith and Work (You can check it out at www.faithandwork.org) and I have been growing into my role as a leader, teacher, and shepherd for students at NYU.
Through the dips and turns in our life we have confirmed that we would like to spend the next year serving in and around New York City. Sonja will continue full time at Redeemer and I have been mulling over different options to pursue further theological education while still remaining involved at NYU. I would like to invite you, specifically, to be a part of our ministry here in New York City. Here are a couple snapshots of what God has been doing in and through us over the Fall.
snapshot 1: Nick is a sophomore who transferred to NYU after a year of college on the West Coast. Nick is a joiner. He's gotten involved with several of the Christian groups on campuses, in addition to finding a home church. We get to see him more than most, since he regularly attends Nav Night and the men's Bible study. When Nick moved to NYC, he also reconnected with his high school friend, Ben. Ben has had a hard time making friends at NYU, and was more than curious that Nick had such a committed community even though he had just transferred. So he asked Nick if he could check out the Navs.
snapshot 2: We were well into our annual Jingle Mingle holiday party when we noticed two unfamiliar faces in our home, apparently unconnected to anyone else. Mike introduced himself and found out that they had been invited to a party down the street. They chatted with Mike & some other friends and decided to stay around for a bit; they didn't really know anyone at the other party and were enjoying the company and the thoughtful, lucid conversations they were having in our home. We exchanged contact information and agreed to meet again. These would be examples of what 'invitational community' looks like in our wildest dreams, but God is simply not content to let it be a mere idea. He insists on making his grace known.
We are, miraculously, at one of those euphoric moments in ministry when almost everyone is in love with each other and life seems full of endless possibilities. But the truth is that we know very little about life as a body, identifying and stepping into the gifts which God gives us to serve the body.
As last semester came to a close, some of our student leaders shared that they feel uncomfortable and ineffective in their respective roles, especially as the demands of their academic pursuits left them with little time to plan new events or take on new projects. On one hand, we are delighted that they are being challenged to be especially thoughtful about how they measure success and failure. At the same time, we see that the time is ripe for them to learn to be mobilized as a body with many differing parts.
This dialectic is being worked out at a larger scale, as we, along with several students, got to experience at the Urbana missions conference over the holiday break. For years the American church has assumed its position as the leader of the global church, yet the North American church loses 6000+ people a year. Meanwhile, our sister churches in Africa, Asia, and South America are experiencing unprecedented growth. The conference gave us a moment to reflect and rejoice in the Christ who is bringing together warring cultures and personalities as an expression of his reconciling love. The heart cry we heard at Urbana was that we, the church, have a great calling to radical interdependence with one another to make known the mystery of his Cross.
We are excited and expectant as we wait to see how the Spirit will bring this to bear in our microcosm at NYU this semester. Would you watch and wait and debate and plead with us?
Some things you can pray for:
1. The Veritas Forum @ NYU February 6-8. There will be some excellent speakers this year including Dr. Emmanuel Katongole, Erwin McManus, Makoto Fujimura, and Gary Haugen will be addressing issues of suffering, reconciliation, healing, and relief in a broken world. Pray for our follow up with interested students and space for the events to take place.
2. Our annual Northeast Regional Navs Conference in Plainfield, NH February 16-18. The theme of this years conference is the Seed and will address how the Gospel starts in small and unexpected ways. Mike will be leading worship for the conference and both of us will be giving workshops. Pray for our preparation and pray that God readies students to know Him more as a result.
3. We are taking a spring break trip to Amsterdam March 10-17. Our plan is to go as learners and observers to what God is doing in an urban context much like ours in New York. The campus ministry groups, in particular, are flourishing and we would like to find if there are best practices that we can employ at NYU. Pray for funding for the people going. Pray for our time in the Word as we study Kingdom-centered prayer and the role of the Holy Spirit.
4. Especially for Mike as he continues to help guide the leadership teams as well as mentoring and discipling young leaders. One goal is to equip leaders with ministry skills and ground them in the spritual disciplines of scripture memory, fasting, and prayer.
And for Sonja as she fights the battle of doing the job of two people at CFW. Pray that they would hire a new person to help with the load.
5. Our fundraising efforts on behalf of our students, that finances would not be prohibitive for the students as we pursue these learning and service-training opportunities in New Hampshire and Amsterdam. May they discover that they, too, are part of communities willing to help Prepare them and Send them to proclaim good news.
Through him who binds us all together,
Mike & Sonja
