Archive for the ‘Illini Life’ Category

Jesus Loves Campaign

Posted 10 Jun 2013 — by nick
Category GCM, Illini Life, Jesus, Ministry

 JesusLovesBoard

 

Just before the semester ended a few of the other missionaries I work with and myself helped our students pull together an outreach project we called “The Jesus Loves Campaign.” It was the capstone project for a core group of students we had been working with throughout the Spring Semester in a Monday night class we called Learning Lab. Each week we’d gather and talk about ways to be intentional in building relationships, ways to be authentic in sharing our faith and how we might better bring Jesus to campus.

 

The Jesus Loves Campaign came out of a brainstorming night we facilitated in an attempt to empower our students to think about how to reach campus. We created a website, a promo video, social media blitz, t-shirts and finally a giant board that we assembled on the main quad. As students came and went to class on Friday we asked them to stop and share “who or what they thought Jesus Loved.” Our intention was to flip the conversation we often hear on the Quad that “God Hates…” and ask “Who does God love?” It was also intriguing to see how students enjoyed sharing their thoughts and how for some that opened a door for their curiosity to ask what we thought about the question.

 

Have a look at the website we created and watch the video. We’re trying to fine tune this way of engaging campus and hope to be doing more of this kind of thing in the Fall when students return.

May Update 2013

Posted 17 May 2013 — by nick
Category Friends, GCM, Illini Life, Jesus, Ministry

Hello friends below you should find our update letter for May 2013.

Download (PDF, 528KB)

February Update 2013

Posted 21 Feb 2013 — by nick
Category Friends, GCM, Illini Life, Jesus, Ministry, Photos, Scripture, Spirituality

Hello friends below you should find our update letter for February 2013.

Download (PDF, 597KB)

October Update 2012

Posted 20 Oct 2012 — by nick
Category Friends, Fun, GCM, Illini Life, Jesus, Ministry, Photos, Running, Scripture, Spirituality

Hello friends below you should find our update letter for October 2012.

Download (PDF, 301KB)

August Update 2012

Posted 17 Aug 2012 — by nick
Category GCM, Illini Life, Jesus, Ministry, Photos, Spirituality

Hello friends below you should find our update letter for August 2012.

Download (PDF, 810KB)

July Update 2012

Posted 02 Jul 2012 — by nick
Category Family, Friends, Fun, GCM, Illini Life, Jesus, Ministry, Photos, Running, Spirituality

Hello friends below you should find our update letter for July 2012.

Download (PDF, 460KB)

May 2012 Update

Posted 11 May 2012 — by nick
Category Family, Fun, GCM, Illini Life, Jesus, Ministry, Photos, Spirituality

Hello friends below you should find our update letter for May 2012. Make sure you check out the second page, a review of the past two months in pictures.

Download (PDF, 1.36MB)

Men Failing to Launch

Posted 22 Mar 2012 — by nick
Category GCM, Illini Life, Ministry, News

I read a thought provoking article today. You can read it here. I recommend taking the time to read it.

While I’m sure there are things to disagree with and argue on the causes of the state of young men today, it certainly was refreshing to hear a number of different options rather than an over simplified “the economy is bad” reason.

If you know me, you know I’m passionate about discipling and mentoring young men – college aged specifically – hence the college missionary thing. This is a trend we’ve seen on campus for quite awhile and it certainly has shifted more-so to the porn soaked, video game addicted side of things since I was a student some 7 years ago.

Often Amy and I talk about a number of solid young women we know – both students and graduates – who are waiting for a man to show up rather than a boy. We can get sad for these women, and I am, but my heart stays with the boys. There is a discontentment in their spirit that is hard to pin down. The guys I’ve worked with over the years know there is more out there than porn and video games, drinking and hook-ups but they’re struggling to figure out what and how to get to it.

This is one of my primary passions as I meet with young men. I want to be a man that “stands up for the weak and disempowered” (a definition the article offers for a real man). In my circles that’s often the young men. In doing so, I hope to provide an alternative path for them, one that calls them up rather than to settle.

March 2012 Update

Posted 10 Mar 2012 — by nick
Category Friends, Fun, GCM, Illini Life, Jesus, Ministry, Photos, Running, Scripture, Spirituality

Hello friends below you should find our update letter for March 2012.

Download (PDF, 483KB)

November 2011 Update

Posted 08 Nov 2011 — by nick
Category Friends, GCM, Illini Life, Jesus, Ministry, Spirituality

Hello friends below you should find our update letter for November 2011.

Download (PDF, 1.01MB)