Happy New Year!

How God Used You;

We could not do this ministry without our team:

Read more about most in the sections below

- Student stepped out of their comfort zone to minister to some homeless

- Meeting a very spiritually diverse group of students and having an impact on them.

          -unchurched students coming and seeking.

-Starting a new Christian Challenge Club at an unreached, super liberal Arizona State University Campus

-Student leaders are being invested in and trained up.

         

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

  thank you!

Miracle on 2^nd Street

            Bethany, one of the girls we work with, has planned several events downtown to work with the homeless. We joined her for this Christmas Eve with not only students, but two parents who wanted to come and see what their kids were doing, which was exciting.

            We started out by walking around the park in pairs talking with the homeless and inviting them to come share some time together worshiping and to let us give them something. We had Christmas cookies and socks and blankets wrapped up so that they had something to unwrap for Christmas. We also had sandwiches and fruit to give out while someone presented the Gospel.

            After that we saw God move in a huge way. One of the guys in our group, who came for the first time with a friend, started talking to one man who had been on the streets for just two weeks. A crack addiction is what put him there. We knew that this was something we would encounter, so Bethany has cards with a partnering ministry, Set Free Ministries, ready to go for everyone to pass out. 

            After spending some time with this guy, I knew that God was moving in his life in a huge way. I stepped away and called the ministry and asked them how to get him into treatment, and they told me about a free rehab place and how to apply to live with Set Free. I stepped back as the new student was saying over and over, “Today can be the day.” Robert, the homeless man, kept saying, “I don’t want to live like this; I’m so tired.” I knew of the Spiritual tiredness he was talking about, that comes from wrestling with God. He then pulled out a crack pipe and threw it about 15 feet away, then got up and stomped on it, breaking it to pieces. 

            I told him what I had learned about the rehab program and told him I would love to take him there if he wanted to go. He had no hesitation because God had totally taken a hold of him. I drove him there with another student in our group and we waited with him as he waited to meet with a counselor. Before he walked in, I hugged him and told him I’d be praying for him as I hope you will do to.

            This changed several people in our group. After seeing some addicts fail, I’ve been a little calloused, and God took me by surprise because I don’t think I’ve ever seen him move in such an unexpected way.  Daniel, one of the guys still deciding on Christ, was amazed and he got to see God move in a huge way. The parents who came got to see their children in action doing ministry. Jennifer saw what happens when she brings friends to ministry events, and her friend got to see what can happen when God moves him to talk to a homeless man and what God can do with that. Robert also got to see how a bunch of college students can love him because they are Christians. And I got to see a student that Jamie and I have poured some into, start a phenomenal ministry that is changing lives. It was one of the best Christmas Eves I’ve ever had, and just may have started a tradition.  

 

 Taylor Place Dorm at ASU Downtown
 

Expanding Strategy

            We’ve been reaching out to all of Taylor Place (picture above), the residence hall at ASU Downtown. Due to a bulk of our leadership living on the 4^th floor, we’ve intensely ministered to that floor. Many of the events that we hold have been on that floor, and it has almost become an office for me. I’m happy to say that almost everyone on that floor knows Christian Challenge and has been touched in a least a little way.  

This upcoming semester, I’ll let the current leadership take over that floor completely, and I’m going to be moving up to floors 6 and 7 which are tied together by a common lobby area. Two of my guys are on these floors, and it will allow them to have more leadership and ownership. If all goes well, we could expect to see the ministry double this semester.     

Trying on snow gear.

First time in snow!

Loves his Daddy

Mommy and the boys!

Stockings from Grandma and Pappah Brooks! Thank you!

Hendrix (left) and Colton on Christmas Day!

Powers Update

             Christmas was amazing this year! I pray you had a wonderful Christmas too! I can’t imagine it getting any better than Christmas with a four-year-old! The excitement and magic! So fun. Dallas got his stocking and two other small gifts from Santa. We asked him, “Did you have a good Christmas?” He said, “Yes!” He hadn’t opened our gifts yet! We pray that we can raise him to be content and avoid materialism.  

            Dallas (and the little boys) saw snow for the first time in Flagstaff! He LOVED it! He got to go sledding with Daddy and by the 2^nd or 3^rd time was ready to go by himself!  We were able to park right in front of the hill, so I stayed in the car w/ the little boys and watched Dallas.

Thank You for Your Prayers!

Please pray…

-   PRAISE – Service Project  with Kingdom impact

-       Robert to rehabilitate

-   PRAISE & Prayer: New Phoenix Campus

-   Praise- sick Powers are well.

-   Healing with losing Madison Grace

-   Our support

-   Sanctuary Church

-   More salvations

-   PRAISE: Growth and development of more leadership.

-   PRAISE: 1 has accepted Christ on the new campus.          

-   God to use us to lead students to surrender to Christ

How can we pray for you?

December, 2009 Merry Christmas!!

How God Used You;
We could not do this ministry without our team:

Read more about most in the sections below

- God used the Downtown Christian Challenge Retreat for His Kingdom purposes.

- Meeting a very spiritually diverse group of students and having an impact on them.

-unchurched students coming and seeking.

-Starting a new Christian Challenge Club at an unreached, super liberal Arizona State University Campus

-Student leaders are being invested in and trained up.

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

Retreat!

This month God continues to build our group. We were able to take 21 people up to Flagstaff for an experience with God. We had worship, time in nature, time to share struggles and to grow together as a group. We saw some of our newly developed leadership in action, and it was incredible. Ryan and Kelsey keep moving the bar up. Ryan did the intro sermon about using the weekend to really connect with God, and Kelsey lead the girls’ small group time.

The best part about the whole trip is hard to narrow down, but it would have to be the amount of non-Christians that are now on this path of learning how to seek out God. About half of the students haven’t accepted Christ yet. And I really mean yet, because we’re building this base to help students learn how to seek after God so that it’s not this one-time experience that doesn’t last, but something that they will keep with them even outside of college. I have a peace about who is in the group and who God is pursuing.

We have a girl who is going to nursing school because she wants to go back to Africa after a life changing mission trip to help the kids there, and we have girls who have never been to church. We have a guy who talked about attempting suicide in high school before he starting going to church, and he may not have even be a Christian yet. So pray for

him.

All of these people and more were on our retreat, and our student leaders are ministering to them alongside me. It’s really humbling how much God has already moved on this campus after one semester.

Finishing My Masters Degree

It’s time to go back to seminary and finish the 83 credit monster of a degree, the MDiv. This upcoming semester, I’ll have two of my favorite professors, which is encouraging, and I have a goal that I really want to achieve. This is going to open up some doors and push me in some good ways.

We are going to have to do some student loans, but pray I can jump back into the routine as fast as I need to.

Amazing Student Excitement

The small group question was, “What is your previous spiritual involvement?” One student’s answer, “The three Bible studies I’ve come to here.” She ended up leading the discussion with questions about Christianity, honestly seeking the right answers.

The Christians in the group were challenged to give real answers, as she was able to tell them what unchurched people believe, compared to beliefs that our students who are Christians really have strong convictions about. She left with more questions, but still honestly seeking and connected with the group. A couple days later she came up to me (Bryan) SO EXCITED that she had gone to the bookstore and bought herself a Bible. She wanted me to tell her what to read so she could go over it and then talk about it during Bible study.

Be in prayer for her because I know God is doing something in her life. I told her to start reading John, and I’m following up with her to help with questions and whatever comes up.

Student Spotlight

Ryan took it upon himself to set up a meeting with a student who is a former Jehovah’s Witness, just to share Christ with him and he has been keeping up with him. He is able to spot a need and go after it, no matter how big or small. His Bible study is still thriving, and we are thankful to have him.

He has also recruited another guy leader to our group who has helped lead the Bible study and has helped add more of a male presence to our group on a campus that is about 70% girls.

Be praying for Ryan as he considers switching his major and as he works part time, goes to school full time and helps in the ministry as much as I ask him to.

Powers Update

Well, Swine flu last month…colds and allergies this month!! Please pray we’ll all be healed! Even the little guys are “stuffed up!”

Dallas is still a great big brother and is concerned when “his babies” cry. He gives them a binky, always being sure to not touch the nipple. He wants his babies to go everywhere he goes (which doesn’t happen too often, but makes me thankful that he loves them).

Colton and Hendrix are growing! Hendrix is now 12.9 pounds (90^th

percentile for all 2 month olds (not just preemies!) and Colton, 11.1 lbs. (75%).

Boys with Granny Dee at the Phx. Zoo!!! We love you!!!

Thank You for Your Prayers!

Please pray…

- PRAISE – Retreat with Kingdom impact

- PRAISE & Prayer: New Phoenix Campus

- Our Aunt Betty and Rio as they deal with a sudden loss of husband/father, Bob.

- Sick Powers Five to be healed!

- Healing with losing Madison Grace

- Our support

- Sanctuary Church

- More salvations

- PRAISE: Growth and development of more leadership.

- PRAISE: 1 has accepted Christ on the new campus.

- God to use us to lead students to surrender to Christ

How can we pray for you?

Merry Christmas!!!