Cranking Up!

The semester is cranking up here at the UNAM, with classes beginning on August 10. The 35,000 new students have arrived and have joined the mad dash to adjust schedules and get oriented. Here’s a quick review of what has been going on!

Monterrey Retreat
I spoke at a retreat in the Monterrey area in mid-July. I had a great time teaching hanging out with about 35 students from several different churches in the area and teaching on how God has saved us, how he is saving us, and how he wills save us. We also had the opportunity to rappel, go down the zip line, swing on the “tarzan” rope, and a bunch of other “extreme” activities!

Atlanta Training
I went to RUF staff training at the end of July, which is always a great opportunity to be refreshed by good teaching and by good fellowship and prayer with other campus ministers. On either end of the training, I was able to visit supporting churches, and this summer I was able to visit ChristChurch PCA in Atlanta and Redeemer PCA in Athens. I’m very thankful for the warm friendships with those two churches and their support of the ministry here in Mexico City!

Starting School
Before school started, we had a “servant team” retreat, in which Ruth and I and seven students studied what the Bible has to say about service, got to know each other better, and planned for serving the RUF group at the UNAM this summer. Pray for this little group of students as they grow together and love other students through RUF this semester!

Students were back on campus for classes starting on the 10th of August, and we were busy with our information table and handing out flyers during that time. At the end of the week, we had a “welcome party” at which about 30 folks showed up (in spite of the rain!), and we hope that many of these students will form part of the ministry this semester.

On Tuesday, we had our first large group at the New Life Center, which the Baptist Student Union continues to lend us until we can find more permanent place (please pray that a place would open up and that we would have the funds to purchase or rent it!). We’re studying Acts this semester, so we looked at the first three verses and talked about what Jesus has done, what he continues to do, and how we can respond. Pray for schedules to work out for more students to be able to make our 2:30PM large group time!

On Wednesday, we had our first English Club, and again had about 30 students show up to talk about “getting to know you.” In my group, I had students ranging from the first semester the post-graduate, and a number of majors represented. Pray for these groups to be sustainable as we eventually lose our intern, and for the Lord to provide other native English speakers to join in the effort! Pray also for students in these groups to develop or express and interest in spiritual things to take opportunities to be involved in other RUF relationships and activities. We’ll have English Clubs on Wednesdays and Thursdays each week. If you visit the city, we would love to have you participate!

On Friday, we will have our first ratito con la CUR, a fellowship time for RUF students and friends that is more informal, though it starts with a get to know you activity, a game, or a discussion and usually ends with lunch (it starts at 2PM, and usually ends around 4PM).

Next Week

This coming week, in addition to these activities, our small groups will begin! Please pray for groups that are forming or continuing in Philosophy and Letters, Chemistry, and Sciences. Schedules are always a nightmare to navigate at this time of the year, and apparently the swine flu scare has affected them even more! (They don’t want too many students in each class, so there are less open spaces for students to get their requirements).

OK, that’s all for now. Pray for us as we “reach students for Christ and equip them to serve” at Latin America’s largest university. Pray for excitement, connection, commitment, in these early days of the semester.