Believer's Overnight

At the very beginning of January, we had an overnight just for our Chinese friends who are Christians. We wanted them to all meet each other (since many didn't know each other) and have a time of fellowship and growth in their Christian walk.

It has been so hard getting any of our key students to attend conferences with Bridges or CCC. We have tried many things, and so having just a short 24 hours seemed like a great way just to start the ball rolling this semester and get students started on the right foot.

Six of our 17 believers were able to make it! This was a great turnout and we were excited that we were able to get that many students together at one place at one time (our bigger parties are all nonbelievers from all over campus, and about 1/3 to half of the students invited usually come)

We started the night with pizza and getting to know one another, talked about the worthiness of Christ, to help fix their eyes on the Lord for the weekend, and then played some games and shared stories and laughter. I missed part of the games and such because I was still getting over my terrible cold I had the week before.

The next morning we had to pull students out of bed to get them to help make breakfast, and start our first session of the day. It turned out the girls (two to a room) all stayed up talking into the wee hours of the morning. It was great they were forming friendships and such, but not so good if you want people to be awake to learn stuff. :-)

Our first session was how to spend time with God, and we gave them time to spend reading their bibles. Then we talked about how to share your faith with friends, family, and others you meet on campus and at work. we then took a break for lunch and some sledding!!!! Most students had never played in that much snow before ( about a foot and a half) and LOVED it!

Afterwards we warmed up with hot chocolate and talked about the importance of fellowship. Overall it was a great 24 hours, and I think the students were greatly encouraged and built up by this time!