July

In the course of a campus ministry year, summer offers remarkable perspective. And the perspective our team is currently gaining excites us tremendously! God continues His great work—through and despite us—building laborers for the Kingdom. Even though our evaluations are limited, your prayers and investments are clearly earning a return!

Perspective from the SBP: In any work, evaluation and planning require some type of goals; in our calling to build laborers on the campus for the lost world, it’s helpful for us to understand “4 E’s”-- Evangelize, Establish, Equip and Export-- as goals in our discipleship.

Students are evangelized... One Georgia Tech student named Brad has become a Christian while on SBP. God has been working for months now through fraternity brothers and one of our staff teammates to change Brad’s life. Several other students on the project are in Brad’s fraternity, and along with Bryan Riddle (our staff campus director), they had been sharing the Gospel with him and several others this past spring semester. Now Brad is growing in his new walk with God, studying His Word and even praying with these other friends that God would continue to work in their fraternity to make Christ known and loved.

Students are established... Remember Matt Skovgard from our last update? Matt might have the coolest job this summer; he works as a scuba instructor in North Myrtle Beach. In fact, he has been sharing his faith with co-workers and customers. Matt sees the essential connection between his new relationship with Christ and his opportunities to share the Gospel with others. And Matt’s interest in the Scriptures continues to grow as he receives practical training in how to study the Bible on his own. Seeing Matt (and other students like him) grow and interact with others on the project assures us that God is establishing new believers in their growth to maturity.

Six of these other students are rising sophomores in Alpha Delta Pi sorority. Their friendships strengthen our team in an important way. As these girls-- some of them for the first time-- pursue God with intention and focus, many others back on the campus will notice. Please pray for God to strengthen our communities and friendships as we seek to grow and labor together.

Students are equipped... Josh, as a rising sophomore, has been pursuing God hard this summer. He realizes that SBP offers a special time for training that can’t be duplicated back on the campus. So Josh has been proactive to engage deeply with the guys in his room and to give priority to time in the Word. We couldn’t be more excited about where Josh is! He and many other students are being equipped to share Christ with others and even to disciple some in a growing relationship with Christ. Please pray that God would continue this equipping work in Josh and others. And please ask God to give us more insight to how we can serve each of these students and effectively invest our lives with them.

Perspective from our staff retreat: Now, in the weeks the SBP runs without our staff, we have the best opportunities to evaluate and plan ahead for the next year, even several years of ministry. As in any other work or calling, these seasons of evaluation, planning and prayer are vital to our effectiveness. The most encouraging themes from these times have been the deepening trust on our staff team, each of our individual developments as leaders, of course the exciting growth we see in the students, and the addition of a new staff member here at Georgia Tech-- Stephen McGuire. Please pray for this special time of planning.

Perspective from the Word: (Col 1:9-14) “asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God...” We trust God for these things in Christ--in our lives and in yours--that we might know and follow Him.