Freedom for Captives

As I reflect on what God did as a result of our V-Week outreach, I am reminded again and again of these sweet verses from Isaiah 61:1-3

The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion--to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor.

This was the message that we were hoping to convey through our evening program, and let me just say that our speaker did an incredible, God-honoring job of doing just that. She communicated her own story of pain and healing in a very real and accessible way to a group of 30 women. There was something in her story and the way that she communicated it that made it very accessible to everyone in the room.

We knew that one thing we did not want to do with the evening was have anyone feel like we pulled a "bait and switch" move on them by inviting them to an event where they would feel trapped by someone sharing the Gospel with them. So, we took a break partway through our speaker's story, letting everyone know that the second part of the evening would be primarily about how Jesus entered into her healing process. We let the women know that if they weren't comfortable listening to that part of the story, they were free to leave at the break, judgment-free. We simply wanted to honor to women wherever they happened to be in their spiritual journeys.

I was shocked to look around the room after the break and see that NO ONE left. And after the program was done, the majority of the women lingered in groups talking quietly with one another. An hour after the program was done, I looked across the room to see my teammate, Amie, sitting next to a young student named Amanda and holding open a familiar booklet and sharing about how she could know God personally. Amie came up to me later and told me what the freshman had said to her, "That part about God knocking at the door of my heart: well, He's doing that. I just don't know how to open the door. Can you tell me how to open the door?"

Wow. That's a "pinch-me" sort of moment in campus ministry. This particular student comes from an LDS background and said that she really needed to think through and process what Amie shared with her about Jesus. Please pray for Amanda. Pray that she would come to know the Truth and that the Truth would, indeed, set her free.

Beauty for Ashes

This week is V-Week at Westminster: a campus-wide event to raise awareness about sexual violence against women. Today we joined in and spent the lunch rush at the student union handing out these roses to women. I thoroughly enjoyed spectating as Amie and Danielle offered a flower to every woman that passed. I don't know how they did it, but I think they engaged with every single woman walking by. And while not everyone took them up on the offer, it certainly wasn't because they weren't given the opportunity!

My favorite part was watching their faces light up as they realized that the rose was free and came with nothing more than an invitation attached. One woman even left skipping. But I'd say that student might be particularly prone to skipping.

Amie and Danielle sought out the more "invisible" women: those hiding behind earphones and hats pulled low, food service, and custodial staff. It was this group of invisible women that appeared to be the most startled and blessed by the offered rose. Those were the sweetest smiles to see.

The darndest things...

One of the really fun parts of my job is all of the one on one coffee dates that I get to have with women who are a part of our ministry. Recently I had a conversation that left me in stitches. When I asked one student what God was teaching her, she said, "Lately I've been reading the Bible and it applies perfectly to my life."

"Oh really?! Tell me more..."

"Well, I just read in Leviticus about menstruating women. That pretty much describes where I'm at."

"It is my first time play bowling."

Once a month we combine the men's and women's small groups at Westminster and do some sort of social activity. Last night we went bowling.

One of the newest additions to our small group this semester is a young woman that just moved to Westminster as an international student from China. She is a Christian, and since I'm not sure if there are any security issues for her, I won't post her picture or use her real name. I'll just call her Kelly. Kelly doesn't speak too much English yet, but she's so outgoing that it doesn't seem to make a difference. She was excited to go bowling and doubly excited to have remembered her camera.

As we were walking in from the parking lot we noticed Kelly had fallen behind. Why? She was standing in the middle of the parking lot taking a picture of the front of the bowling alley. Pictures, pictures, everywhere.

Kelly, it turns out, had some beginner's luck. After her first spare she was jumping and screaming and announced to our group, "See, I told you Chinese people is smart." After her second spare she was running so excitedly to high-five me that she almost ran over another student who stepped in to congratulate her. Her enthusiasm was contagious.

As we were leaving and complimenting her on her bowling accomplishments she just said over and over, "Thank you. You so friendly."

I can't wait until she gets some more English under her belt and is able to communicate with us more clearly. Something tells me she's got a lot of great stories to share.