2017 Annual Report
1
2
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.” — ROMANS 1:16–17
3
TA B L E O F C O N T E N T S
5
A Note From Our Director
6–7
2017 COM Staff Team
8–9
University of Northwestern Update
10–11
Bethel University Update
12–13
University of Minnesota Update
14–15
University of St. Thomas Update
16–17
St. Cloud State University Update
18
Mobilization Update
19–21
Summer Projects
22
Resource Center
23
Finances
4
DIRECTOR’S NOTE Paul Poteat // COM Director We live in a society that is often confined to the seeable, the knowable, the attainable. This materialistic thinking does away with dreaming, it does away with risk, it does away with faith. In his letter to the Romans, the Apostle Paul states that “the righteous shall live by faith,” that the entire life of a Christian is one that is based on faith. It is a life lived believing that there is more to this world than what you see, that actually, things unseen are more real and substantial than those that are seen. For example, the reality that we are in an ultimate conflict between good and evil, that there are supernatural powers at work in and around us every moment, and that human effort is powerless to produce any real change. Therefore, the idea of living “by faith” speaks to both a deep conviction pertaining to the circumstances we find ourselves in as well as to the way we believe that peace is made with God. It isn’t by our efforts or giving or ministry success but by faith in what Jesus has done once for all. We must place our daily lives, as well as our eternal hope, in the works of another. The hope of Campus Outreach Minneapolis this year is that we will live by faith. That our deep trust in what Jesus has done for us in his life, death, and resurrection will be the source of our identity, our hope, and our fuel for ministry—that we will not be ashamed of the gospel—but proclaim it with integrity. That being said, as we look back on this year our perspective is also one that is by faith. We faithfully hope that the new staff we hired will be remarkably fruitful. We faithfully trust that gospel seeds that were planted will grow into oaks of righteousness. We ask the Lord daily that the men and women we’ve invested in will be laborers for the harvest field. As is the case every year, we are so thankful for your partnership in this venture. Your joyful giving and faith-filled prayers are the backbone of what we do on the campus. We will, by faith, trust that God will continue to use our laboring together. My hope is that you will, by faith, continue to empower us to build laborers on the Campus for the lost world.
5
2 0 1 7 C O M S TA F F T E A M Front Row (Left to Right) // Nikki Jilek, Katie Stromwall, Beka Hemken, Kelsey Sontag, Joanna Polley, Elisa Horning, Brittney Sheehy, Mariam Amirikian, Samm Poteat, Justine Simmons, Holly Lonergan, Lindsey Oawster, Elli Van Zee, Ann Mekala, Emma Button, Kristy Sterken, Lynn Marini Back Row (Left to Right) // Reid Jilek, Nick Stromwall, Peter Sontag, Mike Polley, Ariana Cecka, Lucas Cecka, Paul Poteat, Harmon Squires, Zach Simmons, Eric Lonergan, Charlie Schumacher, Nate Van Zee, Alberto Ramos, Nirmal Mekala, Devin Smith, Dan Sterken, Larry Martini
6
P R AY E R R E Q U E S T S ASKING BY FAITH... 1. For God to raise up two new staff men and two new staff women (Matthew 9:37–38) 2. For God’s grace to work in the hearts of current and new supporters to cultivate joyful generosity (2 Corinthians 8:1–4) 3. For a supernatural outpouring of grace to awaken the hearts of men and women who don’t yet believe in Christ (Romans 10:1)
7
UNIVERSITY OF NORTHWESTERN
Because of Campus Outreach, I am more confident in the power of the gospel, the importance of strong community, and my identity as a daughter of Jesus Christ. — Elizabeth Downie, Junior
8
FA I T H T H AT A B I D E S Nate Van Zee // UNWSP Campus Director investing in a few influential lives can begin to change the culture of a campus. This idea of reaching the campus through strategic leaders has led to a renewed vision of discipling students deeply and relying on them to help reach the campus. Our vision statement for the year is “Abide in Jesus and share that joy.” We want our staff and students to be men and women who are being recognized by others “that they had been with Jesus” (Acts 4:13). We want to spend time with Jesus in a way that it affects every interaction we have with other people on the campus, both believers and unbelievers.
Campus Statistics 70 7
students being discipled intentional discipleship groups
45
students studying the Bible with our student leaders
115
total students involved
Investing in a few influential lives can begin to change the culture of a campus.
Last year, our ministry at Northwestern was blessed with large numbers of students who were pursuing discipleship through Campus Outreach. As a staff team, we had to think creatively for how we could bless the campus and all of these students. Out of this brainstorming came creative ideas like co-gender discipleship groups and having monthly group meetings with Bethel. It was sweet to see how God worked in so many lives last year and how
We are excited to have influential people involved with the women’s soccer and basketball teams; the football, baseball and tennis teams; the resident halls; and the men’s chorus. We have started praying and asking the Lord to work in a mighty way in the lives of those who participate in these activites or live in these places as we seek to be faithful in our calling to reaching the nonbelievers at Northwestern.
9
BETHEL UNIVERSITY
Campus Outreach has shown me how complete my need for the gospel is, and how I need community to point me to Christ. — John Ratliff, Junior
10
FA I T H F U L LY T R E A S U R I N G Lucas Cecka // BU Campus Director The vision statement we came up with for this school year is to “Treasure Jesus by making true disciples who count others more significant.” With that we have three aims: one is for students to treasure Jesus above all else, second is for students to exhort one another and remind each other of the gospel, and third is for students to count others more significant than themselves by sharing the gospel with their classmates.
Campus Statistics 26 4
students being discipled
Treasure Jesus by making
intentional discipleship groups
true disciples who count others more significant.
20
students studying the Bible with our student leaders
60
total students involved
Our 26 students have committed to these three aims. By faith we are looking forward to see how God works in us and through us this school year as he
Two years ago, we essentially relaunched at Bethel with a completely new staff team. Last year, we began to see the beginning of a movement, and this year we have 26 students who have committed to a discipleship group with the purpose of treasuring Jesus and making him known on Bethel’s campus. God has been faithful to us and we are super excited to be a part of it.
has in the past. Some of the students became believers in the past three years and others have seen God continue to show his grace to them by maturing them to be more Christ-like. It is our joy to be doing life with these students as we partake when our pastor reminded us: “We are agents of mercy on mission.”
11
U N I V E R S I T Y O F M I N N E S O TA
I went to project (STP) without knowing Jesus. At project, I came to Christ after hearing the gospel for the first time. — Sam Lindstrom, Sophomore
12
S T E P P I N G O U T I N FA I T H Nirmal Mekala // UMN Campus Director of a religiously apathetic and skeptical student body, we’ve arrived at some exciting initiatives. Every week, we invite students to share a free meal with us at an event called Friday Feasts. Students rarely have ears to hear anything outside of the context of a friendship, so we’ve created an event where friendships can form. We plan to pair a discussion group with the Friday Feasts to converse over the reasons why religion holds relevance in today’s world. Finally, we aim to begin a Bible study where we will more directly explore the truths of Christ.
Campus Statistics 24 5 25 55
students being discipled intentional discipleship groups
We feel convinced that
students studying the Bible with our student leaders
we need to meet students where they are.
total students involved We feel convinced that we need to meet students where they are. It’s a step of faith for us to wait to explicitly share the gospel, but we’re trusting God to move powerfully as students are winsomely brought into faith conversations. As our staff team has started the process of discussing spiritual things with students, we’ve been thrilled to see what God has in store for this year.
In Acts 17, after seeing an idol dedicated to the “unknown God” in Athens, Paul explains that the god they worship as unknown is the one true God. He takes a piece of their culture and uses it to launch into the gospel. For years since, ministers have marvelled at how Paul understood his target’s worldview and preached a customfitted message to them. Paul’s method has inspired our team at the U of M. As we’ve considered the needs
13
U N I V E R S I T Y O F S T. T H O M A S
This year, through Campus Outreach, I have become a part of a caring community. With this community, I have discovered the love of God and the love we should have for one another. — Sandi Hawley, Sophomore
14
TRUSTING GOD’S PLAN Larry Martini // UST Campus Director “Make Disciples” from the Great Commission found in Matthew 28. We get excited about that vision because to make disciples implies two things. First, we are trusting that people will come to faith. Second, we are praying that believers are brought to maturity. We have many things planned this year like a weekly evangelistic dinner, a trip to Wisconsin Dells, and fun events during the week. At the end of the day, seeing new faith and believers come to maturity is what we want to see happen at St. Thomas.
Campus Statistics 10 2 12 30
students being discipled intentional discipleship groups
Like Abraham, we are called to trust God and rest
students studying the Bible with our student leaders
in his plan.
total students involved By God’s grace we were able to see that happen in Sandi’s life this summer! While on our Summer Training Project, God saved her. Not only did he save her, but this year she is wanting to grow and share Jesus with other girls. We are asking God for many more Sandis this year.
This semester, our church and the older St. Thomas students are studying the life of Abraham in Genesis 12–22. So far, we have learned that although Abraham was far from perfect, he demonstrated great faith by leaving his home and living a nomadic existence based on a promise given by God. How amazing that this promise would not be realized until many years after Abraham’s death!
Ultimately, we don’t know how things will go at UST this year or what God has in store for the students in our ministry. But like Abraham, we are called to trust God and rest in his plan.
As we are beginning another semester, this is a timely word. The vision for our campus is
15
S A I N T C LO U D S TAT E U N I V E R S I T Y
I grew up in church all my life, but Jesus didn’t mean anything to me until last year — Welton Carey, Junior
16
W E A K FA I T H , FA I T H F U L G O D Alberto Ramos // SCSU Campus Director Jesus with their peers. We got to meet with these new students on a consistent basis and help develop their walks with the Lord.
Our faith was weak, but the Lord had other plans.
Campus Statistics 11
students being discipled
3
intentional discipleship groups
25
students hearing the gospel
50
total students involved
At the start of 2017, we felt discouraged. Many students were transferring schools, studying abroad, or dropping out. Several of our student leaders were nearing graduation, and it seemed as if the future of CO in St. Cloud was bleak. Our faith was weak, but the Lord had other plans. Over the Spring semester, God led us to several young believing students who were eager to grow in their faith. They came on our spring break trip, built friendships, and started learning to share
Fast forward to this Fall, we have been blown away and incredibly humbled by the Lord’s favor on our ministry. Those young students are meeting with us weekly for Bible Study and training. Alongside them, we’ve met more freshmen than ever before, and many students have expressed interest in hearing about Christianity. Our biggest “problem” has been the large amount of students to follow up with. What a great problem to have! Nine months ago, our faith was weak. This year, we are still weak and dependent on God, and the Lord has been so faithful to us. He’s graciously made it clear that there are numerous students in St. Cloud who have hearts ready to hear the gospel—and we are trusting God to give them faith.
17
M O B I L I Z AT I O N U P D AT E Mike Polley // Mobilization Director the land that he had promised. In the New Testament, Hebrews shows us that on earth we have no lasting city, but we seek a heavenly one (Hebrews 11:13–16).
By faith, we live for the heavenly city, our unseen home but our lasting home.
By faith, we are growing shallow roots.
As students graduate and move on to the next stage of life, they are looking to belong, looking to get settled, looking to find home. While none of these things are bad, none of them will be fully satisfied on this side of heaven. We don’t sink our roots into this life as our joy, our treasure, or our permanent home. Our roots must not go that deep. Our true home is in heaven and as Hebrews says, we live as strangers and exiles on the earth (Hebrews 11:13). Shallow roots hold more loosely to this life and to their current location. I pray that in this sense our grads will keep shallow roots—being ready to serve here or overseas, in their hometown or in a foreign land. By faith, we live for the heavenly city, our unseen but lasting home.
At first glance, this may sound confusing. The illustration of a plant shows up often in the Bible, and in most cases deep roots are good and shallow roots are bad. The parable of the sower illustrates that hard soil makes shallow roots that don’t bear fruit, but good soil fosters deep roots that bear good fruit. But we can speak of roots in a different way. Your family has probably “put down its roots” somewhere. Without using this wording, Jeremiah 29 essentially says the same thing. Israel is exiled to Babylon and Lord says in verses 5–6, “Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters.” So in other words, “put down your roots in Babylon.” But, this passage also makes it clear that Babylon isn’t not their permanent city. God goes on to say that in 70 years he will bring them back to
18
SUMMER PROJECTS the gospel. Not so different from American students, the locals naturally shied away from talking about God, but the team showed endurance to graciously handle skepticism and indifference by learning to love the students not as “ministry targets” but as friends. Our team built friendships with students through sports and parties, and the outcome was fertile ground for spiritual conversation. Not accustomed to the frequency and intensity of the evangelism they did on this trip, the COM students described how God showed them his sufficiency and power to work through their fears and perceived failures. Perhaps what is most exciting is that some of the students who had an interest in learning more about Jesus were successfully connected to the local church. We pray that those relationships would continue to be fostered far beyond the bounds of our trip.
Cross Cultural Project Mexico was never the plan. Intending to return to Sheffield, U.K., for another summer mission trip, our team was surprised to learn that visiting England was no longer an option. With eager students willing to go anywhere the Lord would lead, God provided an incredible partnership for this summer’s Cross Cultural Project (CCP). As it turns out, CCP was better than we could have planned.
We are thankful that God changed our course for the 2017 CCP and look forward to where he will direct us in the future!
CO Minneapolis sent four students to participate in CO Central Illinois’ annual trip to Guadalajara, Mexico. For the first month of CCP the team of 13 staff and students took a college-level Spanish language course. The purpose of this training was to gain conversational skills, connect with students on campus, and to immerse themselves further into life as students in Mexico. The brief education helped students spend their second month of CCP developing relationships with students and sharing
—Devin Smith, CCP Coordinator
19
by little, every day as knowledge of God’s word impacts our attitudes and actions. This change happens at Summer Training Project, and it happens anywhere, anytime, and to anyone who believes we are saved (from ourselves) by grace through faith in Jesus.
Summer Training Project When asked “How’s the team this year?” my college football coach always responded, “Ask me in 20 years.” Our record was 10-2, but Coach’s focus wasn’t just on wins and loses. He cared most about where we would be as men of God 20 years later.
Four students said their lives were made new as they put their faith in Christ for the first time this summer. They learned new ways to talk about their faith and life with friends and family. They developed new habits of studying the Bible and applying what they learn to real life.
When people ask “How was this summer?” I think back to what Coach said so many times. Summer Training Project (STP) is not only about growing healthy relationships with God, self, and others, it’s also a season of intense development of faith and character that will shape decades of life decisions for more than 100 students.
Coach would be proud of our team this summer. He’d give you a giant pat on the back for being involved too. Your investment in Campus Outreach makes it possible for students to think about the most important ideas at the most critical time in life and to be spurred onto a lifetime of growth in Christ.
Our theme “NEW” was inspired by the idea that Jesus is in the business of making everything new. Jesus makes hearts new by transforming our desires, thoughts, priorities, and decisions. Transformation happens little
—Reid Jilek, STP Director
20
Twin Cities Project The greatest marker of success for our ministry is when our students connect to a local church for growth beyond their time in college. This summer, we redesigned our Twin Cities Project (TCP) to model small group life in the local church. We built TCP around three pillars: Devotions, Community, and Missional Outreach.
we planned events for our students to invite neighbors and co-workers to come and experience love from the body of Christ. “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35). The neighbors and coworkers of our students were able to see the love of Christ through being around the Twin Cities Project this summer. Our students were trained in how to engage various religious groups that are represented in the Twin Cities. They had a weekend intensive in which they were immersed in cultural centers of these religions. Our students were given training that will help them share the gospel with people of other religions in the future.
Devotions: We studied through the book of Ephesians this summer. Each week we spent time discussing sections of Ephesians as a group. We saw how God’s immeasurable grace pours into the lives of fallen people to build them up into the holy body of Christ. Community: Each week we ate a meal together and split out into groups of men and women. Our project spent time in confession and applying the gospel to sins in our lives. Missional Outreach: We want our students to be equipped to be Christ’s ambassadors wherever they work and live. As a group,
We were happy to hear that students were faithfully reading God’s word into the start of the Fall semester this year after TCP was completed. Please pray for the students and graduates, that they would walk in faithfulness as they are mobilized to reach the lost in neighborhoods and workplaces. — Peter & Kelsey Sontag, TCP Leadership
21
RESOURCE CENTER Nick Stromwall // Resource Director trusting by faith, that God will help us deploy more laborers for the lost world. We are also recalibrating how our staff team thinks about personal development. Our staff are our greatest resource. We want to intentionally invest time and resources into helping grow each staff member’s arsenal of tools and skills to minister on the campus more effectively. We’re recalibrating our standard staff development training program and systemizing the management of this process to help our staff achieve greater success in their developmental objectives.
Each year, we look back amazed at all that God has done, we relaunch back to the campus where we, by faith, seek to share Christ with students in the hope that they would catch the vision to become lifelong laborers. The Resource team seeks to steward and advance our ministry through foresightful planning and administration.
Pray for our team as we pursue our WIGs (Wildly Important Goals): • Recruiting staff to join our vision • Partnering with our HUB church (Bethlehem Baptist Church) on a deeper and more connected level • Launching fully-funded staff who are healthy physically, emotionally and spiritually and fully-funded
This year, the Resource team is aiming to create more tools and systems to help recruit, train, and deploy more staff laborers onto the campuses in the Twin Cities. We want to carefully recraft our processes, systems, and even our recruitment materials,
22
FINANCES Devin Smith // Financal Manager provide an income for their families so that they can devote their time and attention to the advance of the gospel on the campus. It helps them pay for coffee with students who are curious about Christ and meals in the cafeteria.Your generosity funds ice cream for Bible studies, lodging for worship-filled retreats, and outreach events in the dorms. When you support our students, they gain access to events that will change the way they think about God, the Bible, and about the world. Your funding exposes students to more truth, training, and fun than they’ve ever had. Your financial gifts help our staff develop as ministers of the gospel, keep our administrative infrastructure humming, and help us explore new places and ways to tell people about Jesus.
Working with our finances every day, it’s easy to get caught up in numbers and spreadsheets and focus on the minutiae of budgeting. When we zoom out and observe the tangible outcomes, it allows us to pause and worship God for the incredible things he has done this year through the generous giving of our ministry’s supporters. You’ll see some numbers on this page, but I’d encourage you to consider what those dollars do. When money is given to our staff, it helps
2017 Incoming Support $1,145,000 Giving Toward Staff
$280,000 Giving toward Students
$240,000
Sheffield
$191,000
Summer Training Project
$900,000
Minneapolis
$59,000
New Years Conference
$21,000
Cross Cultural Project
$9,000
Twin Cities Project
$175,000 Ministry/Church Gifts
*As of October 20, 2017
23
minneapolis@campusoutreach.org | cominneapolis.org | 612-217-2661 | facebook.com/cominneapolis
24