Six Week Quest and Jubilee

Dear faithful supporters,

I apologize for not staying in touch as often as I promised. Lately in blog-world I have been giving most of my attention and writing time to a Lenten Study blog called "Six Week Quest." I highly recommend you take a look at this blog to get a better feel for what my college students and young adults are going through, especially if you are in search of a Lenten study yourself.

If you look at this blog you'll actually be able to read several comments that students of mine have been making; I hope you will find them to be as insightful as I have.

This past weekend I took nine students with me to the annual Jubilee Conference in Pittsburgh. Everyone in my group had an incredible time. We were blessed to hear words of wisdom and authenticity from speakers such as John Perkins, Makoto Fujimura, Susan Isaacs, Bob Gaff, and many many others. On the ride home we shared ways the Lord had worked through the conference to specifically speak to each of us. Overall the conference was an amazing gift from God for everyone who attended.

Lauren Sell, a student from Messiah and member of Manoa Presbyterian, told me that it was the best conference she had ever been to, and that she couldn't wait to go again next year. Even though the conference is geared toward college students, April Woods, a school teacher and regular attender of the Manoa Presbyterian evening services, said that after being to dozens of conferences over the years, Jubilee was by far one of her favorites. Justin Poole, another young adult who is currently working toward his doctorate, confessed to me that the conference far exceeded his expectations in the very best way possible. I am very pleased that all the attendees enjoyed themselves, but even more pleased to have already witnessed seeds that have begun to sprout in each of them through conversations we had during the conference, and on the ride home.

Please pray that these seeds as nourished by my ministry and their church community so the Spirit can be ever more glorified in their lives.

Blessings.

Snowy weather and what's next.

As all of you know from your aching backs and cold toes the passed few days students and campus ministers alike have been knee-to-waist deep in snow.

For this reason Rachel and I have not seen Sam for days. Sam is the name we chose for our new 2000 Saturn Wagon. I don't remember whether this was included in my blog or not, but God completely answered our prayer for a means of transportation. A friend of a friend happened to be getting rid of his car because he could no longer afford the insurance, so he just gave it to us! The name Sam is short for Samuel. Samuel means "God Heard" or "request of God." You may remember the story of Samuel, his mother was barren and prayed to God for a son, and promised Him that she would dedicate her son to Him if she ever gave birth. God heard her prayer, and answered. In a similar way, we prayed for a car, God heard, and God provided.

Our weekly small groups this week were canceled, and so was a one-on-one meeting that I was really looking forward to. A few weeks ago Katie Zoet, one of my co-workers, passed along an e-mail from a lady named Wendy who was looking for a Wednesday or Thursday night small group for a young guy she knew to attend. In the e-mail she made it clear that the guy (Chris is his name) was a family friend who knew very little about God and Jesus, and was new to the religion scene in general. Ever since then I have e-mailed back and forth with the Wendy to learn more about Chris, and find out exactly how I can help. After about a week we thought it would be best for me to contact with him, so I called, and we set up a time to meet. We were supposed to meet on Tuesday, but due to the weather we have postponed until this coming Tuesday.

This Sunday is Valentine's Day, and it is also the beginning of Lent. I am excited to be starting the Lenten series "A Hole in our Gospel" which I have mentioned in previous blogs; it will also be featured in this month's newsletter which is being worked on presently. To learn more visit

I learned about this study during my time at the Urbana Conference in December, it was being handed out at the World Vision booth. I also learned about an awesome branch of World Vision called Act:s which exists specifically to challenge students to start campaigns that raise awareness and relief resources for worldwide causes, such as Malaria, starvation, Child Slavery, and many more. Act:s also works with individuals who they call "mobilizers" to assist in special projects, campaigns, and events. I'm currently working in conjunction with them, the director of CCTI (Cross-Cultural Theater Initiative), and some of my CCO co-workers in developing a special Haiti Mission Trip in Philly. The basic concept right now is to have a mission trip in Philly where students and young adults would interact and serve the Haitian community right here in our backyard. We would learn their stories, serve their community, and learn about their culture over the course of ten days. World Vision is looking into the possibility of having speakers come, and the Director of CCTI wants to use the experience as an ethnographic study which he would turn into play that would be produced in 2011. The catch is, even though the mission trip is local, the cost of the trip would be equivalent to a mission trip to Haiti, which would be about $2500.00. All the extra money raised that didn't go toward costs for the local trip would go directly toward Haiti relief. Part of the reason we would do a local trip rather than one to the actual country of Haiti is that the $2500.00 each participant raises could actually do a lot more good if we just sent it as relief.

Alaina, a friend of mine who has traveled to Haiti, shared a story with me about her trip. During her trip she spent a lot of time with her translator and guide. After a few days her guide benevolently made an offhand comment about Alaina's accommodations, pointing out that what she was paying per night at her hotel would be a little more than the wages he made in a week. The chasm between Alaina's wealth and her guide's poverty suddenly became apparent. Alaina doesn't regret going on the trip, but she is now acutely aware of how far our resources and side-cash can really go in an impoverished nation like Haiti.

Speaking of trips, please pray for the following students and young adults who will be attending the Jubilee Conference next weekend. This conference challenges students to devote every area of life to Christ, and to use their gifts wisely for the kingdom:
Skye Randall
Ben Mell
Jess Mell
Justin Poole
Matt Stromberg
April Woods
Christina Caldwell
Erin Gormley
Lauren Sell

This is Elliott, signing off.
In Christ.

Pray for Skye

Dear Friends,

Some of you know Skye, and some of you don't. Skye is a personal friend and a young adult I minister to at Manoa. He was involved in an argument with one of the tenants of the house he and his fiance bought, and intend to move into when they get married. From what I have heard he was trying to confront them one last time with documents proving that they owed him money. They had apparently been purposefully avoiding him for weeks, and were trying to move-out the night in question without paying what they owed him. The tenant had her brother and father with her, and the brother threatened Skye several times, before finally attacking him. Skye produced a weapon for his own safety, and used it to ward off the brother until he could safely return to his room, lock the door, and call the police. Shortly after the police showed up, and were quickly intercepted by the tenant and her family, who told their story first. Skye was arrested and was forced to spend the night in jail. He is now being charged with three counts of assault, including "terrorist threats." I am assuming this last charge is based entirely on the fact that he is a person of color.

Skye is a very peaceful person, and I know he would never use his firearm for anything short of self-defense. Unfortunately the media has already spun it to make him seem like the villian.

Skye will have a court-hearing sometime in the next couple weeks. Please pray for him as a brother in Christ, and spread word about this to anyone who you think would be willing to intercede with the Lord on Skye's behalf. Skye is a well-grounded Christian, and is working on his Master's degree right now. He and his Fiance Cheryl are in the midst of wedding planning. I cannot begin to imagine what sort of impact an unjust ruling would have on Skye and Cheryl's life. Please pray for justice.

In Him,
Elliott

Week of the Lord's Favor: RIP Goldie

What a week, what a week!

Well, it's been a while my friends. Obviously I have not been as faithful in keeping up with this blog as I intended, but given the circumstances I hope you can forgive me.

Last time we left off I shared some stories about Goldie, our car.

I just received word today that Goldie has been freed from all her sufferings, and now is driving around on a golden freeway somewhere in automobile heaven!

Of course, Rachel and I have been praying vigorously since the day of my crash for God to provide us with transportation. I mentioned in my last entry that I was faithful that God would provide, and asked you to pray with me so that we could all glorify Him together when he answered our prayers. Well friend, get ready to celebrate!

Rachel and I received a simple text from our friend Diana on Saturday asking us if we wanted a free car! Rachel spoke with her on the phone, as I was busy in meetings and running a fundraiser all day to help raise money for students to go to the Jubilee conference in February. She found out that Diana had a friend with a car that they never used, and couldn't afford to pay the insurance on. Stefan, Diana's friend, had many fond memories of his car, road-trips and such, and wanted to make sure his car either went to people who really needed it, or he was considering donating it. Well Diana knew we really needed it and put us in contact with him. Turns out Stefan needed to know soon, because he registration ran out today, so we made an arrangement with him that we would have it inspected by someone we trusted, and if it didn't need a lot of work (more than $1000.00 worth)then we would take it! We didn't get our hopes up though, it is a 2000 Saturn wagon with more than 120,000 miles on it, and the last two times Stefan had it inspected it cost him $600.00 and $1000.00 to pass respectively. We took it in this morning hoping for the best but expecting the worst, only to find out a few hours later that all it needed was an oil change, bringing the bill to a grand total of $68.00!

Praise God! Before we have even settled on the estimate for our totaled vehicle God provided a new one!

One last story of God's amazing provision. As I mentioned before I spent most of my Saturday helping to run a fundraiser to assist students in raising money for the Jubilee conference. This is the CCO's annual conference, and is actually the reason I ended up working for them in the first place. It is an incredible conference which in my opinion every college should go to at least once. In fact me and three other local staff members believe in this conference so much we went out of our way to devise a fundraiser in our free time to help raise money for the students who wanted to go but couldn't afford to. The fundraiser was called "breakfast for dinner," which basically is exactly what it sounds like. We borrowed the fellowship hall from my church, and set it up to emulate a restaurant, then from 5-8pm students hoping to go to the Jubilee conference served everyone who showed up one of three possible breakfast items: pancakes, waffles, or eggs. It was a huge success, considering that only a quarter of the people we expected actually showed up. If you remember there was a bit of a snow storm on Saturday. We raised half of what we hoped, which is actually quite encouraging, it showed that people were twice as generous as we expected. Still, with that much raised would would not be able to cover transportation costs for students to Pittsburgh and back, which can easily cost over $150.

After the evening finished I was left with mixed feelings of triumph and despair. I was so happy with the way the night turned out, and how supportive everyone had been, but we still needed to raise more money. We still had over 50 pledge forms left, which encouraged people to give $40, $50, $70, $100, or any other amount towards transportation, scholarships, or the jubilee fund. I knew I could take a chance by putting them into the church bulletins, but I had no idea what kind of response we would get. My fears told me that our low turn-out had more to do with lack of interest than snow, but my hope told me that we could possibly get at least another $200 or $300 if the right people were in attendance on Sunday. My hopeful side won out, so I spent an hour before our morning church service stuffing bulletins. I asked Jim, the guest preacher that morning, if I could say something brief to encourage people to give, and he obliged. After the service I set up a small sign and donation basket in the hospitality area where people enjoy fellowship and snacks together. I asked Pat, one of the young adults I minister to, to collect the basket and bring it with him to Sunday School for me to count. He came through the door ten minutes after we started the lesson with the basket overflowing. I didn't have a chance to count the donations until a hour or so later, but as I had guessed by the look of the basket, people's giving had far outreached my expectations. When all was said and done, the donations we received on Saturday night were doubled on Sunday! Praise God!

All of these clear signs of God's provision in my life are taking place at such a perfect time. My students and I have been talking a lot about poverty and have spent much time discussing God's sabbaths and the Jubilee year (aka the year of the Lord's favor). In these discussions we have learned how important relying on God's provision rather than our own paychecks or sense of power and wealth is to a healthy spiritual outlook on life. I am so thankful that God has seen it fit to so clearly show his glory and provision in my life during this season! I know that we all encounter times of harvest and times of famine alike, and that both come from the Lord, but praise Him for this amazing time of blessing and provision. Thank you for your prayers and support! You are also amazing blessings given to me and Rachel from the Lord. Your prayers, encouragement, and gifts show us God's love and provision most of all!

Until next time :)

The Aftermath

Goldie took a beating this past week. She is currently in critical condition. We are still waiting to hear from specialists whether she will pull through. It very well may be that her last act was protecting me from harm.

Goldie was born in 2001, in a Ford factory somewhere in America. She is a model Focus, and her body is covered in Gold, hence her name.

I inherited Goldie from my wife while we were still dating. Rachel lived close enough to work to take public transportation, so I worked out a deal with her father and got the car for a buck. Goldie has proved herself a faithful servant ever since.

And oh the places we have gone! To Pittsburgh and back several times! Down to my home in Gaithersburg, MD and back. To Rachel's home in North Jersey and back countless times. And, least we forget, Goldie took us on our honeymoon tour of over ten states along the east coast. To top it all off, most recently Goldie took me and Rachel all the way to St. Louis and back. Before we left we treated her to some spiffy new tires, and a full inspection! Never once, in all this time has she complained. She didn't complain when she was attacked by a suicide deer, which left her with an unsightly deformity on her trunk. She didn't complain last winter when a slippery snow storm sent her crashing into a sign and almost a telephone poll. Yup. Goldie is an icon of endurance and persistence.

Sure, she's had her troubles, like any car with 150,000 miles. She's needed a few key components fixed over the past year, including a timing belt, and that thingy the engine sits on, but she always comes out on the other side of her ailments ready for more action.

Well, this past week was a particularly hard week for Old Goldie. First, last Monday a car ahead of her rudely ran over a heavy medal disk along the highway and shot it directly towards us. I had only a split second to react, just enough time to realize that I really couldn't do anything--swerving on the highway doesn't usually turn out well, as we'll see later. I was sure if the object which was shotgunned toward us hit the windshield, it would easily break through and collide with me. Luckliy, Goldie took the hit for me, right in the head of her hood. Whatever the object was, it left a nasty jagged scar right in the middle of the dent left by the deer years earlier.

A few days later, Rachel and I left our house only to find that our poor Goldie had sustained yet another injury. At some point between breakfast and 2pm that day another car we suspect drove by and thwacked her right in the left rear-view mirror. When we found her the plastic holding the mirror was hanging by a wire, and the actual mirror was laying on the ground miraculously still in one piece. I had some first-aid training in boy scouts when I was young, and I knew time was of the essence, so I quickly bandaged up her wound as best I could with Duct tape. We got everything in place just in time to leave and get Rachel to work on time.

That weekend (which was this past weekend) I traveled home. On Monday, during my return trip, the unthinkable happened. Goldie and I were driving along steadily, intent on getting home to see Rachel as soon as possible while still observing the legal speed limits, when all of a sudden a gray truck the size of a stegasaurus quickly tried merging into our lane. Goldie was in his blind spot, so we quickly veered out of the behemoth's way, down an exit ramp. The roads were slick that day from the rain, and Goldie tried her best to steady us, but inevitably lost control. We swerved left and right until finally Goldie smashed her nose into the guard rail, spun around, and rammed her backend into the guard rail. We were perpendicular to oncoming traffic!

Praise God, the traffic stopped, and Goldie used all the strength she had to move us to the shoulder, and to safety. I was, and am, completely uninjured. Praise God. Not as much can be said for Goldie.

After a couple hours, and some help from the local law enforcement, my insurance company, a tow-truck, and my mom and sister, I was able to get Goldie to a body shop, and grab a rental car to return home with. Goldie is still sitting in Rockville receiving care from some very well trained professionals.

I told this story in a light way so that you can clearly see that our hearts have not been stunned or discouraged in any way by our recent misfortune. The car was given to us by God, and might be taken away by God. God provided before, and he will provide again. God protected me, I should died multiple times in that car, but He has protected me. But, one day God will call me home. No matter what happens, Rachel and I put our trust in him.

That being said, Goldie was a key part of my ministry. Without a car, my job will become very difficult, and very complicated, as will Rachel's life. Please pray that our car can be fixed, or that God would provide another car, or another form of transportation--aka a jet pack--as quickly as possible. I would like for you to pray this so God will be glorified when He does provide for us, and so that you will be further encouraged in your prayer life and reliance on God.

To God be the glory!

Costco and College Transition

It's already noon and this is the first chance I have had to sit down to my computer and get to work. Well, that's not true. I did sit down at my laptop at about 7am this morning to look up directions to Alaina's house in North Philly.

Alaina is a Co-worker of mine. She used to work with the EIC program (Eastern in the city) until it was shut-down last year. She was shuffled to a position on campus, where she provides academic advisement to students struggling with grades and poor study habits. I picked her up this morning to take her to Costco. She's working out the budget and menu for a fundraiser that she, Katie Zoet--another coworker, and I are putting together to help our students afford to go to the Jubilee Conference in February. The event is called "Breakfast for Dinner." Even though we are doing a lot of the organizational stuff, students who are planning on attending the Jubilee will be running the event on Jan 30th, 5-8pm.

It's always nice working on projects like this with my co-workers. Believe it or not my job can be pretty lonely sometimes. I basically have to set my own goals, strategies, and schedules everyday of every week by myself, and then try to keep myself accountable to those things. I'm not complaining; it's the nature of the job, I understand that. But, it is nice every once in a while to work side-by-side with people who really understand what you're going through.

In a way, that's really a core part of my job; identifying with students and trying my best to understand what they are going through. Lucky for me, being only two years out of college myself, I don't have to search very far into my own personal experience to recall what types of struggles they are encountering. I remember what it was like struggling with purpose, and wondering why exactly I was even in college, other than for the mere reason that it was expected of me. I remember too, feeling distanced from God, and uprooted from my life as a dependent youth. As much as I hated to admit it, being dependent, and having everything handed to me, actually had a lot of benefits.

Many students struggle with these basic questions of identity and purpose all the way through college, and I don't have to tell you that many of them look for the answers in all the wrong places.

One of my students, a girl named Wathira, is facing these hard questions as a senior in college. She has enjoyed college in some ways, and despised it in others, but what really scares her now is the daunting reality that college is quickly coming to an end. She has no idea what will come after college. She was told in high school that college was the time and place when you find out what you will do with your life. Yet here she is, with no clear direction for where do go. She will graduate in May with a degree in English literature, this is a subject she is passionate about, and loves writing essays on, but she cannot conceive of a job in that field which would suit her. So then the bigger question hits her, "What did I just spend four years of my life doing? What did I just spend over $120,000.00 on exactly?"

The age old compulsive response that everyone wants to tell her is "Well, with a degree at least you can get a job." The problem with old truisms is after a while they're just old. The fact is more people have degrees in the world today than ever before in history, and a bachelor's degree just isn't as impressive as it used to be. Fact: My wife is working on getting her master's degree and she works at Starbucks. Fact: All of her co-workers have either a master's degree, bachelor's degree, or associate's degree. So the lesson is: I can get a job at Starbucks right out of high school, OR four years, $120,000.00, and a bachelor's degree later I can... ... get a job at Starbucks? Something isn't right with this picture.

This is the reality that Wathira and many of her peers are transitioning into. On top of this, there doesn't seem to be a community for her to enter into that will help her through this transition. The world tells her that if she has made it through college then she ought to be able to fend for herself. Degree equals responsible adult, didn't you know? Of course, her degree wasn't in "responsible adult." In fact the average college student doesn't receive one iota of training on how to survive in the real world as an adult from their university.

Thankfully, Wathira is part of a weekly coffeehouse small group. During the small group time she gets to meet and talk with young adults who have graduated from college some time in the last 2-5 years. She is gradually building relationships with people who still very much know what Wathira is going through, and can share all the wisdom and knowledge they have gleaned in the past few years. Building relationships like these are essential for someone in Wathira's shoes. I know this because almost every new young adult I meet who I invite to small group tells me they have been looking or praying for something just like this for a long time. Many of them come depressed and downhearted, but by the end of the first or second meeting they are shining with joy and laughter. I'm aware that their joy may only last until half-way through their drives home, but for all of them the small groups are a penetrating light in their week when they can commune together, share their struggles and joys, and delve into scripture.

Pray for all the college students and young adults out there who are still seeking fellowship and community, and are struggling with meaning and purpose during this next week.

Until Next Time.
In Christ,
Elliott

Coffeehouse Office

Well, here I am again, at the Gryphon, with one awesome addition; my wife Rachel is sitting across the table from me. She has no idea I'm writing about her. She's working hard on some homework from her grad class. She's going back to school to get her Master's in teaching. It's her day off...well sort of. She didn't have to work at Starbucks today--a part-time job which helps us with health insurance and other bills--but she did have almost two hours of class already.

We joke to each other that if we ever go into the mission field we might actually find time to relax.

Missions have been on both our minds lately with the tragedy of Haiti still very much present in the news. We wonder how long the media will keep reporting about them. We wonder how long we'll remember them.

Small group went really well last night, although only about half the group showed up. That left about five of us total, which is a good size for a small group. Numbers never bother me too much. I faithfully do my job the best I can everyday, and trust that God sends who he will send. Anyways, last night we talked about "Poverty and Justice." After being sent--free of charge--to the Urbana Conference with my wife this winter, I left inspired, and decided that the 2010 theme for the young adults and college students in my ministry would be "Poverty and Justice."

During the missions conference I found many helpful resources, including a 6-week lesson and journal series called "The Hole in Our Gospel" based on Richard Stearns book (President of World Vision) by the same name. I decided to use this journal series as a Lenten study, which starts in about four weeks. I've spent the last week studying the bible and reading books about the Christian's responsibility for the poor, hungry, sick, and marginalized. Getting into this I thought I was already pretty well-suited to lead others in becoming aware of the needs around us, and show them how to be proactive in meeting those needs. But somehow the more I study and pray the less adequate I feel. The funny thing about delving into the lives of the poor and destitute is that the more you learn the less capable you feel to make a difference. This rubs my academic mind the wrong way. I like learning about a problem, and then quickly learning a solution. It's a fairly painless process. Learning about the lives of the poor is very painful...and unsettling, because my own life begins to seem much more luxurious than I would like it to seem.

At the end of the series the college students and young adults will be challenged to actually find a way to actively stand up for justice for those who have no voice, or start a campaign on campus that will raise awareness around a particular issue, like clean water, the spread of AIDS, or the child sex-trade.

If you're interested in any of this, or want a closer look at what we'll be doing, you can check out the website. It actually has the 42-day journal online for free, so if you feel compelled you could do your own Leneten study.
http://www.ministryplanet.net/sites/sixweekquest

Well, that's my 15 minutes. Back to work, got another small group tonight, this time it's at Starbucks!

Until next time.