Prayer Partners,
Just this past Saturday, Emily and I officially moved into our new apartment! We are thankful that the Lord has already provided opportunities to meet our neighbors and build community within our apartment complex this past weekend. (Scroll to the bottom of this post to see how last month's requests were answered.)
Now that we have made many contacts at Boston College, Boston University, and our apartment complex over the past few weeks, Emily and I will begin the process of follow up and personal conversations. We are very excited about this next step! Pray that we will have many opportunities to share the gospel and show the love of Christ.
Over the next month, please be praying for the below:
1. Pray for gospel opportunities with our new neighbors.
Emily and I will specifically be spending time with one of the couples in our apartment complex next Wednesday. We have already enjoyed getting to know them and look forward to a specific time to learn more about one another. Pray for avenues to share the gospel and receptivity by those this couple as well as future conversations with all the neighbors we have met. Also pray for opportunities to meet those that did not come to the cookout so we can begin building relationships with them as well!
2. Pray for new Boston College and Boston University Community Groups.
Within the next few weeks, we will begin community groups both on campus for Boston College and Boston University. There are thousands of students on these campuses and very few of them are involved in the local church or even campus ministries. Emily and I are partnering with Christian organizations already on campus to better help, equip, and serve these ministries. We are serving alongside InterVarsity at Boston College and Cru at Boston University. These community groups are specifically geared for college students to reach other college students. Pray that students would come to these small groups on campus to hear the gospel and explore the faith. Pray that Emily and I would equip the leaders of these small groups well alongside of these campus ministries. These college students have a unique ability to meet other college students that Emily and I don’t currently have so we are interceding for big gospel impact through the believing students on campus.
3. Pray for upcoming outreaches both at our apartment complex and church.
We have many outreaches and events that we are hosting or helping with in the next month, including:
· Community Groups: On campus at BC and BU. Designed to develop believers in their faith and to create a welcome space for unbelievers to learn more about Christianity and the gospel.
· College Lunches: After City on a Hill’s 11am service every Sunday in September. A time to gather college students together and get them plugged into the church.
· College Party: Emily and I will host many college students in our home for a cookout and some games. We pray this will be a time for students to invite their lost friends and see how believers spend time with one another in an informal way.
· October Apartment Outreach: Emily and I were very encouraged by the extremely positive response by our neighbors that attended the apartment-wide cookout. Every person was eager to meet again next month. Please be in prayer for logistics and for an even stronger turnout next month as we plan the details of October’s get together. We are looking at the possibility of hosting a pumpkin carving in our home/the apartment garage next month.
Each of these are meant to encourage believers and reach the lost. We want to accomplish the challenge set before us in Matthew 5:14-16:
“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”
Answered Prayers (from August 2017)
We are thankful for your prayers and many of them have already been answered! This past weekend, Emily and I had our Hickory Grove mission team work throughout the city to help us build relationships with college campuses and our neighbors. Here’s how they helped and how your prayers were answered!
1. Friday, September 1: Our Hickory Grove mission team helped several people move into their apartments in the Brighton community. This opportunity established a good name for City on a Hill Church since we wore their T-shirts and allowed Emily and I a chance to meet and exchange numbers with those just down the street from us. We are having dinner with some of these neighbors soon!
2. Saturday, September 2: The team spent time on Boston University’s campus and collected more than 80 contacts for Cru, a Christian organization on campus that Emily and I are partnering with, to follow up with! Next week I will have the opportunity to meet and speak with many of these students personally.
3. Sunday, September 3: City on a Hill (CoaH) had its first college lunch were almost 20 students from Boston College attended a church service and then attended the lunch! Emily and I shared CoaH’s vision for college ministry and many were interested in future events. We are also able to follow up with each of these students personally throughout this coming week.
4. Sunday Evening, September 3: Emily and I had our first apartment outreach by hosting a cookout. Because of the rain, the cookout had to be moved into our home and through that we met 16 of our neighbors! Everyone was very excited to be there and said they looked forward to getting together again next month. Emily got the phone numbers of several of the women and we already have plans to spend time with one of the couples next week.
