A Voice in the Wilderness

Mav Stampede!!!!!! Hanging outside with some of the gals we met!

A voice of one calling:

“In the wilderness prepare

the way for the Lord;

make straight in the desert

a highway for our God.

Isaiah 40:3

God has been so good and faithful the past two weeks in the middle of what has felt a lot like uncertainty and the unknown. Despite limitations from Covid we have still been able to meet students and invite them into community. Students seem to be more desperate for friends and connection than ever before with many finding it difficult to make friends this year.

Hannah and I with two of the sweet girls we met in the past two weeks.

I got to have a really sweet conversation with one of the girls I met this week. She sort of grew up in the church but has been feeling distant from God recently and like she can't approach him. I got to share the story of the prodigal son with her and God's radical immense grace. It was a grace in and of itself to get to share how good our God is with her. It reminded me of how sweet our God is to let us participate in spreading his good news to others. She has joined my core and I can't wait to see what God does in her life this year.

First TNF of the year. We streamed from Northeast Church.

Instead of doing Thursday Night Fellowship this year we have decided to do a series on the book of Mark that we are calling Deep Dive. We are unable to meet as a whole community due to Covid so we wanted to do something different this year and do it well. Each week we will dig into a chapter of Mark and have a longer teaching time for students to really encounter the text. I am so excited to see where it goes!

The first Deep Dive of the year! Did a zoom watch party with my core.

Cores also started this week and have been so successful and good. I am really excited to see what God does with our core this year. Be sure to check out the student testimony below and as always thank you for your support!

In Christ,

Emily Umstead

Comments

Let Justice Flow

Earlier this month we had Summer Leadership Training (SLT). It was a three day training for all the potential and past student leaders in our ministry. (Most of it was held online with the option of some social distancing in person.) Since we couldn't take our students to SICM (Student Institute of Campus Ministry) up in Seattle, Washington like we normally do we developed this three day training as a replacement! Students learned new ways of walking with God, what servant leadership and discipleship is, why we do core, how to ask good questions and more! Each day we got to discuss with our small group what we had learned that day. Over 100 college students dedicated three whole days investing in their growth as leaders and disciples. This is not normal. I often forget how countercultural it is to value something like SLT. Yet these students have caught the vision. They are fired up and excited to spread the good new on their campuses.

Every year we fundraise our salaries. And ea…

Steadfast

Know therefore that the LORD your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations. Deuteronomy 7:9
If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself. 2 Timothy 2:13
The first two weeks of the school year are a time of stepping out in faith and perseverance. We spend much of those two weeks on campus meeting new people, getting numbers, and inviting, inviting, inviting. We use our lunches and dinners, classes, and school events as opportunities to meet God's children. Those who know Him already and those who don't. Those who love Him and those who are suspicious of Him. It can be a fun, overwhelming, fulfilling, and exhausting two weeks. But God is so faithful to respond to our efforts. He is steadfast in opening doors and moving in the hearts of those we meet.

I am beyond excited to see what God does with this new year! Core starts this week! Please be praying God…

Unified

9 After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. 10 And they cried out in a loud voice: “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.” Revelation 7:9-10
We have been doing a sermon series on Ephesians the last couple weeks and I have been reflecting a lot on what unity in the body of Christ looks like and what our response to the grace of the Gospel should be. When researching for a sermon I came across the Basilica of the Annunciation which is in Nazareth, Israel. It was built to commemorate Mary being told she was to have Jesus.

This church has commissioned Christian artists from all over the world to depict Mary and Jesus in their cultural styles and symbols and the results are beautiful. Here are a few of my favorites.

I see this artwork and I reali…

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