Grill-A-Christian Recap

This past Thursday night, Hamline's InterVarsity chapter hosted their annual Grill-A-Christian forum. We had 5 panelists who were willing to get peppered with questions from students dealing with many aspects of Christianity.

For a week leading up to the event, some InterVarsity students had a table set up outside the cafeteria asking students to submit questions. A lot of great questions were turned in, and I got to sort through them all and present them to the panelists on Thursday night.



There were about 50 people there (a lot less than hoped, but many new faces), and the discussion went on for about 90 minutes. The questions dealt with the reality of God, sexuality, God's justice, and many other topics. The panelists were able to respond to these questions with wisdom and grace, frequently touching on the deeper emotions that might cause someone to ask questions like these. Through it all, God's love and his desire to be in relationship with all of creation was on display.




It was an exciting event to be a part of, but in reality, this discussion was another step in our process of reaching the campus. In the coming weeks, there will be many opportunities to begin new conversations with students. It is my prayer that each of us at Hamline, the students and myself, would be able to engage others in valuable and meaningful conversations, continuing to share this message of God's love. I ask that you also join in prayer for more opportunities to connect and share with others. Hopefully many more stories are yet to come.

Deron

Well, I wasn't able to track down the pictures I hoped to from Breakaway, but I do have this:



It's the 12 students from Hamline (along with our volunteer Richard and myself) who attended Breakaway. In the few weeks since the event, I've heard great reports from students about God challenging them to grow in new ways. Many of the stories deal with personal growth, but there's also a growing desire for prayer on campus...part of which can be attributed to experiences at the retreat. Students are seeing the importance of prayer in personally growing closer to Christ and also when it comes to reaching the campus.

Another bit of exciting news from the weekend. Two somewhat reluctant students approached me at the retreat with an idea about a Bible study. Over the next several days we met to process through their idea and see what it would look like in action, and I'm happy to report that the group is up and running...and there's a lot of excitement about it. I'm excited to see these two students growing in their leadership skills and their willingness to take on new challenges.

Speaking of leadership, I've spent the past 2 Sunday afternoons with students doing some Small Group Leader training. It's been a good time of sharing about fundamentals of leadership and Bible study preparation, and moving forward it seems this training is a good starting point for many new leadership opportunities this school year and next.

This coming Thursday (the 24th), InterVarsity at Hamline is hosting their annual Grill-A-Christian event. It's an opportunity for people to come and ask pastors and well-educated believers difficult questions about Christianity. Our panel this year consists of Richard (the above mentioned and pictured volunteer), Hamline U's Chaplain Nancy, Pastor Peter from Hamline Church (across the street from campus) and Pastor Mark from Substance Church (just up the road in Roseville). In the past, the event has been well-received by the campus community, and we expect the same this year. We have already been out asking students around campus what questions they might have, and based on those responses alone, the discussion will be quite exciting.

Prayer Requests:
This Thursday night - Pray that students would come eager to learn and with good questions to ask. Also be praying for the follow-up process as we look to provide opportunities for students to approach these questions in a Bible study setting.
Prayer on campus
This semester's Bible study leaders

As always, thank you for your prayers, and if there's any more you'd like to know, don't hesitate to ask.
-Deron