I'm back and rested and excited to share about last week. Chapter Focus Week is always an exciting and exhausting time in the life of any IV staff worker. It's a week of jam-packed training, lots of student time, and beautiful Lake Huron.

3 Hamline students (Alia, Nate, and Ronnie) braved the 9 hour road trip and spent the week doing some in-depth study in the book of Mark. Each day they spent at least 5 hours in their track, working through the stories of Jesus with other students. I think it was difficult for each of them to fully wrap their minds around all the ways they encountered Jesus through their study, but I know that there's a deep stirring happening in each of them. Couple that with the excellent preaching from Jonah about God's call, passion, mission, and vision, and needless to say, I'm excited for how each of them will be used at Hamline this coming year. Please be lifting each of them up in prayer as they continue to process through all that God was working in them last week.

CFW 2014 Small Group...yeah, they're pretty great

As for me, I once again joined with 6 other staff to train a new group of small group leaders for ministry back on their campuses. I worked with 5 students from the Milwaukee School of Engineering, Carthage College, and the University of Wisconsin - Marshfield. They learned how to prepare sound and productive Bible studies and had a chance to lead and get feedback from their peers. More than that, we discussed what other responsibilities come with leading a small group -- building community, worshipping together, and engaging in outreach to others on campus. It is always amazing how quickly the groups come together during the week, and this group in particular was able to find support and encouragement from each other on some pretty critical things (and they have some good communication set up to continue that support over the summer). Please be in prayer for Bailey, Marissa, Drew, Jacob, and Jordan as they process through everything we challenged them with over the course of the week.

Now that summer has come around, my schedule adjusts to a strong focus on preparing for next school year. That means a lot of reading and praying as everything comes together for reaching out to new students and continuing to pour in to returning students. There will also be the usual checking in with current and future ministry partners. Please join in prayer for this time of preparation and sharing the vision of God changing lives on campus.

Thanks so much for partnering with God's work at Hamline and St. Olaf. It was a great school year, and that brings a lot of hope and confidence for the years ahead. If you ever have questions about more specifics, please e-mail me. And if you would like to partner financially, click here.

Thanks Again!