Newsletter June 2011

Greetings,

Chuck here with another update on the work that Jesus is doing in the hearts and minds of college students through the work of InterVarsity at the University of Maine at Farmington, but also as a recent development Unity College. God is alive and at work on our college campuses, even here in Maine. This past semester was amazing in a number of different ways. As I mentioned in my last newsletter we had 19 students from UMF go down and do work in New Orleans and spend time in the scriptures while there wrestling over the intersection between faith and justice and as a result of this time we saw 2 students make professions of faith and 1 student decide that she wanted to investigate more seriously the truths of the scriptures.

Additionally the group of Christians who went developed a deeper relationship with God and one another and carried that back with them to campus helping to transform the fellowship into a more intimate community which was as well more mission oriented as was seen by the fact the group grew with non-Christians and Christians who hadn't already been involved getting involved and by the end of the semester we were averaging 35 students a week at our weekly Large Group meeting.

Following the trip to New Orleans we had a retreat which attracted about 20 students which addressed our relational brokenness with God as a result of the fall in Genesis 3 as well as the hope of restoration that we get through Jesus which then informs all of our relationships with one another. This time also contributed to deepening students in their relationship with God and again with one another.

Throughout the course of the semester in my conversations both with young Christians and non-Christians I noticed that students were wrestling with the question of how can we be certain the the Bible is the word of God and thus I asked Ryan Goding, a local pastor, to come and address this question. We advertized on campus and had about 60 students attend as Ryan gave proofs from history and archeology demonstrating that the Bible does stand up to criticism as well as allowing time for questions. Many of these students were not InterVarsity members or connected to InterVarsity in any way shape or form but appeared to be seriously wrestling with this issue considering its validity and many Christian students I talked to were encouraged to know that what they believed actually does stand up to secular criticism.

Lastly we ended the semester well with our annual BBQ, to which 40 people attended, and even though it rained outdoors our spirits were not dampened and we had a great time celebrating all that Jesus had done over the course of the year taking us from a group that had shrunk to around 12 students to about 3 times that many in one short year as well as saying goodbye to our seniors and those who are transferring away. All in all it was a great blessing to me as well as the students and a great way to finish the semester.

In addition to the work that Jesus has been doing at UMF, or perhaps in part as a result of it, something amazing happened at Unity College this year. About 3 years ago I was speaking at a Church out in Newport Maine about InterVarsity at UMF and after the service one of members of the church came to me to ask about Unity College and if I remember correctly one of her children or close family members had at some point attended there, and she commented on how dark a campus it was and inquired as to whether or not there was any Christian organization meeting on campus. And to my knowledge there wasn't. Fast forward to fall semester of this past year (2010) I sat down to meet with Robert, who was a sophomore who had just recently gotten involved with InterVarsity and by this time I had been meeting with him every couple of weeks for discipleship when he mentioned he was hoping to transfer in the spring to Unity College. When he said this is reminded me of the conversation I had had about 2 years prior about Unity and so I asked if he would pray and consider trying to help get something going at Unity. And so eventually Robert confirmed that he would be attending Unity and that we both believed he was not going to Unity simply to get an education but that God was sending him there for a another purpose as well.

Around October I was at a meeting for training leaders in the church in Pittsfield, ME and I decided to ask a young guy who I thought might be interested in helping get something started at Unity as he was a little closer than me. As we were talking another young man named Christian was walking by and happened to hear that we were talking about Unity. “Wait are you guys talking about Unity College?” He asked, “I live like 5 miles down the road and I would love to be part of something there.” So from then on I began to plan to have Christian lead this group. So the week that classes started at Unity I got together with Robert to pray and the following Sunday Christian invited me to make an announcement at his church about getting a Bible started on campus as there were some Unity students who went there. I was able to connect there with two young girls and we planned to have a meeting on campus that Thursday. Thursday came and 8 students showed up along with Christian and myself and as far as I could tell half of them were Christians. They decided at that point to meet for Bible Study once a week and that Christian would lead them through it. As the semester progressed I met with them 2 more times leading the study when I came, taking them through Genesis 1 and 2. I was honored to be able to lead them as the group continued to maintain more non-Christians than Christian all of whom were wrestling with whether or not Christianity was true and real, and the group grew from the original 8 to an average of 15-20 weekly on a campus of only 550 students.

At the end of the semester students gathered at the house of a local couple to watch the passion of the Christ of good Friday. I was again able to be there and witness as these students wrestled on a deep spiritual and emotional level all that Jesus had done for them, and the weight of the love that he has for them. As of yet I have not been informed of any other these students making professions of faith but I do know that even though school is not in session these students and still wrestling with faith in Jesus and in regular communication with Christian and his wife, not to mention that the Christians involved were greatly encouraged in their faith as they have seen God work in the hearts and lives of their fellow classmates.

I again want to thank you all for your continued prayer for the work that God is doing, please know and believe that your prayer and financial support is as important and valuable as my time on campus, especially as without it I would be unable to be on campus. So thank you all for all that you do.

Financial Update: God has provided in ways that I never would have expected all year round and I have raised thus far around $19,500 but am still in need of approximately $1,500. I say this not to put pressure on you to give but in order that you might know how to pray and that if you feel called you might help narrow this gap. Thank You all so much again for you faithful prayers and support. Grace and Peace!


Your Fellow Worker In Christ Jesus,


Charles William Ellis

UMF IVCF

Hi all,

Chuck here and at the request of a number of those who support both financially and prayerfully the work of InterVarsity at UMF I have decided to begin a blog and I will try to post on a weekly basis the things that are going on and how God is working on campus. During the summer months though I would not expect to post that often though we will see. In addition to posting weekly updates I will also include newsletters when they come out. Thanks and I hope that this is a blessing!

Chuck Ellis
CSM
InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA