FBCA College Students:
As the Fall gets underway, I hope you are settling in to the routine of classes, organizations, and campus life. Along with your parents and youth leaders, the College Ministry Team at FBCA is praying for you at the beginning of this new academic year. In the next care package you will get a list of everyone on this ministry team. I encourage you to connect to them as they are here for you!
My heart is heavy as I’m writing this note to you. I’m grieved by the disappearance of UVA student and West Potomac graduate, Hannah Graham. I’m heartbroken for her parents. My little girl is just 16 months old and I have no words to express my compassion and sympathy for them.
I’m also so very burdened for all Hannah’s friends at UVA. For you all, I wish to say two things.
God hears us when we pray, so intercede in prayer.
We must never forget our appointed duty to pray for those who are hurting and in need of God to act mightily in their life. In 1 John 5:13-15, we learn that as Believers, the deepest human need which is at the root of all our expressions, requests, desires, and petitions is firmly and fully answered when we pray. I’ve learned that it’s typically when we are faced with the hardest of trials that we best discover what that need really is. It is the confidence that our prayers are really heard by the sovereign God of the universe. Our deep need is not the subject of our request, but the object to which our prayers are directed, God. Christians are the only people who are promised the ear of God. Think about that. He hears us when we pray. So please, pray to God for the Graham family. Pray for Hannah’s friends at UVA and the entire student body there. And pray for each other.
You are on your campus for a reason.
There are a number of reasons why you are on your campus right now. Society has it’s reasons. Your family have their reasons. You have your own reasons. But God also has His reasons. I’m praying for you to discover God’s reasons for why you are on your campus. You have special connections, relationships, and opportunities the Holy Spirit will use to minister to those around you. I can’t tell you how many life trajectories were changed by God through the relationships I forged at the University of North Texas and Baylor – mine most of all!
At moments like this, we come abruptly face to face with the reality that our world is fallen, hurting, and filled with the effects of sin. We must never forget there is a very real enemy who seeks to kill, steal, and destroy. But this is why the Church exists. This is why we are here. Believers are “agents of grace” in a hurting world. We Christians must rise up to pray, seek justice, and act with mercy as we extend the grace of God to our world.
I’m here – and so is the College Ministry Team – to help you discover God’s reasons for why you are where you are. Always feel free to connect with us!
Praying for you all!
Joel