BIG News!

It is hard to believe that yet another semester is nearing its completion.  For me, between Thanksgiving and finals week was always a great time to reflect on some of the amazing things I had seen God do on campus and in the lives of individual students throughout the semester.  Sometimes, even the briefest moment to pause and reflect allowed God to breathe new life and encouragement into me as I was reminded how our consistent ministries on the front-lines are making a huge impact for His Kingdom!  I hope you will each be able to experience one of those moments in the final days of this semester.

I just want to pass on a few bits of info for you and then let you in on some BIG news that I’m sure you will all want to know about!  First, the updates:

1)   Latest Threads Bible Studies for Small Groups

Threads has published two new studies since August.

• Birds and Bees--Gregg Matte--small group study on sex and relationships
• Manage--Chip Luter and Micah Carter--4 session study on stewardship/managing all God has given to us

2)   Collegiate Week Line-up

This year's platform guests at Glorieta will be:

• David Nasser--speaking Sunday-Tuesday
• Eric Geiger--speaking Wednesday-Thursday
• Charlie Hall--worship leader for the week

Of course, there will also be lots of breakouts, late-night activities, and leader fellowships as well!  The dates are Aug. 4-9, 2013.  Registration will be handled through Glorieta.  There is currently a waiting list for on-campus housing, so be sure to ask about the waiting list or ask for hotel options nearby!  To register, simply call: 505-757-6161 or visit: http://www.glorietaconferencecenter.org/collegiate

3)    Other Upcoming Events

• February 2-8, 2013-Join us for the first ever Reach New Orleans during Mardi Gras (http://www.lifeway.com/event/Young-Adult-Event-Reach-New-Orleans-2013 )
• March 2-8 or 9-15, 2013-Beach Reach is back at Panama City Beach (http://www.lifeway.com/n/Product-Family/BeachReach?type=events ).  Be sure to register by Dec. 14^th to claim the early bird rate...plus get one van driver registered for FREE!
• October 25-26, 2013-Hold this date for the first ever Collegiate Weekend coming to Nashville, TN!!  (contact Bill Noe, bill.noe@lifeway.com for more info)

And now for the BIG news!  We are welcoming Mark Whitt to the Threads team to serve as the Collegiate/Young Adult Specialist.  He comes from Murray State University where he has just finished 13 ½ years of ministry as the BCM Director.  He will be a great addition to the team and a strong voice for collegiate and young adult ministry.  He would especially love to help your church or ministry in providing training for reaching the collegiate generation.  Please join me in welcoming Mark to LifeWay starting January 1st!!

Note for Collegiate Ministry Interim Leader

My name is Bill Noe, and I'm the new coordinator for all the collegiate/young adult events through Threads!  I'm excited for the opportunity to serve you in this new role and wanted to be sure and take this opportunity to introduce myself.  I graduated from the University of Kentucky, but have spent the last 12 years in campus ministry at the University of Louisville (just finished my eighth year as BCM campus minister there).  I served at NAMB for a year right out of college, but other than that, I've been in KY my whole life, so moving across the state line has definitely felt like a big life change.

In this new role, I will be coordinating your favorite annual events like Collegiate Week and BeachReach, but will also seek to give life to some new events like Reach New Orleans (missions experience during Mardi Gras) and hopefully some weekend regional events similar to a shortened form of Collegiate Week at various times of the year.  I've already been able to experience what a transformational experience these events have been for my own students, so I'm looking forward to getting to play a small part in God using these transformational experiences in the lives of your students as well!

I'm actually writing this on the way home from Collegiate Week 2012.  If you didn't get to join us, you missed a powerful week!  We were led this week by speakers Ben Stuart, JD Greear, and Jen and Brandon Hatmaker along with worship leader Aaron Ivey and band.  They did an amazing job of leading 2,000 of our national collegiate ministry family in worship each day.  The speakers challenged students and leaders alike to cherish Jesus above all else, know the power of the gospel, and live our lives in response to the worth and majesty of our Savior. As I fly somewhere over Texas and Louisiana, I am amazed at the potential your students have as they leave Glorieta or summer missions experiences or working summer jobs and return to campuses all across the continent!  We know that God has done some amazing things in their lives over the summer and I anticipate along with you how God will use them in powerful ways all semester long!

Also, I just wanted to mention that I am currently serving in the interim period to help carry some of the roles of the Collegiate and Young Adult Ministry Specialist as the Threads team seeks to replace the giant hole in our team with the loss of Linda Osborne.  She has returned to her hometown of Winona, MS to teach school and be able to spend more time with her children.  If I can do anything to help you in this interim period or if you ever have any questions or suggestions about Threads events, please don't hesitate to drop me a quick message (bill.noe@lifeway.com).

I look forward to many events ministering alongside you and your students!

Bill Noe

Making Your Summer Holy

Even though it has been a long time since I served on a college campus as a Campus Minister, I still feel like taking a deep sigh of relief as the summer approaches! I guess that routine of looking forward to the summer and a little bit slower pace just carries over all the rest of your life once you have lived it as a minister to College Students. The Scriptures teach us to “remember the Sabbath and keep it holy”. In addition to Sundays I think the Bible is reminding us we need some special down time. What I don’t think is that it is calling us to be lazy and neglectful. It says that Sabbath time is “holy time”. may I be so bold as to offer some suggestions on how to make your summer “holy time”?

1. Spend some quality time with your family. How many evenings and weekends have you spent away from your spouse and children? Make sure you spend special time with your family to make up for all that time you have spent away from them during the school year!

2. Renew your own spiritual heart. There are tons of ways to do this, and it takes disciple and self motivation, but it is a must if you are going to be at your best in the fall. Here are some suggestions. Read some of those books you have been meaning to read. Spend extra time in Bible Study and Prayer. Attend a conference that will nurture your soul. Spend time with other Collegiate Ministers sharing ideas and fellowshipping.

3. Plan your fall ministries so that you don’t wind up at the last minute getting stressed out trying plan what you want to do. Evaluate the past years ministry and then thoroughly prepare for the fall, making as many detailed plans so that you start the fall prepared and fresh.

4. There will be fewer students around in the summer time, so find a group that is interested in growing and pour yourself into them in a more personal and deeper way than you have time to do doing the regular semesters. This will be a very rewarding experience.

These are only a few suggestions to get you thinking about how to best honor God and make your summer a “Sabbath” experience! Remember to keep it “Holy”!

John Moore

National Collegiate Ministry Leader

Church and Network Partnerships, LifeWay

The Ripple Effect of Citizens of the Kingdom

Two weeks ago I attend the funeral of Myra Gulledge. Myra served as the BSU Director at Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, LA from 1951 to 1988. I had the privilege to serve on the same team with her from 1977 until she retired. There are so many things about Myra and her life and ministry that are absolutely outstanding. I could share a lot of the details of her life writing in this blog. If you want to see more about her life go to this LINK.

However, there is just one thing that I want to focus on here. At the funeral some statistics were shared about her ministry that I found to be amazing. In her 38 years as a BSU Director she produced 117 Church staff members and 15 full time international missionaries. No one kept up with the hundred s and hundreds of Students that came through her ministry who are now Deacons, WMU Directors, Sunday School Teachers or Committee chairs. She did not have a list of the students who served as officers, or Summer Missionaries or in some other role of leadership that prepare them to be Market Place witnesses. As I listened to this report on her life I thought of the hundreds of men and women who serve today and have served in the past and the kind of impact their ministry has had on the Kingdom. I am grateful to all of you who have given you life to this ministry and for what God is doing through you and your ministry!

Note from Linda

My favorite air to breath is Fall air on a college campus. Fall and the arrival of students, new and returning, is here! Football players, Resident Assistants, Sorority recruitment leaders, and band members are likely on your campus right now. Others will quickly follow! Wooo Hooo!

Most Freshmen arriving on your campus in a few weeks were born in 1992! Other happenings in 1992 were:
• A League of Their Own, Sister Act, and A Few Good Men were popular movies.
• The Pelican Brief by John Grisham, Every Living Thing by James Harriot, and The Way Things Ought to Be by Rush Limbaugh were best selling books.
• Murphy Brown, Home Improvement, and Cheers were weekly television hits.
• Right Said Fred’s I’m Too Sexy and Kris Cross’ Jump were at the top of the musical charts.
• University of Alabama football record was 13-0-0.
• Toronto Blue Jays won the World Series: 4-2 against the Atlanta Braves.
• The first black female astronaut, Dr. Mae C. Jemison, spent more than a week orbiting Earth.
• Johnny Carson left The Tonight Show. I still miss him.
• Quebec voted to remain a part of Canada.
• The LA Riots followed the recorded beating of Rodney King.
• Minnesota’s Mall of America, the largest shopping mall in the US was constructed.

My hope is that this newsletter will give you some practical tools to begin the 2010-2011 school year—from welcoming Freshman and International students to resources which can be used to make collegiate disciples.

Blessings for a new ministry year,

Linda H. Osborne
National Collegiate Ministry Leader

The Call You Don’t Want to Make or Receive

My heart joined hundreds of sad hearts this week as I learned of the death of Palmer Maphet, a sophomore at TN Tech serving as a missionary in Maine through Baptist Collegiate Ministry. Palmer and his team were traveling to minister at Laconia Motorcycle Week in Laconia, New Hampshire when a car accident ended his life on earth.

I met Palmer on February 6 at a Freshman Retreat which he coordinated. His leadership/ organizational skills, quick smile, and the ability to talk and ice-skate simultaneously were impressive. I grieve this loss, only knowing him a short time. My heart hurts for his family, his mission team, his friends, BCM, and track team.

College students like Palmer -- Brian, Sandy, Tom, Brad, John Wesley, Greg—have died young, with lots of dreams and ministry plans and with grieving family and friends left behind. While we each desire to never be the bearer or the recipient of such news, those who have walked this path have wisdom to share.

The God Talk:

· Do more listening and loving than speaking. Save your best devotional thought for later.

· Allow scripture to speak for itself. Writing or speaking a verse of comfort can be very helpful, without your added interpretation specific to the grief situation.

· God’s grace is often best delivered though simple, thoughtful acts. I lost a baby years ago, and my well meaning Christian friends had many flowery words to share. God’s grace was delivered powerfully to me through a bouquet of lovely Spring flowers with only one word printed on the card. The word? Paul. Paul was a college student involved with the ministry I led who knew that less was more. He knew because he, too, had experienced loss, the death of both of his parents. His signature was all that was needed.

· Share a book for later. Getting Through the Night: Finding Your Way after the Loss of a Loved One by Eugenia Price is a great book to keep on your shelf to give to grieving college students and families. It’s hopeful and full of scripture. It’s short. Grief takes work, so long books usually are too much for one in the midst of grief. It’s inexpensive, $5.99 at LifeWay.

The Practical:

· Contact the family in an appropriate way, depending on your role and relationship to the student. Don’t get in the way or be demanding of time, but make contact soon. Ministry of presence early on is hugely helpful!

· Help the family get any and all information possible, as soon as possible. Weaver McCracken, Director of the Collegiate Ministry Department of the Mississippi Baptist Convention Board, encourages ministries to help the family travel to the site of the loss, providing financial support to make this happen. “This helps the family better understand how this happened and where it happened,” McCracken acknowledged.

· Encourage college students and others connected to the loss to gather factual information prior to communication via text, Facebook, etc. Misinformation can easily be spread quickly in a tragedy situation. Joe Graham, Collegiate Ministries Specialist for the Georgia Baptist Convention, notes, “If I’m with a group in the midst of a tragedy, the first thing I’ll ask is for everyone to turn off their electronics. Someone has to assess the situation and contact relatives and other vital contacts.”

· Help the family know you remember and you care, long after the loss. McCracken said, “I have Greg Gomez’s birthday in my permanent calendar, so I will remember. I also have noted how old he will be each year, so I can contact the family with knowledge of things that are doubtless on their minds. He was one of ours. We own the loss and always will.”

· Have a plan that allows the students to process and remember, particularly the first year. Daniel Berry, Baptist Collegiate Ministry Director at the University of Kentucky, planned opportunities which gave students chances to pause and remember their friends, Brad and Tom. A memorial 5K run was one of the meaningful opportunities for students.

Your Personal Grief:

· Find other college ministers who have also experienced the loss of a student in their collegiate ministry who understand and will listen. Berry remarked, “Shock/ responsibility will keep you going for the first week or two. As time goes on and you are grieving, it can be very lonely. You can feel like no one remembers your students and wonder things like, ‘How can this world be functioning like normal?’ Darrell Cook (BCM Director at Virginia Tech) provided immeasurable help in my life.”

· Be patient and gracious towards yourself as well. Grief takes time, even for a college minister.

· Wayne Oates’ Grief, Transition, and Loss; A Pastor’s Practical Guide can be a helpful read for you.

· Go to sleep each evening, and wake up each morning remembering our hope in Heaven, in eternity, in Jesus.

Linda H. Osborne is National Collegiate Ministry Leader for LifeWay. She is thankful today for her friend and former student, Hannah, who lived but witnessed the loss of her summer missions team members over a decade ago.

APRIL UPDATE

I love reading the facebook status’ of my collegiate minister friends this time of year!

“You guys made it! Have a great summer! Be safe traveling home.”

“Looking forward to the Senior Cookout at our house tonight-last BCM event of the year!”

“Just cleared a bunch of pictures of men in kilts off the college ministry camera”

“Spring Fling event today. Hope I don’t get suckered into the dunking booth.”

“Midnight Pancake Breakfast tonight at the BCM!! 11pm to 1am gets you 10 pancakes!! Hope to see you there.”

“Shipping some Inupiaq language New Testaments out to Barrow for a friend”

“Apparently needs to learn a few synonyms for “homey” before playing Catch Phrase again”

“Pumped about the baseball game tonight. Go Tops!”

“Just sent a new option for the Haiti team. If you are on that team, check your email for the new and ever changing plan. This team is getting to practice flexibility before they go!”

“Seniors, I have decided that I really don’t want you to graduate. See what you can do about changing your plans.”

Collegiate ministers are amazing-semi-exhausted at the end of the school-year, yet still nurturing, still sharing the gospel, still cooking, still playing games, still guiding, still organizing, still leading. Be encouraged as you make the transition to summer school, Orientation for new students, and mission trips.

“I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened so you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the glorious riches of His inheritance among the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of His power to us who believe, according to the working of His vast strength. He demonstrated this power in the Messiah by raising Him from the dead and seating Him at His right hand in the heavens-“ Ephesians 1: 19-20 (HSCB)

Hope to see you at Collegiate Week at Glorieta! It’s almost sold out! : )

Linda H. Osborne

National Collegiate Ministry Leader

Church and Network Partnerships, LifeWay