a time for everything
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annual report
Great is Thy Faithfulness Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father There is no shadow of turning with Thee Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not As Thou hast been, Thou forever will be Great is Thy faithfulness, great is Thy faithfulness Morning by morning new mercies I see All I have needed Thy hand hath provided Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me I could not love Thee, so blind and unfeeling Covenant promises fell not to me Then without warning, desire, or deserving I found my Treasure, my pleasure, in Thee I have no merit to woo or delight Thee I have no wisdom or pow’rs to employ Yet in thy mercy, how pleasing thou find’st me This is Thy pleasure: that Thou art my joy Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide Strength for today, and bright hope for tomorrow Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside Great is Thy faithfulness, great is Thy faithfulness Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me Hymn by Thomas Obadiah Chisholm and William M. Runyan Additonal verses by John Piper
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Table of Contents 5 6 8 10 12 14 16 17 18 22 23 4
Director’s Note 2019 COM Staff Team University of Northwestern Update Bethel University Update University of Minnesota Update University of St. Thomas Update Mobilization Update International Student Ministry Update Summer Projects Resource Center Finances
Director’s Note PAUL POTEAT
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hen I was in college, a musical artist named Chris Rice produced a song called “Life Means So Much.” Consider playing it in the background while reading this report to get the full experience. In the second verse he states, “every day is a bank account and time is our currency.” The whole song is about making the most of our days, about investing in what is important, and about how incredible life is though filled with highs, lows, joys, and sorrows. In Ecclesiastes 3, we find a familiar section where the author speaks about how there is a time for everything: life, death, planting, harvesting, weeping and laughter. (A band called the Byrds wrote a song called “Turn! Turn! Turn!” about this, so if you need a new soundtrack while reading, try that song.) The passage is speaking to the full orbed realities of life and how they are complex. We’re called to navigate those realities and, with God’s help, to redeem these times by the power of the gospel.
for the faith of others, and to strive to do whatever it takes so that men and women will come and find rest for their souls. Here’s the catch: We have to make the most of every time. Only a firm foundation allows for that. It’s that type of foundation, that type of hope, that we want for students. As you read these pages, know that they reflect times of happiness and times of hardship, times of dependence and times of bounty. Whether it was in Thailand, in Garden City, or on one of our campuses, know that the gospel was and is powerful for every time, every culture, and every situation—for everything.
When you see the title of this update, “A Time for Everything,” let these two songs bleed together. In campus ministry there are times of incredible joy when students come to faith, people study the Bible for the first time, and when sin is put to death. However, there are also times of sadness when students walk through hardship, people don’t return calls or texts, and people ridicule you for attempting to talk with them about abundant life. That’s one song, but the other is to make the most of the time we’ve been given, to be poured out
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2019 COM Staff Team (Left to Right) Nikki Jilek, Reid Jilek, Kelsey Sontag, Peter Sontag, Hannah Kor, Billy Kor, Holly Lonergan, Eric Lonergan, Nick Stromwall, Ellie Lindahl, Katie Stromwall, Emma Button, Tim Devane, Alyssa Olson, Jessica Tweeten, Cassie Devane, Alexis Garcia, Gideon Burnham, Elizabeth Downie, Beka Hemken, Nate Van Zee, Elli Van Zee, Luke Hemken, Brittany Sheehy, Ariana Cecka, Briana Williamson, Harmon Squires, Lucas Cecka, Samm Poteat, Paul Poteat, Justine Simmons, Zach Simmons
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Prayer Requests 1. For God to provide for our CO staff team through the generous giving of supporters. 2. For God to raise up men and women to join the staff team particularly at St. Thomas, and to help fuel future CO campuses in the Twin Cities and abroad. 3. For God to open doors for our staff to proclaim the gospel boldly and for our students’ hearts to be gripped with the radical call of following Jesus Christ as Lord.
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University of Northwestern
STUDENT PERSPECTIVE MARIAH GOEPPINGER, JUNIOR “Campus Outreach has helped me see and understand more of who God is. The staff have cared for me and walked through life with me, while also giving me invaluable skills to study the Bible that will last a lifetime.”
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A Time to Plant and Uproot NATE VAN ZEE UNWSP CAMPUS DIRECTOR
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cclesiastes 3:2 says there is “a time to plant and a time to uproot� and this feels like an apt analogy for the year, both for our staff team and for students.
CAMPUS STATS 25
students being discipled
06
discipleship groups
30
evangelistic relationships
70
total students involved
to the workforce and into missions while graciously giving us current and future leaders. It has been exciting to watch students be sent out with the purpose of making disciples for Christ. Because of our fuller staff team and the great young leaders we have in the ministry, we have been able to sow gospel seeds and have spent the majority of our ministry time with freshmen and sophomore students. We have seen several students accept Jesus as their Savior and have seen many students take significant steps forward in their faith and take ownership of their role in the Great Commission.
We have had two new staff added to our team and it has been a blessing. Ellie Lindahl (recent grad of Bethel) and Emma Button (transfer staff from U of M) have been great additions who have influenced our team with their wisdom, organization, and outside perspective. While it has been amazing to feel like we have a full team, we know the uprooting is coming. Over the next year, my wife Elli and I will transition to Boise, Idaho, and Beka Hemken to the workforce. These transitions help us to put our trust for the future in our one constant: Jesus. In a similar way, the Lord has been planting and transplanting students. He has moved our graduated seniors
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Bethel University
STUDENT PERSPECTIVE JONATHAN SWEENEY, JUNIOR “During my first two years at Bethel University, I did not see much growth in my spiritual life at all and often felt lost and unworthy of grace. Over the past six months, my life path and walk with Christ has radically shifted.”
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A Time to Look at the Book LUCAS CECKA BU CAMPUS DIRECTOR
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n the college campus so much is changing all the time. The state in which students are entering college today is quite different from where students were 10 years ago. Every year a new set of students step onto campus, and every year we say goodbye to another set of students. Some years we might have a bigger movement towards Christ and other times our movement might not be as big. What doesn’t change is what we want to point students to— the Bible never changes.
a couple students trust in Jesus for the first time, and we saw many more begin to realize that a life given away is a more joyous life. The Lord has given us 23 students to disciple. With these 23 men and women, we do life, pray, look to Jesus, and move towards others with the gospel.
CAMPUS STATS 23
students being discipled
06
discipleship groups
40
evangelistic relationships
55
total students involved
Reading the Bible is the main thing we have prioritized at Bethel with our staff and our student leaders. What will it take to open the Bible and read the words of life with another? The Bible points us to Jesus, who never changes. It has been a joy to walk through the campus and to see our students reading with others who may not know Jesus. In 2019, we saw 11
University of Minnesota
STUDENT PERSPECTIVE SIYUAN LIU, SOPHOMORE “Last year, I didn’t believe that I was saved by the blood of Christ or that God would take care of me. This year, I can say that I understand and believe in the gospel, and I know that God has a plan for me.”
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A Time to Abide ZACH SIMMONS UMN CAMPUS DIRECTOR
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e feel that God is on the move in significant ways at the U of M. Five sophomores who came to faith this last year are studying the Bible and learning what it means that Christ is not only their Savior but also their Lord and Treasure. Fifteen student leaders are weekly seeking to share their Faith with those in their spheres of influence. Three students have professed faith this fall. Five of our juniors and seniors are considering the need for Christ to be proclaimed to unengaged people groups around the world and how they might go overseas themselves.
share Christ with others, whether in rejection or belief, he is magnified and our joy is increased. In short, our students are learning what it means to be laborers in the harvest (Luke 10:2). Our continual prayer is that these students would abide in Christ and thus bear much fruit for the rest of their lives. For by this our God is glorified, that we bear much fruit and so prove to be his disciples (John 15:7).
While our students seek to labor for the gospel’s sake, they are experiencing the disappointment and hurt of rejection. They are learning to count the cost of being Christ’s disciples, and they are seeing that we share not simply because it is our duty. In our feeble attempts to
CAMPUS STATS 13
students being discipled
03
discipleship groups
20
evangelistic relationships
50
total students involved
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University of St. Thomas
STUDENT PERSPECTIVE SHREYA, FRESHMEN “If it is true that Jesus accomplished all the work on our behalf that God requires of us, then all I would want to do is to be with the One who accomplished it for me.”
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Not Grow Weary in Doing Good ERIC LONERGAN UST CAMPUS DIRECTOR
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his year at St. Thomas (UST) has been a difficult one. Most of the student leaders have graduated, and we have had a number of staff transition off campus. Most of the staff we began with in early September were serving only parttime. Furthermore, Paul (our regional director) and I quickly found out just how challenging it can be for late 30s, early 40s staff members to engage 18-year-old freshmen. At the end of two of the Apostle Paul’s letters (Galatians & 2 Thessalonians), Paul encourages his readers not to grow weary in doing good. In Galatians, Paul adds that the basis for not growing weary is that fruit will come to bear in due season. I don’t think this necessarily means that fruit is a guarantee this side of heaven, but the fact of the matter is that no labor for the Lord is ever in vain (1 Corinthians 15:58). God keeps an account and acknowledges his children.
staff minister and hearing some of the responses of these students is a great reminder to carry on in the ministry of
CAMPUS STATS 14
students being discipled
01
discipleship groups
08
evangelistic relationships
23
total students involved
Toward the middle of the semester Billy Kor joined our team and has been laboring faithfully. He has been doing much good and has seen positive responses to the call of the gospel. Billy began an investigative Bible study and a number of freshmen have shown interest as well as a willingness to examine what the Scriptures have to say about eternal life. Briana, another staff member, has seen similar warmth from some of the girls to whom she has been ministering. Watching these
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Mobilization Update TIM DEVANE MOBILIZATION DIRECTOR
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his summer, we had 79 students down at our Summer Training Project and another five on our Cross-Cultural Project. Eighty-four students investing their summers to grow in walking with Jesus and helping others do the same is worth celebrating! With that said, what really excites us about 84 students on our summer projects is the potential long-term kingdom impact they represent. Our hope is that in the coming years these 84 students will translate to 84 graduates launched to cities all over the world. It is humbling to think of what God might do with 84 individuals, offering their lives to Jesus as living sacrifices, to be used however he pleases. From Minnesota to Morocco, God is using our graduates to advance his kingdom. We also recognize that a powerful summer of growth on a CO project and a few years of discipleship through our ministry do not automatically translate to a life poured out for Jesus. The reality is that making the transition from following Jesus in college to following Jesus in the marketplace can be very difficult. This is where our Mobilization team comes in. Working with our campus staff, we come alongside our students as they move toward graduation, helping them find the intersection of their gifts and design
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with what God is doing in the world. For some, this looks like joining our staff team and investing in reaching future generations of students. For others, this looks like entering the marketplace with strategic, kingdomminded intentionality. Finally, for some it will look like moving to another part of the world to join God in his global work. Regardless of geography, the aim is to help each student determine what faithful obedience looks like in his or her life. This year, we are working with 29 seniors as they prepare to launch into the world. Our aim is for each of them to graduate with an individualized plan to walk well with Jesus and to help others do the same for decades to come.
International Student Ministry Update TIM DEVANE MOBILIZATION DIRECTOR
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n November 12, 2018, Dan Sterken passed away from cancer. From 2016-2018, Dan had been ministering to international students with Campus Outreach Minneapolis. At the time of Dan’s passing, he and his family were COM’s only staff ministering exclusively to international students. In addition to the relational loss that was felt with the loss of Dan, our ministry’s presence among international students was left with a major void and no clear plan to fill it, but God!
The harvest is truly plentiful, and the laborers are few. As daunting as that may be, we take great hope in God. One year ago, we would not have imagined being where we are right now. We look forward to watching God do more than we could ask or imagine again this year.
On the anniversary of Dan’s passing, we found ourselves in a very different position: two full-time staff units and a growing number of volunteers in relationship with more than 100 students from 23 countries. We have one group Bible study of Chinese students considering following Jesus, a growing number of individuals with whom we’re reading the Bible, and more hours spent around our coffee and dinner tables than we could count. Amid the hustle and bustle of a major campus, football games, bars and restaurants, and new construction, it is easy to look right past the 6,300 international students at the U of M. Our best estimate is that 5 percent of them will encounter one of the ministries on campus this year.
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Summer Projects
CROSS CULTURAL PROJECT
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esus made it clear that as Christians our mandate is to “go therefore and make disciples of all nations” ...so why don’t we? As life progresses, there seems to be fewer possibilities to pack up and go. We get distracted by our comfort, our finances, and our plans—forgetting about God’s. That is why we strive to impact college students with cross-cultural missions experiences while they are young. This summer, it was incredible to walk with five students who put their desires aside, believing and seeing that God’s plan, God’s finances, and God’s comfort are greater than our own. Our team spent five weeks in Bangkok, Thailand, laboring with global partners from Bethlehem Baptist Church. Teaching at their English school allowed us to create and develop relationships with local Thais and to share the gospel with them. Being involved with their small
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local church gave us the opportunity to encourage believers and to be built up by the body of Christ. Engaging unbelievers in the busy streets of Bangkok and the dusty roads of a northern Thai village brought more joy to our students than their missed experiences at home over the summer ever could. The plans that we intended were better because we walked with God. Seeing God provide for our support proved that finances are not an issue for him. Ultimately, God’s care for us in sickness, cultural adjustments, and discouragement demonstrated that even in the midst of trials, comfort in God is better than fleeting pleasures of the world. These truths we will carry with us for the rest of our lives. The time to go is now and always, for our good and God’s glory. We are so thankful for you, our supporters, who send us so we can go.
—HARMON SQUIRES CCP DIRECTOR
TWIN CITIES PROJECT
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e spent the summer watching and discussing Tim Keller’s The Reason For God DVD series. The series includes six video-recorded sessions with a small group of non-Christians who are asking questions about Christianity. Each session tackles a couple of questions like, “How could a good God allow suffering?” or “Why are there so many rules?” or “Hasn’t science disproved Christianity?” For both our students and myself, it is no understatement to say that the most important component of this summer’s program was watching the way Tim Keller modeled engaging others who did not agree with him. The topics, as noted above, did not shy away from contention or deeply personal issues. Yet, Keller and the participants in the study never resorted to heated exchanges or unfruitful discussions. One of my hopes throughout the summer was to draw our students’ attention to this pattern. There are ways to disagree with others while still clearly communicating love and respect for their position. Sadly, this art is often lost in our current day and age. Another one of the aims in this study was to help students engage
some of their own questions that often feel difficult to ask within the context of the Church. Most people have doubts that they may not even be aware of. However, as we are called to be salt and light in an unbelieving world, we are constantly coming across others who find our beliefs too incredible or untenable to believe. Sometimes, through engaging others, we come up against a doubt we didn’t even know we had. Therefore, it is helpful to be aware of these possible doubts and seek to engage them as they arise from within us. In doing so, it can strengthen our own faith and better prepare us for questions from future co-workers and neighbors. Pray with us that we can respond to the doubts and questions both from within and from without as Jesus did with Thomas, who refused to believe Jesus had been resurrected. Thomas wanted to see Jesus’ nailpierced hands and wounded side in order to believe. Amazingly, Jesus did not tell Thomas to throw his doubts and reason out the window and just believe, but instead gave him exactly what he wanted, “Then he said to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe’” (John 20:27).
—ERIC LONERGAN TCP DIRECTOR
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SUMMER TRAINING PROJECT
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ne of the greatest barriers to a student going on our Summer Training Project (STP) is time. When we invite students to consider attending one of the most common responses is “I just don’t think I can be gone for two months!” And they’re right! Two months, especially in the summer, is a significant time commitment. I’ve sometimes wondered, “Is the sacrifice I’m asking students to make worth it?” More than ever after this summer, I am convinced that the answer is yes. For two months, 79 college students lived together in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. They worked together at Walmart, and were immersed in the Bible together through various studies and trainings. This summer, we studied through 1 Peter with the theme, “Imperishable,” taken from 1 Peter 1:3–5: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection
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of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” As we spent the summer unpacking the idea of receiving the imperishable inheritance of Christ’s salvation, suddenly any sacrifice seemed small in comparison. By the end of the two months, seven students had made the choice to receive this inheritance and give their lives to Jesus! What once seemed like an impossibly long commitment transformed into an investment in an inheritance that will never perish. We praise God for how he used his word, biblical teachings, and deep relationships formed over the summer to work in these students’ lives to draw them to himself.
—ZACH SIMMONS AND EMMA BUTTON STP DIRECTORS
IMPERISHABLE
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Resource Center NICK STROMWALL RESOURCE DIRECTOR
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he Resource Team seeks to steward and advance our ministry through foresightful planning and administration. We seek to deploy systems and tools to help our ministry reach more college students for Christ.
account feedback received from donors and make it as easy as possible for donors to partner with us • Give through text message ongoing or for special situations
This was the year of migrations. We had resource team members launch into new ministry callings and several new teammates transition from the campus to the Resource Team. What a gift our laborers were and what a gift the new teammates will be to our ministry!
Please pray for our team as we: • Recruit more staff to join our vision • Deepen and develop our coaching of staff to deploy staff healthy physically, emotionally, spiritually and fully-funded • Complete our online giving migration • Launch Peter Sontag to be a local pastor
We launched a new online giving platform that aimed to: • Reduce processing fees and thus deploy more resources for ministry purposes • Provide a more intuitive user experience and take into
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Finance Update NICK STROMWALL RESOURCE DIRETOR,
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y boys are learning how to count using pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters. It is fascinating to see the thrill they get from earning coins by doing jobs around the house. I see their amazement at coins and the wonder they get with thinking how many gumballs they could purchase from the quarter machine at the grocery store. When I look at the number of partnering donors and the amount in dollars of your generosity, I’m amazed at how many students’ lives you are enabling our team to minister to. I like to count the impact in terms of the quantities of students’ life trajectories being flipped from pursuing lives that end in spiritual ruin
versus the amount of students your coins and dollars are being stewarded to end in spiritual abundance. We are trusting God to continue to help us steward your gifts to transform our city, our state, and our world as we, by God’s grace, deploy and launch laborers into His harvest. Your sacrificial giving is not unnoticed. We stand amazed at the sheer amount that is needed for our staff team to labor, and the grace that is being poured out by it. Our entire team and the hundreds of students involved in our movements and our network of alumni thank you for your partnership! May God continue to supply all of your and all of our needs according to his glorious riches in Christ. Thank You!
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