Hello, friends!
Happy Friday to you all. I hope you are all enjoying your week and are preparing for a stellar weekend. This week was definitely a long one for me in terms of work but it's a good kind of tired. I'm especially encouraged by what happened at Lincoln this past week.
My normal plan for Lincoln is to carpool with a friend of mine down to Jefferson City, drop him off around 7:30, spend the day on campus meeting students and praying, then be done by 4 to pick up my friend and head back to CoMO. Megan needed me to watch Ezra @ 2 and I had set up a meeting off campus @ 9:30 so I already knew that I was going to have a shorter day. It's amazing what can happen in just a little bit of time.
I got onto campus around 11 and checked inside the prayer box that I'd left on the counter of the bookstore. The first few weeks we'd had about 3 prayer requests but this week there were 8, including one student who wanted for "God to use her as his vessel on campus." I'd say praying for that is a pretty good start, wouldn't you?
The plan from there was to meet students for lunch @ noon and then head back by about 1:15 so I could get the car back to Megan by 2. That makes for about 75 minutes worth of vision casting and bible study. Of course, that supposes that students don't show up late and/or have to leave early. =0). Instead of 75 minutes, we ended up with about 15 minutes, which was really just enough time to share a little about our stories and do a little vision casting.
On my way home, I really didn't know what to think. We sort of got our bible study started but there wasn't as much momentum or time together as I would have liked. I had plans and they didn't really get executed as much as I would have like. But then I started thinking about WHO was there.
Looking back at the students who were there, even though it was just a short meeting, I don't think I could have asked for a better group in terms of students to potentially plant a ministry.
First there was the "Gatherer." M is a total gatherer. She showed up late but she knew EVERYONE. In fact, most every student who came by our table did so to say hi to her. One of her friends even stayed for our bible study! In order for a plant to get off the ground, there needs to be a student who knows everyone and is unafraid to invite people. Which brings us to...
The "New Kid." G just stopped by to say hello to M but it was enough for her to stay when invited. It's one thing to have a group of solid students who are committed to the group and coming regularly. It's another thing entirely to have new students coming and checking things out, even if they don't all stay. A good group needs to begin with a culture of newcomers. Once the new kids get locked in, they can start to be affected by...
The "Influencer." This is the student who not only knows everyone but gets that it's about more than getting together and that it's about mission. The Gatherer and the Influencer differ in how they best express themselves. The G is all over the place with a lot of acquaintances. The Influencer knows lots of people too but he also has a few really tight relationships and sees himself as a leader. I'm pretty sure that A is going to be the Influencer in our group.
I'd be remiss if I didn't also mention how important it is for us to have the "White Guy" in our group to start too. Lincoln actually has more White students than Black students but most of student life is centered around the Black students because they are the ones who live on campus. If we're going to be a group that truly reaches the entire campus, it's important for us to begin with diversity instead of trying to add it later.
Friends, please continue to pray for our little group at Lincoln. The question is always who is going to show up the SECOND week. That's what builds momentum.
Have an excellent day!
~Adam
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