A few thoughts. . .

The weekend is coming to a close and another rainy week is about to begin*. Stacie and I had such a sweet time exploring "the city" (meaning San Fransisco, that's what everyone calls it here!), eating yummy meals together, attending a Collegiate A Capella Competition (SO amazing, but 3 hours long and my back is still aching because of it) where Cal took 1st place, worshiping the Lord together at my lovely church, going to the movies to watch The Oscar Nominations for Animated Short Film (in a theater with comfy couches, SO fun!), as well as lots of relaxing, singing, and being all around goofy. So thankful for our friendship. . .and airplanes which make weekend trips like this possible!

After talking with a dear friend (since the good ol' Hanson loving and note passing Junior High days :)) I realized that it would be fun to post the "Where is the Love" survey questions that were asked last week - so here they are:

1. What are some ways you define real love?
2. Looking at the excerpt of the lyrics from "Where is the Love?" which lines speak to you the most?
3. What do you think is the solution to the problems of racism, violence and hate?
4. Read the chorus. What do you think about the idea of a God who could help us find love?
5. On a scale from 1-10, rate your desire to know more about God's love.

So many great conversations were started using these questions. . .many conversations which led to sharing the Gospel, at times briefly and at other times in length but each time the message was the same and could be boiled down to these four nuggets:

1. (God's love) God loves you and created you to know Him personally. He has a wonderful plan for your life.
2. (Our condition) People are sinful and separated from God, so we cannot know Him personally or experience His love and plan.
3. (God's response) Jesus Christ is God's only provision for our sin. Through Him alone can we know God personally and experience His love and plan.
4. (Our response) We must individually receive Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord; then we can know God personally and experience His love and plan.

Yes, one student made a decision to receive Jesus as Savior and Lord this week but I also rejoice over the many more who were heard, were loved, and were given more truth to digest. Keep praying with me for the hearts of students, and ultimately ALL people worldwide!

* I had a little epiphany walking alongside the creek on campus on my way home last week. It was a rainy day, causing the water level to rise and the sound of the water rushing over the rocks was awesome. It was then that I began to put 2 and 2 together. I ABSOLUTELY love water - I love to drink it, swim in it, be near it, feel it, ski on it. . .and the list could go on. But, I've always hated the rain - until I realized on this pivotal day that the rains which the Lord provide are the reason why I get to enjoy this amazing substance in it's many forms and functions. . .and therefore I should be more thankful, and even happy/excited when it does rain. Can't say I'm quite there yet but I'm on my way. . .and owning a cute pair of rain boots helps. :)

And tonight we. . .

Celebrate! Well, it's the end of our Spring Semester outreach week. Granted evangelism should be a part of our everyday. . .and so should celebrating the Lord's goodness and faithfulness but we are setting aside some special time tonight to get together and celebrate what we saw Him do in and through us during this faith-stretching "Where is the Love" week. I'm so looking forward to hearing and sharing stories, worshiping the Lord, and praying that we would continue to see God work as we step out in faith for Him daily. A passage I've reflected on this week is Matthew 9:27-30 which reads:


And as Jesus passed on from there, two blind men followed him, crying aloud, "Have mercy on us, Son of David." When he entered the house, the blind men came to him, and Jesus said to them, "Do you believe that I am able to do this?" They said to him, "Yes, Lord." Then he touched their eyes, saying, "According to your faith be it done to you." And their eyes were opened.

Yes, I certainly once was blind but now I see. How I want others to see as well. . .but I know that the Lord wants this even more then me. I believe He is able to do it when we believe!

Well, thanks so much for praying this week - I KNOW God worked through your petitions on our behalf, I hope you too take some time to celebrate what you saw God do this week. . .and know that you must include the things that He did here because you were a part of it.

Well, time to take the Lemon Bars out of the oven for our celebration tonight - I love that my job incorporates many things I love, one being baking! Later tonight a great college friend is coming into town for the weekend - looking forward to showing off Berkeley and relaxing together here. Hope you have a fun and relaxing weekend as well!

Day 2, Who knew?

I just love that the Lord knows exactly what's in store each day. . .and then slowly He reveals it to us as we walk by faith. Well, going to keep it brief because it's dinner time BUT just had to share with you that:

Around 2:30PM on a bench in front of Dwinelle a spring admit (read: just started at Cal last month) named Diana went from eternal death to life and began a personal relationship with Jesus Christ! Melissa and I had the huge privilege of sharing the Gospel with her after going through our "Where is the Love" survey. The Lord had perfectly prepared her heart to receive Him and it was just amazing to see this unfold before our eyes. She had been seeking for years. And has been so lonely since coming to Cal. Toward the end of our conversation she expressed that she thought this would be a great time to begin a relationship with God - we agreed! :) And there we were, on a sunny afternoon at Cal, guiding Diana through a prayer that would change the course of her life as students went on their way all around us having no idea what just happened.

So, yes, I am reminded that God can do the seemingly impossible anywhere. . .even on this liberal and dark campus. And it's because He's the one planning things perfectly and pursuing hearts persistently. Melissa and I just happened to stumble into the picture, thanks to His orchestrating, and see God do something huge for His glory! Diana left to go to class. . .with a Bible in hand, 2 new friends, an invite to dinner and our weekly meeting tomorrow, and her Savior dwelling in her heart that has now been washed whiter then snow.

Praise God!

Day 1, So Fun!

Hi prayer pals. . .just couldn't resist giving a quick update on the "Where is the Love" week at Cal before going to bed. God is at work. . .and I won't be able to sleep until I share how I've seen Him to be true to His Word in the past 24 hours!

Last night 15 students gathered to poster and pray in preparation for the week. I'm just blown away by how God is using this faith-stretching week to grow our students' commitment to Him on their campus. . .they served alongside us on their day off for crying out loud! It's such a blessing to be "in it together" as we seek to glorify God in this way.

During this morning's staff meeting it was pouring down rain - and even hailing at one point. Probably not ideal conditions for striking up conversations with students on campus. . .or so me of little faith would think. WELL, lots of awesome conversation centered on Christ were started under the overhang of the student union building. Picture a little table with a question mark sign, some candy, and the "Where is the Love" song playing on my ipod as the rain came down. . .this served as our home base for the next couple of hours. Melissa and I got into a great conversation with Gail, she was "tabling" for her organization 2 tables down. We had lots to connect over, she was so thoughtful in response to our survey questions, and rated her desire to know more about God's love at a 5. . .wasn't interested in hearing more about this BUT she'll be out there again tomorrow and I'm praying for another opportunity. Pray with me! Then off to take Kathryn out to share her faith for the first time. Talked to Liz, an atheist, not spiritually interested, but left the conversation with a good taste in her mouth and someone new for us to pray for. Kathryn did a great job and then went on to do the survey on her own with her Jehovah's Witness roommate, she's totally getting it and taking such big steps of faith for the Lord! So, those are just two stories from the afternoon. . .

And as for this evening - decided to help my freshmen Small Group girls put into practice what we learn about in the Bible each week together. . .what it looks like to live out the Gospel well in our own lives and giving others the opportunity to do the same. We were all nervous and things felt a little chaotic as we prayed, paired off and headed into the dorms but we were choosing to step out in faith together, it's so much more fun that way, and trusting the Lord to show up. Well, surprise surprise - He did. :) Lots of cool conversations were had. Frances got to share the Gospel with her Resident Advisor and is excited to continue talking with Him about Jesus. Kelly and I talked with two awesome and very spiritually interested girls. . .they're going to come out to our Weekly Meeting on Thursday. Melissa and Kathryn were simultaneously unashamed and compassionate in 2 challenging conversations. All in all, my favorite part of the evening was getting together afterwards and excitedly sharing about what God did in this dorm tonight. . .and the girls are all excited to do this more often. Couldn't have asked for it to go any better!

Oh -and Dan and I just discovered that both of us didn't get turned down once today as we approached students on campus and in the dorms. . .this is so unique, seems like a real window of opportunity has opened up - and it's so the Lord's doing.

So, as you can see through these little snippets God is at work and answering prayers, keep em coming! Tomorrow will look similar, we're going to be on campus from 11-2 engaging students via this topic of "Where is the Love" and how God plays a role. . .and wants to in each of our lives in a very personal way. Please pray:
- for sunshine
- that students would continue to be open to talking
- for the right questions to ask and the right words in response to what we hear
- that we would continue to take the initiative to share Christ, in the power of the Holy Spirit, leaving the results up to God (what we with Cru call the "definition of successful evangelism")
- that God would be glorified in whatever way He sees fit tomorrow.

Thanks so much, I'll try to update again tomorrow. . .but for now good night!

Where is the Love?

Just in case you're not on my email update list. . .here's what I just sent out - I'd love your prayers as well!

Hello friends,

Just a quick email and prayer request on behalf of Cru and the students at Cal. Hope you're doing well and enjoying the new year, it seems to already be flying by!

The subject line of this email is actually the name of a song AND a huge campus wide outreach that we're putting on all of next week! In 2003 a secular band called the "Black Eyed Peas" released a song about racism and violence which asked the question, "where is the love"? The chorus has them crying out, "Father, Father, Father help us/Send some guidance from above/'Cause people got me, got me questionin'/Where is the love".

Well, we thought we would engage the Cal student body with this same question through various ways all of next week. We'll be postering the campus with question mark posters (like in the music video, check it out on youtube.com), hosting a table on Sproul Plaza, talking with students about their spiritual lives (via a survey about this song), and organizing a seeker friendly meeting on Thursday night all done with the designed purpose of giving students the opportunity to be heard AND to hear about Jesus Christ and His desire to have a personal relationship with them.

I could give many more details BUT the intent of this email is to ask you to pray. We know that we can do nothing apart from Christ - and we so desire to see Him glorified this week. Here's how you can pray:
- Pray that our students involved with Cru would get behind this outreach and take huge steps of faith to share Christ with their classmates, roommates, and friends at Cal.
- Pray that the student body would notice all the question marks around campus and would be open to dialouging with us about love, the pain in this world, and how God fits into all this.
- Pray that the Lord would be softening hearts and that students would come to know Him, or at least come one step closer to receiving Him!
- Pray against the rain, especially Tues-Thurs during the peak hours of 10-2 on campus.
- Pray that we would see grow to know and love God more as we see Him move, would we be quick to give Him all the glory, regardless of the results.

Well, this is just a guide - please pray as you feel led. THANK YOU so much. . .and I'll update you with a newsletter by the end of next week in terms of what we saw the Lord do. It is such an honor to partner with you in ministry here, thanks again and Happy Valentine's Day!

For the Gospel,
Arijaan

Well, off to Trader Joe's to pick up some things for a Valentine's Brunch that I'm hosting for the ladies of Cru tomorrow. And then some friends from SLO are coming into town later tonight - should be a fun and full weekend. Hope yours is as well!

24

Yep, that's how many hours are in a day. And yep, that's the name of a rather popular TV show that I haven't been sucked into. . .yet. And yep, that's 2 dozen eggs.

But, you know what else? That's my age as of today! And to be honest, I really like the sound of 24 more then the sound of 23 as it rolls of the tongue - so the year's off to a good start! Other then the number sounding good, it's also been a good day.

I've had a chance to do some of my usual favorite things - go for a swim, eat chocolate, and point students to Christ. But I also had a chance to experience some things out of the ordinary. . .like waking up to flowers and gifts from my roommate, reading snail mail cards from all over the world (Canada, France, Idaho, and Holland to list a few), getting lots of fun birthday phone calls, an encouraging lunch with staff friends, and having "Happy Birthday" sung to me by an a capella group on campus. . .here's the picture of the 4 guys (and their cupcake reward) and myself to prove it:

How cool is that?! These guys are actually part of a Christian A Capella ministry on campus and they just happen to be wrapping up a little gig when one of our staff guys ran into them and asked them to do a little impromptu song for me. . .boy was I surprised - I don't think I ever heard "Happy Birthday" sung so fancily before! I truly think this was one of the highlights of the day that the Lord used to minister to my heart the most. Here I am at Sproul Plaza, on the campus where I have been called to serve the Lord, amongst students who I am daily growing to love more and more. Though discouraging days may come (like the day before. . .) and go this is a memory that will last. I'm thankful to have celebrated my 1st Birthday at Cal - here's to 24 more!?! We'll see what the Lord has in store in that regard but none the less I'm glad to be here. Oh, and PS: doesn't it kinda look like I'm oversees. . .at times it REALLY feels that way. I tend to stick out like a sore thumb - but that's part of the fun!

A Nomad

That's how I feel at times! So, I just got back from the wedding of two college friends in Grass Valley, as well as some time with staff friends at a ski retreat in Tahoe, this weekend. And tomorrow I head down to LA for a training conference til Friday. And then some time at home, to do a little ministry update at a church, as well as celebrate my birthday a tad early with family. On top of all this Deb, my team leader, and I just booked our plane tickets to East Asia for Spring Break today. I promise to share MUCH MORE about that very soon - but as you can see my job (and life in general) takes me all over the place. And truthfully, typically I love it! It is such a blessing to have a schedule that is unpredictable and very varied because it keeps me on my toes AND on my knees before the Lord. It also forces me to seek rest in the Lord, not in a particular place, because only He is truly present wherever I go. So thankful! Well, I think that's the update for now - lots to wrap up and pack in a short amount of time. Have a great week friends!