Prayer & Praise (Jan 31 - Feb 6)

- Praise God for the recruiting trip to Kansas City last week! I was able to represent CEF of Colorado at Calvary Bible College’s “Missions Emphasis” conference. I had some wonderful conversations with students throughout the week and got to teach a seminar called “Teamwork in Missions.”

On the last day of the conference, the chapel speaker gave a whirlwind tour of many things that God is doing around the world. It was inspiring: it can be so easy to get caught up in what is going on in my little corner of the world that I forget to pay attention to what God is doing outside my sphere of influence. Our God is an awesome God indeed!

All-in-all, I also feel like I learned a lot about how to conduct this type of trip. There was a definite learning curve involved, but I now feel much more confident for conducting future staff recruiting trips. I am working to schedule several more in 2010 to college campuses both in Colorado and out-of-state (most likely in the fall, but possibly in the spring as well).

- Please pray for me this month as I focus on our two main priorities for Christian Youth In Action (CYIA) in February: recruiting students and raising funds! This is an exciting season of the year.

Thanks so much for praying!

Prayer & Praise (Jan 24-30)

I'm in Kansas City at Calvary Bible College for "Missions Emphasis Week," representing CEF of Colorado. Pray for a great week of connecting with students, sharing the ministry, and getting caught up in what God is doing to advance his kingdom!

Thanks!

Prayer & Praise (Jan 10-16)

- Continue to pray as I prepare for my recruiting trip to Calvary Bible College, January 25-29 in Kansas City, MO. I am writing the seminars I will be teaching, creating a CYIA display table (with a tri-fold display board, CYIA-branded tablecloth, Summer 2009 slideshow, etc.), and finalizing the job description for our student ministry coordinators.





- Hannah and I started up Good News Club again last week at Mt. View Child Care. (Kayla was sick and wasn’t able to join us.) It was great to see the kids again! We played lots of games and taught the story of the Magi.

In early December, I counseled a boy at club named Mario and he prayed to receive Christ as his Savior. Well, last week I had the privilege of giving him his very own Bible! He was so excited to get it, immediately running to show it to his teacher at the daycare. When we taught the memory verse, he opened up his Bible and tried to find it. It was great to see him so excited about God’s Word! Praise God for Mario and please pray for his growth in Christ.

Thanks!

Prayer & Praise (Dec 27 - Jan 2)

- Praise God for a wonderful Christmas celebration with my family! After finishing my fall semester at Metro State, I was able to take two weeks of rest & relaxation before shifting things back into gear with CEF this week. It was a good time, and Christmas was definitely a big highlight.

- CEF of Colorado is focusing on staffing. For me, that means I am working to hire a team to drive our student ministries in Denver: a team of new staffers who will be passionate about reaching children for Christ, mobilizing students for the mission, and partnering with local churches to get it all done!



In January, we are taking our first step in the recruiting process: I will be traveling to Kansas City for “Missions Emphasis Week” at Calvary Bible College (my alma mater) to present the incredible ministry opportunities here in Denver. During this week, recruiters from many different mission agencies and organizations come to Calvary to interact with students and present opportunities for mission. It is a neat time!

Calvary asks all of the recruiters to prepare several potential seminar presentations. Here are some I am working on: (1) “Transformational Student Ministry,” (2) “The Marketplace of Worship,” and (3) “Teamwork in Missions.” Please pray for me this week as I begin doing research, crafting the big ideas, and just work on putting these talks together.

Thanks so much for praying!

Prayer & Praise (Dec 20-26)

- Things have been going well in our Good News Club at Mt. View Child Care! We spent the first two weeks of December telling the story of Christmas. In January, we will come back and tell the story of the Magi who came to see Jesus, led by the star.

Praise God for this opportunity that Hannah, Kayla, and I have to build relationships with the children and share the good news of Jesus with them! Pray also for Hannah and Kayla to have a good, refreshing Christmas break with their friends and family before heading back to work, school, ministry, etc. in January.

- Last Friday, Dec 18, I met with the rest of the Denver staff to discuss CEF’s student ministry plans for 2010. It was a very productive time! I am excited about next year and it feels great to have everyone on board. In the week leading up to the meeting, I spent time drafting 10 personal goals and 10 ministry goals for 2010.

Pray for God’s grace heading into the new year, and praise him for the birth of his son!

Prayer & Praise (Dec 6-12)

- Last week, we had the privilege of partnering with the student ministry from a church in Pagosa Springs (about 7 hrs SW of Denver) while they were here in Denver for a weekend mission trip. The twelve students that they brought got involved in senior’s ministry homeless ministry, and children’s ministry, all in one whirlwind weekend.

We hosted a welcome party for them on Friday night and partnered with them in their children’s ministry experience on Saturday afternoon. It was really exciting to see these students taking action on their faith, leaving their comfort zones, and learning the value of doing what they do in the service of something larger than themselves.

- Praise God for how things are coming together for next year! I finished our schedule for Summer 2010 (and all the preparations leading up to it) a full month earlier than last year. I think it may be the best schedule we have ever had. The logistics were not less challenging than prior years, but this one just came together really well.

Thanks so much for your prayers and for praising God along with me!

Prayer & Praise (Nov 22-28)

- We are laying plans to take a group of our students to Boston next summer for “Good News Across America,” a two-week mission trip to help jump-start evangelistic and discipleship ministries to children in partnership with the local churches of Boston.

To this end, I recently found out some news: beginning January 10, Southwest Airlines will begin offering non-stop flights from DIA to Boston Logan. No need for layovers in O’Hare or anywhere else! Praise God for this wonderful development!

- On a more sober note, here is an excerpt from an e-mail I recently received from CEF HQ: “[When] we heard the news about the shootings at Ft. Hood, we immediately began praying for our workers on the base and the chaplains as we considered the comfort they would be providing to the base community in the coming days and weeks.

“There are seven elementary schools on the base at Ft. Hood ... Good News Clubs are in four of the schools and Party Clubs are held in every school. The week after the shootings Good News Clubs were underway.

“David Powell ... shares, ‘I want to praise God for allowing us to have ministry established at Fort Hood, Texas. One of our staff, Caron, was on post, meeting with the chaplains, when they received word of a mass casualty incident. The chaplains quickly deployed to the scene and the surrounding hospitals. The next day Caron received e-mails from the schools in which we are doing clubs asking for prayer. They were feeling the pressures of helping the children process the attack. We are working with the chaplains and support groups to pass out CEF’s “Do You Wonder Why?” booklets to the children and families.’”

Please be in prayer. Thank you.