BSU Truman State University A Review of Fall 2011 thru Summer 2012

Hi everyone!! Thank you so much for the continued prayers, the real love and genuine care, the giving hearts and serving hands and the grace-filled lives you continue to shower on this group of students who love Jesus. It is so gracious of you to support us financially. It is so kind, and we are so thankful for God for you. We are also encouraged by your notes of prayer and encouragement. And we cant forget those of you who brought food and crock pots filled with real food for the students. You guys are amazing! Thank you everyone for loving us with a genuine love thru Jesus. We are so grateful!! In order to give you a better summary of this past year, let me first take you back to a regular Wednesday night Leadership Team Meeting. That evening, a student asked, So what is our Mission Statement? Wow. That night was the beginning of tossing aside our old mission statement, and creating a new mission statement that defined who we are and what we wanted to be. We took a look at what we were doing and really had to admit, out loud to each other, that what we were doing was nice, and even morally good, but was somehow missing the mark. As a leadership team, we felt that we were not really sharing Jesus His love His truth. Week after week, we began asking, How can this be for Jesus? Each week as the year progressed, we picked a different topic Fuel, Common Grounds, Kool aid on the Quad, etc. We started from ground zero and began making changes and corrections. It wasnt always easy, and I am so thankful for His grace and truth. We still have things to work on when the students come back in the fall. We will continue to look at what we do and just try to hear Gods voice for our hearts and to follow Him. I guess that has been a theme for us really trying to hear His voice for our lives and for what we are doing. We want to let His love be received in our hearts first before being devoted to how we are serving Him. We want Him to be a part of our entire lives. We want the love relationship He is so longing to have with us and not miss Him as we are doing things for Him. So, where are we now? We are currently emailing each other ideas about what our new mission statement will actually say. But for now, the two words that would best describe us are missionaries and discipling. Did you know you this past year you supported 16 missionaries at Truman? These 16 students were commissioned by their fellow BSUers. They each specified what their mission field would be, as well as the names of two people who would be committed to praying for them. So, you had a rugby player sharing his life and Jesus with a few players on the rugby team. You had a Med- student seeing her science lab as her mission field. Another student in an administration office saw her co-worker as her mission field. One student is giving his life in disciple-making to be sharing Jesus among his friends in the music department. A grad student is gardening with another student who does not have a relationship with Jesus yet. Some students see their dorm hall as their mission fields. It is said, we will do what we celebrate. I guess for us, we are celebrating being missionaries. Once a week, the 16 missionaries would get together and debrief on what happened as we try to live for and share Jesus. It is exciting and encouraging to hear each others stories. And its really all God that we get to be a part of how He continues to draw people to Him and help them come alive to Him it is Miraculous! In the last 2 months, of which is normally thought of as the slow season on campus, we are finding that in being for Jesus as missionaries, and celebrating God and what He is doing, that making disciples is just totally on our hearts and our

minds and our lips. We are finding that Gods love is just pounding on us with fervor to be in peoples lives, to really care for them and model the love of Jesus to them and to discuss that love with them. And that no one among this group of students, and no one among the neighbors in our lives, and no one in this campus, or among this city, or in this whole planet is excluded from His precious purpose. Jesus really is the Savior of the world. (John 4:42). To end would be to just share what is happening in the lives of some very dear people who have a relationship from at least someone among this tribe this group of ones who are trying to be more like His Son. Its exciting! He has a new plan for them; He has a new future for them; they can get back to Eden, they can get back to the promisethey can get back to what God was dreaming about for themOh Father God, help us be changed for you and do the things you have for us to do, A-men.

Guy coming totally feeling a connection and hearing how others are just trying to share Jesus today and he has encouraged me Another guy coming just started comingand just moving in that same vein of looking to just see how he can share and also if he might be called to seminary down the road Yet another guy coming that we met this winter this guy just came alive with a real relationship to Christ at Christmas and is totally sharing his faith at work and just moving in making some hard choices to help himself grow in Christ New guy and his friend they started a rogue bible study because they felt they should, and a guy attending this new study just rededicated his life, and is totally alive and is being discipled by the two leaders A girl of friend above.just totally rededicated her life for Jesus and is really trying to walk in that Other girl in our midstreally sharing core question of faith and moving in that, and finding her life so alive for Jesus right now Other girl in our midstreally living in a real relationship with God and Jesus and hearing a calling from Him for her lifeand just alive for Him Husband and wife totally wanting more with Jesus they are asking things like Why do we have conversations among other believers and talk about everything else but God? Our student(who came alive to Christ this April and is in Chicago for the summer) - totally skyping with her for about 5 weeks now with two studentsand sharing bible stories and hearing Gods heart Water sprinkler inspector - starts unloading his unlike for people who want to shove Jesus down his throat, and that began a conversation totally with prayer of listening, and sharing Jesuss love

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit Matthew 28:19

Thank you everyone so much for your love thru Christ. Thank you God for Jesus and for your Holy Spirit we love you we need you we trust you with all that we are, A-men! The BSU Tribe