Amber and I are truly grateful for you. Your prayers and your support continue to impact our lives and those we minister to.

Thank You!

Truman and Amber

p.s. As usual, a printable version can be downloaded here

“Reliable friends who do what they say are like cool drinks in sweltering heat – refreshing! Like billowing clouds that bring no rain is the person who talks big but never produces.”
Proverbs 25:13-14 (The Message) 

What kind of friend are you?

“Sometime earlier this year, I noticed I was drinking too often, or more precisely, drinking for the wrong reasons. I’d come home exhausted and frazzled from the day, and I’d turn to a glass of wine or a beer as a sort of refuge and relief, a way to find some peace. Some people use food. Or television. For me it was alcohol. And that’s not good. I began to see it as a reaching for joy – joy in a bottle, joy within my grasp. Yikes. This does not have a good future written on it.

And so God gave me a kind of grace to give it up. To make room in my life for him. It was really that simple. I noticed that when I came home frayed and weary, what I wouldn’t do was simply take a few moments to be with God and ask him to comfort me, to be my refuge and peace. I decided to try that instead.

And so something I’ve enjoyed over the years i gone now. And I have no idea if or when it will return. What I notice is a kind of spaciousness now in my soul in the evening. Room for God.”

I read this excerpt shortly after a conversation with some friends about drinking. I never experientially understood the statement, “I need a drink.” It made sense when I thought about people drinking away their troubles, translation – getting drunk. But when I hear people who I know don’t drink to the point of getting drunk say this, it didn’t make sense to me. I guess I’ve never experienced any kind of escape or calming comfort from a glass of wine or a beer.

But, I can TOTALLY identify to what Eldredge is talking about. But instead of a glass of wine or a beer, I turn to the TV or the 360. Instead of joy in a bottle, it’s joy in a box.

God, grant me the grace to give it up – to make room in my life for him. God, will You be my comfort, my refuge and peace.

So, here’s a stab at sharing some of my thoughts through a medium I hate doing. (No one reads this anyway)

Since the end of February, Amber and I have pulled back from the mission field to focus our full time efforts on raising our financial support – which translates to Truman sending emails, making calls, and meeting with people, while Amber’s full time energy (and I mean FULL TIME energy) is spent making a baby.

Anyone who has been through pretty intense financial stress or has raised missionary funds knows that it’s pretty all-consuming. Needless to say, this is the reality of this season of life for us. And it’s HARD. Sometimes Often I wonder, will our support ever come in? God, don’t you hear our prayers? It’s YOUR work that we’re doing. Surely, You know that, right?

But I am thankful that I read this this morning:

“Thank God! He deserves your thanks. His love never quits. 
   Thank the God of all gods, 
      His love never quits. 
   Thank the Lord of all lords. 
      His love never quits. 

 ^4-22 Thank the miracle-working God, 
      His love never quits. 
   The God whose skill formed the cosmos, 
      His love never quits. 
   The God who laid out earth on ocean foundations, 
      His love never quits. 
   The God who filled the skies with light, 
      His love never quits. 
   The sun to watch over the day, 
      His love never quits. 
   Moon and stars as guardians of the night, 
      His love never quits. 
   The God who struck down the Egyptian firstborn, 
      His love never quits. 
   And rescued Israel from Egypt’s oppression, 
      His love never quits. 
   Took Israel in hand with his powerful hand, 
      His love never quits. 
   Split the Red Sea right in half, 
      His love never quits. 
   Led Israel right through the middle, 
      His love never quits. 
   Dumped Pharaoh and his army in the sea, 
      His love never quits. 
   The God who marched his people through the desert, 
      His love never quits. 
   Smashed huge kingdoms right and left, 
      His love never quits. 
   Struck down the famous kings, 
      His love never quits. 
   Struck Sihon the Amorite king, 
      His love never quits. 
   Struck Og the Bashanite king, 
      His love never quits. 
   Then distributed their land as booty, 
      His love never quits. 
   Handed the land over to Israel. 
      His love never quits. 

 ^23-26 God remembered us when we were down, 
      His love never quits. 
   Rescued us from the trampling boot, 
      His love never quits. 
   Takes care of everyone in time of need. 
      His love never quits. 
   Thank God, who did it all! 
      His love never quits!

Psalm 136 (from The Message translation)

I’m thankful to be reminded of this truth. Is it still hard? Yes. We’re still not at full support. Do I feel good about needing to scramble to figure out a way to pay our bills so we don’t go into credit card debt? Do I feel good thinking about what’s going to happen in September when Hudson comes into this world, and our financial situation hasn’t changed?

But, (and it’s a big BUT) I am thankful that I have a Father whose love never quits.

To download the printable version, click here

Humbly,
Truman and Amber

If you’ve been into a grocery store lately, or any time in the past 20 years, you’ll recognize that life is inundated with options. I want some Cheerios…do I get apple cinnamon? Banana Nut? Berry Burst – strawberry or triple berry? Chocolate? Frosted? Fruited…Really??? I just want some Cheerios!!!!

This weekend, we have invited over 50 students – juniors and seniors who are mulling over options. Not about cereal, but about what’s next. What follows after graduation?

They will have the opportunity to hear messages concerning: Discerning God’s Will, Surrender, A Heart for the Lost, and Transition. They will be challenged to live their lives with a bigger purpose – a Kingdom purpose.

Will you join with us in praying these students will hear from God this weekend? Pray that they will check their idols at the door. Idols of self. Idols of pleasing parents. Idols of fear. Pray that students will walk away this weekend with a vision and a commitment to live their lives missionally.

Lastly, they will be challenged to consider joining Campus Crusade for Christ in some capacity. Joining full time staff, interning for a year, going overseas for a year, or even working part-time with CCC. If God is calling some of these students in this way, pray they will hear and obey the call.

But most importantly, pray that they will hear and obey the call to be ministers of reconciliation in what ever field they will be a part of!

Oh, one more thing… I will be emceeing this conference. Pray I don’t make a fool of myself.

So this is where the moral question comes into play. Do I thank God for this sweet gracious blessing and head on home? Do I get out of my car and walk back into the store and tell them about the mistake? What would you do? Would your answer change depending on the type of store you were at? Or the cost of the item they forgot to ring up?

I’d love to hear your thoughts.

By the way, I did end up going back into the store to pay for the item.

Thank you so much for the prayer and support for our summer. This summer might have been arguably one of the most memorable summers for us as a married couple (other than the summer we got married, of course!) We saw God move in incredible ways in South Africa. He moved in the lives of those we ministered to, in the lives of the students we brought with us, and in our lives. This update is a little longer than usual, but hopefully it helps to give you a clear glimpse into what our summer entailed.

Thank you again. You played such a vital role in the summer being a success. And as we dive into ministry for the fall semester, we once again covet your many prayers.

Humbly,

Truman & Amber

p.s. for a printable version, click here

The year was 1951. Bill and Vonette Bright stepped onto the campus of UCLA to fulfill their call in helping to fulfill the Great Commission. They wanted to impact the world, which meant impacting the future leaders of the world, which meant going where the students were – the college campus.

But “going where the students are” is taking on a whole new meaning today. It’s moved beyond just showing up on campus, and going to the student union, or walking into a greek house. Where are the students? Where are they spending most of their time? What’s their preferred medium of communication?

I remember when I was a student in the early mid 90′s, and the excitement of having my first email account. I could communicate with my HS friends all over the US by simply typing a few paragraphs and hitting send. But countless hours were still spent in the dining hall or the student union sitting across the table having face-to-face conversations. By the time my senior rolled around, those hours in the dining hall started to decrease, while hours on the computer and ICQ quickly increased.

But what strikes me most when I think back to those days as a student were the numbers of vendors that would set up tables on the West Mall (the high student traffic area on our campus), compared to how many I saw in recent years. The decrease was drastic. So are vendors deciding not to target college students anymore? Of course not. No, they actually understand the concept of being where the students are.

[A little excerpt from mediapost.com]

Marketing Where the Students Are: The “average” college student has 87 email contacts, 146 cell phone contacts and 438 “friends” on social networks. Men tend to have more cell phone contacts and women more “friends.”   Marketers have become especially interested in this sphere of influence of 671 potential consumers around each student.  This is true especially in social networking where almost 40% of college students have “friended” a brand or product online, double the national average.   The digital world has many possibilities as college students access more than 14 screens a day – compared with just over 5 for all adults.   They prefer text messaging to face to face communication and 83% have visited a website associated with a TV program they watched.  More than 60% have watched a TV show online through sites like Hulu or Joost during the past year.   (mediapost.com February 25, 2010)

Marketers get it, and are pouring thousands into effective marketing strategies to reach students. How much more do we need to figure out how to effectively be where students are? We’re not pushing a product. (2 Corinthians 2:17) We’re talking about the gospel. We’re talking about where these students will spend an eternity. We’re talking about how they experience life here on earth. A life of freedom in Christ. We’re talking about impacting souls for generations to come!

One final comment. Check out my friends post on students’ preferred methods of communication.

What do we need to do differently (if anything) for us to continue to be effective in “helping to fulfill the Great Commission”? What’s keeping us from doing those things?