*unable to think of catchy title for today

Well, that time of year has come again. Dorm rooms are packed up, finals are winding down, fancy hats and long flowing robes are being worn, flocks of young adults are being released on the summer job market...to the delight of many, the school year is over!

For the students at Hamline, that means unwinding from the stress of finals, freedom from homework for a few months, and another year of ministry on campus has come to an end. For me, next school year has (in ways) already begun. This summer will be spent planning, reading, brainstorming, trying to meet with as many student leaders as I can (who's available next week?), basically doing whatever is possible to hit the ground running when students come back to campus in August.

Over the past several weeks, I have had a few opportunities to get on campus and meet with some of the student leaders. They are a fun group, excited to see God work on campus, and anxious to be used in that work. There are already plans in place for at least 5 Bible studies, with some of the students taking their first foray into the exciting world of small group leadership. As they head back to families, summer jobs, camps, and wherever else they might be going, please be in prayer that God would use many opportunities to prepare them for serving in the upcoming school year and that they would be always growing in their understanding of how they can be used on campus.

The end of the school year did come with a bit of sadness. Dan Stirratt, Hamline's InterVarsity staff worker for the past couple years, announced that he will be leaving his position as of May 31. Dan has worked with InterVarsity for the past 15 years, and his ability to engage with students will be greatly missed on campus. He has helped me quite a bit as I transition into the role of campus staff member, and I know his work at Hamline has paved the way for some amazing transformation in the coming years.

I will also continue the process of raising support over the summer. As of yesterday 65% of my initial funding goal has been committed. That means I have a further $6600 dollars to raise for this coming year of ministry. However, with the staffing changes on campus, if more funding comes in, I will be able to put in more hours. That is an unanticipated development that I'll know more about in the coming months.

I think that's all I have for updates right now. I have posted an updated copy of the ministry overview here:

https://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0B2S8P4fnqrcfYzhkOWY1OGYtMmM5Ny00YmIxLThiMDMtZjFmM2EwM2E5YTQw&hl=en

As always, if you have any questions, post in the comments or contact me directly. Thanks for reading.
-Deron

Greetings All!

Not knowing who all will come across this blog in their random perusing of the web...I figure I should introduce myself for those who may not already know me.

So...I'm Deron. Born and raised in a small farm town outside DeKalb, Illinois, completed a good deal of schooling in the area which included a degree from Northern Illinois University. While there, I was quite active in the InterVarsity Christian Fellowship chapter on campus, serving with small groups, worship, and the student leadership team. Through these experiences, God was building in me a passion for ministry, so after graduation I joined up with a ministry called Youth Encounter. Over the next two years, I traveled throughout the United States and spent time serving abroad in Peru, Bolivia, and Australia. Most of the ministry involved music in various forms, but I also had the chance to share through puppets, testimonies, drama, and home stays. God stretched me in many ways during this time (plenty of stories to share!), but after it was finished I felt a call to pursue a bit more training. So, I was off to the Twin Cities to enroll at Bethel Seminary. I spent a few years there taking a variety of classes all towards finding a position as an associate pastor or in a para-church ministry, leading to graduation in May 2009. While in school, I worked as an intern at a local church primarily with the junior and senior high students and had plenty of chances for other ministry experiences as well.

Along the way I met Lisa, and we got married in early 2008. Born and raised in the Twin Cities, she did a brief stint at Wheaton for her undergrad then eventually made her way back to Minnesota to study Marriage and Family Therapy at Bethel Seminary. She's currently working as the mental health professional at an elementary school on the South side of the cities, and she also has quite a bit of ministry experience including young adult ministry. Lisa and I don't have any kids right now...we get the experience vicariously through the children of friends scattered throughout the Twin Cities.

I guess that's the quick version. I'm really excited about student ministry at Hamline. If you want to know more specifics about InterVarsity at Hamline and some goals for the coming year, please check this document:

https://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0B2S8P4fnqrcfNGVmNTFhMjAtODEwNy00NDlhLWJmY2UtYzhhYzY1NzQxMmU0&hl=en

Sorry for the long link. Hope that method of hosting and posting works out for people...if not, please leave a comment and I can try to get it resolved. That document will be revised over the summer as more planning starts to happen for next school year. I'll post when it's updated.

Guess that's all for now. Spending a bit of time on campus this week, so maybe some storied will come out of that. Thanks for reading.
-Deron

Off and Running

Just wanted to put up a quick post to christen the blog for all that I'll be doing on campus @ Hamline University with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. I've been hard at work with fundraising for the past 6 weeks and have roughly 40% of my goal for this coming year committed from many awesome partners. Many more meetings to come, lots of phone calls to make, letters to send, and plenty of opportunities to share with others what God has called me to for this coming year.

A quick word about the title of this blog. From the first time I attended a staff meeting for IV in the Twin Cities Metro region, the desire to see Christ's transforming work in every student we work with has been clearly expressed. It is without a doubt the overarching vision for ministry in this area, and it's a constant reminder of why I am called to work with college students. We want to see Every Student Transformed.

More formal introduction soon to come...