Newsletters

November 2001

Retreating to Advance

Our fall retreat was held the weekend of October 19. We usually see God do great things in students’ lives. This year was no different!

One example of God’s movement related to where students are choosing to live next year. Our dorm ministry is crucial to seeing success on campus. Every student lives in the dorms their freshman year, and the best time to reach freshmen with the gospel and get them involved in our ministry is their first year. It is much easier for our students to have an effective ministry when they live in the dorms because they are always around the students whom they are trying to reach and they don’t have to come across campus to meet students. However, every year we have a difficult time getting students to stay in the dorms. This is because there is not enough on-campus housing and because the best off-campus housing is typically gone by November.

Each year we ask our freshmen to consider living in the dorms the following year, but this has usually not been very effective. This year some freshmen men from the largest dorm on campus challenged all the other freshmen who were  at the retreat to join them in living in the dorms next year for the purpose of reaching the students in those dorms for Christ. As a result of their challenge we have more freshmen choosing to live in the dorms next year than we have had in a number of years! One of these freshmen is Blaine, with whom I am now working on my area of campus. He was only a few days away from signing a lease for next year, but chose instead to live in the dorms so that he can have an effective ministry more easily. It is our prayer that God will honor this step of faith by these freshmen and give them great ministries in their dorms next year.

Some of those who participated in the annual Fall Retreat leaf fight. Nate and Andrew are at the bottom left.

Kids’ Corner

Well, the leaves are almost all off of our trees. Andrew showed Lauren how to play in the leaves, but she just kept sleeping. Drew also loved running through the leaves at the fall retreat. He is eating more vegetables now—and thinks they are much better with ketchup! No more morning nap for him  and Lauren has started sleeping through the night. So now she gets to sleep in the same room as Andrew. Our cat, Shady, has the guest room all to herself again and she is loving it.

www.ardle.org

Staff Account #0484633