Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays to each and every one of you! I hope that you have had wonderful holidays filled with special memories with family and time of reflection on the year.
I wanted to take time to simply reflect with each one of you on the “Fall” of 2022. I have found myself repeatedly saying, “did I really do all of that this fall?” I am sure lots of us can relate to that statement, one season can sometimes entail enough events for an entire year.
A FALL RECAP
Shortly after returning from Cairo, Egypt I hit the ground running. The anticipation of the fall season was too exciting, I could feel faith filling my heart for what God wanted to do in New England and I couldn’t wait to hop in! With this being the second year of serving university students in New England, I found myself with a sense of urgency and ownership of the call to believe in what God is doing in the hearts of my generation! I found myself more confident of the light of Jesus shining this year in the hardest and darkest region than before. My hope did not put me to shame.
Repeatedly throughout the fall my co lead and I would stop and realize the faith that we had for our region. How did we know we were walking in faith? Well, many times we didn’t have much going for us. We had hardly any connections to college students, a small number of churches to connect work with, and most of our networking had led to dead ends. Yet, I distinctly remember being unphased! It’s as if there was no room for doubt about God’s faithfulness, because I have only seen God come through with the exact people we are meant to work with, so there is no need to engage with doubt or worry! I was reading Hebrews 11:1-2 and being struck by how the verses were ringing true in my heart.
“Now faith brings our hopes into reality and becomes the foundation needed to acquire the things we long for. It is all the evidence required to prove what is still unseen. This testimony of faith is what previous generations were commended for.”
God wants to meet his people more than we want to see it, and there is such a lightness that comes in knowing that. Knowing him as a jealous God, birthes a confidence that he will accomplish and do the desires that he shared with us.
I also want to explain freshly who Circuit Riders is and what we do with university students across the nation through our “Carry the Love campaign.” First Circuit Riders is the name of our organization, and within Circuit Riders is many different expressions that all exist to; save the lost, revive the saved, and train them all. All throughout the year we host discipleship training schools in Huntington Beach, CA for any young adults who want to grow in their relationship with God, get equipped in biblical training, and want to reach their generation. Each student will finish their discipleship training with a 2 month outreach to universities in a specific region of America or Europe for an 8 week tour, called Carry the Love. The team of students that will be going to New England on their outreach is attached at the bottom of this post!
Although this 2 month outreach is for those that are dedicated a season of their life to be trained, it is also for the empowering of university students who are pursuing a college degree, but also are desiring to see Jesus touch their campus through their life. The Carry the Love outreach is two-fold in that way.
My role in Circuit Riders is to work directly with university students to empower them to be leaders and evangelists to their campus. All throughout the fall, I am encouraging them in who God has made them to be, and reminding them of what God desires to do in them and through them, and pulling out their God dreams and helping them to take steps to walk in obedience to that. It’s always exciting to begin to see each student begin to step out in faith and walk in boldness and love.
If you’d like to know more in detail what our model looks like, I would encourage you to go to the website linked HERE.
For many students, this is the first time they have begun to ponder that they can reach the lost on their campus. For many students, this is the first time that they have considered if the gospel is really good news for every person. It sometimes is the first time that they have asked God for ‘‘His Heart’ for their campus. We know that these prayers lead to a generation who walks on campus with an awareness of God’s heart that longs to reveal itself to each of his children who just don’t know him. It is in the consideration of ‘goodness’ of the gospel, that many get overwhelmed by God’s love, Which leads to being filled with compassion to go and share the gospel with the lost.
God’s desire for these university students to know him. It is in knowing him through meeting him over again, that they begin to get to know how deep his love for them is. It doesn’t take long for his love to change our heart, and make us want to surrender anything that stands in the way of knowing him. This is how God worked in the hearts of humanity for all of time, because he has the same God and will continue to be this kind of God to Generation Z.
I know because I am one of Generation Z that has been touched by the love of God, never to be the same.
But now I am seeing God reveal his love to students in my generation at these universities, and I am fully convinced that there are souls attached to their lives, even if I don’t see it yet, I know that God is relentless in convincing us of his love, and when we begin to be convinced there is no stopping the spread of the good news.
This was a worship night that we held in Boston, where 7 different universities were represented. Each university desiring for Jesus to be made known through them!
So as I share what we saw this fall, I share it filled with awe and wonder of what God will do in the hearts of these students that we have been connected with. It’s exciting to think that we truly could know some Generation Z Billy Graham’s, Reinhard Bonke’s, Mother Therseas, Katherine Koolmans and they will truly change history!
We spent a week in October with these students in New England. Most of these meetings looked like sitting around a table with a group of students who just want Jesus to be known for who he actually is. While simultaneously we are listening for what ways they long to know God and how we can partner with the Holy Spirit to bring that revelation to them.
One team of students from Gordon College in Wenham, MA, left us speechless. These students are filled with such passion and raw hunger for more of God and seeing God transform their campus from just a Christian campus to a campus filled with hearts deeply in love with Jesus. From the moment that we met with them, it was family. We spent our night together talking about what God had placed on their hearts and praying over each other. They continually challenge me in their willingness and boldness to do whatever it takes to see their peers encounter God’s love. The way that they love one another and are pursuing to be like Jesus daily, are the key ingredients to vessels of God’s glory and I believe we are going to see more than we could’ve ever imagined through their simple obedience.
TESTIMONY:
We have a team of students at Central Connecticut State University who are almost entirely made up of athletes playing on D1 teams. A group of them began to meet in a dorm living room last spring for bible study. Little did they know that they would quickly have to find a larger gathering space, as teammates and peers began attending weekly and bringing their friends. Now this fall, these athletes are regularly seeing 50-60 athletes come for weekly bible study.
When we met with them this fall, we couldn’t believe what we were hearing. Peers and classmates who don’t follow Jesus spending their Monday nights discussing the stories written in the gospels. Not only that, but the discussions would continue throughout the week into cafeterias, team huddles, and living rooms. Without a second thought, we decided that we would fly back to Connecticut with one of our worship leaders to host a worship night for the students who have been faithful attending bible study, so that they have the opportunity to experience the love of the man they have been reading about.
On December 5, we held the worship night, so excited we could hardly contain ourselves. Around 40 students filled the classroom, and as we began to worship I couldn’t help but wonder stories of each individual in the room. What call does God have specifically for them? What is he going to show them tonight? How moved is God’s heart by people in the room who have come to seek him?
We were only a few minutes into the night and one of the students approached us asking us to do an altar call, and we said, ‘go for it!’ It was a remarkable moment as we watched him give the invitation to relationship with Jeuss and 20 hands shot into the air, and the students scrambled to count the hands and lead the room to receive Jesus. It was evident that there not a heart in that room unaffected by God’s presence, and awe at what God had done through their obedience to gather their peers.
As the night ended, a guy came up and shared that his labrum was torn and before worship he could not move it high and had pain and very low mobility. He said during worship as his hands were out, he felt the Holy Spirit on his hands and it felt as if someone was lifting his arm up for him. He said he went to lift his hands up and he had no pain, and full mobility and he said God fully healed his labrum!
Here is the student team from Central Connecticut State University!
WHAT’S NEXT:
Introducing the Carry the Love New England 2023!
On January 11, I am headed to Lancaester, PA to meet up with my team to begin our 8 week tour! We are so excited to get on the road and see more and more of God touching the hearts of students. It feels as though our anticipation is bubbling up and spilling over as we enjoy our last couple of weeks at home on break. You are not going to want to miss my next update, as I expect that it will be filled with testimonies from our tour! The team in this photo are filled with a heart for the lost, and they are unstoppable!
Thank you for partnering with us in prayer for hearts and lives that God is going to touch. We truly could not do this without YOU and your faithful prayers!
