BSU

Truman
Winter/Spring
2014
For Jesusfor
everyone!
Click
Eeeeeeeeee
Ummm.I dont see anything.
Wheres the picture?
It came out, but I dont see anything.
Maybe shake it?....yeah.okayyyymaybe a little more
Ok - Set it on the table and watch it.
Hey - Something is starting to appear!
Look! There you are! You look kinda strange.
Theres more colors now! Were starting to look a little more normal!
Thats us!
Put it on the fridge!!

Polaroid moment!
All along God has had a plan to redeem us all...from the beginning of time

Thank you to all of you who are praying, and to those who are giving and sharing and blessing this missionary ministry of
reaching others for HIM thru HIM. Alumni, families, friends, churches everyone! Thank you everyone so much!!! We
are so grateful to all our local churches and the Thousand Hills Association of churches and all who just continue to invest
in this missionary outpost here at Truman. Thank you!!!!
They read from the Book of the Law, making it clear and giving the meaning, so that the people understood what was
being read. Nehemiah 8:8
We have a vision here at the BSU to reach the campus of Truman State University. And it is this -- to be involved, and
sometimes inconvenienced, in the exciting parts and the mundane parts of peoples lives; to love everyone, but to invest
in a few. We want to be able to have influence in a persons life so that they can meet Jesus thru His Word and by His
Holy Spirit. We want to have close friendships and relationships so that we can share scripture. We can read it with them
or to them or even listen as they read it to us. Then, the gospelwhich really is good news of glad tidingscan interact
with them and the Holy Spirit can move and do a miracle of someone coming alive and realizing how loved they are by
HIM. We want others to fall in love with Jesus today. We want them to just realize and receive it and really believe it
that they can be a son or daughter of His, no matter how broken they think they are or how bad they think they have
blown it. We all were dead. But He chose usbefore the creation of the world. Let that spin you around. Ephesians 1:4
says For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world
God has always had his eye on you. He didnt lose you in the mall, or Oops, now where did she go when all that was
going on? He has been watching all of us, even you, the student, the friend, who might be reading this and who is in a
process of life and faith where they are just not so sure about Jesusyet. You see, God actually has a heart, and in His
heart is a passionand it is passion for you! And His heart is saying I love you, and I want you and I am going to do
whatever it takes to bring you to a place where you realize how much I love you. So He sent Jesus and He came and
loved and shared, and died for us all and beat sin and death and just all the guilt and penalty of it all. Jesus was raised
back to life and is alive and well on planet earth and is, right now, desiring for you to receive and believe in Him and to
follow Him.
You see, God has always been inviting us into not just an acquaintance with Him, or a Be a part of my team and I hope I
can remember your name with everyone elses or Hey you are a cool part of my awesome cosmic heavenly hobby
listyou are like number 477 out of 3 billion 2 hundred seventy-five thousand 3 hundred and twelve. But He is always
about, has always been about, and will be always about, inviting us into intimacy with Him. This is what the Lord says:
Let not the wise boast of their wisdom, or the strong boast of their strength or the rich boast of their riches, but let him who
boasts, boast about this: that he understands and knows me Jeremiah 9:23-24
My vision for this BSU that is here at Truman that God is impressing on me is to get us all to see people as ministry.
Sounds a little simplistic. Well, that may be true, but it is what He is telling me to be about for Him here at Truman at the
BSU. I recently received an email from a BSU alumni that in it had this encouraging note it is like the missionaries say,
Just help the person in front of you this is all you can do. Wow I actually had not heard that but it is so what we are
trying to do see the people who are in front of us already and pour our lives into them so they can meet Jesus or just
grow in Him together. It is like inviting yourself to take a class called How to be a friend 101 and to really love and invest
in maybe just one person or 3 people or whatever it is that God is showing you and calling you to. For our students it is
just trying to walk with God thru leading, coordinating life groups, worship, spring break, outreach events, and just walking
with Him in everything, it is to love students and invite them into their lives in the hopes they can have a relationship and
friendship that is so full and strong, and also share both words and actions with them so they can meet the man in the
middle of it all Jesus. And praying all the while for God to do what only He can do for them to come alive and realize
His love and want it and want to follow Him.
Life forever. Life today. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ
form the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you. Romans 8:11

We all love pictures -- good ones -- that picture that reveals something beautiful -- and so let me share with you some
polaroids of how God is indeed alive and well among a world of college studentsthat hardly sleep
Weve had several families in our church who have been asking us how to get to know college students. At least
two of those families are discipling students, and we have a couple of other families that are in the process of
getting to know some of the students more. And its awesome to sit back and watch!

We met a student in January of 2013 while serving a meal to welcome all the new international students to
campus (a partnership with the International Student Affairs Office). This student quickly became a part of our
lives, and after a few months started reading the Bible with me. Then, in February of 2014, he decided he wants
God and loves God and became a son of God! We continue to meet and disciple together.

Two students that met each other at the BSU Fuel service became good friends and started meeting regularly to
read the Bible together. In January, one of the students realized His love for her and is now a daughter of God!
They continue to read together and disciple together.

I continue to meet with 2 students who realized Gods love about a year ago. I enjoy listening to them as they are
just realizing more and more His love. And how they teach me as we disciple together the priest hood of
believers!

Our Spring Break Mission Team that we took to Knoxville Tennessee was full of time serving. We served the
homeless under a highway overpass, and helped a church in the downtown area replant among the
neighborhood. We had 10 international students go with, of whom 9 are not alive in HIM yet. We now have 3
new FB friends because of the trip, and lots of conversations and meals that have been shared. And we are just
praying for HIM to change hearts for HIM.

Last summer, one of our students gave driving lessons to a friend from China. She just tried to be loving and
share her life with the student. The friend also got involved with the CCF ministry and with students who invited
her to Bible study. She fell in love with Jesus this spring, and in April she was baptized at a local church (the
Crossing) amidst a gathering of CCFers, BSUers, and the hospital chaplain. Its exciting to see how He uses so
many to pursue all of us!

It was exciting to watch as a student who has been involved with the BSU for a couple of years to start reading
with and discipling an underclassmen wow!

Weve heard stories over the past two years of a student who doesnt know Gods love yet - who continues to
want to read the Bible with some of our BSU girls. We continue to pray for her heart to be changed and to just
realize how loved she is by HIM.

Weve enjoyed watching as one of our neighbors has grown from being not a churchy girl to regularly attending
a local church. We continue to pray that they will keep growing in His love for them.

A student shared with me about her mission trip to Brazil to the Amazon Delta, and how God continued to show
how good He is! While they were trying to sing outside, they were attacked by fire ants. So God brought down
the rain, and everyone crammed under one roofwhich turned out to be a much better plan and a whole
community experienced a part of the vbs they led that evening!

We recently received an update from a student who is serving as a missionary in South America. Tired after a
busy day, she decided to take the train home so she could just sit and read her Bible. While she read, she
noticed the gentleman sitting next to her watching her and her book. She asked him if he wanted to read, and
turned him to John 3. She felt the atmosphere immediately change on he bus. She left the Bible with him as she
got off the train, to which he replied he would finish reading it in two months so he could return it to her!

We have a student from CRU that we are praying for as she tries to raise support to return to East Asia to be a
missionary for 1 to 2 years.

A student who is getting closer to graduation is trying to listen to her call to be an international missionary, and is
now working with the International Mission Board (IMB).

Two alumni sent an email this past week saying that their training with IMB is almost done and they will soon be
heading to India to serve as missionaries a calling they have had since high school!

Were praying for two students who fell in love with Jesus this past year as they are already trying to be
missionaries, right here on campus, to their friends who are checking out God.

A recent graduate who has been serving on staff with a local church will soon be starting seminary to pursue his
calling to be in full time ministry.

While eating ice cream with a student this summer, she asked What is your church about? And what is church
like? What do you do there? We are counting the conversations as we try to love her like He does and continue
to share HIM with her.

We met a new student while helping students move at the end of the semester. He knows about Christianity, but
Im not sure if he realizes Gods love yet. He said he was interested in reading the Bible together. We havent
actually started yet, but praying that something will work out.

Its been amazing over the last year to watch how God pursues every one of the students so intimately and
personallyand how He uses so manynot just from the BSU, but together with other campus ministries CRU,
CCF, the Newman Center, and Momentum.
I hope the snapshots above and the vision of my heart, all start to help bring into focus a developing picture of how He is
still moving everywhere on this planet. That maybe for us - some polaroid moments of how God has been and is pursuing
everyone are being realized more and more. That there is a picture of His heart and wisdom that is continuing to be
revealed more and more as the past and present generations of those who are just trying to walk with Himfollow Him.
Jesus you are our King.
Amazing love, how can it be, that you would give your life for youmefor us!
Amazing love, I know its true, and its my joy to honor you in all I do, I honor you.
His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and
authorities in the heavenly realms, according to his eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Ephesians 3:10-11.
even the angels are having Polaroid momentsof how the rebelsof how uscan be in the camp with HIM
Amazing love. --- The BSU Tribe