Random Fun

This post doesn't need too much explanation...it's just for a few good laughs!



























































We picked our own team pumpkin from a real pumpkin patch in Michigan our last week there and carved a Jack-O-Lantern of an alien for our friends we stayed with. Also during the week, we found some great look-a-like pumpkins of each of us! It's unfortunate how similar that pumpkin and I really do look alike....

We also had the privilege of receiving a ticket from a cop in training for turning right on red on Michigan State's campus "because we were from out of town". He told us we had to pay $100 cash to get our license back, and when we only had $55, he asked if anyone else in the van had a $20 bill. We didn't, so he told us he'd take the $55 instead of the full $100. Shady... not to mention, what happened to grace BECAUSE you're from out of town?? It did, however, get even better than that. We were late for our meeting because the cop in training took so long, but we just happened to get pulled over directly in front of the room where our meeting was. The campus minister welcomed us to his meeting by walking out the door asking, "Are you the law-breakers?" Smooth...But it did provide some great laughs, and a good picture. You can even see the window of the room we spoke in in the background!

Campus Meetings

Bryan speaking at Eastern Michigan


Abbey sharing testimony at University of Michigan


Bryan speaking at Saginaw Valley State University


Brian in a one-to-one meeting


Abbey meeting with girls at Central Michigan

When cruise time in the family van is over and we set foot on the campus for the day's meeting, we usually first meet up with the campus minister and leadership team for dinner to get to know them, and then head on to the ministry's large group meeting for the week.

We'll typically have anywhere from 20-500 students at the large group meetings where we share our 45 minute presentation. Brian Villarias kicks us off by introducing us and sharing his story of how God gave him a heart for the world, followed by 30 minutes of Bryan going Genesis to Revelation showing that God's heart for the Nations is evident beginning to end and that He desires and deserves worship from every tongue, tribe, people and nation. After Bryan shares the conclusion, Revelation 7:9, he explains the task remaining and about the almost 2 Billion unreached who have never once heard the gospel. Amber and I come up after that and each share how God used this message in our lives and how we've lived differently as a result. Bryan comes back up after us and challenges the students to embrace God's heart for the nations and be a part of what He's doing in the world by giving them practical applications and steps they can take to begin growing in what we call a 'World Christian lifestyle' (praying for the world, sending others, going yourself, welcoming Internationals and mobilizing others to be a part of what God is doing in the world).

After a meeting is over, we'll normally hang around for a while, talking to students and helping them get more resources at our book table, and invite them to meet with us 1-1 for more information if they are interested.

In the 1-1 time, we might have just one student, or a group of 5-10, and we walk them through an illustration that looks further into what a World Christian's lifestyle looks like and how they can mobilize others on their campus and home churches. We also connect them with specific opportunities to go overseas with 10 partnering mission agencies, and opportunities to get more training as well as prayer maps, books and videos to help them learn more about what God is doing in the world and how they can be a part.

Because we have such a short time on each campus, we keep in touch with students through email regularly, and by the end of a semester, we might have anywhere from 75-150 students we've met with personally. So far, I've met with 122 girls, and we still have 14 meetings left to go! We also pass the student's info on to our partnering agencies and our home office, so not only are they getting personal emails from us, but they are getting all kinds of info, resources, opportunities and personal emails from our contacts at each of our agencies as well. This is a great reminder and encouragement to them that they have a responsibility in World Evangelization, and a specific part to play in that.

We love getting to be a part of seeing students all across the nation catch this vision of what God is after, worship from among the nations, and their eyes light up and light bulbs go on as they begin to understand that they are part of something so much bigger than themselves. It is such a joy connecting with these students, we love our job!

More Pictures for Going Back in Time

Zone 7






Donuts and Cider, MMM!

Going Back in Time

It's nearing the end of October, but I'm going to go back in time a little and fill you in on all that you've missed between the last post and now, almost a month ago! I'm still learning to blog and keep up with life- I'll eventually get better about posting more regularly! Once October hit, meetings doubled, our numbers did more than that, we ran out of agency packets to give to students, sold out of books (almost twice now) and have had a whirlwind of a month! It's been such a great semester so far! I'll do a different post for each week and finally catch you all up to speed with where we are now, Bloomington, Indiana! Enjoy your journey back over our last month!

After the Apple Orchard, we headed on to our next campus, but not before getting to visit Rob Bell's church in Grand Rapids, Michigan (It was great!) and seeing an old friend and IT Alum, Jessica, who was in my small group at IT '05 in LA. We also got to visit and stay at the New Tribes Bible Institute for a few days. One of the girls from my small group this summer in Philly, Tara, is a student there now after enrolling this past fall and loves it! It was so fun seeing her, and we had such a great and refreshing time! The staff hooked us up with amazing housing, our own apartment, food for three days, New Tribes T-shirts and coffee mugs, and a tour of the campus and a whole morning sitting in on classes. Bryan also got to speak in their chapel for a few minutes! The speaker didn't show up on time for the chapel that morning, and the President asked Bryan if he could throw something together last minute. That just happens to be his speciality, and we always give the same presentation, anyway, so we were ready. The speaker ended up showing up, but Bryan still got to share for a few minutes, and the students were actually really challenged and impacted by all that he managed to squeeze into his 5 minutes. It was great fun, and we learned first hand what a great Bible Institute it was! If you are interested, check it out here: http://www.ntm.org/ntbi/bi_overview.php?page=ntbi

From there we headed on to Detroit to meet up with a great friend, and new Traveling Team staff member, Shannon. She had an amazing weekend planned for us, complete with tickets to a Detroit Tigers game, lots of football, darts and great ethnic food, a 150 year old Cider mill with great cold CIder and cider donuts, and a meeting with her friends and supporters from church to give them a better picture of life on staff with TTT. The Tigers game was very exciting- we sat 10 rows up from the field behind 3rd base and were blessed with multiple foul balls. The guys thought it was really cool, Amber and I realized we were safe nowhere and feared for our lives. The guys left to get some food during an inning, and they missed all the action of a home run, lots of high 5's with our new friends sitting around us, and one man being taken out on a stretcher after he was hit in the head with one of those foul balls. They missed all the action, but we felt much safer on their return. The Tigers ended up winning the game and there was a great fireworks show afterwards, too. What a fun weekend in Detroit, thanks Shannon!