Newsletters

November 1998

Michigan Conference Beneficial

From Sunday to Wednesday of this week we were in Hillsdale, Michigan for a conference that was a follow-up to our training this summer. It was a very encouraging time for us, from the practical help to catching up with friends who are also raising support. 
One thing we did was to videotape parts of our presentation. Our support coach then met with us for an hour to discuss how we could improve. This was very helpful and gave us some new ideas. We had a seminar on generating referrals, which also gave us some suggestions. We discussed different strategies for raising our support and we hope to try a couple of them in the near future.
It was so nice to get to spend some time with our friends from training this summer. The guys played kickball each night and then came back to tell their wives how sore they were. The married guys put up a good fight when they played the single guys, but couldn't quite get the win. The women spent a lot of time talking (I know that probably comes as a shock to some of you!?). I got to meet some women whom I hadn't met this summer and get to know them a little bit. We also found out about some of the practical jokes that went on this summer in the dorm where the other half of the staff lived. Made us thankful for where we were! While at the Michigan conference, one room got "decorated" and one car got it's windshield soaped! The scariest thing - some of these staff will be working with high school students - watch out!

Binge Drinking on College Campuses Latest Rage

The November issue of Reader's Digest has an article that is shocking. The typical college student no longer drinks just a beer or two, but participates in "binge drinking." The Reader's Digest defines binge drinking as "four drinks in a sitting for a woman and five for a man...enough to risk health and well-being." Not only are many drinkers underage, they also drink enough to cause permanent damage to their bodies, or even death.Estimates are that 12 million undergrads drink the equivalent of 6 million gallons of beer each week. And students no longer drink to have fun, but "to get drunk."

This is the environment that we are going into. Students have no parental influence on campus and many of them succumb to the pressure to drink. This pressure is causing the death of students nationwide. The Reader's Digest article had a story about some pledges at a university in Louisiana. They had a keg party, and when the keg ran dry they went to a bar near campus. They were offered alcoholic concoctions and drank massive quantities of them. After much vomiting, they returned to the fraternity house to sleep it off. 

When the paramedics arrived, they found more than twelve guys (Cont.) sprawled all over the room. The paramedics quickly went to each of them, trying to arouse them. They couldn't arouse four of them and one of those four had no vital signs. Despite their efforts and those of the emergency room personnel, the young man could not be revived. His blood-alcohol level? .588 - That means his blood was almost 60% alcohol!

Half of binge drinkers binge three or more times in two weeks. And 48% of male college students and 39% of female college students are binge drinkers. This binge drinking also leads to other casualties, including auto accidents, injuries, sexual assault, and poor academic performance.

Students drink for a variety of reasons. Sometimes they drink because of peer pressure. Sometimes because it gives them a false sense of confidence. Sometimes they just want to escape. But most students drink to fill a void in their life. They have an emptiness that they think alcohol can fill. In reality only God can fill this emptiness. Please pray for us and all the campus staff as we seek ways to reach out to the students and show them how God can fill the void in their lives.

Praise and Prayer

Prayer - Shelly's grandpa seems to be feeling a little better. Please continue to pray for his health.
Prayer - Nate's grandpa is now in a nursing home; please pray for his health also. 
Praise - For the good time we had at our conference in Michigan. 
Praise - We were able to trade Shelly's car in for a much more reliable vehicle. 

Computer Problems Plague Headquarters

It has come to our attention that headquarters is having techincal difficulties with their new computer system. This has been causing a variety of errors. One of our partners mentioned to us that they did not receive a receipt for their September gift and also did not receive an envelope to use for October's gift. If you have found yourself in the same situation, please contact us as soon as possible. We can call headquarters to make sure you get a receipt and envelope. Please also pray for the staff working at headquarters as this is very frustrating and stressful. You can imagine how many checks are processed each month since there are almost 17,000 staff and each staff member has around 150-200 ministry partners!

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