October’s Obtestations

Wow! It’s already the end of October! The month barely began and it’s already over! October has been a month of great growth marked by obstacles and trials both in the ministry and personally. The weeks are flying by so fast that its getting hard to keep track of everything that’s going on!

I kicked off the first weekend of October attending my monthly Battle Assembly for the Army Reserve and was relieved to find out that I wouldn’t have to take the Physical Training test that weekend. The first weekend of October also marked the beginning of a new era at First Southern Baptist Church as they welcomed senior pastor Randy Mullinax and family.

The beginning of October also marked the beginning of a new phase with the men God has entrusted to the small groups I lead. The past two months have been focused on teaching my men how to read the bible. Teaching them to read scripture holistically analyzing passages of scripture in the context that it is written and seeking to understand the message the author was communicating to the original audience. Then teaching them how to extract the timeless truths of scripture and apply the Word of God to their lives. I closed out the last two months with a basic summary of what we had been learning the past two months in a document entitled, “Creating Dynamic Small Group Bible Studies.” The document goes into more depth about the thematic approach to studying scripture. I used some of the principles I’ve learned from various classes in my undergraduate as well as a few seminars on bible teaching. However most of the information that I gave out was from Dr. Bob Utley’s free bible commentary. The document also contained a description of the improvement rubric for the “Small Group Leadership Evaluations.” After the first several weeks of demonstrating how to facilitate small group bible study discussion I gave the students the opportunity to practice leading. They would complete a “Self Evaluation” and give “Peer Evaluations” to two other members of the small group. Later in my one on one time with each student we would review the evaluations in the context of the notes I took as I observed their leading.

The next few weeks we start a new cycle and I am demonstrating as well as teaching the students how to use the inductive bible study method. I’ve demonstrated how to use inductive bible study for personal study using a template worksheet I’ve created. Soon I hope to show how this more intensive form of bible study aids in the facilitation of small group discussion. It is a little difficult doing all this simply because I’m creating, teaching and demonstrating on the fly. However, I do believe that future semester will become progressively easier in terms of pace and availability of resources.

In addition to teaching the men in my small groups to have confidence in God’s Word through intensive study of scripture, I have also been attempting to systemize the approach I’ve taken in coaching/developing the young men I meet with. A few of the young men I meet with have already taken the initiative to seek out and begin the process of discipleship. Naturally, many questions arise regarding what to do or how to help someone. At present I’ve been during my one on one time attempting to answer each individual question that comes up allow each young leader to lead in the way that best fits their personality. However, since the beginning of the month I have been more conscientious of how I coach/develop/counsel these young men looking for common patterns in both the dynamics of the meeting and questions that come up. I hope to finish preparing a document for distribution to leaders I am mentoring now as a form of future reference in their discipleship relationships.

Many of the people that I talk to are also serving as leaders or desire to be leaders in ministry or other organizations. Two relationships I have with students from Priority College Ministry (FSBC) in particular led to the creation of a more generic leadership document. This document also contains self and peer evaluations for specific leadership events. There is a detailed description of each of the categories of evaluation and a brief overview of what it means to be a leader. I have not used these materials with students outside of Priority College Ministry, however, before completing the current draft, I sent out the material to fellow ministry workers and some have begun to use the evaluation tools in developing their leaders. Alex, the other college intern at Christian Challenge, asked if he could use the material with the ministry team at Christian Challenge which of prompted my urgent completion of a description of the evaluation criteria.

Aside from all that stuff, things have been very hectic in the lives of our students as they are in the midst of midterm exams. There have also been many financial, healths, and relational issues the students have been persevering through. So please keep them in your prayers. I could not ask for a better first semester experience in terms of the types of students I get to interact with. There seems to be cohesion among the students I believe to be borne out of a clear sense of identity as a ministry. Seeing and hearing all the students gathering at the Christian Challenge building doing life together is both encouraging and distracting. But Praise God!!! This has all been a little nostalgic for me and in some ways an answered prayer. If you knew me from before then you’d be aware that I during my undergraduate I was heavily involved with the Asian American Student Affairs (APASA) Office and all the Asian clubs that fell under it. There was a great sense of community and family there that I wished was a part of some of the campus ministries I participated in. APASA was also characterized by a lot of community service projects and just fun activities. The thing that was depressing about my association with APASA was that although many of these people were my friends and wonderful people none of them were believers. APASA was a group of people doing great things but only with an eye on the immediate. Doing things with a lack of perception on the eternal So hearing from students how they feel like Challenge is a home away from home and family is a blessing. It is a blessing to be a part of a group of people that is seeking to know God more intimately and proclaim His glory throughout our community.

God has also opened a door back into APASA for me through some former students at the Tae Kwon Do studio I assisted at. Some of the students that used to attend tae kwon do as junior high and high school students are now students at the UofA. Two of them approached me through my brother and asked me if I could train them and get them into shape so they could go back to Tae Kwon Do. I didn’t really have much expectation for ministry in this request but the first day they came two more students from APASA came with them. All of them are unbelievers, however here they are coming to Christian Challenge. Please be in prayer for these students. Hopefully they will continue to want to come both for the Tae Kwon Do training but more importantly for the relationships they can build with the believing students of Christian Challenge.

This brings me to my last request. As I mentioned earlier several of the students in our ministry have been facing adversity in various forms. Several students have been attending our small groups and large group meetings that openly share that they are not Christians. Christian students have been expressing a desire to change. To be freed from whatever…there is a common thread of people desiring to be transformed. People that want the power to change. The past semester we have been going through a series at Christian Challenge called the Pursuit. The whole series climaxes November 2, 2010 @ 7pm. The topic for the night is personal transformation. All the things that we’ve talked about so far have led the students to a point where they have to decide if they will choose to pursue relationship with Jesus or not. I especially crave your prayers for this night as the responsibility of presenting this topic has fallen to me. So ya’ll know I can use a lot of prayer for wisdom, integrity, humility, and tact. In all seriousness I really desire prayer for myself and for the students involved in helping to put this night together. Also for all the students coming that are sitting on the tip of the iceberg. I know God has a plan and a purpose for the lives of these students and that in spite of me still speaks to the hearts of the people that come. Please pray that this is a night born out of scripture, flows with scripture, and that the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ pours forth from the lives that are changed by the power of His Holy Word.