It's that time again - ISM report season!

Every year around Christmas, Lynn Bryant, the director of the International Student Ministry at Athens FUMC, puts together a report measuring ISM's activity throughout the year. The report is important for logistical reasons, but it also exciting to see what the Lord has done through numbers! Here are her findings for 2011:

Total number of individual international students and scholars who participated in ISM events: 455

Total number of nationalities who participated in events at our church this year: 38

Afghanistan, Germany, Nigeria, Armenia, Greece, Pakistan, Bahamas, Hong Kong, Saint Lucia, Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, Belgium, Indonesia, Taiwan, Bosnia, Iran, Tunisia, Brazil, Iraq, Turkey, China, Ireland, Uganda, Costa Rica, Italy, Ukraine, Ecuador, Japan, United States, Egypt, Kazakhstan, Vietnam, England, Korea (South), Zambia, France, Kyrgyzstan

Number of Muslim students/scholars who attended events at our church this year: 32

Percentage of international students/scholars attending events at church who were from hostile or closed country: 86%

Percentage of international students/scholars attending events at church who were from 10/40 Window: 91%

Total number of international students/scholars associated with our ISM who made public professions of faith: 3 (!)

Total number of Christian international students/scholars who were discipled: 39

Total number of volunteers who participated in the ministry: 92 AFUMC members, 74 Wesley students

There were 103 international students (64 seekers and 39 Christians) who attended Bible study
classes at the church throughout the year.

There were 184 international students and American Christian volunteers who participated in
our International Friendship Program this past year. (This is a 33% increase from last year!)

International Events held this year:

Snack & Chat: Puzzle Party in Hancock Hall
“Gone With the Wind” at Blue Willow Inn and Southern Mansion Tour
Snack & Chat: Valentine Dinner and Dance in Hancock Hall
Gold Mine Trip to Dahlonega
Snack & Chat: Fiesta Party in Hancock Hall
Savannah Retreat Weekend with Skidaway Island UMC
Snack & Chat: Good Friday Dinner & Movie in Hancock Hall
Trip to Independence Day Parade and Picnic
New Student Airport Pickup and Overnight Lodging at the Church
International Student Life New Student Luncheon on Campus
Trip to Stone Mountain Laser Show for New Students
Snack & Chat: Welcome Back Party in Hancock Hall
Gold Mine Trip to Dahlonega for Labor Day
Snack & Chat: Dinner at church & Scavenger Hunt downtown
Snack & Chat: Pumpkin Carving & Costume Party in Hancock Hall
Trip to Helen, Anna Ruby Falls, and North Georgia Corn Maze
Snack & Chat: Cake Walk
ISM/International Student Life Thanksgiving Dinner in Hancock Hall
Snack & Chat: Christmas Dinner & Tree Trimming Party in Hancock HallPractical Assistance Provided to Students Throughout the Year:
Overnight lodging for students.
Transportation around town.
Spiritual direction during times of personal crisis.
Took students to lunch throughout the year.
Helped students to find new ISMs and churches in cities where they were moving



I hope that this was as encouraging to you as it was to me. God is doing big things in Athens, not only in the present, but also for the future! I believe that every international student who has ever enjoyed being at our events, visited the Bible study, or had a Friendship Partner is already going to carry a deeper understanding of who God is with them when they go home. In that way, we are able to touch the nations from UGA!

Thank you for all your thoughts, prayers, and support - this year would not have been possible without you. I pray that you will have a wonderful Christmas season and a Happy New Year! I start back up with ISM on January 13th, so expect another post from me in January.

Merry Christmas!
Jessica

Busy, busy, busy!

Happy October! Things have been really busy for the International Student Ministry, per usual. Over the past month, we've had a girl's night with some of our international girls, carved pumpkins and dressed up for Halloween, had wonderful Friday night Bible studies, and gone on a scavenger hunt around downtown Athens- not to mention the fact that ISM is about to take a trip to Helen, Ana Ruby Falls, and the North Georgia Corn maze! Cue pictures:

Our ISM leader small group!

Girls' night - eating home-cooked Chinese food and watching the Emmys

Our Pumpkin Carving Snack n Chat

On average, each of our events has served over 100 students! I am really pleased by how well our Snack n Chats are going this year, but I am even more excited by what has been going on in our Friday night International student Bible study. Several students have started following the Lord, and others are seriously studying the Bible and considering Christianity as more than an "American" faith. Still others are coming back week after week, which is especially impressive as finals and research due dates creep closer. I can't wait to see what the Lord does through this Bible study!

That's all for this update - thank you for your continued support, both prayerful and financial. Without your support, I would not be able to pay my rent, bills, or the gas to get me to Wesley each day to continue running this critical branch of ministry at UGA. As always, if you are interested in learning more about the UGA Wesley Foundation, or if you would like to support me via an online donation, please click here. Check donations can be sent to the Wesley Foundation at

1196 S Lumpkin Street Athens, GA 30605

, with my name on the memo line. All donations are tax-deductible. 

If you would like more information about my work at Wesley, please feel free to read my other blog entries or contact me at jessicalin.taylor@gmail.com. Thank you!

Hello Fall (in Athens)!

Recently I have realized how blessed that I am to spend another year in Athens - especially at this time of year. Fall is gorgeous everywhere, but there is something unique about Athens when the weather begins to turn colder. Students go to football games, people crowd into coffee shops, and everyone longs for that free weekend when they can go camping or hiking away from the same crowds that they embrace during the rest of school year. Now I have to give myself a reality check: it's still summer, but only one more week until fall is official!

I have kept fairly busy this month between discipling my seven girls, working with international students, fulfilling my responsibilities at Wesley, and holding down a part time job. I know that many who hear that I am interning at Wesley wonder what my day-to-day schedule looks like. Here's a sample of one of my days each week:

7:30-9am :  Prayer for Wesley; for our various ministry areas, the students that God has given us, and for continued direction for Wesley as a body. This time also serves as an designated portion of our schedule to thank the Lord for what He is doing and for prayerfully preparing for the service that we have every Wednesday night

9:30-11am : I am discipled by a director for an hour every other week. On the alternating weeks, I meet with a group of intern girls who are discipled by the same director. We spend that time sharing our problems and praises with one another and discussing our discipleships with the girls we mentor.

11-11:30am : My 36 hour prayer time slot. Our 36 hour prayer watch is 30 minutes long and the watch extends until our Wednesday service each week. Each staff person takes a time (or two) to spend interceding for the service.

11:30am-1pm :  My fellow International Student Ministry intern and I meet with our coordinator at Athens First United Methodist. This time helps the three of us to gauge where we are in planning events, connecting Friendship Partners with one another, and gives us time to talk about the Friday night Bible study that we host every week.

1-2pm: I meet with one of my girls for one hour. The way that discipleship times (DTs) look depends on the girl - sometimes we discuss a topic that they have come across in the last week, and other times we talk about their lives and the challenges that they face on an everyday basis. Discipleship is integral to the way that Wesley serves the students on the UGA campus. This time helps equip students to learn how to live as Christ taught in a very real way, for their time at UGA and beyond. Being discipled allowed me to understand my identity in Christ, and since becoming a discipler myself, I have grown in ways I never though possible before!

2-3pm : another hour-long DT

3-4:30pm : time to send emails, coordinate activities, do chores to keep up the Wesley building, take meetings with those interested in the Friendship Partner program, assist with mission trip planning, and do whatever else needs to get done that day.

At 4:30, I usually leave Wesley and head straight to my part time job. I come home and prepare for small group, which is held once a week.

I hope that this glimpse into my schedule is helpful in understanding what I do during the time I spend at Wesley each day. Being an intern there is not like any other job, but I am so happy that I get to be a part of all that God is doing both at Wesley and in Athens.

Our 2010-2011 staff. I'm in the back - extra points if you can find me!

Speaking of the way God is moving in Athens, our Friday night Bible study has been growing steadily for over a month! This is a new small group that we started in August, and so far our numbers have been climbing, from seven to fifteen to thirty international students participating each week. Right now, we are going through Genesis, which is proving to foster unique and thought-provoking discussion so far. All of the students participating in the study are not Christians and come from countries that are closed to the Gospel. I really enjoy hearing different viewpoints on stories that I have known since childhood, and our discussions have brought me to a new level of understanding when it comes to the character of God. Our students are curious and open to what we discuss, and I know that the Lord is working in big ways in our small group.

Our ISM small group, which we have every week, is for the American student leaders that help with our ministry area. We meet together, share testimonies, discuss friendship partners, have a teaching, and then split up into smaller groups to pray and talk in a more intimate setting. I am thankful for how quickly the Lord has enabled us to unify as a group, and I am glad that I have a whole year to get to know everyone in the group better.

For our next event, ISM will host a photo scavenger hunt on September 30th, and I am so excited to see how many people come and how many interesting pictures I will have to judge in the contest!

A sample photo from our scavenger hunt last year. This picture is one of the reasons that it is one of our most popular events!

Thank you very much for your continued support and prayers. I would not be able to do all this without your generosity!

'til next time,

Jessica

Aaaaaannnnddddd, here we go!

ISM was in the Red and Black! Check it out here!

Two weeks ago, I started back as an intern at the UGA Wesley Foundation, and I couldn't be happier! I get a second year to be a part of this awesome ministry to UGA's campus and learn more about God's purpose for community and leadership. Both the Wesley Foundation and the International Student Ministry are going to undergo some changes this year which I know will strengthen what the Lord is doing on campus and in the city. ISM will begin a Friday night Bible study for those international students who are interested in learning more about what Christians believe. This is going to be a great opportunity for us to connect with our students on a deeper level, and will enable us to share our testimony of what the Lord has done, is doing, and will do in our lives!

At Wesley, I will begin mentoring (or “discipling”) three new girls this semester, bringing my total number of girls from five to eight! I am glad to have so many new leaders at Wesley, and I know that God will give me the capacity to intercede for and pay each girl the attention that she deserves. Intern-wise, we have a large number of 2^nd years, something that I am so thankful for! I’m glad to be able to spend another year getting to know them better by working and growing with them day by day. We have a good number of 1^st year interns as well, and they add new personalities and vision for the internship and for their respective ministry areas. I know that this year is going to be amazing, and I can’t wait to share more about it!

         On the ISM front, last month we traveled to the Atlanta airport to pick up over 60 new Chinese students who are attending UGA this year. We brought them back to Athens First United Methodist for the night, where we socialized, ate snacks, and slept on air mattresses until the morning when we drove the students to their temporary housing at a nearby hotel. It's great to be a part of this service for the new students each year because many have few alternative ways to get to Athens. They are also disoriented from taking a 20+ hour flight (a feeling to which I can now relate, after my summer trip to China) and landing in a foreign country that could be their home for the next one to five years. This time gives the American volunteers a chance to help the students identify grocery stores, bus routes, and the layout of campus. It is also a night for everyone to have fun, even though jetlag usually kicks in pretty fast!

Our first ISM event will be on August 26^th, when we have a “Snack ‘n Chat”, ISM’s term for our monthly dinner and activity, to welcome new and returning international students to the new school year. We will eat together, have a chance to meet each other (or catch up), and answer the students’ questions about life in Athens, and by extension, life in America. Snack n Chats are always our most popular events, and we try to be as hospitable and welcoming as possible to each of the over 300 international students that we serve each year. My hope for this semester is that the Lord will strengthen and grow our ministry in numbers and in faith!

'til next time!

Jessica

As always, I appreciate your prayers and support for ISM, the Wesley Foundation, and, of course, myself. We have over 500 American student leaders at Wesley this year, spread out among 16 ministries that range from ISM to Artspeak. With 65 staff members, we definitely have our work cut out for us this year. Every staff person who works at Wesley is unpaid, and our responsibilities often take the form of a full-time job.

If you are interested in financially supporting me, please visit ugawesley.org and check out the on-line donation options there. You can also send check donations through the mail to:

UGA Wesley Foundation

1196 S. Lumpkin Street

Athens, GA 30605

Earmarked Jessica Taylor

All financial and prayerful support is (really, truly, completely) appreciated, and tax deductible to boot! If you are wondering how to give, please consider pledging a monthly amount. My budget (which I would be happy to share with you) requires $800/ month, and even the smallest donation can pay a water bill or a trip to the grocery store. Prayer for my ministry at Wesley and through ISM is very important as well, and intercession for me would be fantastic!

If you would like more information, please email me at jessicalin.taylor@gmail.com. I would love to hear from you!

Insert stereotypical Aerosmith song title here

Last Friday, ISM had the opportunity to host new international students for their first night in America. Our group picked the students up from the airport and brought them back to Athens First for snacks, a short sleep on air mattresses, breakfast, and a ride to their respective hotels the following morning. It was great to meet so many new people - about 60 students - and to be some of the first Americans they meet during their stay in the U.S. Many students will remain in this country for up to 5 years, and most of them will be unable to return home until they graduate. Intense.

Starting tomorrow, I will be back at Wesley (almost) full-time. I hope that I will be able to continue working my other jobs, and that all the schedules will continue to work in harmony. Specific prayer for that would be greatly appreciated!

'Til next time!

Long time no post

I apologize for the fact that my last post was at the beginning of May! A lot of things have happened since then (most notably, my trip to China), so allow me to briefly play catch up:

I traveled to China during the mid-late portion of May. Here is an excerpt from a newsletter I recently sent out, as I feel it is the best summary of my trip:

Last month, I had the privilege of leading a group of students from the Wesley Foundation to China. As I reflect back on the many months my fellow leaders and I spent planning for our two week trip, I have to say that it was far more enriching and Spirit-filled than we could have imagined. Our student leaders showed flexibility and determination in situation that we faced, and they walked in an authority that could only be the result of God moving in powerful ways both through us and our fellow believers.

As visitors, we experienced Chinese hospitality: we ate well, slept well, saw many classic tourist spots such as the Great Wall, Tienanmen Square, and the Forbidden City. However, the best experience we had by far was the opportunity to edify and encourage a very special group of young Chinese believers, the men and women featured in the photo to the left. Their ages ranged from seventeen to twenty-nine, and they came from completely different walks of life. Nevertheless, they all have one thing in common: their dedication to making Christ known in every tribe, every tongue, every nation. Many desire to proclaim the gospel to Muslim minority groups in China, many of whom are completely unreached; others want to travel to foreign countries and follow God wherever He leads them. We ate together, had fun together (as we are in the picture I included), studied the Word, worshiped and prayed. It was wonderful to see the Father working in each of them and to witness the confidence with which they left the comfort of their hometowns, well-paying jobs, and families and friends, to follow His will for their lives.

In front of the entrance to the Forbidden City!

Our team on the Great Wall

Now that I am back from China, I am working at a wonderful school supply store here in Athens, and I cannot wait to start back at Wesley on August 1st. I am so blessed to be able to work both jobs in the fall, and I am excited to see what is in store for Wesley and for ISM next year!

Fo sho Fogo!

... and just because I felt there was no place for this in my last post, an entry to share about our Intern Appreciation, this year held at Fogo de Chao! (http://www.fogodechao.com/)

Here are a few pictures (sorry for the blur factor) :

Okay, so I stole this from Fogo de Chao’s website. My camera can’t handle the night time.

The ISM Intern Team + our marvelous leader, Lindsay!

Amelia and I standing outside by the rotating meat beacon in the window. Please ignore the palm frond.

We sipped limeades, ate from a salad bar that contained very little salad and more meat than usual, and paced ourselves through the most glorious meat buffet I have ever experienced. By the end of the night, I had consumed enough protein to power ten small children. Exaggeration? I think not!

Oh, man is a giddy thing

Here it comes – one of the most difficult and least satisfying posts I will make this year. Don’t get me wrong, I am very excited for the summer. In less than ten days I will be leaving on my trip, and when I return I will have a wonderful part time job awaiting me. At some point, I may even get to visit one of my good friends in Memphis and do Memphian things, like visit Graceland.

However, all of that seems far away right now. As of Thursday, April 28^th, my internship with the Wesley Foundation is over for the school year. Before I make this too dramatic, I have to remind myself that I will return again in August – that I will have one more year to grow, change, edify, encourage, be encouraged, and solidify myself in who the Lord is. While that is certainly comforting, it does not smooth over the fact that many of my good friends will be leaving before I even get back from my trip – across the country and across the world. I know that God called each and every one of them to travel to the places to which they go, and I am so excited to hear about all the things the Lord will do, yet I am aware of the distinct possibility that I could very easily pull away from the only one who knows how difficult transitions like this are: God.

In the past, summers have not been a time of growth for me. I often become distracted from the Lord, and spending time with Him seems like the most tedious and exhausting thing I could do. This is ridiculous, especially when I look back on the things He has done for me and the way that He loves me, despite my many missteps. Therefore, this is my new outlook on summer, especially this summer between internship years:

Deuteronomy 31:8 states that, “The Lord Himself goes before you and will be with you; He will never forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”

Isn't it time that I started believing that? Why should I be discouraged, even if I am away from the community I became so acclimated to during this year? The Lord acknowledges seasons, but He is not subject to them. He has always been the same, and always will be. When I was a child, now, when I am old – He is stability and love without end. So whether or not my flesh and feelings cooperate, I plan to have a very good summer, and I know that the Lord will work wonderful things on my trip. I can’t wait to share them with you! I can’t wait to share what the Lord is doing, what He has done, and what He will do. He is so good!

Now I will leave you with some lyrics from a song that has been in my head for a few days now. This is definitely not the worst song to meditate on:

Love it will not betray you, dismay or enslave you,

it will set you free

be more like the man you were made to be.

There is a design,

an alignment to cry,

of my heart to see,

the beauty of love as it was made to be

In old Savannah, I said Savannah, the weather there is nice and warm!

Pardon me for using a throwback from Ray Charles, but the title couldn't be more appropriate for ISM's trip down to the 912. The weather was wonderful, our hosts were welcoming, and our students were enthusiastic - the trifecta of a successful trip!

Now the play-by-play: we left Athens around 3pm on Friday in the Uncle Bob and Aunt Lynn's bus, which they usually utilize for InterFACE Ministries cross-country trips departing from the southeast. The bus features bench seats that run along the sides of the bus, coupled with a few tables and a long row of beds that are stationed above the heads of the passengers. Needless to say, it is a very sociable bus, much more so than the usual row seat coach buses.

Some of our students on the bus

We arrived in Savannah around 8pm that evening, and after unloading at Skidaway Island UMC (our host church for this event), we left for the homes of our host families. The American volunteers stayed with my friend and former discipler, Mary, and her family. We had about 15 Americans on the trip, so they were very generous in feeding and housing all of us for the weekend!

The next day, we went on a trolley tour around Savannah. I always enjoy excursions like that, i.e. seated and historical fact-based activities, but I was glad to see that the international students enjoyed it as well, even if our tour guide talked a little more quickly than was probably advisable. Either way, they liked taking pictures:

My roommate Courtney and I on the trolley tour

Later that afternoon, we went to Tybee Island beach. During the course of the two hours we spent there, one student found a intact dead jellyfish and brought it out of the water for others to poke, some of our students got a little creative with some sand art, and we took lots and lots of pictures.

A part of our group on Tybee Beach

Aforementioned sand art

Jellyfish (ack.)

We spent another night with our host families and the next morning we attended Skidaway Island UMC's church service. The church was so welcoming to our students, and I am so grateful for the ways that they partner with us in Athens every year!

After we said our goodbyes, we parked on River Street and had a few hours to walk around and visit shops. Again, many pictures were taken:

One of the many large ships that came to dock in Savannah

A few American students and I standing in front of a veteran memorial off River Street

We left Savannah from River Street and reentered the Athens area around 8:30 that night. Reflecting back, I couldn't have asked for a better trip. Our leaders were very helpful and friendly to our international students, our stay was fun and restful, and most importantly, no one got hurt. Here's to more successful trips to Savannah!

So, it's been a while....

I apologize for how long it has been since I posted. So much happened in March, and I still have roughly a month left in my internship this year! It is going to be a difficult adjustment to move from working at Wesley and at my new job part-time, to transitioning exclusively to full-time work at my new job for the summer. I am very grateful that the Lord has provided me with such a great job outside of Wesley - my bosses/coworkers are great, my schedule is flexible, and I can work as often as I have time. Working there this summer will be great provision for me, and I hope to be able to continue working there after Wesley starts up again in August.

While we're on the subject of next August, it is pretty much official that I will be an ISM intern again next year. I am excited to be able to continue in the work that ISM has started, even though the ministry will look different next year. In many ways, our leadership is coming under attack as we plan for next semester, and my desire is that the Lord will provide enough students from Wesley to continue on with the ministry, despite the changes coming our way.

ISM only has a couple of events left before my internship ends on April 28th. This weekend we're traveling to Savannah, and I am pumped to see what the Lord has in store for the 27 international students coming on the trip. We will stay with a good friend (and former ISM intern) and her family, enjoy fellowship with her church, and visit Tybee beach and downtown Savannah. Many of the international students who are going on the trip are brand new to ISM events, so I look forward to getting to know them better!

We are also hosting one final Easter/Farewell-themed Snack n Chat. Though we are still deciding how that event will look, it is bittersweet to think that it will be the last Snack n Chat that I will plan with my fellow interns. Next year, one will be moving to Colorado, and the other will be exploring another ministry at Wesley. I am glad that they are pursuing new things, and I am excited to share leadership with new people. I know God will provide interns and leaders who will thrive in this ministry.

As I look back on this year so far, I am continually amazed with the ways in which the Lord has provided for ISM, as well as provided for me. It has been hard to relinquish my finances to God, and in some parts of the year I have been at the point where if He did not provide for me, I would fail. Yet not one bill has gone unpaid! God has redefined what should make me happy, and what purpose money really has in my life. He has shown me that having a roof over my head, food in my cabinets, and fuel in my car is enough, and that I do not need extra money to live joyfully. I know that the season that He has me in is a season of refining, and that my financial situation may not always be dependent on support. However, without this season of financial insecurity apart from the Lord, it would have been much harder to understand that God is my provider. If my earthly father cares for me and does not want me to go without the things I need, how much more does God understand my needs and understand my need to be provided for? It is amazing when I take the time to realize that the Lord is really for me, and I have absolutely no reason to be anxious. My Heavenly Father knows what I need before I encounter every situation and every season of life. He is my comfort and I hope that I will continue to rely on Him more and more!


Up next: Savannah post!

Dahlonega, GA. Incorporated in 1833.

This month has been an eventful one for ISM, and that is putting the matter lightly. Even though that sounds foreboding, I am looking forward to some major changes that are coming our way as far as how the ministry will be run and what my role will be next year as an intern. I believe that God is moving in a big way and I pray that our leadership will have the confidence and discernment to follow His will for ISM.

In other news, ISM traveled to the fair city of Dahlonega, Georgia to tour one of the United State's earliest gold mines. I found the whole trip to be more interesting than I thought it would be, and I was surprised at how interested the international students were when it came to panning for gold and hearing about the life of gold miners in the early-to-late nineteenth century. The trip to and from Dahlonega is about 1-2 hours from Athens, so I had plenty of time to talk to students on the bus. It was very enjoyable because I knew many of the students from previous events, so our conversation was automatically deeper and more personal. I don't have any pictures of our trip yet, but I will try to post a few soon!

Meanwhile, ISM is gearing up for another Snack n Chat this Friday, and this one is fiesta-themed. My fellow interns and I had a lot of freedom in planning this time around, so we are definitely looking forward to it!

[Insert catchy title here]

Now for more details! Friday night was wonderful, and ISM was so blessed to have over 90 students attend our Valentine's Snack n Chat. It was great to see how many people turned out for the event and took part in the dancing that we had after the meal. Overall, the night was definitely a success! The picture at the top of this post is of some of our very full dinner tables. The one on the bottom shows a few of our girls dancing a new hip hop dance we were taught that night.




Although I am grateful for the numbers, I hope that this will not be the only time I see many of the new students I saw on Friday night. It's true that some international students that come to ISM events will only attend our activities once, but I would like to see more students come to multiple events or even come to our Sunday small group that ISM hosts for believers and seekers. As a ministry, we are reassessing what God's will is for this ministry. As an individual, I am trying to assess what God has for me in ISM. I enjoy interacting with international students, and I love the fact that many have begun to recognize me as a leader and constant presence at ISM events. I want to stay with ISM, but I can only imagine who will be joining me as an ISM intern next year. Irregardless, I am excited to see what God does!

China-wise, I am pleased to announce that my portion of the trip is paid in full. Thank you so much for all your prayers and provision! Even though May is a long way away, the trip is starting to become more of a reality for me. I could not ask for a better group with which to go, and I am glad that we have the time to meet and get to know each other well in advance of our departure.

I'll just leave you with a picture of Kunming. It is supposed to be 70-80 degrees the whole trip long.



Oh yes.

Just a quick update...

Last night was ISM's February event, our Valentine's themed Snack n Chat. It turned out to be the most widely attended event that ISM has ever hosted! We dined on spaghetti and meatballs, and my roommate Sammy taught everyone a new line dance for our evening's entertainment. Everyone I talked to really enjoyed themselves, and I am very excited to see more students coming in, though of course numbers are not the object of our ministry. Nevertheless, they are encouraging. More to come!

"Let China sleep, for when she awakes, she will shake the world."

I chose this quote by Napoleon not only because I was enamored by the historical aspect of it, but also because I believe that this is an accurate description of how the Gospel has the potential to move through the Chinese people as a nation. The fact that we are leaving for China in May has only heightened my interest in the work I am doing at Wesley with our international students. Whenever I tell my friends that I am about to visit their home country, I see an eager desire in them to share their culture with me in a new way. They tell me all the places that I should go, what I should bring back (tea), and what I should be sure to eat while I'm there. Their anticipation of my experience is so exciting, and I absolutely cannot wait until I'm on the plane headed to Beijing!

In the meantime, our group is reading The Heavenly Man by Brother Yun. I have wanted to read his autobiography for some time, so I am glad that I will finally have the discipline to do so. I hope that it will be a chance for us to understand more of what is going on in China's house churches and the heart that God has specifically for China. From the experience that I have had with my Chinese friends, I know that Chinese culture is warm, welcoming, and very community-oriented. It is obvious how God is already at work in Chinese culture, and I am so glad that I get to witness it.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep. But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep, And miles to go before I sleep.

One of the first things that crossed my mind as I watched the "easy wind and downy flake" fall on Sunday evening was how glad I was that I did not have "miles to go before I sleep." I have slept a lot actually, more than I probably should over these past three days during which I enjoyed all the benefits of playing hooky from work without the consequences. As we gear up for another semester, Wesley is setting aside a 21-day period for fasting and consecration, two concepts that would normally make me fantasize about February with an unnatural fervor. However, as the snow and the beginning of this fast coincided, the time off enabled me to really examine the ways in which I approach discipline when it comes to the Lord.

I have heard many divergent views on the subject of self-control, spanning from a deep-founded belief that as believers are children of God, their natures will consequently become God-like, to the idea that "self is the opaque veil that hides the face of God from us" (Tozer). Self, and the things of the flesh in Tozer's view, keep us from experiencing God in the manner in which we were made. I find myself naturally gravitating towards Tozer, who reinforces Paul's message in his letter to Corinth: "But I discipline my body and keep it under control , lest after preaching to others I should find myself disqualified" (1 Corin 9:27).

Self-control and moving beyond self is essentially what this corporate staff prayer time is for - to acknowledge the "opaque veil" that stands before ourselves and God and to discover that the obstruction is not all His glory and Holiness, though we can never fully know His depth. Instead, it is mostly comprised of our fears and of our distracted minds. I acknowledge how distracted I become throughout a semester, and I am glad for an opportunity to set apart a more regimented time for the Lord, for myself, the girls I disciple, and the students I work with through ISM.

This is a song that I have been listening to quite a lot recently. It is not "officially" a Christian song, but it does the trick.

Roll Away Your Stone (Mumford and Sons)

Roll away your stone, I’ll roll away mine

Together we can see what we can find

Don’t leave me alone at this time,
For I am afraid of what I will discover inside

You told me that I would find a home,
Within the fragile substance of my soul

And I have filled this void with things unreal,
And all the while my character it steals

The darkness is a harsh term don’t you think?
And yet it dominates the things I seek

It seems as if all my bridges have been burned,
You say that’s exactly how this grace thing works

It’s not the long walk home that will change this heart,
But the welcome I receive at the restart

The darkness is a harsh term don’t you think?
And yet it dominates the things I seek
The darkness is a harsh term don’t you think?
And yet it dominates the things I seek
The darkness is a harsh term don’t you think?
And yet it dominates the things I seek

Stars hide your fires,
And these here are my desires

And I will give them up to you this time around
And so, I’ll be found with my stake stuck in this ground

Marking its territory of this newly impassioned soul
But you, you’ve come too far this time

You have neither reason nor rhyme
With which to take this soul that is so rightfully mine

...and that's all I have. Sorry for the absence of pictures this time around!