Please pray for us today as I share the third Habitude with the wrestling team.

What is a Habitude you may ask?  That is a good question. Habitudes are images that form leadership habits and attitudes which have been developed by Tim Elmore.  You can check them out here.

Dr. Elmore developed an edition for sports teams which is being used around the nation.  I was able to attend a certification conference and now have an opportunity to present these to Josh’s wrestling team.  The coach is all for it and has embraced it.

This has been a great chance to be around the players and coaches and parents.  Pray for opportunities to move them closer to Jesus.  Just the other day a mom shared some hard things concerning her son with me - and we had just met.  So it seems as if God is using me as a sort of unofficial chaplain.

Pray each Monday you remember.  That is the day each week the team spends time talking about a Habitude and how it applies to them.

We would appreciate your prayer for a student involved in Challenge.  Andrew T. fell from a tree on Saturday (he loves to climb trees) and landed on his back.  This resulted in a burst disc, two fractured vertebrae, broken ribs, a punctured lung, a broken clavicle, and a broken shoulder blade.  He underwent surgery to place screws and a pin to stabilize the vertebrae.

He is in very stable condition now, but in much pain (as you can imagine).  They are slowly moving him between a chair and the bed.  He will have to wear a back brace for 3 months.  His parents are also with him.  In the next few days he will make a decision between remaining in school or withdrawing for the semester.

Andrew is a delightful young man and we always enjoy when he is around.  You can also pray as his friends in the dorm have taken this pretty hard and many may be open to some good conversations.

After 36 hours the fire is zero contained, over 7100 acres are burned, and more than 3000 people have been evacuated from the mountain communities and foothills just west of Boulder.  Slurry planes have been constantly flying over since noon to drop retardant around the fire.

The shelter on campus has closed and the Red Cross has opened others in North Boulder.  More facts are still hard to come by, but it appears to be a nasty fire that is not wanting to behave very well.

All of Boulder is still okay except for the air quality.

For those wondering, the Boulder fire is not that close to us, but the smoke is.  A nice cloud had settled over Boulder and has made outdoor activity a problem.  For others, this has been devastating as their houses are gone.  Many never even had a chance to grab any belongings.  They cam into town for the day and were not allowed to return.  As for containment, there doesn’t seem to be any containment yet that they can tell us about.

Some of these are staying temporarily on campus in the Coors Event Center.  The Red Cross has things pretty well in hand (or hasn’t communicated very well about needs), but we are looking for ways that we can help or volunteer.  Information has not been outstanding so far, so I guess there has been some difficulty in the command getting all the information they need.

Thanks for your prayers as we look for ways to serve.

As we are preparing for our spring break trip and times of prayer, I was reminded of a few quotes:

We should pray when we are in a praying mood, for it would be sinful to neglect so fair an opportunity.  We should pray when we are not in a praying mood, for it would be dangerous to remain in so unhealthy a condition. - C. H. Spurgeon

The great fault of the children of God is, they do not continue in prayer; they do not go on praying; they do not persevere.  If they desire anything for God’s glory, they should pray until they get it. - George Mueller

Please pray for the 15 of us who will be serving and praying over this next week and for the RiverChurches in New Castle, CO.

In 2006, our family had the opportunity to lead a mission trip to Oberlin, LA, contribute to the rebuilding of

First Baptist Church and begin some encouraging relationships.  God used that trip to not only reestablish a place for community in Oberlin, but also to establish a heart for people in our family and a desire to be part of what He is doing in the world and to explain Him to the world.  Of course, the main expression of this heart and desire takes place in our sharing our lives with college students at CU, ASU before that, and OU before that.

     As a continuation of this desire, we have been preparing as a family for a trip to SE Asia.  A former student and his family are now serving full-time among students in this country.  They have seen God draw many students to Himself and have their hands full.  Several people have spent the last two years laboring alongside them and are in their last days and months of service. 

     We will be spending around 7-9 days in country.  During this time we will travel with a group of students who are involved in the ministry with the purpose of speaking into their lives and discipling them as we are able.  We will also be working at an orphanage alongside a mix of Christian and non-Christian students.  Our friend there says that this has been a very effective way of seeing new students move to accept Christ.  Another goal would also be to encourage and pray for our friends and the ministry God has given them.

     Finally, we hope to work out the timing so that we can travel to another SE Asian country close by and spend a day or two with a former associate and his family and our summer team from CU and then join them for the trip home.  This last hope is still very tentative, but is on our prayer list.

    The tentative dates for this trip are July 12-21.  Our estimated cost is $15,014.  We would like to invite and ask you to pray about partnering with us financially and prayerfully for this trip.  An undertaking of this size is far bigger than us and we would value anyway you can be part of this with us.  Contributions for this trip can be made to Christian Challenge and will be a missions contribution as this trip is part of our summer missions program.  Please send to 167 Cherokee Way, Boulder, CO 80303.

Thank you for your prayers.

Please be praying for us as we have our first retreat of the Fall this weekend.  At the moment we have 39 signed up, which is the most we have ever had since I’ve been at CU.  Pray that nothing will hinder these from coming.  We will be looking at making the most of our time so as to grow spiritually.

This will be a mix of Christians and non-Christians, so we are looking forward the time.  Generally, this retreat has been a great time and those who attend stick with Christian Challenge.

I admit readily that I am a bad blogger.  I think about it quite a bit.  The little blog elves that are supposed to read my thoughts and turn them into meaningful blog entries have left the house since we started redoing our kitchen.

Ministry has been moving at full pace.  Table talk Tuesdays have been up and down, but today we looked at how the Bible we read was put together.  Our next topic will be ‘does God hear the prayers of non-believers?’   We have been going through 2 Timothy at our weekly meetings and I spoke last week and will speak tomorrow.

the freshmen bible study has also been really good.  they group of guys we have is a good group to have and build on.  Kind of like a great freshmen recruiting class.  I wish I could redshirt some of them.

Pray for the several students who are around and close to following Jesus - R. and M. especially.  They are very close to being ready to commit to Jesus.

Today we celebrate Josh’s 15th birthday. It should be a lot of fun, especially with the fireworks the city of Boulder will be displaying for him (at least thats what we tell him). He quit believing us a long time ago.

Next week Julee and I will speak with students at a training program thats taking place in Denver. That should be a lot of fun also.

The window is closer to completion. The window itself is in now, just having to make modifications in order to install some structural steel. You should see the 1/2 inch concrete screws we are using - Tim the tool man would be proud. We could screw whole houses together with these things.

Continue to pray for our team in South Asia. They have continued to see fruit from their labor and God has been teaching them deep things. Our challenge is to shepherd them so that the things they are learning stick and to help them process all that has happened this summer. Also our good friends who were on staff here at Challenge will be moving there on July 10, so they would appreciate your prayers for their challenging transition.

We will be receiving many freshman contacts soon and will begin the process of connecting with them. Please lift up these freshman whom we don’t know - yet - that God will encourage their hearts and connect them even closer to us and Him over next year.

Colossians 2:1

Our CU team in South Asia has sent back a good report.  In the last week 8 new believers have joined our Family and several others are close.  Please pray for them as they are over their honeymoon period and adjusting.  Also as they begin to disciple their new brothers and sisters and continue to make the word of God fully known.