Campus Outreach Minneapolis 2014 Annual Report
“Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations forever and ever. Amen.” – Ephesians 3:20-21
TABLE OF CONTENTS A Note From Our Director
1
2014 COM Staff Team
2-3
Northwestern Campus Update
4-5
Bethel Campus Update
6-7
University of Minnesota Campus Update
8-9
St. Thomas Campus Update
10-11
St. Cloud State Campus Update
12-13
COM Sheffield Expansion
14-15
Mobilization
16
Matt Reagan’s Blog
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COM Summer
18-19
Resource Center
20
COM Finances
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Director’s Note Paul Poteat Ξ COM Director “Maybe next year?” Those were the words that seemed to be spoken every year that Campus Outreach Minneapolis wanted to launch a team to St. Cloud, MN. There weren’t enough staff, the needs on existing campuses were too great, the timing just wasn’t right. However, last year that all changed. As we revisited the dream of launching a new team, it seemed possible. What happened? Abundance. You see, the method Campus Outreach trusts for growth is the slow and steady process of multiplication. One person invests in one person with the hopes that they, in turn, will invest in one person. After several years of allowing that process to take place, Campus Outreach grew from 28 staff in 2010 to 42 this year. That growth, that act of God doing “far more abundantly than all that we ask or think” is allowing for more multiplication and more abundance. This year the Lord abundantly provided a long term Summer Training Project facility for our ministry in Garden City, SC. This year the Lord added 13 new staff to our team. This year the Lord raised up new leadership on each of our campuses. This year the Lord gave us clarity about a long-term overseas launch to Sheffield in the United Kingdom. This year the Lord provided over a million dollars, yet again, to meet the needs of our ministry. In the next year, we are asking that God would again do abundantly more than what we ask or think. Please join with us in asking that God prepares the way for us to send Andrew and Sara Knight, along with four to six other staff, to the city of Sheffield this summer as part of a long-term international expansion. Pray that God would abundantly work on the campus at St. Cloud State University where 17,000 students attend and need Christ. Pray that God would abundantly provide, yet again, the finances that our staff need to offer the gospel to college students in a full-time capacity. Finally, pray that God would remind us that the way he abundantly works isn’t exactly how we think he will. He abundantly provides by the slow process of multiplication, he opens certain doors through the hard process of closing others, and let’s not forget that he abundantly provided mercy for all who would believe through the scandalous death of his Son, Jesus Christ. Abundance is what we always hope for, but the path there is usually not the one we would choose. We are thankful that he is the one who supplies not what we ask or think, but abundantly more.
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2014 COM STAFF TEAM Front Row (Left to Right) – Matt and Lisa Reagan, Sara Knight, Jess Schrock, Ann Nelson, Samm Poteat, Elisa Horning, Kayla Thom, Leah Hatzung, Maggie Anderson, Josh Haubrich, Tim and Cassie Devane, Karen and Robert Gangnon, Katie Stromwall, Kelsey Sontag, Holly Lonergan. Back Row (Left to Right) – Andrew Knight, Lynn and Larry Martini, Paul Poteat, Charlie Schumacher, Mike and Joanna Polley, Devin Smith, Alberto Ramos, Dan Grano, Jared Wass, Lucas and Ari Cecka, Steve Discher, Nick Stromwall, Peter Sontag, Eric Lonergan, Reid and Nikki Jilek. Not Pictured – Haakon and Jess Hansen, Amy Wass
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PRAYER REQUESTS Support – Our staff are constantly raising support. Pray that God would provide for our team to be entirely funded by the summer of 2015. Expansion – For the Lord to continue to open doors as we hope to launch a long term international Campus Outreach team to the UK in the city of Sheffield. We pray to send Andrew and Sara Knight by the summer of 2015. Laborers – For students to love God in deep and intimate ways and for that love of Christ to overflow into sacrificial ministry in the lives of students around them. We want them to know God and make Him known.
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UNIVERSITY OF NORTHWESTERN, ST. PAUL
“God abundantly provides for his people in all things. He never fails to give us what we need, and I’ve seen more of that this year.” – Nate Van Zee, Senior
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An Abundance of Excitement Reid Jilek Ξ UNWSP Campus Director Here are a few glimpses into the Lord’s work in these students this fall: Earlier in the semester a student asked me, “Reid, can you explain the gospel to me? I am not quite sure I understand it.” I was thankful for his honesty and gladly shared with him. We have been studying through the Gospel of Mark every week.
Campus Statistics 21 4
intentional discipleship groups
8
students studying the Bible with our student leaders
57
Two senior football captains, who are in a discipleship group with me, met a student who has only been to church once in his life coming into college. Those guys have begun investing in him by inviting him to Bible studies, bringing him to our Burly Man Retreat, and going to church with him.
students being discipled
total students involved Nikki has been spending time with Sara, a senior captain on the UNWSP soccer team. Sara, in turn, has been spending time with Katie, and Katie and Sara are trying to help freshman girls on the team grow in their relationship with Christ. It is cool to see discipleship at work!
Nikki and I are excited to be back at The University of Northwestern St. Paul, the school we both graduated from six years ago. Although many things have changed since we were Northwestern Eagles, it has been fun to meet students who are just like Nikki and I were coming into college: some who are excited to grow (like I was), and others who do not know Christ (like Nikki didn’t her freshman year).
These are just a few snapshots of what God is doing. We want more; more students to know Christ, and more to get excited about discipleship. Pray that God would do abundantly more as we continue in our first year back at Northwestern!
“Can you explain the gospel to me? I’m not quite sure I understand it.”
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BETHEL UNIVERSITY
“It’s so sweet to have gospel conversations with nonbelievers on campus and see how God works through those conversations.” – Daniel Rimmereid, Senior
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An Abundance of Soft Hearts Steve Discher Ξ BU Campus Director They now want to share the one who has radically changed their lives with their fellow students. We have also had the joy of seeing at least five students come to trust Christ as their Savior for the first time this past school year. Many of them come from backgrounds where they have heard the gospel and were raised in church, but they realized at their core that they were trusting in themselves instead of Christ.
Campus Statistics 25
students being discipled
6
intentional discipleship groups
6
students studying the Bible with our student leaders
46
Praise God who is able to change self-righteous hearts to depend on the righteousness of Jesus. He has truly done more than we could have asked or thought this past year at Bethel University!
total students involved
God is continuing to work abundantly at Bethel University, and we are excited that He graciously lets us be a part of his work in students’ lives.
“We have had the joy of seeing at least five students come to trust Christ as their savior for the first time this past school year.”
One of the most exciting things that we have been able to witness and be a part of is students sharing Christ with other students. We have invested a lot over the years into a group of 10 students that are now seniors, and it has been fun seeing them develop a heart for others.
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UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA
“Through CO, I have seen God do amazing things in my relationship with him as well as in the lives of others. I have come to have a deeper understanding of his grace and what that means for me as his beloved and cherished daughter.” – Katie Beth Strand, Senior
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An Abundance of Grace Mike Polley Ξ U of M Campus Director ultimately a fruit of the grace of God and not our own work. Many students involved with our ministry at the U of M are young. They are young in age and young in faith. Yet the Lord is pouring an abundance of grace on these students as they are learning to share their faith and to live a life that leans into the lives of others. They seek to not just live for themselves, but also for others, that they too might believe in the hope of Jesus Christ.
Campus Statistics 49
students being discipled
11
intentional discipleship groups
25
students studying the Bible with our student leaders
163
total students involved
“When he came and saw the grace of God, he was glad, and he exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose.” - Acts 11:23
When I think of abundance, the phrase that comes to mind is ‘abundance of grace.’ This past semester we have been studying the book of Acts in all our discipleship groups. In Acts 11, Barnabas travels to Antioch where it was reported that many had been turning to the Lord. Verse 23 says, “When he came and saw the grace of God, he was glad, and he exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose...” Many times in the book of Acts when the believers act lovingly or boldly, it is attributed to the grace of God. All fruit that we see is
The Lord is also pouring out an abundance of grace on our senior leaders. Senior year is often a time of transition, but God has poured out grace on our seniors. Six of them are leading discipleship groups of younger students, and three of them are leading consistent evangelistic Bible studies. God really has produced an abundance of growth in our students that is clearly beyond
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UNIVERSITY OF ST. THOMAS
“One of the sweetest things of being in this ministry has been watching the gospel spread through students that my ‘generation’ discipled.” – Emma Button, Junior
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An Abundance of Laborers Dan Grano Ξ UST Campus Director
Campus Statistics 25
students being discipled
4
intentional discipleship groups
11
students studying the Bible with our student leaders
38
total students involved
“When [Jesus] saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to the disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few…’” Matthew 9:37 As our staff team looks out onto the St. Thomas campus and sees the crowds of students, we often feel the same way. The need is great, but the laborers are few. However, this past year God has raised up an abundance of laborers from St. Thomas, and they are about to be sent out from the
campus into a lost world that desperately needs to hear the gospel of Jesus. We are excited to have over a dozen students who will graduate shortly, but we are even more excited as we reflect on how God has used Campus Outreach to build each one of them into a laborer during their time in college. Combined, they have attended 23 Summer Training Projects, even more New Year’s Conferences, and have had plenty of opportunities to put their equipping into practice as they’ve ministered to their friends on the campus. What’s more amazing is that the majority of them became believers during college. So where will they go once they leave the campus? For many, the answer may be to the nations. More than half of these upperclassmen are strongly considering working overseas post-graduation and bringing the light of the gospel with them to shine into dark places. Imagine the kingdom impact they could make! The CO vision statement is “Glorifying God by building laborers on the campus for the lost world” and we rejoice that God has truly done that abundantly at St. Thomas. Please join us in praying that God would continue raising up and sending out more laborers from St. Thomas into his harvest.
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ST. CLOUD STATE UNIVERSITY
“One example of God’s abundance to us was his leading us to two believers on campus the very first weekend!” – Elisa Horning, Staff
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Abundance of Opportunities Eric Lonergan Ξ SCSU Campus Director and crannies of this new campus. Even better, the Lord has actually been helping our staff to establish friendships with students from many different backgrounds, including international students, freshmen in the dorms, and theater majors.
“God has surprised us with many students who are interested to hear more about Jesus or begin studying the Bible for the first time.”
Campus Statistics 5 15
students being discipled gospel conversations
8
students in a Bible study
5
CO staff on campus
“Has your weekly meeting started yet?” We are asked this question about the St. Cloud State CO movement often, and so far our response has been “no.” One semester in to pioneering this campus, people are puzzled as to why we have not started hosting an event with teaching, Bible study, worship, and snacks. Instead, we’ve chosen to investigate many places on campus and build relationships where God has provided. The Lord has provided abundant evangelistic opportunities in the dorms, on athletic teams, and in many of the nooks
We have been investing time into these relationships, seeking to love these people and to share with them the love of Jesus Christ. Of course, there have been some discouragements as some students are not interested in us or the gospel we share. But God has surprised us with many students who are interested to hear more about Jesus or begin studying the Bible for the first time. We may not have a meeting yet, but God is surely at work. Soon, we will craft events that serve the relationships we are already building as we live life with students on the campus and in this city. Nearing the end of our first semester at St. Cloud State University, God is doing more than we could ask or think!
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COM Expansion to Sheffield, England WHAT is happening?
WHY are we going?
Back in 2003 our staff team consisted of
England is currently only about 4%
only seven staff members from the southern United States. Today, we are a staff team of 42 which is 90% Minnesotan. To say that God has done “far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think” is an understatement. He has even positioned us to launch a new expansion ministry overseas! Last month our church elders voted unanimously to see this through to fruition, so this coming summer (July 2015) we will send 8 of our staff to start a new ministry in Sheffield, England, under The Crowded House church.
churched and many pastors say it has an evangelical presence of only around 2-3% (that is similar to India, China, and Indonesia). The UK has one of the slowest-growing evangelical Christian populations in the world. Islam is expected to be the country’s number one religion if these patterns persist.
WHERE are we going? Sheffield is two hours north of London and is the fourth largest city in England. It has 60,000 university students total and is surrounded by 6 cities that contain another 60,000 university students each. There are fewer than three full-time vocational student workers available in the whole city to meet this need. Bethlehem elders praying over Andrew Knight.
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How Can You Help? Jesus said in Matthew 9:38 that the harvest is abundant, but the laborers are not. Might God be pleased to send an abundant amount of laborers into a fruitless area of our world? Please visit the team at cominneapolis.org/sheffield to join us in raising godly leaders on a global level for generational impact. God has provided a $10,000 gift-match to help us start our ministry in Sheffield. Would you consider giving to help us launch to Sheffield and labor among the lost, and love university students well? Please see the above link to view more!
Andrew Knight Ξ Director of COUK
“The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.� - Matthew 9:37-38
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COM Mobilization Jared Wass Ξ Mobilization Director seniors and recent graduates make the critical turn from college into a new season for life and ministry.
In Campus Outreach we believe the college campus itself is a strategic mission field, so we spend a lot of time sharing our faith and helping students share their faith. We praise God that He has graciously granted fruit on the campus from our evangelism every year, and we are praying for more. But we also believe the campus is a strategic sending center, so we personally disciple these students with the aim to launch them out as laborers into the lost world. Success to us is not simply that students graduate from college as Christians. Success is seeing these students decades after graduation still walking with Jesus and helping others walk with Jesus. Our hope is for the college years to be a springboard to help them live in light of the gospel and labor in God’s harvest field (Matthew 9:36-38) for a lifetime. Our mobilization ministry exists to help our
After four years of formal mobilization ministry, our region has deployed over 175 graduates into a variety of arenas for God-glorifying life and personal ministry. In this time three main categories have emerged as destinations for deployment: 1) back to the college campus as Campus Outreach staff 2) into the city as neighbors and co-workers 3) to the nations as missionaries. These are the three main “lost worlds” into which we launch our graduates. Pray for last year’s grads as they settle into a new context this fall. Most of them find the transition to be more difficult than they expected. Pray for this year’s grads as they ponder what God would have them do next year. Overseas, we have opportunities in South Korea, China, and the United Kingdom as the most developed options. In the Twin Cities, we have an opportunity to invest in at-risk inner-city youth alongside local church involvement. Campus Outreach has five college campuses with tens of thousands of college students needing the gospel. Pray for our seniors as they discern their next steps and for our staff as they mobilize them.
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Labor to Rest Matt Reagan Ξ CO Area Director and Blog Editor I realize that there is an abundance of wonderful blogs out there, each serving as its own Christian coffee, but Proverbs 11:14 makes the benefit of this clear: “Where there is no guidance, a people falls, but in an abundance of counselors there is safety.” While a blog is certainly no replacement for personal counsel, the bookmarking of this blog is a 21st century application of that reality!
In an attempt to utilize the wonders of cyberspace for the advancement of Christ’s kingdom, I have decided to start a supplementary blog on our website. The daily reality of life in the world can lull us to spiritual sleep, so I want to offer our students, staff, and supporters (that’s you!) an easy-access spot to grab a little eternal perspective on life and ministry and help you stay spiritually awake.
“Where there is no guidance, a people falls, but in an abundance of counselors there is safety.” - Proverbs 11:14
The blog is called “Labor to Rest,” and I will be delving into topics surrounding the labor of the Christian life, especially campus ministry, as we struggle toward the eternal rest offered by the gospel of Jesus. That said, while you can expect the campus-specific and gospel-specific posts to be the trunk of the tree here, there will be quite a few branches, some of which will not even seem to fit on the tree. I plan to incorporate quite a few faith-bolstering reasons I believe in the Christian worldview, a consistent stream of perspective on current events, and even a smattering of humor. I trust that God will use this blog, along with an abundance of real-life and virtual counselors, to help carry you through Christ-exalting labor along the way to Christ-exalting rest.
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CO MINNEAPOLIS SUMMER Cross Cultural Project
of The Crowded House Church who ministers to students. Through this connection many of those students have attended Bible studies and gatherings to learn more about Jesus. Please continue to pray with us that God would work abundantly in many students’ lives, and that they would come to know Jesus as the Savior of the world.
This last summer was our first time sending a Cross-Cultural Project team to Sheffield, England, to partner with The Crowded House church. The best way to describe the spiritual climate of the UK is “post-Christian.” A majority of students we met on campus considered themselves to be atheists, and
- Steve Discher, Staff Leader of CCP
many had never heard the good news of Jesus Christ. Our team was stretched and developed as we learned to build relationships with British students and engage them with the gospel.
Summer Training Project
One of the great privileges we got to experience as a team was ministering to many international students. We had the opportunity to meet students from a couple dozen countries who were studying English or other subjects in Sheffield. We held an English conversation class weekly and spent much of our free time connecting relationally with these students. We had abundant opportunities to talk about Christ, and almost all the international students were open to talking with us about God. One highlight we experienced as a team was seeing a girl from Japan come to faith in Christ after having been connected to the church in Sheffield for months. Another highlight was connecting more than 20 international students to a member
God provided in abundant ways for the 2014 Summer Training Project! In searching for a place to house our students for the summer, God provided more than we could ask: a hotel of our very own, purchased by a team of people fully behind our vision. The hotel required maintenance before we could move in, and the Lord provided the labor and willpower to finish our work hours before the students arrived! With perhaps the youngest staff team we’ve ever had leading the Project and student leaders with additional responsibilities, this summer in Myrtle Beach demanded that we rely on God to work. The Lord used trials to cultivate deeper dependence on his faithfulness towards us in Jesus, even when we were faithless. The resulting growth for our staff and students will continue to bear fruit far beyond the summer.
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We counted 8 students who acknowledged God’s saving work in their lives while on our Project! Now back home, many of the students who invested their summers at the Project are living out what they learned, convinced of God’s love for them in Jesus Christ and sure of His power to save others on their campuses. When we felt weak, God proved able to do more than we could have asked or thought at the Summer
go to the lost neighborhood and the workplace. The Twin Cities Project was created to give perspective on this context for all our students, but especially recent graduates who will soon be deployed there. In our first year we had 25 students participate, twenty being graduates. On Mondays we met for dinner, a talk, and small groups. On Wednesdays we attended a church program among the
Training Project.
poor in inner-city Minneapolis, and later in the evening we held a social gathering for college students aimed at bringing unbelieving friends.
For this coming summer, please pray that God would use the laborers He built up at this past STP to bring other students who can then deepen their relationships with Jesus Christ. - Devin Smith, Project Director of STP
Our mobilization strategy is organized around the campus, the city, and the world, and now we have a summer training project geared for all three. - Jared Wass, Staff Leader of TCP
Twin Cities Project The summer often provides more flexibility for students, and we use this time to provide extra discipleship training. Our Summer Training Project (STP) in Myrtle Beach provides in-depth discipleship that is contextualized for college life. The Cross Cultural Project is a discipleship experience that is contextualized for overseas missions. This summer we offered something new: the Twin Cities Project. Around 70% of our graduates don’t go on staff in college ministry or become overseas missionaries after college. They
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Resource Center Nick Stromwall Ξ Resource Director As we seek to glorify God by building laborers on the campus for the lost world, we want to step back and thank him for his abundant provision to us as a ministry. We started in 2003 on one campus with seven staff. Starting the 2014 school year, we now have 42 staff and are on five college campuses. In roughly ten years, God has grown our team sixfold! Praise God for continuing to abundantly provide the resources to allow our 42 staff to minister to hundreds of students on each of those five campuses in Minnesota. With 42 staff, a growing team, and dreams and initial plans to launch to Sheffield, UK, the Resource Team is planning and dreaming towards supporting and resourcing these growing movements. We steward and advance this ministry through foresightful administration and help resource new demands, often before our team even knows we need to!
This year the Resource Team completed a massive enterprise-class data migration as we developed and implemented a new donation management system. Have you logged in yet to view your giving history (cominneapolis.org/give)? Our team also launched our new ministry website (cominneapolis.org) and we started a new blog written by Matt Reagan (cominneapolis.org/labortorest). We are dreaming towards new ways of allowing our students to interact through mobile apps and would love to develop a mobile application in the coming years. We thank God for answering our prayer last year of raising the financial and prayer support teams of two new resource staff! They are servant-hearted men with a desire to help steward the resources of our ministry. Please pray for God to work in our team’s growing resource needs more abundantly than we could ask or think in this coming year.
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COM Finances Josh Haubrich Ξ Finance Manager students who share a vision for reaching the world, and He continues to meet their financial needs. Praise God for the way He blesses our team through each and every one of those donors!
Thank you for your generous giving toward our ministry! 1300 donors have already given over one million dollars in this year alone. The CO Minneapolis team is now the largest it has ever been. Five new staff finished raising support in 2014, while four couples and two single women began building their support networks. The Lord continues to raise up staff from our
Cost in $
Budget Item
915,000
Payroll & Staff Expenses
200,000
Summer Ministry Projects
50,000
Cross Cultural Project
75,000
New Years & Missions Conferences
50,000
Ministry Budgets
We also hope you pray with us that the Lord would provide even more abundantly in the coming year. A growing team drives expansion to new campuses, cities, and countries. Your sacrificial giving helps the gospel go out to hundreds of college students, and we pray that this partnership would fill you with Joy. To him be the glory.
* As of October 31, 2014
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