Report from the U of O

I. A story which highlights ministry this month:

This year has started with a bang!!! We are very excited and see that God is on the verge of really doing something. We had a great leadership retreat this month, and felt like we hit the ground running and running in the right direction. On move-in day, we passed out 800 postcard flyers with granola bars stapled to them (Thank you resonate for the idea!) inviting students to our dodgeball event the first week of class, and to our freshmen bible study on “Real Sex: The Naked Truth about Chastity” A book we are reading and going through this term. We also attended our campus’ large welcome back party and had a table out for NCM. We received a lot of raffle cards from freshmen, and were able to follow up with students who expressed interest on their raffle card. We had 50 students come to our dodgeball event on Thursday, and were able to have several good conversations with students inviting them to our ministry. On Sunday night we had 22 students come to my house for dinner including 2 non-believing students (American) and 2 International Students (who we believe are not yet believers too!). We have student leaders in place and they are beginning to make things happen. We are more student led than we ever have been, and It has been an exciting start.



II. A faith story:
On Monday, I was speaking with one of my new neighbors who is a student at the U of O. As we talked he shared that he had attended a church plant in Bend. I asked him if he was looking for a church in town, and he said no. He said he was not a believer. That he enjoyed the community he experienced there but did not believe the things they taught. I invited him to come be a apart of our NCM community. I invited him to dinner with our group on Sundays, and he came. He seemed to have a great time! I look forward to more conversations with him in the future.

Chris is a student from my Racquetball Class. He is not a believer, but we have kept up with each other and continue to play racquetball together. I saw him at Lane this last week and invited him to dinner. He also came, ate, watched football and played games with us. He had a great time. I am very excited about him meeting some other Christian students and getting connected. We have had some very good conversations about Jesus in the past and I look forward to more dialogue with him.

Uhn is a student who is driving up the west coast, stopping in towns along the way and blogging his experiences. He is not a believer and is from Berkley. He is driving a truck that is run on vegetable oil and grease. He is a unique guy. I included a section of his blog that he wrote about his experience with us at our dessert and worship time Thursday night after dodgeball. I think it says it all:


"So I met this really nice married couple, Cody and Melissa, as I was leaving the locker room. I was in a good mood last night as I just had my first shower since Berkeley, Bertha is finally fully functional, and was definitely in a mood to go out and have a drink or two and hang out with the locals. I asked them what they recommend a guy does in Eugene if he's in town for 2 days. I was expecting them to tell me what bars to go to, where to go to see all the young people, etc. Well they recommended me to hike a hill in Southern Eugene where you can see the whole town from the top. That's cool. I like hiking. I like nature. So maybe that's not so much into bars and drinking but that's cool. Who am I to judge, right? Well we got started talking and I was telling them about my veg oil trip and before I know, they invited me over to their friend's place for ice cream and dessert and I gladly accepted. It's not exactly beer, but who doesn't like ice cream? On top of that, I was gonna get a chance to hang out with a bunch of locals. I was all for it. So we walked over to their friend's place. I walk in and there's a lot more people than I thought. There must have been at least 15 people there all sitting around in a circle. One guy had a bongo, and another had a drum that I don't know the name of, and Cody had brough his guitar, so I thought to myself, being a music lover that I am, "cool, they are gonna jam out". Jam out they did, alright, they jammed some serious warship songs. And let me tell you, these people got into it. Some were dancing, for one song they all stood up, they were raising their hands....it was a real deal. Some of the songs they were singing were rocking, I do have to admit, but I just felt so out of place and found the whole situation just so humorous. Here I was, a complete agnostic, borderline atheist, sitting in a Christian circle rocking out to warship songs hanging out with people who use joke words like "praiderobics" and "praiselleluia". Hey Cody and Melissa, if you are reading this, I'm not mocking you guys at all, in fact I give all of you guys props for being good Christians and inviting a random stranger to an intimate circle of faith and being so very hospitable. You guys are good people. You are all alright in my book. I just found it funny that my night turned out to just about 180 degrees different from what I was expecting. Hey maybe it's a sign. Maybe God is trying to tell me something. Here I was trying to go out party and drink, instead I found myself in the middle of a Christian rock out circle. Anyways, another story for the book. By the way, Cody and Melissa, you guys ever need a place to stay wherever I happen to be, my doors or my truck is wide open for you guys.Anyways, that's about the jist of the trip so far. I'm meeting up with Mills' friends from high school tonight here in Eugene, OR. I have a feeling tonight is gonna be a little different from last night. The bears are playing the ducks here tomorrow. (GO BEARS!) I would love to go to the game but it's sold out. I just might have to watch it at a bar or I might just end up driving to Portland. In my original schedule, I was supposed to be in Portland by today. But I would love to be the opposing fan in a bar full of duck fans. We'll see... Now I have to go collect some grease...I'm burning through the WVO a lot quicker than I had expected or hoped. I hope to fully re-stock my grease by the time I leave Portland. Oh by the way, every restaurant outside of the Bay Area uses the liquid shortening to fry their foods. It's terrible. One because I can't use shortening in my truck. Two because it's bad for your health as well. You wonder why Americans are so fat and have a lot of heart problems. Alright singing out from Eugene, OR....stay tuned."

Thanks for the stories Ryan!

Let's continue to find ways to be salt-seasoning to bring out the God-flavors in the world!