March 2011

The Harvest is Plentiful!

When we came to Christian Challenge there were about 20 students in Metro Phoenix (excluding ASU, Tempe Campus) that would say that Christian Challenge was ministering to them. The thought of reaching the quarter of a million students that didn’t go to ASU Tempe was a relatively new idea.

Fast forward four years. (I can’t believe we’ve been here that long!) There are now campuses all over the Valley with Christian Challenges on them. We’ve personally been blessed to get to recruit some of the staff members to come on and take those campuses. We’ve also been personally blessed to get to start some of these from ground up and turn them over to other ministers who could lead the growing campus so we could start another.

Over the course of four years, Christian Challenge has gone from 20 to 200 and we saw some of the excitement that comes from that as we all worshiped together this month. Our group actually led the worship for all the other groups and did very well to be such a new worship team.

We have one new leader stepping up into the role as a worship leader, and we have a girl playing violin with us who was saved last semester, and another leader with one of the best voices I’ve ever heard. Nick, our new leader is maturing into this role of being a worship leader, something that could end up being a life calling.

Fast forward another four years and we have endless possibilities. That is why we need people to be a part of our team financially. We are committing to see more campuses and salvations and callings to the ministry, and that can’t happen without you.

How does even $10 a month help reach college students?

It’s easy. Because that’s part of a salary. When you give, you are creating a position in ministry that would not be there without you. God adds your gift to the other monthly gifts and He (through His people) provides for all of our needs. This is a staff position that is so needed because ASU Downtown has such a need for Christ. We are the only Christian club that doesn’t treat Downtown as a minor addition to ASU Tempe. With 15,000 people who need Christ, we don’t view it as minor.

It is also very encouraging to know people are supporting what we care so deeply about and are praying for our students. As people who also support campus ministers, it is encouraging to give because you know you are a part of something that is making a significant impact in a spiritually dark place.

The two most important reasons which we have no control over is obedience. IF God is telling you to give and be a Ministry Partner, then He provides and He blesses. The second important reason is: God uses each dollar for His Kingdom purposes.

Recruiting

It turns out that recruiting other people to be campus ministers alongside me has become a large part of our ministry. The largest community college in the nation now has a Christian Challenge minister on it because God allowed me to bring him onto our team. We are also really excited to see a couple of friends of ours start volunteering with ASU Tempe this month.

Please be praying that the guys that I am talking to now will go where God is leading them, which hopefully will be serving with us. There is one guy that I am talking to seriously who is out of state. Several others are here in the city near unreached campuses. New staff are such a strategic way to follow the vision be sharing Christ on every campus throughout Metro Phoenix (300,000+ college students).

Powers Update (by Jamie)

Support that doesn’t cost a penny…

Instead of paying State Tax to the State, you can donate (for a tax CREDIT) that money to be used for Christian education, specifically to benefit a missionary family. You can bless us tremendously by using some of your owed Arizona State income tax dollars to donate to ACSTO (Arizona Christian School Tuition Organization, Inc. designated for Dallas Powers at Bethany Learning Center. You will receive a tax credit dollar for dollar against AZ State income tax. Pls. call me or visit http://acsto.org/ or http://acsto.org/faq.html

Thank You for Your Prayers!

Please pray…

§ PRAISE: Student who accepted Christ being very involved in Bible study.

§ The older students I’ve been reaching.

§ PRAISE: Worship Night with a great worship team!

§ Recruiting some more people to come on staff.

§ Small groups – God to move mightily

§ Master’s degree

§ Healing with losing Madison Grace

§ Health for us and the boys.

§ Us to train our boys up in a Godly way.

§ Our support

§ Sanctuary Church

§ More salvations

How can we pray for you?

How God Used You;

We could not do this ministry without our team:

Read more about most in the sections below

-Worship leader stepping up

-Christian Challenge growing more than ever

- Incredible Bible Studies.

- Great Leadership

- Guys coming closer to surrendering to Christ.

-Passionate leadership team ready to do the work it takes this semester.

-New and old students are being reached.

-Getting to guide students through different stages in life.

-Investing in a local church.

Made possible by God’s mighty power and your prayers & giving:

thank you!

February 12, 2011

Big Change!

NAMB has changed their online donation system and so ALL RECURRING donations have stopped. This has greatly affected our paycheck this month and so if you feel led to give an extra one-time gift, it would really help a lot AND if you had a recurring donation, could you please set it back up @ http://www.namb.net/givenow/ And if you would be willing to become a monthly supporter (our greatest need), please pray about setting one up, too. Below is a way to give (for AZ taxpayer's) that doesn't cost anything...

Philippians 4:7 "And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

Powers Update (by Jamie)

Well, as you can imagine…time is flying by! We have continued to LOVE and praise and thank God for our church. Although Bryan is no longer the Interim Youth Pastor, we still love being a part of the student’s lives and being youth leaders….especially Jamie because I have not been able to be as “hands on” with activities on the college campus because of two toddlers and a Dallas! The church is exceptional at always having quality childcare…and I enjoy serving and ministering.

We have some BIG news: Dallas is going to be a Kindergartner! And a request: We have prayed (since Dallas was two) about where he should go to Kindergarten and feel strongly led that despite our income as support raisers, that he needs to be in Christian school. Even if you disagree with Christian education, you would bless us tremendously by using some of your owed Arizona State income tax dollars to donate to ACSTO (Arizona Christian School Tuition Organization, Inc.) designated for Dallas Powers and his school name (I'll email it you, please just email me) and you will receive a tax credit dollar for dollar against AZ State income tax. Couples can donate up to $1000 and individuals: $500. Please call or email me with any questions. Their website with lots of FAQ's about the dollar for dollar credit: http://acsto.org/

Dallas at his school’s “Macy’s Day Parade”

How God Used You;

We could not do this ministry without our team:

Read more about most in the sections below

-Student accepted Christ as Lord and Savior during Bible study

-Winter Retreat- students drawing closer to God

- Incredible Bible Studies.

- Great Leadership

- Guys coming closer to surrendering to Christ.

-Passionate leadership team ready to do the work it takes this semester.

-New and old students are being reached.

-Getting to guide students through different stages in life.

-Investing in a local church.

Made possible by God’s mighty power and your prayers & giving:

thank you!

Girl Saved in Bible study!

The semester is back in full swing and so are our Bible studies. Kelsey has been a great Bible study leader and very welcoming to the new girls, some of whom are not Christians. During our first Bible study of the semester, one of our girls accepted Christ. It has been amazing to see God work in the lives of these college students.

We’ve had tremendous success bringing people who would never go to a Bible study if it weren’t through their friends on their campus. I’ve become friends with the guys in my study and they are coming along spiritually. Please keep praying for them though, because some of the guys are rough. “S” is very close to becoming fully committed to Christ as are many of our other guys who are growing.

I’m also getting to preach some more than usual, some at our church and once at a nursing home to fill in for a friend. So I am getting to share with a large group of people.

We are also seeking God’s direction on when to start a Bible study on a new campus. We want to continue growing Christian Challenge as much as possible and not just be limited to one campus. I have been recruiting one friend from out of state to come be on our team as another staff member, and we are praying that he comes. Pray with us as we grow on so many different levels.

Great Retreat

We went up to Pinetop had some amazing worship, some great preaching, good fellowship between campuses and went sledding. I got to know some of the new students better on the retreat, one being a newer Christian, who accepted Christ last semester. I also got to be a part of leading worship and played bass for the band. It was the perfect weekend after taking some extra classes in January.

School

I cannot believe that last semester is over. I learned so much. In fact, I’ve been thinking about sticking with it longer. Soon I will be done with my Masters, and I am taking some extra language credits to prepare for a PhD in Old Testament or Hebrew. Last semester I fell in love with reading Hebrew. In fact, it became a great tool to witness to students at ASU. I would study with students on campus, and the Hebrew would always intrigue them, and I could share with them what I was studying and why.

Pray for us as we seek out what we should do in this. It just opens up some doors to stay long term here in Arizona serving in Christian Challenge, which we love.

Thank You for Your Prayers!

Please pray…

§ PRAISE: Student who accepted Christ

§ The older students I’ve been reaching.

§ PRAISE: Winter Retreat

§ Recruiting some more people to come on staff. One guy is considering moving from New Mexico.

§ Small groups – God to move mightily

§ Time management

§ Healing with losing Madison Grace

§ Health for us and the boys.

§ Us to train our boys up in a Godly way.

§ Our support

§ Sanctuary Church

§ More salvations

How can we pray for you?

November, 2010

How God Used You;

We could not do this ministry without our team:

Read more about most in the sections below

- Incredible Bible Studies.

- Great Leadership

- Guys coming closer to surrendering to Christ.

-Passionate leadership team ready to do the work it takes this semester.

-New and old students are being reached.

-Getting to guide students through different stages in life.

-Investing in a local church.

Made possible by God’s mighty power and your prayers & giving:

thank you!

November!?!

The one thing that I am unsure of is how November came up so fast. But this semester has been great and our Bible studies have been really progressing. The girls are still going strong and are a big group. We have a couple of really amazing leaders there making that happen, and they’ve seen a girl leave Mormonism!

The guys have also been doing really well. We have two groups, and one has struggled, but it’s been stretching our leadership to be more intentional, which is good. My Bible study has several guys connected to it. For the most part they are all non-Christians, but still engaged in this pretty intense discipleship group.

I haven’t held back anything and there are guys on the brink of making more life changing decisions. Two of them made a commitment to purity and have stopped living the way that they were, which is an incredible step. All of them are hearing the gospel every week, which is what I know I’m there for. It has been such a slow process with some of these guys, but I have to keep reminding myself how God has called me to work with those that are the farthest away from Him.

I have guys who really didn’t care about God at all at the beginning of the semester that are now reading Scripture on their own. It’s encouraging to hear things like, “I’ve heard that before, but now I finally understand,” or “I was reading this on my own, can you explain some of this?” Pray especially for Brandon (read more on the other side) and Steven. They are the two that have shown the most promise and have come the farthest. Pray also for Nate, Anthony, Vince, Nick and David.

Ryan and Kelsey are Engaged!

I talk about these two so much, so I thought everyone may want to hear the good news. This is my number one ministry couple and I love working with them. Ministering to them will change now.

They have asked me to officiate their wedding, which I am honored to do, and I will be doing some premarital counseling with them. I will also talk with Ryan (in our discipleship time) about how to be a good husband and all those new things that he’s going to get to experience. Pray for them as they do ministry, plan a wedding, go to school, study for the MCATS and get ready for a new chapter in their life.

Student Spotlight - Brandon

I met Brandon last year when I first came to the campus, and he was one guy that I couldn’t forget because God kept him on my mind. So I kept inviting to events and Bible studies and everything that we would do and he never showed up at all last year. This year I thought it would be the same but I was still happy to see him, but now he’s involved in my Bible study, reading Scripture and really evaluating his life. I am writing this after planning a Bible study that he will be at tonight where we will again go in depth about how the gospel will change his life.

A couple of weeks ago, he told me that he came because of over a year of me never forgetting to him in anything. I’m encouraged to already see him progressing in his spiritual life. Pray that I can be so clear with the gospel and that God will open his heart to it.

Powers Update (by Jamie)

Bryan has been “plowing” through Seminary, finishing his Master in Divinity. Along with that, he is still Interim Youth Pastor at our church, so we don’t get to see him too much. Granny Dee is in for another visit and that has saved me! With the two ministry jobs and school…well, two women in the house is a BLESSING! My parents also help out a ton.

We celebrated the twins’ First Birthday(!!!) on Sept. 25 and Dallas’ Fifth Bday(!!!) Nov. 5^th! God is so good! I thank Him every day that I get to be a Mommy.

Thank You for Your Prayers!

Please pray…

§ The older students I’ve been reaching.

§ Recruiting some more people to come on staff. One guy is considering moving from New Mexico.

§ Small groups – God to move mightily

§ Time management with two ministries and full-time school (and family! J)

§ Healing with losing Madison Grace

§ Health for us and the boys.

§ Us to train our boys up in a Godly way.

§ Our support

§ Sanctuary Church

§ More salvations

§ PRAISE: Summer has been busy and productive.

How can we pray for you?